Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company
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 Bus "Daisy Nokes" (YN56 FFR, 914) at Palmeira Square |
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| Slogan | "Essential travel for our city" |
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| Founded | 1884 |
| Headquarters | Brighton |
| Service area | West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent |
| Service type | Mainly urban bus services |
| Destinations | Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne, Lewes, Shoreham and Tunbridge Wells |
| Fleet | 264 |
| Operator | Go-Ahead Group |
| Chief executive | Rodger 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, United Kingdom. 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 264 buses in passenger service, including 18 built in 2007. Except for one vintage bus, the oldest in the fleet dates from 1994.[2] The company also owns nine 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 four "Night Bus" routes, a Park & Ride facility between the Withdean Sports Complex and Churchill Square, 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.
[edit] METRO services
During 1996 and 1997, four of the most popular routes (1/1A, 7, 5/5A/5B and 25) 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 frequencies, modern buses and a wide range of connections throughout the centres of Brighton and Hove, reinforced by a colour-coded diagrammatic map [3]
| Route | Frequency | Between | And | Route Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1A | 6-7 minutes | Whitehawk | Mile Oak | Via Royal Sussex County Hospital, Old Steine, North Street, Churchill Square, Palmeira Square, Hove Town Hall and Church Road |
| 5/5A | 10 minutes | Patcham/Hollingbury | Hangleton | 5 Patcham, Patchdean (5A via Old London Road), London Road, Old Steine, Churchill Square, Palmeira Square, Hove Town Hall, George Street, Old Shoreham Road, Elm Drive (5A via Mill View Hospital), The Grenadier, Poplar Avenue and Hangleton Hardwick Road. |
| 5B | 10 minutes | Hollingbury ASDA | Hangleton | Via Surrenden Road, London Road, Old Steine, Churchill Square, Palmeira Square, Hove Town Hall, George Street, Hove Park Upper School, Nevill Road Co-op, The Grenadier and West Way |
| 7 | 6 minutes | Hove (George Street) | Brighton Marina | Via Hove station, Brighton station, Churchill Square, Old Steine and Royal Sussex County Hospital;
N7 Shoreham, Mile Oak, Hangleton, Hove George Street, Brighton Station, Old Steine, Royal Sussex County Hospital and Brighton Marina. |
| 25 | 5 minutes | Universities | Brighton Marina/Hove (Palmeira Square) | Via St Peter's Church, Old Steine and Churchill Square. 25 runs to Palmeira Square; 25A (peak hours only) runs to Portslade station; 25C runs to County Hospital and Brighton Marina; N25 runs from the Universities - via Varley Halls - to Portslade Station via Church Rd and from Portslade Station via Portland Rd and George Street back to the Universities - via Varley Halls. |
| 49 | 6 - 10 minutes | East Moulsecoomb | Portslade station | Via Lewes Road Open Market, Old Steine, Churchill Square, Hove Town Hall and Portland Road 49B (evenings only) terminates at Churchill Square |
| 49A | 10 - 20 minutes | Lower Bevendean | Portslade station | Via Lewes Road, Open Market, Old Steine, Churchill Square, Hove Town Hall and Portland Road |
[edit] Night buses
As mentioned previously, the company operates several night buses, the N7 between the Marina, Hove George Street and Shoreham, the N25 between the Universities and Portslade Station, plus the Nightclub buses N69 & 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 - until 7th December 2007). 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 and Haywards Heath and also does two trips, leaving at 1.00am and 2.30am from the Brighton Centre.
[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 will be run during the winter of 2007 on Sundays & Public Holidays. The company often uses its fleet of four open-top buses on these routes during the summer, although usually only two are used with the roofs removed. The routes are:
- 77: Brighton Pier to Devil's Dyke
- 78: Old Steine to Stanmer Park
- 79: Old Steine to Ditchling Beacon
[edit] Other tourist routes
The company also has three permanent open-top buses which are used on the Guide Friday circular tour of Brighton. At present these have a recorded commentary to explain the history of the sights to be seen from these routes. They take in the station, the Palace Pier and the Marina. Two of the vehicles have offside doors, although these are not used and have barriers across them to prevent their use. The other has a half roof at the front. Occasionally the company's vintage 1953 Bristol K type is used as a mobile office and waiting room for these tours.
[edit] Named buses
Many of the company's buses have the name of a famous person commemorated on their front. [4]
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", 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. [5]
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 given as "The nominations must have made a significant contribution to the life of the local area during their lifetime and must have since died." [6]
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 until that point. For a year, one of the buses had been named after local historian and journalist Adam Trimingham, a special exception to the rule that only the names of dead people be used. [7]
- Further information: List of Brighton and Hove buses named after famous people
[edit] Fleet (excluding coaches)
- 72 Scania N94UD East Lancs OmniDekka
- 18 Scania N270UD East Lancs OmniDekka
- 40 Dennis Trident 2 East Lancs Lolyne
- 36 Dennis Trident 2 Plaxton President
- 21 Scania N113DRB East Lancs Cityzen
- 21 Volvo B10BLE Wright Renown
- 14 Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer
- 8 Dennis Dart Marshall
- 7 Dennis Trident 2 Alexander ALX400
- 7 Dennis Lance Optare Sigma
- 5 Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer
- 2 Dennis Dart MPD Plaxton Pointer
- 1 Optare Solo
[edit] Trivia
- One of the company's buses was featured in 2005 movie MirrorMask.
[edit] References
- ^ Official company history sub-website
- ^ Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Fleet History
- ^ Colour-coded route map
- ^ Mark Gould. "Next stop perfection", The Guardian, 2004-11-24.
- ^ "Your name could go on the side of a bus", The Argus, 1999-02-24.
- ^ "New buses celebrate city's past", The Argus, 2004-04-02.
- ^ "More big names for buses", The Argus, 2005-09-27.
[edit] See also
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