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Swindon's Bus Company
Wright Solar bodied Scania K230UB at the 2008 Alton bus rally at Anstey Park in Thamesdown livery.
ParentGo-Ahead Group
FoundedSeptember 1904
HeadquartersSwindon
Service areaSwindon
Service typeBus services
Fleet85 (February 2017)
Websitewww.swindonbus.co.uk

Swindon's Bus Company (formerly Thamesdown Transport) is a bus operator in England, serving Swindon and the surrounding area. Previously owned by Swindon Borough Council, in February 2017 ownership passed to the Go-Ahead Group and the operation was rebranded as "Thamesdown...Swindon's bus company", later simply "Swindon's bus company".[1]

History

The final logo of Thamesdown Transport, used until 2017
Depot on Barnfield Road in March 2007
Transbus Pointer SPD in Swindon in September 2004

Thamesdown Transport had its origins in 1904, when Swindon Corporation started to operate electric trams. Bus operation started in 1927, and two years later all the trams were replaced.[2]

On local government re-organisation in April 1974, the functions of the corporation were transferred to the new Thamesdown district, and the name of the bus operation was changed to Thamesdown Transport. A blue, green and white livery was used. During the 1980s, operations were expanded to rural areas around Swindon, to replace services withdrawn by Alder Valley and Bristol Omnibus Company.

To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the operation was transferred into a separate legal entity.[3] Swindon Borough Council retained ownership from 1986 until the company was sold to the Go-Ahead Group in February 2017,[4] and was integrated into its Go South Coast subsidiary.[5][6] From April 2017 the branding "Swindon's bus company" was employed, together with a new livery in green and blue, with red and yellow highlights.[7]

Fares

Thamesdown implemented a fastFare system on 1 August 2005 in which passengers must pay the exact fare as change will not be given by the driver.[8] This has generated some criticism as its implementation often results in passengers paying more than the necessary fare.[9] This can be due to not having the correct change or, more commonly, tourists and visitors being unaware of the policy until after they have deposited money. The reasoning behind the policy is that if the driver does not have to deal with giving change, passenger loading times are shortened, resulting in a faster and more reliable service. It also reduces the risk of attacks on drivers. This policy was scrapped in 2017, when Thamesdown Transport was sold to Go South Coast.

Thamesdown have also implemented a Text and Go service, where passengers can send an SMS message containing a seven digit bus stop identifier to a premium number to receive information about the next three buses due to arrive at that stop.[10]

Since Go South Coast has taken over, they have introduced new ways to buy tickets. Contactless payments have been introduced,[11] and in 2018, the Clickit2ride app was made available,[12] in common with the rest of Go South Coast. The app can be used to purchase time-defined tickets,[13] but not single or return tickets. The app produces a QR code, which is scanned by the bus's ticket machine.

Fleet

As at February 2017, the fleet consisted of 85 buses.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Fresh new look unveiled for Thamesdown…Swindon's bus company". Thamesdown Buses. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ^ About Us Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Thamesdown Transport
  3. ^ Companies House extract company no 1997617 Thamesdown Transport Limited
  4. ^ Swindon council sell loss-making Thamesdown Transport bus firm BBC News 3 February 2017
  5. ^ a b Thamesdown Transport sold to Go South Coast Bus & Coach Professional 3 February 2017
  6. ^ New managing director of Thamesdown Transport named after Go-Ahead takeover Swindon Advertiser 4 February 2017
  7. ^ "Fresh new look unveiled for Thamesdown…Swindon's bus company". Thamesdown Transport. 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017.
  8. ^ Lyndsay Scanlan. "Just the exact change please". Swindon Advertiser. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  9. ^ S Watson. "Expensive and inconvenient as well". thisiswiltshire.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  10. ^ "Text and Go". Thamesdown Transport. Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  11. ^ "Thamesdown Transport goes contactless". Swindon Advertiser. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Now you can buy your bus tickets using a phone app". Swindon Advertiser. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Introducing a new way to pay". Swindon's bus company. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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