Nu-Venture
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|---|---|
_1991_Leyland_Olympian_Alexander_RL%2C_Showbus_2009.jpg) Alexander RL bodied Leyland Olympian in September 2009 | |
| Headquarters | Aylesford |
| Service area | Kent |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 52 |
| Fleet | 30 (November 2013) |
| Chief executive | Norman Kemp |
| Website | www.nu-venture.co.uk |
Nu-Venture[1] is a bus operator in Aylesford, Kent, England.
History
Established in 1960s as a coach company, Nu-Venture once operated coach tour holidays all over Europe, and in the 1980s a London commuter service, but coach hire activities ceased in 2010.
With deregulation in 1986, local bus operation started with a joint service 58 between Maidstone, West Malling and Trottiscliffe/Ryarsh. Since the 1990s, the fleet and area of operation has expanded to allow 28 buses to serve Maidstone, Medway, Malling, Gravesham, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells.
Daily operation of bus service 151 (Medway/Kings Hill) under contract to Kent & Medway Councils commenced in April 2008, part-replacing a previous long-established Nu-Venture commercial service.
Under contract to Kent County Council, Nu-Venture operate a number of services, including much of the Transweald 295 / 297 route from Tunbridge Wells and Tenterden to Ashford during the daytime on Mondays to Fridays. In July 2013 route 295 was replaced by Stagecoach South East route 2A.[2]
From April 2010, Nu-Venture's operation of Kent County Council services altered, routes 23, 26, 27, 66, 404 and 405 being assumed in place of operations on services 71, 81, 82, 85, 88 and 158 - the contracts for the latter two services being regained in April 2012.
From September 2010, routes operated under contract to Medway Council altered with the assumption of routes 172/173 (Chatham-Earl Estate) but loss of 179 (Chatham-Walderslade) and 172/173 have subsequently had journeys diverted (as 174/175) to serve Medway City Estate (using a newly constructed bus-only link road); this road is also part of the 170 route, provided from August 2011 by Nu-Venture on a commercial basis to link Medway Gate with Chatham.
Two Kent/Medway contracts have been assumed in the recent past; from April 2011, services 130/131 (Maidstone/Hempstead Valley/Rainham/Twydall, with a limited service beyond to Medway Maritime Hospital), and service 150 (Maidstone/Blue Bell Hill Village/Walderslade/Lordswood) from January 2012.
Nu-Venture operate a growing number of modern accessible low-floor easy access single-deck buses, but, amongst older buses, a quantity of new-to-London 1980s Leyland Titan double-deck buses, converted from dual- to single-door specification, remain, three of which carry the current two-greens fleet livery which was introduced in 2010 to replace the earlier white/blue.
Since December 2010, the 'Ticketer' ticketing system has been in use, providing smartcard and vehicle location functions as well as the normal ticket-issuing function.
Fleet
As at November 2013 the fleet consisted of 30 buses.[3]
Incidents
In November 2012 a Northern Counties bodied DAF SB220 caught fire in Blue Bell Hill village, no passengers were onboard.[4][5]
In November 2012 a bus driver had to be rescued after his double decker bus blew over into a ditch trapping him in the vehicle in Cliffe, no passengers were onboard.[6]
References
- ↑ Companies House extract company no 1239389 Nu-Venture Coaches Limited
- ↑ New Tenterden to Ashford bus service Stagecoach 16 August 2013
- ↑ "Nu-Venture Fleet list". Retrieved 27 November 2013.
- ↑ "Nu-Venture R988FNW". Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "Bus goes up in flames at Blue Bell Hill". Kent Online. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "Driver rescued after bus blown off Cliffe road by wind". Kent Online. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nu-Venture. |
