The rapid decline of Bournemouth’s Yellow Buses network

[Joe Paxton]

So just shy of a week and the unified system begins to be broken up. I really hope that ticketing won't get split again; those living in the area appreciated the single system - if only for a week...

I'm not an expert on the tendering process (though from what I've read, occasionally people responsible for it aren't either!) - however BCP council would have had to put these routes (18, 33 and 36) out to tender at some point. I don't know how much leeway the council could have had in terms of giving Morebus a longer run operating them before such a tender process took place.

 

[Surreyman]

markymark2000 said:
There is a unit near the Airport which is likely to become vacant soon and is an ideal size for this sort of operation.

Indeed!

The mystery to me at least is why National Express has taken on a depot that is far bigger than it needs for its express services.


One can only assume that Xelagroup submitted the lowest bid. Maybe they bid low to establish a foothold, maybe GSC bid high to try to recoup the costs they have incurred thinking they would be the only bidder.....

I am sure that I am not alone in putting one & one together - although the answer might end up being 3!

Maybe stating the obvious but as many people on this site will know, National Express owned Lucketts, have a subsidiary operation - Solent Coaches, who operate from a site at Hurn airport with an operators licence for 24 vehicles, no idea how long the lease is for (assume it is leased & not owned), I assume that N.E have taken on the lease at Yeomans way (engineering staff etc etc) and now have a very large parking area.
Last time I checked the ex Yellow Bournemouth based N.e coach allocation was @ 8 coaches (may be out of date on this).
So maybe the Solent coaches operation moves to Yeomans way and - if terms can be agreed, Xelabus sets up an operation on the same site?
Of course they might decide to lease some parking space to one of the many parcel delivery companies who 'trunk-in' overnight from a central hub.

 

[geoffk]

There is virtually no competition to buses in that area as now SWR is only operating so few trains in the region (if it operates 3 stopping trains per hour, than it will become a strong competitor to buses along the corridor).

Private cars and taxis are luxury items that serve a different demographic compared to trains and buses. They don't represent a competition to local buses.

I don't think cars have been a "luxury item" for some years. It's true that persuading car drivers to use buses (outside London) has been largely unsuccessful and there are several reasons for that - changes in land use which favour cars over buses, more jobs and shops away from town centres, the perceived low social status of buses (surely unique in Europe), fares rising faster than fuel prices (at least until recently). You will be able to think of others.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I don't think cars have been a "luxury item" for some years. It's true that persuading car drivers to use buses (outside London) has been largely unsuccessful and there are several reasons for that - changes in land use which favour cars over buses, more jobs and shops away from town centres, the perceived low social status of buses (surely unique in Europe), fares rising faster than fuel prices (at least until recently). You will be able to think of others.

Agree with much of this.

You only have to see how the cost of motoring has increased in real terms and it is less than inflation.

Land use and car centric developments have also contributed whilst even where opportunities for bus priority exist (as in Southbourne), roadside parking is prioritised.



I'd also mention that there have been plenty of instances where legislation has meant that buses have been adversely affected yet not applied to private cars (e.g. low emission zones). Bournemouth may not have an LEZ yet but it is definitely quite car centric. Not certain a true blue council will do much differently either!

 

[341o2]

Not sure what you mean when you say 'viable' they are council tendered contracts?
Looked at facebook, can't find any comment about Morebus being unable to commit themselves to any school services, can you provide more detail? The wording "cannot commit" doesn't rule out operating school services - are they operated commercially or on tender/contract from local council?

I found the comment on FB with someone asking whether Morebus would be operating former YB school buses and that was their reply

I don't think cars have been a "luxury item" for some years. It's true that persuading car drivers to use buses (outside London) has been largely unsuccessful and there are several reasons for that - changes in land use which favour cars over buses, more jobs and shops away from town centres, the perceived low social status of buses (surely unique in Europe), fares rising faster than fuel prices (at least until recently). You will be able to think of others.

I pay to insure my car in order to visit multiple sites and carry goods in connection with my business.
The Inland Revenue accept costs involving running it constitute a legitimate business expense.
Not sure how this is a luxury item

 

[Bwsbro]

Xelabus have confirmed that they will be operating the Three Bournemouth Routes using buses from the Eastleigh fleet. Buses will be parked up at Bournemouth Airport

 

[Towers]

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I can't see it being anything more than Xela running a handful of low profit tendered services, and it's a tad curious that More are seemingly so irked at losing the work. Back on their home turf in Eastleigh, Xela's depot is seconds away from GSC's (Bluestar); they're in different units on the same industrial site. Xela's network seems to consist of some slightly obscure stuff that may well be partly or all tendered - I really don't know, but it has the look of it. Both depots are close to Bluestar's trunk service 1 from Southampton to Winchester, which is a frequent, well loaded and expensive service that you might think would be ripe for some competition. To the casual observer, it appears that Xela have no such interest in troubling Bluestar's operations.

Despite the generally smart appearance of their fleet, Xela have had a number of vehicles running about in former operators' liveries of late. Recent acquisitions appear to have included a former Stagecoach Pointer Dart from 2004-ish, which was observed a few months back operating in plain white. Nothing wrong with that of course, a perfectly competent vehicle, but by anybody's standards it's towards the bargain basement end of things, so I'd hazard a guess that perhaps the cash for major competitive ventures might not be there. That being said, presumably the purchase of even a relatively small coach firm isn't cheap, so who knows!

 

[MotCO]

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I can't see it being anything more than Xela running a handful of low profit tendered services, and it's a tad curious that More are seemingly so irked at losing the work. Back on their home turf in Eastleigh, Xela's depot is seconds away from GSC's (Bluestar); they're in different units on the same industrial site. Xela's network seems to consist of some slightly obscure stuff that may well be partly or all tendered - I really don't know, but it has the look of it. Both depots are close to Bluestar's trunk service 1 from Southampton to Winchester, which is a frequent, well loaded and expensive service that you might think would be ripe for some competition. To the casual observer, it appears that Xela have no such interest in troubling Bluestar's operations.

Despite the generally smart appearance of their fleet, Xela have had a number of vehicles running about in former operators' liveries of late. Recent acquisitions appear to have included a former Stagecoach Pointer Dart from 2004-ish, which was observed a few months back operating in plain white. Nothing wrong with that of course, a perfectly competent vehicle, but by anybody's standards it's towards the bargain basement end of things, so I'd hazard a guess that perhaps the cash for major competitive ventures might not be there. That being said, presumably the purchase of even a relatively small coach firm isn't cheap, so who knows!

And it's not the first coach company they have bought recently.

 

[Moordown]

Not quite - the bus operation of Shamrock and Rambler (including the Charlie's Cars minibus ops) were green and white

And a little later (1993/4) Routemaster Bournemouth operated buses in a green and cream livery

 

[PTR 444]

Just announced this evening - Morebus are to take on route 12 between Alum Chine and Hengistbury Head from this Sunday.

Even MORE ways to enjoy the beach this summer!

find out about our exciting new route 12 and explore more of our coastline...

www.morebus.co.uk

Even MORE ways to enjoy the beach this summer!​

Today Wed 10th Aug 2022

We are excited to announce there are even MORE ways to get to the beach this summer.
From this Sunday 14 August we will be running a brand new route 12 - between the spectacular beaches and coastline of Alum Chine and Hengistbury Head - route 12 will run daily via Westbourne, Bournemouth, East Cliff, Boscombe Pier & Southbourne Overcliff Drive.
There will be more open top buses providing the perfect viewpoint from this coming Sunday until the end of the summer season.
There will be 8 trips per day and the full timetable can be found here
Route 12 is wholly within a morebus fare zone A so you can enjoy even more value with a dayrider or period pass. Group tickets are ideal for familes and friends exploring our beautiful area whilst on staycation as they are available for up to any five people. Don't forget we give you even more by allowing up to two children under 7 to travel with you for free!
As always the best way to buy tickets or track your bus in live time is via our more bus app - download it today!

 

[Stephen1001]

Slightly off topic but since it's brought up, there are two more recent examples of green buses in service in Bournemouth. For a short period in 2009-2010, Dorset Sprinter - whose green was admittedly of the lime variety - ran an X5 Bournemouth-Ringwood-Southampton service with Leyland Lynxes (it survived a little longer a just a Ringwood-Southampton before disappearing). Around the same time, Thompson Tours ran a Tuesday and Saturday only service 238 to Salisbury via Christchurch, using various elderly but well-presented vehicles including a green and cream ex-Provincial Leyland National, and a green and white ex-Wilts & Dorset Leyland Olympian.

 

[Titfield]

Slightly off topic but since it's brought up, there are two more recent examples of green buses in service in Bournemouth. For a short period in 2009-2010, Dorset Sprinter - whose green was admittedly of the lime variety - ran an X5 Bournemouth-Ringwood-Southampton service with Leyland Lynxes (it survived a little longer a just a Ringwood-Southampton before disappearing). Around the same time, Thompson Tours ran a Tuesday and Saturday only service 238 to Salisbury via Christchurch, using various elderly but well-presented vehicles including a green and cream ex-Provincial Leyland National, and a green and white ex-Wilts & Dorset Leyland Olympian.

Currently Go South Coast have a double decker (sorry dont know the model) appearing on the Purbeck Breezer painted in an approximation of the old Hants and Dorset green livery with Hants and Dorset scroll type fleet name.

 

[MotCO]

Just announced this evening - Morebus are to take on route 12 between Alum Chine and Hengistbury Head from this Sunday.

Even MORE ways to enjoy the beach this summer!

find out about our exciting new route 12 and explore more of our coastline...

www.morebus.co.uk

Was route 12 previously operated by Yellow Buses? Maybe the crews being used on the routes lost under contract to Xelabus are being redeployed to route 12.

 

[Towers]

Currently Go South Coast have a double decker (sorry dont know the model) appearing on the Purbeck Breezer painted in an approximation of the old Hants and Dorset green livery with Hants and Dorset scroll type fleet name.

That's HF09 FVT, it's an Optare Olympus bodied Scania. And very nice it is too!

Flickr page below showing an image (not mine!) of said machine!

Go South Coast Morebus 'Hants & Dorset' Green Optare Olympus HF09 FVT 1412 , Poole Bus Station Entance 16.2.18

Go South Coast Morebus 'Hants & Dorset' Green Optare Olympus HF09 FVT 1412 , Poole Bus Station Entance 16.2.18

www.flickr.com

 

[PTR 444]

Was route 12 previously operated by Yellow Buses? Maybe the crews being used on the routes lost under contract to Xelabus are being redeployed to route 12.

Yes it was, before being rebranded to Buster’s Beach Bus

 

[James H]

From the Echo today:

“We’re also making some minor adjustments from Sunday, August 28, to our routes 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 4, 5 and 5a - following initial experience and feedback, and some issues where buses departed late during our first few days. To do this, we’ll be adding two more buses into the cycle [said Andrew Wickham]

“All this has required an investment of more than £200,000, as we are determined to provide the most punctual and reliable services.”

Mr Wickham said the established m1 and m2 routes, between Poole, Westbourne, Bournemouth, Royal Bournemouth Hospital (m1) and Southbourne (m2), will have extra resources to ensure there is sufficient capacity. This change is coming in from Monday, September 19.

 

[Kettledrum]

Was route 12 previously operated by Yellow Buses? Maybe the crews being used on the routes lost under contract to Xelabus are being redeployed to route 12.

The press release suggests there will be more open top buses, and route 12 (previously Busters Beach Bus) is perfect for open top services......but where will they find the extra open top buses from?

 

[Megafuss]

The press release suggests there will be more open top buses, and route 12 (previously Busters Beach Bus) is perfect for open top services......but where will they find the extra open top buses from?

If I wanted a cheap open top bus for a few weeks, I'd buy a former Yellow open top decker....

 

[Kettledrum]

The Buster's beach buses are currently for sale but they were very old though, and dating from 2002. With all the safety checks you'd need to do and re branding etc, is it really worth it?

 

[Towers]

The Buster's beach buses are currently for sale but they were very old though, and dating from 2002. With all the safety checks you'd need to do and re branding etc, is it really worth it?

It's pretty acceptable for open toppers to be getting on in years, even those running with big group fleets. Go Ahead's New Forest Tour fleet currently in service are 2005, so not much different really.

 

[Surreyman]

The press release suggests there will be more open top buses, and route 12 (previously Busters Beach Bus) is perfect for open top services......but where will they find the extra open top buses from?

They have several convertibles not 'converted'

 

[E-Rail]

Go South Coast (GSC) have bought two ex Yellow convertibles (via Ensign) which will be debranded but not repainted and the roof will be removed from Scania 1408 today.

 

[Whiteway215]

Ensign is reported to have purchased all the Yellow Bus vehicles that had been entered in an auction.

 

[E-Rail]

Ensign is reported to have purchased all the Yellow Bus vehicles that had been entered in an auction.

Correct.

 

[GusB]

Ensign is reported to have purchased all the Yellow Bus vehicles that had been entered in an auction.

Reported where?

 

[Whiteway215]

In an email from Ross Newman, Operations Director at Ensign he quoted that Ensign had purchased the Yellow Bus vehicles that had been entered in an auction.

 

[Western Sunset]

Is there any news re-ticket inter-availability between More and Xelabus?

 

[deconte]

Is there any news re-ticket inter-availability between More and Xelabus?

Perhaps this will mean a renaissance of the Getting About ticket ?

Timetables for the three routes have now appeared on the Yellow Coaches website.

 

[Western Sunset]

Thanks; doesn't really effect me as I've an ENCTS card, but this is all it currently states about fares from its website:
"Single and return tickets are available to purchase from your driver on the day of travel. We accept cash and contactless payments."

 

[deconte]

Memories of Hants & Dorset !
Yellow Coaches will be using green Xelabuses on Monday on their three Bournemouth routes. Very appropriate for the 18.