New Buses - 2013

The South is once again seeing investment in bus services across the region. Confirmed are:

BlueStar and Wilts & Dorset - 21 ADL400s due for routes Wilts & Dorset routes X3 (Bournemouth - Salisbury) and 8 (Andover - Salisbury) and BlueStar route 1 (Southampton - Winchester)

Southampton's Unilink - receiving brand new buses for the U1 and U6 - the U6 being double deck'd in the process. Expected to by ADL400s.

Stagecoach South - 10 Enviro300s are due in Basingstoke for the Jazz 2 - some of which have already been delivered, which will be supplemented by 7 further Enviro200s with '13' registrations to upgrade the Jazz 5. Furthermore, 11 Enviro200s are in the process of being delivered to Portsmouth to upgrade local services, and will be allocated to route 39, amongst others. Two are already in service and have been pictured on route 20. Finally, 6 Enviro300s in Stagecoach Gold livery are due to upgrade route 51 in Chichester - again when the '13' registrations come into effect.

First Hants & Dorset - have introduced 14 Volvo B7RLEs to Hoeford and 10 Enviro200s to Southampton in the last year, but apparently interesting developments for Portsmouth will be announced with First's 2013-14 vehicle order.

If I've missed any, please let me know. These deliveries and the resulting cascades will mean 2013 will become an interesting year for buses across the South...

Sunday Lost Scenes - Sunday 27th January

Today's Sunday Lost Scenes comes from Fareham in 2003...

First Hants & Dorset 191 - M191XTR - Fareham bus station - Summer 2003

In May 2003, the Portsmouth Overground network was introduced. It covered five routes (including the Zip 41 corridor). With second-hand ex-London Darts still 9 months away, the  first operations on route 6 saw 9 Iveco TurboDailys receive Barbie 2, and 7 branded for route 6. These rarely strayed off route, but above I have an example of First Hampshire's 191 in Fareham well away from Tipner and Southsea.

191 is pictured on route 57 - a route operated by Hilsea's Ivecos until route changes in 2004, by which time Hilsea and Hoeford shared the route. The 57 was then cut to every hour, exclusively operated by Hoeford. This saw Hilsea's presence in Fareham restricted to simply a few early and late peaks. 

Today, the Ivecos are long gone, and the 57 has been split between the X4, 4A and 16. The weekday service to Hayling Ferry is also exclusively operated by route 15.

The Zero has unravelled...

The planned Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport network is back, and there are a few headline routes. Firstly, the Zero has unravelled, and instead been replaced by a far more sensible arrangement on the 17 and 18 (yes, they are back), a route from Fareham into Havant is nearly restored (terminating at Farlington), and the evening connections are sorted (in theory).

Return of the 17 and 18 - but not as we knew it

The Zero has been developed. It is now replaced by route 17 and route 18. Both operate half hourly along their respected routes. Route 17 connects Tipner, Copnor, Eastney and Southsea (Palmerston Road), which then turns into route 18, connecting Southsea (Palmerston Road), with Fratton, North End, Cosham and QA Hospital. The route is expected to be operated by Hilsea depot, and will see the connection between Southsea and QA Hospital restored (by First - the Stagecoach 20 did this a couple of weeks ago). 

Route 3 - the 3A is dropped

Route 3/3A becomes the 3 throughout. The Hard - City Centre - North End - Cosham - QA Hospital - Paulsgrove at every 10 minutes, with three buses an hour then heading for Portsdown Inn, and three buses an hour heading for Fareham. The North Portchester link is cut by this route, and the Fareham-Portsmouth via Cosham buses are cut to three an hour. Combined with the X4, there are now 5 buses between Fareham and Portsmouth an hour. The 3 also now interworks with the 1 - which presumably will mean Volvo B10BLEs and Scania Omnicities provide consistency across the route. Again, presumably, the 2 will solely be in the hands of Hilsea Darts until improvements are made.

Route 22

Route 22 has changed rather a lot. The Farlington - Drayton - Cosham - QA Hospital portion remains the same, and remains half hourly, but here the route splits. The new 22A heads to Lower Wymering, hourly, while the 22 heads off to Portchester, Dore Avenue and Fareham, again hourly. Portchester's four buses to Cosham are maintained, with the axe of the hourly 3A extension.

There are other smaller changes, but these are the headline details. Changes begin on Sunday 17th March.

Welcome Back... Sussex Bus!

This is the second installment of my infrequent "Welcome Back" feature, where I share long lost photos from fotopic. 

My first trip to Chichester was in the sunny summer of 2003. The Nationals had gone, and the Stagecoach swoops livery were just replacing the strips of Sussex Bus and Stagecoach. However, on a few buses, the red stripes remained...

Back in 2003, the Sussex Bus livery remained on a number of Mercedes-Benz 709Ds that were in service on Chichester city services. 40891 (N191LPN) is pictured on route 48, heading for Chichester bus station. Route 48 still exists as a free bus Tesco - city centre route, but these days tends to be operated by Volvo Olympians. From the (irregular) journeys I've observed or photographed, the capacity of the 709D is still about appropriate.

Sister bus 40893 (N193LPN) is pictured here, reversing off the stands of Chichester bus station on a 47A for Parklands. These minibuses provided the main service on the small Chichester routes, and the Bognor town services until the 2007 delivery of Optare Solos. The 47/47A is another route still completely intact from this photo - taken almost 10 years ago, operating every half an hour.

Finally, here is 40164 (N364AVV) pictured on the stands at Chichester. A stripey Dart can be seen in the background. Again, the 56 is another out largely intact in nearly 10 years - operating from Old Bosham to Chichester, via Fishbourne. 

I find it amazing in city such as Chichester, under a company who develop and change their networks so effectively, that the route structure has more or less remained untouched for 10 years. I guess this also illustrates the example of good Stagecoach management - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, just upgrade it with younger and better buses frequently! More updates from Chichester in approximately two to three months time...

Out with the old, in with the new at Southampton

Followers of First at the moment are under a bit of a guessing game as to which areas are to see investment, and which areas are to be sold. Does Weymouth losing its recently acquired Tridents suggest it is up for sale? Does Plymouth receiving younger Tridents and 08-plated Enviro400s indicate it is no longer on the for sale list? One location that is seemingly safe under First is Southampton, where 10 brand new Enviro200s have entered service.

Firstly, out with the old. Of the many ex-Glasgow Darts previously in service in Southampton, only 4 remain. 40792 (R296GHS) is one of those remaining local though - popping up the coast and now allocated to Hoeford. It is pictured at a rain and wind swept Lee on Solent, heading for Fareham on route 6. Hoeford has received another also - 40790 - along with Hilsea receiving two Darts that have seen service at all three Hampshire depots now. The rest have gone elsewhere, with the lucky residents of Wales being the recipitants of a number.

In with the new - 12 spotless Enviro200s - primarily allocated on route 7. 44529 (SN62AZA) is pictured here, loading passengers along St Denys Road in Portswood. The 7 is now eight buses-per-hour, competing with BlueStar 16 at three buses an hour. There does seem to be an increasing allegiance to BlueStar's younger B7RLEs and Citaros - however the new leather seated Enviros may now sway the balance back towards First. The Enviros also occasionally turn up on route 2, and assist the 2009-batch of Enviros on route 6. These are only rare occurances, however.

A few of the older Dart SLFs are still in service at Southampton. The 4 Pointer 1 bodied Darts new in 1996 are still in regular service, along with the entire batch of 1997 Darts. These will probably go in time, so I specifically focused my efforts on the buses during my flying visit on Sunday. This is 42507 (P407KOW) - FHD incidentally operate 42407 and 42507! Despite their age I regularly see the 4 Darts out in service - they can't be that unreliable.

Finally, a wider look at the First Southampton fleet. All of the Volvo B7RLEs and Wright-bodied Volvo B7TLs are now in the fleet livery. 4 Millbrook Flyer Darts are assisted by 7 Solent Ranger Darts on the X4 from Hoeford. 66883 (MX55HHP) was new to Manchester, and is pictured heading for Sholing on the 9.

Southampton's looking positive. With Hoeford possibly receiving double deckers in the future for the X4, along with Hilsea possibly receiving younger second hand Volvo B7RLEs for routes 2 and 7 and/or brand new buses for the Zip 8, the future is looking bright. 

Sunday Lost Scenes - Sunday 13th January

With new Enviro200s and Enviro300s soon due for Stagecoach South, the affectionately named SPuDs will soon be moved onto other services and possibly other companies...

Stagecoach South Dennis Dart SPD 33058 - X956VAP - Southsea, Southsea Parade Pier - 29th August 2004

Stagecoach acquired a large batch of Dennis Dart SPDs in 2000, to upgrade the premier route between Southsea and Leigh Park. Route 23 operates every 10 minutes - branded here as "6 buses per hour". Following the 2008 delivery of Enviro300s, the SPDs were moved to Chichester and Basingstoke. 2013 will again see the SPDs replaced by Enviros, as Chichester route 51 is to be 'Gold'ed, with Basingstoke route 2 upgraded. It will be interesting to see where the SPDs end up - probably around Hampshire still but on secondary routes.

I miss the old stripes livery - I prefer the swoops but this livery was traditional Stagecoach. I hope to bring you photos of the new Enviros as and when they are delivered. The first ones aren't too far away...