Xelabus
 | |
 Wright Eclipse 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE in 2017 | |
| Parent | Philip Blair |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Chandlers Ford |
| Service area | Southampton Eastleigh Hampshire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 30 (July 2014) |
| Website | www.xelabus.info |
Xelabus Limited[1] is a small independent bus operator, based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It operates within the Southampton and Eastleigh area, running many supermarket routes.
History
Xelabus was founded in November 2010 by bus enthusiast Gareth Blair, son of well-known bus enthusiast Philip Blair. It originally operated seven bus routes which were mainly supermarket routes for Asda and Tesco. A free service in Eastleigh was the first route to be introduced.[2] Since then nine more routes have commenced including an Open Top Tour "Sea the city" and some more supermarket services.[3] Vehicles are painted in a green livery similar to that of the former Hants & Dorset company.
Some services have been more successful than others, with one service to Southampton competing with Bluestar being withdrawn in less than 12 months.
In September 2012 Xelabus began a two-year contract to operate services to Totton College.[4]
On 12 May 2014, Xelabus took over route 67 Winchester to Petersfield via West Meon from Velvet under contract to Hampshire County Council.[5] On 22 June 2014, it took over the Barton Peveril College routes from Velvet.[6] In August 2015, Xelabus acquired the route and school services of Brijan Tours.[7]
On the 4th of November, 2019, Xelabus introduced contactless payments across their vehicles. [8]
Services
As of November 2019, Xelabus operates 14 routes, where the routes terminate in Eastleigh with the exception of shopper bus routes, X10, X11 and X12.[9]
Fleet
Xelabus initially operated a fleet of seven vehicles.[2] Three were destroyed in a depot fire in March 2011.[10] Their fleet has grown to around 40 vehicles as of October 2019[8] and consist of mostly Enviro200s and Scania Omnilinks.
References
- ^ Companies House extract company no 7338043 Xelabus Limited
- ^ a b Free bus service launched for Eastleigh Daily Echo 17 November 2010
- ^ More Xelabus Routes Xelabus Website 6 June 2011
- ^ Xelabus & Totton College Partnership Xelabus 28 April 2012
- ^ Bus service 67 - Frequently Asked Questions Velvet
- ^ Barton Peveril College buses: Upcoming changes Velvet 13 May 2014
- ^ http://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/xelabus-acquires-brijan-tours-services/
- ^ a b https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18002098.eastleigh-bus-company-turns-contactless/
- ^ Timetables Xelabus
- ^ Xelabus hit by suspected arson attack in Eastleigh Daily Echo, 14 March 2011
External links
Media related to Xelabus at Wikimedia Commons
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