Brighton & Hove (bus company)
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 Brighton & Hove Scania OmniDekka |
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| Slogan | "Essential travel for our city" |
| Parent | Go-Ahead Group |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters | Hove |
| Service area | West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent |
| Service type | Mainly urban bus services |
| Destinations | Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne, Lewes, Shoreham, Steyning and Tunbridge Wells |
| Fleet | 314 |
| MD | Roger French |
| Web site | www.buses.co.uk |
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company operates almost all bus services in the city of Brighton and Hove in southern England. The company was established in 1884 as Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company[1] and has been part of the Go-Ahead Group since 1993.
The company currently operates a fleet of 314 buses (includes Heritage, Passenger & Coach Fleet). Except for two vintage buses, the oldest in the fleet dates from 1996.[2] The company now owns eleven luxury coaches which are available for private hire.
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[edit] Operations and routes
The company's routes cover a large area encompassing the whole of the city, some parts of West and East Sussex and a single route into Kent (the 29). The limits are:
- Shoreham and Steyning in the west;
- Falmer, Lewes, Ringmer and Tunbridge Wells in the north;
- Newhaven, Seaford and Eastbourne in the east.
There are 40 separately-numbered standard routes. Frequencies range from every 5 minutes to two journeys per day. In addition, there are six "Night Bus" routes and 23 school bus routes. During 2005, the company took over many routes previously operated partly or entirely by Scottish-based Stagecoach Group, the best example being the Coaster services 12 & 13 to Seaford and Eastbourne.
The company operate out of three depots: Conway Street, Whitehawk and Lewes Road. Conway Street also serves as the company's headquarters. The company have three outstations also in Newhaven, Eastbourne, Uckfield and Durrington. This helps for the Regency and Coaster routes for drivers who live near or to get the buses on schedule
[edit] Metro services
During 1996 and 1997, four of the most popular routes (1/1A, 7, 5/5A/5B, 25 and 49) were enhanced with new buses and individual route branding. On 8 September 1997, the concept was extended to a fifth route and standardised under the name Metro (e.g. "Metro Line 1"). All five routes offer regular services, modern buses and a wide range of connections throughout the centres of Brighton and Hove, reinforced by a colour-coded diagrammatic map [3] Since 2004, Brighton & Hove have gradually introduced new buses to the Metro routes, the majority been Scania OmniDekka. In April 2011, Metro 7 was removed from the Metro network and rebranded as Route 7 with brand new Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Geminis operating on the route.
[edit] Route
Route is the branding used for some services with a high frequency that serve Brighton Train Station. In April 2011, to coincide with the arrival of brand new Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Geminis, Brighton and Hove launched the new branding for service 6 (formally Shuttle 6), service 7 (formally Metro 7) and service 27. Services 6 and 7 use the new Volvos, whilst Service 27 continues to use the Dennis Trident 2 Alexander ALX400s, which have been repainted and branded, as well as having the seats re-trimmed.
[edit] Coaster 12
The Coaster 12 is one of Brighton & Hove's most popular routes. Formerly the 712, it runs from Brighton to Eastbourne. The service is combined with the 12A which follows the same route but also serves Beachy Head. The combined service with route 12 offers a bus every 10 minutes. It uses specially branded Scania OmniDekkas which date from 2004 to late 2005. However, due to the increasing popularity of the service, the OmniDekkas have been swapped with newer late 2006 models from Metro route 25. These are 12 metres long and have greater capacity.
[edit] The Regency Route
The Regency Route (29/29A) is one of Brighton & Hove's branded routes. Begun as the 729 by the nationalised Southdown subsidiary of the National Bus Company, of which Brighton & Hove was a part, the route was part of the NBC's cross-country "Stagecoach" network. It runs from Brighton's Churchill Square to Royal Tunbridge Wells. It uses specially branded 2007 registered Scania OmniDekkas which have high-backed Fainsa seats. The 29 and the 29A both run hourly giving a combined half hour frequency. The 28 follows the route from Brighton to Lewes then diverts to serve Ringmer rather than Uckfield. The 28 uses the same batch of Scania OmniDekkas but without the Regency Route branding. In April 2011, the Regency Route received a new branding.
[edit] Shuttle 50
Shuttle is the branding used for service 50. Shuttle 50 runs from Brighton railway station to Hollingdean and uses specially branded Scania OmniLinks. The buses are painted in a special variation of the standard livery: gold swooshes with route detail above the cantrail and the number in a gold circle towards the rear of the bus. Until April 2011, service 6 was part of the Shuttle network, but has since been rebranded as Route 6.
[edit] Night buses
The company operates several night buses: the N7 between the Marina and Hove George Street, the N25 between the Universities and Portslade Station, the N29 between Brighton and Lewes and Uckfield, plus the nightclub buses N69, N98 & N99.
The N25 and N7 run half hourly between 11.30pm and 5am (the N25 running every 15 mins between Universities and Churchill Square until 3am during term time). The N25 service partially runs in competition with The Big Lemon service 42. N29 runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings from North Street. Nightclub bus N99 runs 2 trips at 1:10am and 2:30am on a Friday and Saturday night between Brighton and Peacehaven (2:30am runs to Newhaven). N69 is a contract route between Brighton Patcham and Haywards Heath and does one trip, leaving at 1.00am and 2.30am from the Brighton Centre. All Night buses operate Friday, Saturday and Sunday Mornings.
[edit] Competition
Brighton & Hove face limited competition on some of its network of routes. The Big Lemon who run the no-frills 42 service along a similar route to Brighton & Hove's Metro 25 is the largest competitor. The company also runs the 43 service directly to Brighton University at Falmer and the 44 service to Varley Halls using yellow-liveried buses fueled with Biodiesel made from waste cooking oil collected from businesses around the city.
In response to the competition on the route, in 2011 Brighton & Hove reduced their daily ticket and weekly (on-bus) ticket for the 23/25 services to match The Big Lemon's fares.
Other companies who run into the city include Countryliner who operate Service 40/40X which runs from Haywards Heath - Brighton Churchill Square ,Metrobus who operate 273 which is Crawley - Brighton Churchill Square and also Stagecoach who run service 17 Horsham - Brighton Churchill Square and service 700 Portsmouth - Brighton
[edit] Buses to the South Downs
In 2002, three special routes were introduced from the city centre to popular countryside locations on the South Downs. These have proved successful, and were run during the winter of 2007 on Sundays and public holidays. The company often uses its fleet of six open-top buses on these routes during the summer, although usually only two are used with the roofs removed and three are used for sightseeing around the city, with one as the ticket office (Scania Citizen 781 and Dennis Trident 808 both now permanent open-top). The routes are 77 Palace Pier to Devil's Dyke, 78 Old Steine to Stanmer Park and 79 Old Steine to Ditchling Beacon.
[edit] City Sightseeing
Brighton & Hove also operate the City Sightseeing Brighton tour using two convertible East Lancs Lolynes and an open-top East Lancs Cityzen. All three buses are painted in the City Sightseeing red livery.
Tridents 808 (Max Miller) 819 (Henry Allingham) and Scania 781 are the vehicles in use for the 2010 season.
[edit] Daytime services
| No. | Route |
|---|---|
| Metro 1/1A | Whitehawk - Royal Sussex County Hospital - City Centre - Hove - Portslade - Mile Oak |
| South Downer 2/2A | Rottingdean - Woodingdean - City Centre - Hove - Shoreham - Steyning (2A) |
| Metro 5 | Patcham - City Centre - Hove - Hangleton |
| Metro 5A | Patcham - City Centre - Hove - Mill View Hospital - Hangleton |
| Metro 5B | Universities (Peak-only) - Coldean (Peak Only) - Hollingbury - City Centre - Hove - British Engineerium - Hangleton |
| Route 6 | Brighton Station - City Centre - Portslade - Downs Park & Sainsburys |
| Route 7 | Hove (George Street) - City Centre - County Hospital - Brighton Marina |
| Coaster 12 | Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Seaford - Eastbourne |
| Coaster 12A | Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Seaford - Chyngton Estate - Eastbourne |
| Tourist Trail 13X | Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Paradise Park - Seaford - Birling Gap - Beachy Head - Eastbourne |
| 14/14C | Hangleton (14) - Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Telscombe Cliffs - Peacehaven - Newhaven(14) |
| Hangleton Hoppa 16 | Portslade - Knoll Estate - Hangleton |
| 20 | Brighton - Southwick - Shoreham - Steyning |
| 21 | Brighton Marina - Whitehawk - Manor Hill - Race Hill - Open Market - London Road |
| 22 | Brighton City Centre - Open Market - Race Hill - Woodingdean(Anti-Clockwise) |
| 22A | Brighton City Centre - Open Market - Race Hill - Woodingdean(Clockwise - Peak Only) |
| 23 | Sussex University - Lewes Road - Queen's Park - County Hospital - Brighton Marina |
| 24 | Hollingbury - Coldean - Lewes Road - Open Market - City Centre |
| Metro 25 | Portslade (Early Morning only) - Hove - City Centre - Old Steine - Lewes Road - Universities |
| 26 | City Centre - Hollingbury - Coldean |
| Route 27 | Saltdean - Rottingdean - Brighton, City Centre - Dyke Road - Westdene |
| Regency 28 | Brighton - Coldean - Lewes - Malling Hill - Ringmer - Broyle Estate |
| Regency 29/29A | Brighton - Lewes - Malling Hill - Rose Hill(29A) - Isfield(29) - Uckfield - Whitehill - Crowborough - Eridge Green - Tunbridge Wells |
| Regency 29B | Brighton - Lewes - Ringmer - Isfield - Uckfield - Whitehill - Crowborough - Eridge Green - Tunbridge Wells |
| 37 | Meadowview - General Hospital - Seven Dials - City Centre - Kemp Town - County Hospital - Bristol Estate |
| 37B | Bristol Estate - County Hospital - Kemp town - City Centre - General Hospital - Meadowview |
| 38/38A | Meadowview - Open Market - London Road - Brighton Station(38A) |
| 46 | Southwick - Holmbush - Portslade - Hove - City Centre - Hollingbury |
| 47 | Brighton, City Centre - Kemp Town - County Hospital - Marina - Rottingdean - East Saltdean |
| Metro 49/49A | Portslade - Hove - City Centre - Lewes Road - East Moulsecoomb(49) - Lower Bevendean(49A) |
| Shuttle 50 | Brighton Station - City Centre - Hollingdean Circular - City Centre - Brighton Station |
| 52 | City Centre - Marina - Ovingdean - Woodingdean |
| 55 | Mile Oak - Hangleton - City Centre - Hollingbury |
| West East 56 | Patcham - Hollingbury - City Centre - Knoll Estate - Portslade - Fishergate - Southwick - Holmbush Centre - Southlands Hospital |
| 57 | City Centre - Kemp Town - Marina - Ovingdean - Rottingdean - East Saltdean |
| Shoreham Coaster 59 | Shoreham Beach - Shoreham - Southwick - Portslade - BHASVIC - City Centre |
| 77 | Brighton Pier - City Centre - Dyke Road - Devil's Dyke |
| 78 | Brighton - Open Market - Lewes Road - Moulsecoomb - Stanmer Park |
| 79 | Brighton - Open Market - Fiveways - Ditchling Road - Ditchling Beacon |
| 81/81B | London Road - Elm Grove - Queens Park - City Centre - Cricket Ground(81B) - Furze Hill(81B) - Hove(81) - Goldstone Valley(81) |
| 81A | Meadowview - Lewes Road - London Road - Queens Park - City Centre - Brighton Station |
| 81C | Meadowview - Lewes Road - London Road - Queens Park - City Centre - Furze Hill - Hove - Golstone Valley |
| 84 | Whitehawk - Woodingdean - Universities |
[edit] Night services
| No. | Route |
|---|---|
| N7 | Marina - County Hospital - City Centre - Hove, George Street |
| N12 | City Centre - Marina - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Denton - Seaford - Eastbourne |
| N25 | Universities - City Centre - Hove - Portslade |
| N29 | City Centre - Lewes Road - Coldean Lane - University (A27) - Lewes - Isfield (If Requested) - Uckfield |
| N69 | Brighton - Patcham - Hurstpierpoint - Hassocks - Burgess Hill - Haywards Heath |
| N98 | City Centre - Hove - Hangleton - Mile Oak - Southlands - Shoreham |
[edit] Depots
[edit] Fares and ticketing
The company operates, to a large extent, a flat fare system — people can travel on almost all of its buses, and to almost everywhere on its network, for fixed prices. The CitySaver ticket allows people to travel as often as they want for one day anywhere on any combination of buses (with a few exceptions). There are also longer-period season tickets, there are tickets valid also with local rail services and other bus operators, and various concessions for students, people under 16 and others.[4]
In late 2011 the company started to introduce "the Key", a smart card system. It can also be used on some local train journeys.[5]
[edit] Named buses
Many of the company's buses have the name of a famous person commemorated on the front.[6]
In 1999 the company ran a competition asking local residents to name the 20 new double-decker buses that had just been added to its fleet. The company had started with names such as Brighton Belle, Brighton Rock, Brighton Pier, Brighton & Hove Albion, Hove Actually[7] and Brighton and Hove in Bloom, and then asked local residents for help. It considered the options of naming the buses after landmarks in the town, people from the past, and present day celebrities.[8]
In April 2004 the company added another 18 buses to its fleet, and continued the practice of naming them. The company's stated rule for choosing the name was: "The nominations must have made a significant contribution to the life of the local area during their lifetime and must have since died."[9] However several living people are in fact featured on the bus fronts.
In September 2005 the company added a further 19 buses to its fleet, naming them after people who had "made great contributions to the city" – and including more female names, after complaints that the system had been too male-dominated up to that point. For a year one of the buses had been named after local historian and journalist Adam Trimingham.[10]
[edit] Fleet (excluding coaches)
- 88 Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka
- 18 Scania N270UD/East Lancs OmniDekka
- 21 Volvo B9TL/ Wright Eclipse Gemini 2
- 31 Dennis Trident 2/East Lancs Lolyne
- 36 Dennis Trident 2/Plaxton President
- 13 Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
- 13 Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 1/Plaxton/Transbus Pointer 2 (MPD's ex-Metrobus)
- 7 Dennis Trident 2/Alexander ALX400 (ex-Stagecoach London)
- 8 Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer
- 1 Optare Solo (ex-Metrobus)
- 7 Scania OmniLink
- 31 Scania OmniCity (double deck)
- 4 Mercedes-Benz Citaro (ex-London General Bendybuses)
- 1 Bristol K5G/ECW (Heritage Fleet)
- 1 AEC Routemaster (Ex Metrobus)
[edit] Trivia
- One of the company's buses was featured in 2005 movie MirrorMask.
[edit] See also
- List of bus operators of the United Kingdom
- Trolleybuses in Brighton
- List of bus routes in Brighton & Hove
[edit] References
- ^ Official company history sub-website
- ^ Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Fleet History
- ^ Colour-coded route map
- ^ http://www.buses.co.uk/tickets/
- ^ Brighton train passengers to test smart cards
- ^ Mark Gould (2004-11-24). "Next stop perfection". The Guardian. http://society.guardian.co.uk/publicservicesawards/story/0,,1357863,00.html.
- ^ http://www.hoveactually.co.uk/
- ^ "Your name could go on the side of a bus". The Argus. 1999-02-24. http://archive.theargus.co.uk/1999/2/24/198670.html.
- ^ "New buses celebrate city's past". The Argus. 2004-04-02. http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2004/4/2/115942.html.
- ^ "More big names for buses". The Argus. 2005-09-27. http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2005/9/27/203420.html.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brighton & Hove (bus company) |
- Company website
- Brighton & Hove City Council information on Park & Ride scheme
- Brighton & Hove City Council information on buses to the South Downs
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