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Metrobus (South East England)

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Metrobus
Scania OmniDekka in Horsham
ParentGo-Ahead Group
Founded1983
HeadquartersCrawley
LocaleSouth London
East Surrey
West Sussex
North-west Kent
Service typeBus services
Routes65(non-London Buses) [1]
Total: 103 [1]
HubsCrawley
Websitewww.metrobus.co.uk

Metrobus[2] is a bus operator with routes in south London, and parts of Surrey, Kent, West and East Sussex. The company use to operates many routes under contract to Transport for London in south and south-east London but are now ran by Metrobus, a brand operated by Go-Ahead London. Formed through a management buyout in 1983, it was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in 1999.[3]

Company history

Two coach operators, Southland Travel and RB Coaches, were taken over by Metrobus in October 1991 along with the ten vehicles originally owned by the companies. These coaches were used on the already existing private hire business, and to operate scheduled day trips to European destinations.[4] In 2005, Southland Travel was purchased by Sullivan Buses, along with Polhill Garage. The business was later resold to its management.[5]

In the summers of 1994 and 1995, Metrobus operated their 'Wealdsman' service (numbered 746) to complement the Surrey Hills weekend leisure bus network. Metrobus used a specially painted blue and yellow AEC Regal IV (RF-class) vehicle, on loan from the Wealdsman Preservation Group, for the long service between Bromley and Tunbridge Wells, connecting with other leisure services (London & Country Routemaster service 410 to Box Hill) at Westerham.[6]

In 1999,Metrobus was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group.[7]

Metrobus is the operator of the Fastway guided bus network in Gatwick and Crawley which opened in September 2003 in order to reduce congestion on the roads around Crawley by encouraging people to take the bus instead of using their cars.[8]

Routes 526/527 were lost in a Surrey County Council contract to Southdown PSV in January 2008 although regained in September 2012, and Route 100 (Maidenbower - Redhill) became part of the Fastway Network in Spring 2008.

In September 2009 it was announced that from 3 October 2009, Metrobus would take over Arriva Guildford & West Surrey's Horsham operations, including Horsham town routes, route 93 (Dorking - Horsham) and London Buses route 465 (Dorking - Kingston). Metrobus purchased 19 buses as part of the sale and moved operations away from Arriva's site at Warnham to their existing depot in Crawley.

Incidents

In March 2003, two Metrobus vehicles were involved in a fatal accident at Crawley bus station. A bus crashed into the back of another bus, and mounted the kerb where passengers were waiting. As a result of the impact, one woman was killed and five others injured. Metrobus described themselves as "devastated" by the accident, and said it was their "first major incident".[9]

On 8 January 2011, one of Metrobus' vehicles was hijacked while in service in Merstham. The bus was empty having just dropped off the last passengers, and the bus driver managed to escape unharmed, along with the cash box the hijackers had tried to steal. The hijacked bus was then driven through the area, striking a number of parked cars and signs, before being reversed into another Metrobus vehicle which was in service with passengers. There were no injuries, but the road was closed for a number of hours while the police investigated. Two men, aged 23 and 25, were arrested. One was released on bail and the other was charged with seven separate offences.[10]

On 23 December 2013 an East Lancs Esteem caught fire in Bewbush.[11]

Fleet livery

Leyland Olympian in the yellow and blue livery used until the early 2000s
Alexander ALX200 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Horsham in the older outside London livery
Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in the newer outside London livery

Metrobus initially had a blue and yellow livery. This was superseded by a two-tone blue livery in the early 2000s.

The majority of Crawley buses feature a light blue base with a dark blue roof which swoops down at the front. It also has a white stripe separating the roof from the base, and a light blue lower dash panel. The Fastway livery is a silver base with navy blue cantrail panels and a navy blue lower front panel. Some older buses feature light blue with a dark blue roof and skirt panels along with a dark blue lower dash panel.

Most buses have blue, red and orange oblong shapes on the seats, or "sails", however buses are now getting refurbished with Crawley's "Blue Moon" moquette now becoming standard on all Metrobus buses. Fastway buses have a slightly different moquette, with the letters "fw" sewn into the fabric,along with dark grey vinyl inserts.

Driver training vehicles are a mixture of older and newer Darts, the older ones are blue and yellow, and the newer ones are red and blue. Three more Darts have recently been converted into driver training vehicles and they are white.

Garages

Metrobus operates from one garage only. This is:

Crawley (CY)

Crawley garage operates all of the company's non-London buses.

History

Following the decision by Arriva to discontinue its operations in Crawley and most of East Surrey and West Sussex in March 2001, Metrobus purchased Arriva's premises in Crawley, moved the company headquarters (along with all non-London routes) there and began to develop a commercial bus network in the town.[12]

In October 2009, there was further expansion in the fleet as Arriva decided to sell their Horsham bus operations to Metrobus. Metrobus took over operation of various Horsham town routes, route 93 to Dorking and London Buses route 465 which is run under contract to Transport for London. Operations moved to Metrobus' existing depot in Crawley, away from the previous garage in Warnham. All of Arriva's single deckers based at Warnham transferred to Metrobus. Six Alexander Dennis Enviro200s used on the 465 continued on that route. Six Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointers were kept and were refurbished internally and repainted (390, 393, 394, 395, 396 and 398), these are currently being used on route 93 between Dorking and Horsham; and a further six (388, 399, 397, 389, 391 and 392) being sold on to other operators. A solitary Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties double decker remained in operation with Arriva.

The Arriva Darts are now scheduled to be withdrawn once most Caetanos and the ex-Arriva Enviros have been refurbished, and also when all the new-build Enviros have been delivered. The refurbishing process has been put on hold due to Metrobus having to fill in for the unexpected bankruptcy of part of Countryliner, with some of the ex-Arriva Enviros only being partly refurbished. The refurbishment programme cannot continue until some ex-London buses get transferred from Orpington from London contract renewals.

On 30 June 2012, route 465 passed to Quality Line.[13] During August 2013, new Wright Eclipses with Volvo chassis have been ordered as a replacement for the ageing Scania OmniCitys currently employed on the Crawley Fastway. This will displace the Scanias to other "country" workings and facilitate the retirement of the remaining unrefurbished Caetano Nimbuses, whose refurbishments were cancelled. A number of Alexander Dennis Enviro200s have been ordered to replace the non-DDA compliant Darts, in order to both modernise the fleet and to comply to new legislation by 2016.

Bus types in use

Metrobus in the Media

Metrobus has been involved in an NHS advert, a Churchill Insurance Company car insurance advert in Croydon's Valley Park and several BT adverts, where several of their buses were used.

A former Metrobus Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer was used in a bus racing challenge in Series 12 of BBC's Top Gear.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metrobus (South East England).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference metrobus.co.uk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Companies House extract company no 1742404 Metrobus Limited
  3. ^ "Go-Ahead - Metrobus". Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  4. ^ Boag, Andrew; Ltd, Metrobus. Metrobus: The Company's First Ten Years. Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-85414-159-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Sullivan Buses - Enthusiasts". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  6. ^ Dawes, Mike. "Wealdsman - RF255". Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  7. ^ "Business Case Study - Go-Ahead - Deregulation". The Times 100 Business Case Studies. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  8. ^ "About Fastway - Frequently Asked Questions". 2001-02-04. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  9. ^ "Bus crash kills woman". BBC News. 2003-03-10. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  10. ^ "'Hijacked' bus collides with cars and second bus". Surrey Advertiser. 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  11. ^ http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/PHOTOS-Burnt-bus-caught-Bewbush/story-20358145-detail/story.html
  12. ^ Acquisition of Crawley Depot Go-Ahead Group 2 April 2001
  13. ^ http://www.londonbusroutes.net/changes.htm#108
  14. ^ http://www.metrobus.co.uk/download/7807.8/fleet-list/
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