Go South Coast

[KX03HZY]

ZEBRA 2 funding is for rural routes so the 40/50 are the only morebus routes that really meet the criteria.

The bid is for 10 electric buses plus the charging infrastructure at Swanage and Bournemouth depots. There would be 3 closed tops, 3 half tops and four convertibles. The latter would be converted to convertibles in-house at Hants and Dorset Trim. 2 of the Evosetis will remain at Swanage. The 3 current half tops will head to Vectis and the current convertibles will transfer to Lymington for the the New Forest Tour. These are the same cascades that were originally planned for 2021 when the Swanage fleet would have been replaced, albeit with more (now discontinued) B5TL Evosetis back then.

A proportion ringfenced for rural rather than wholly. Really interesting snippet though, thank you for sharing with us.

 

[Surreyman]

Also intrigued by the ability to charge the vehicles in Swanage at the bus park by the railway station. Swanage isnt exactly renowned for having great infrastructure for example the broadband limitations.

Perhaps the Swanage branch line could be electrified and Morebus could tap the supply ()

I too wondered about Swanage charging, could it be the case that part of the 'proposal' is that the charging points are available for car/van charging during the day?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 'powers that be' were very keen on making electric charging facilities available to the wider public.

 

[Towers]

ZEBRA 2 funding is for rural routes so the 40/50 are the only morebus routes that really meet the criteria.

The bid is for 10 electric buses plus the charging infrastructure at Swanage and Bournemouth depots. There would be 3 closed tops, 3 half tops and four convertibles. The latter would be converted to convertibles in-house at Hants and Dorset Trim. 2 of the Evosetis will remain at Swanage. The 3 current half tops will head to Vectis and the current convertibles will transfer to Lymington for the the New Forest Tour. These are the same cascades that were originally planned for 2021 when the Swanage fleet would have been replaced, albeit with more (now discontinued) B5TL Evosetis back then.

Ah. That makes sense then!

 

[Titfield]

I too wondered about Swanage charging, could it be the case that part of the 'proposal' is that the charging points are available for car/van charging during the day?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 'powers that be' were very keen on making electric charging facilities available to the wider public.

There are two potential locations for Morebus to install chargers in Swanage. The garage on Kings Road West where PMI and other servicing work is carried out. The bus park and refuelling facility in what is the old goods Yard at Swanage Station. Neither lends themselves to access by the general public.

 

[Wychwood93]

ZEBRA 2 funding is for rural routes so the 40/50 are the only morebus routes that really meet the criteria.

The bid is for 10 electric buses plus the charging infrastructure at Swanage and Bournemouth depots. There would be 3 closed tops, 3 half tops and four convertibles. The latter would be converted to convertibles in-house at Hants and Dorset Trim. 2 of the Evosetis will remain at Swanage. The 3 current half tops will head to Vectis and the current convertibles will transfer to Lymington for the the New Forest Tour. These are the same cascades that were originally planned for 2021 when the Swanage fleet would have been replaced, albeit with more (now discontinued) B5TL Evosetis back then.

It could be argued that the X1/X2 and the X3 cover rural routes. The former covers Dorset and Hampshire, whilst the latter adds Wiltshire to that. In any case, I am pleased that funding is on the cards for the 40 and 50.

 

[OptareOlympus]

It could be argued that the X1/X2 and the X3 cover rural routes. The former covers Dorset and Hampshire, whilst the latter adds Wiltshire to that. In any case, I am pleased that funding is on the cards for the 40 and 50.

The X3 is getting new buses around April next year. The X1/X2 are simply not viable for new buses, let alone brand new electrics. Also, the X1/X2 doesn't operate in Dorset, it operates in Hampshire and Bournemouth, Poole and Christchuch.

There are two potential locations for Morebus to install chargers in Swanage. The garage on Kings Road West where PMI and other servicing work is carried out. The bus park and refuelling facility in what is the old goods Yard at Swanage Station. Neither lends themselves to access by the general public.

The charging would be in the bus park. No, there wouldn't be public access.

 

[341o2]

the 112, Lymington to Hythe must be a leading contender for a rural route. Bluestar 2716 about two miles from Norleywood

 

[DaveHarries]

The X3 is getting new buses around April next year.

MCVs I presume? Whether those or E400s I will, as a fairly regular user of the X3, be fine with that provided the new buses aren't StreetDecks on which I am not keen.

Perhaps the Swanage branch line could be electrified and Morebus could tap the supply ()

An interesting idea: given that the SR have launched a fundraising appeal of the "Save Our Railway" variety with a target of £450,000 (Today's Railways (UK Edition), January 2024) I am sure the money that Morebus would have to pay the SR would make the fundraising process in question a bit easier.

Dave

 

[Towers]

MCVs I presume? Whether those or E400s I will, as a fairly regular user of the X3, be fine with that provided the new buses aren't StreetDecks on which I am not keen.

Dave

Was it not suggested upthread that the EvoSeti has been discontinued, or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

Does a Streetdeck at least manage to have two matching sets of upper deck front seats?! That makes it a better effort for “posh” work than an e400 in my opinion, with their daft layout of ‘smart’ seats on the nearside and a bit of board to sit on for the offside, which really does spoil the ‘nice bus’ look, particularly when they’re the best seats in the house!

 

[cnjb8]

Was it not suggested upthread that the EvoSeti has been discontinued, or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

Does a Streetdeck at least manage to have two matching sets of upper deck front seats?! That makes it a better effort for “posh” work than an e400 in my opinion, with their daft layout of ‘smart’ seats on the nearside and a bit of board to sit on for the offside, which really does spoil the ‘nice bus’ look, particularly when they’re the best seats in the house!

It was effectively discontinued when Volvo stopped making the B5TL and B5LH

 

[OptareOlympus]

Was it not suggested upthread that the EvoSeti has been discontinued, or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

The Evoseti is still available but only on the tri-axle Volvo B8L which isn't permitted on the Sandbanks Ferry.

 

[Mollman]

MCVs I presume? Whether those or E400s I will, as a fairly regular user of the X3, be fine with that provided the new buses aren't StreetDecks on which I am not keen.


An interesting idea: given that the SR have launched a fundraising appeal of the "Save Our Railway" variety with a target of £450,000 (Today's Railways (UK Edition), January 2024) I am sure the money that Morebus would have to pay the SR would make the fundraising process in question a bit easier.

Dave

I seem to recall that when the E400MMCs arrived for More, it was announced that more were on order.

 

[341o2]

I seem to recall that when the E400MMCs arrived for More, it was announced that more were on order.

Yes, a further 21 are due to be delivered next Spring, intended for the M2.

I would be interested in further details of how many of the Envirosetis will be coming to Lymington, should the electric buses be approved, and what they might replace, thinking of the future of the present New Forest Tour fleet, which, for the first time I can remember, have all been transferred to Poole.
I also note many of the NFT stop signs have not been taken down, again they always were removed shortly after the service finished for the year.

One of the NFT Blues was working X1/2 earlier today, and 3801 has now been repainted in standard Morebus colours from the ONE livery it sported for a while following transfer to Lymington for route 120

Any update on 1821, the bus that lost its roof following the tree collision 1st December?

 

[thedorsetone]

So I'll put the guessing to bed. I know a Wright Electroliner is coming to Bournemouth for trials on the ferry. The charging points will be in Bournemouth and Swanage. And 2 of the original MCV's will make up the rest of the fleet at Swanage.

 

[Wychwood93]

Yes, a further 21 are due to be delivered next Spring, intended for the M2.

I would be interested in further details of how many of the Envirosetis will be coming to Lymington, should the electric buses be approved, and what they might replace, thinking of the future of the present New Forest Tour fleet, which, for the first time I can remember, have all been transferred to Poole.
I also note many of the NFT stop signs have not been taken down, again they always were removed shortly after the service finished for the year.

One of the NFT Blues was working X1/2 earlier today, and 3801 has now been repainted in standard Morebus colours from the ONE livery it sported for a while following transfer to Lymington for route 120

Any update on 1821, the bus that lost its roof following the tree collision 1st December?

1821 - bustimes.org shows no movement since the collision:

1821 - HF54 KXT

Volvo B7TL East Lancs Myllennium Vyking

bustimes.org

 

[thedorsetone]

1821 - bustimes.org shows no movement since the collision:

1821 - HF54 KXT

Volvo B7TL East Lancs Myllennium Vyking

bustimes.org

I believe its still under investigation.

 

[DaveHarries]

So I'll put the guessing to bed. I know a Wright Electroliner is coming to Bournemouth for trials on the ferry.

Good luck to them with that one: there was one running around the Bristol / Weston-s-Mare area for a time but it failed to complete a single day in service and was sent back after only, I believe, a week or two.

Dave

 

[341o2]

More tree headaches, this time for Bluestar route 6, with the A338 blocked just south of Brockenhurst due to a fallen tree for much of the day.
Buses running via Mill Lane, and presumably Hatchet Pond.
1016 observed out of service on the Lymington side of the blockage, after completing an X2 journey, arriving at Lymington 1344

 

[WibbleWobble]

More tree headaches, this time for Bluestar route 6, with the A338 blocked just south of Brockenhurst due to a fallen tree for much of the day.

There was a fallen tree on the Christchurch bypass which led to delays of up to FOUR hours!

 

[DaveHarries]

Quick one regarding the Salisbury area. A look at the VOSA Bus Service registrations for the Western Traffic Area of 02-Jan-2024 turned up two entries for the X5 Swindon - Pewsey - Salisbury route. This route is a split registration so I include both entries.

PH1121126/128 Registered (Short notice)
GO SOUTH COAST LIMITED
Route: SALISBURY, BLUE BOAR ROW to PEWSEY, NORTH STREET
Service number: X5 (651, X4)
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 08 Jan 2024

PH1121126/129 Registered (Short notice)
GO SOUTH COAST LIMITED
Route: Pewsey, North Street to Swindon Bus Station
Service number: X5
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 08 Jan 2024

If you export the entries as a CSV file, which can be opened by a spreadsheet app such as MS Excel you get a bit more info. For PH1121126/128, between Salisbury and Pewsey there is merely a revised timetable. For PH1121126/129, between Pewsey and Swindon, it says the registration is to "vary route and timetable." Both are given as effective 08th January but there is no new TT on TravelineSW for the X5 and nothing on the Salisbury Reds website where the only changes effective for 8th January are for school services 88, 675 and 978 along with the Marlborough & Vale of Pewsey DRT routes.

Does anyone know what is being done to the X5?

Meanwhile the Wiltshire Council website reports that a bid has been made in conjunction with GSC to bring electric buses into Salisbury:

Wiltshire Council and Salisbury Reds work in partnership to bid for new electric buses - Wiltshire Council

Wiltshire Council and Salisbury Reds have submitted a bid to the Department for Transport (DfT) for 23 new zero-emission electric buses in the city.

www.wiltshire.gov.uk

Wiltshire Council and Salisbury Reds have submitted a bid to the Department for Transport (DfT) for 23 new zero-emission electric buses in the city.

Published 20 December 2023
If the bid is successful, it would total an £11.4m investment into Salisbury transport network, with funding coming from Salisbury Reds, DfT and Wiltshire Council. This would include the 23 buses, plus the required investment into electric charging infrastructure at Salisbury Reds' depot in the city.

The funding is part of the next phase of DfT's ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme, and would be used to supply new electric buses on most of the city routes and to surrounding local areas, including the services to and from Stonehenge and the city's Park and Ride sites.

Dave

 

[WibbleWobble]

Does anyone know what is being done to the X5?

It's cosmetic I believe, just moving the Pewsey depot run-on and run-offs onto the Swindon end registration, so that the drivers don't need to change over at Pewsey North Street. The "route change" is to add that section of route to the registration.

 

[PTR 444]

From Sunday 18th February, Morebus will be increasing the frequency of the 13 to every 20 minutes and introducing a route variation. Two of the three buses per hour will divert via Hayes Lane and Wimborne Road West to serve the new Quarter Jack Park housing development. The remaining hourly bus will continue to serve Colehill, but will be renumbered to 13a.

route 13 - more buses and a new route in Wimborne

from Sunday 18th February we are making some improvements to our route 13 - full details...

www.morebus.co.uk

We have been working closely with our partners at BCP council and by using HM Government BSIP (Bus Service Improvement Grant funding), we are making some frequency improvements to our route 13 from Bournemouth via Ferndown to Wimborne. From Sunday 18th February buses will now be every 20 minutes plus there is a route number amendment as we will have a 13 and 13a. So whether you are looking for a bit of history, culture and fine dining in Wimborne, or just want to chill out at the beach, or enjoy family fun in Bournemouth, route 13/13a is ideal for you.

Wimborne has several new housing developments added to the town in the last couple of years, therefore we will have a new route for the 13 in Wimborne. Towards Wimborne, there will be 2 buses per hour that will turn left from Canford Bottom into Hayes Lane and then right into Leigh Road which is very convenient for those in the residential area of Quarter Jack Park.

The original route that serves Colehill will be renumbered 13a and there will be 1 bus per hour.

For customers in Ferndown there is no need to worry about the route numbers as both the 13 and 13a come through Ferndown along the same route.

It’s a shame that Colehill will have its bus provision reduced by half, but at the same time it is good that one of Wimborne’s new residential developments is finally being served by public transport. To begin with it would have been better to have 2bph via Colehill and 1bph via Quarter Jack Park, then if the demand is there on the latter routing increase that to 2bph so both the 13 and 13a run at a combined 15 minute frequency.

 

[341o2]

Major incident today at Bournemouth Triangle, where, 1142 (as far as I can make out) was surrounded by police and ambulances. Details released "a medical emergency"

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...-response-called-bus-bournemouth-town-centre/

Dorset Police has since confirmed they were assisting paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service with a medical emergency on the bus.

The county force would not go into any more detail. The road was cleared before 3pm.

 

[WibbleWobble]

It’s a shame that Colehill will have its bus provision reduced by half, but at the same time it is good that one of Wimborne’s new residential developments is finally being served by public transport. To begin with it would have been better to have 2bph via Colehill and 1bph via Quarter Jack Park, then if the demand is there on the latter routing increase that to 2bph so both the 13 and 13a run at a combined 15 minute frequency.

There's a lot of new developments being built or in the pipeline along the Leigh Road corridor. Colehill is a very leafy part of Wimborne, so I wonder if usage is low from that area. Leigh Road may have attracted Section 106 money on top of the BSIP funding.

 

[nw1]

There's a lot of new developments being built or in the pipeline along the Leigh Road corridor. Colehill is a very leafy part of Wimborne, so I wonder if usage is low from that area. Leigh Road may have attracted Section 106 money on top of the BSIP funding.

As an aside, where is Leigh Road? I am moderately familiar with Wimborne (visited semi-regularly in the late 90s and 00s) but not enough to know the road names. Is it the main road coming in from the east, i.e. Ringwood direction?

From what I can remember of Wimborne's layout I don't remember there being much space for new development, other than along the aforementioned road from the east and in the area between the bypass and town (which, due to the river/meadow landscape, I can imagine would be protected).

 

[PTR 444]

As an aside, where is Leigh Road? I am moderately familiar with Wimborne (visited semi-regularly in the late 90s and 00s) but not enough to know the road names. Is it the main road coming in from the east, i.e. Ringwood direction?

Yes that is correct. From Canford Bottom Roundabout, the road is called Wimborne Road West, then becomes Leigh Road roughly where the access road is for the new development.

 

[nw1]

Yes that is correct. From Canford Bottom Roundabout, the road is called Wimborne Road West, then becomes Leigh Road roughly where the access road is for the new development.

Ah ok thanks.

 

[PTR 444]

I think it would be a good idea in the long term for Morebus to merge the 3 & 4 with the 13 & 13a, creating two mega routes linking Poole, Broadstone, Wimborne, Ferndown, Northbourne and Bournemouth. This harks back to the days of the 132/133 which ran the exact same route 20 years ago.

 

[nw1]

I think it would be a good idea in the long term for Morebus to merge the 3 & 4 with the 13 & 13a, creating two mega routes linking Poole, Broadstone, Wimborne, Ferndown, Northbourne and Bournemouth. This harks back to the days of the 132/133 which ran the exact same route 20 years ago.

Would that be too hard to do even now? Not sure of the exact details of the routes, but presumably the two routes could relatively easily interwork with each other, offering through journeys even if the route number changes.

 

[PTR 444]

Would that be too hard to do even now? Not sure of the exact details of the routes, but presumably the two routes could relatively easily interwork with each other, offering through journeys even if the route number changes.

Should be pretty straightforward to do now. I guess the most difficult parts would be retiming the journeys, swapping the bus stands in Wimborne and getting the travelling public used to it. It would be better if Bournemouth bound journeys left from the stop opposite the Wetherspoons in Wimborne, since this avoids the journey having to loop around the same stretch of road twice.

Also bearing in mind the journey time would be approaching 2 hours, would the routes require a split with guaranteed connection to comply with driver hours?