White Bus Services
 Optare Tempo in April 2009 | |
| Parent | Doug Jeatt |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 |
| Headquarters | Winkfield |
| Service area | Berkshire |
| Service type | Bus and coach services |
| Routes | 9 |
| Destinations | Windsor, Windsor Great Park, Cheapside, Sunningdale, Sunninghill, South Ascot, Ascot |
| Fleet | 18 (October 2013) |
| Website | www.whitebus.co.uk |
White Bus Services[1] is a bus and coach operator based in Winkfield, Berkshire, England. Founded in 1930, it operates a bus service between Ascot and Windsor under the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Borough Bus name, as well as services to schools in the Windsor, Maidenhead and Wokingham areas.
History
White Bus Services was formed in December 1930 when William Jeatt, who owned the village forge in Winkfield entered into an agreement to purchase the service between Windsor Castle and Sunninghill operated by Republic Bus Service for £100 from George Ackroyd. Jeatt's son, Cecil Edouard Jeatt, had been employed by Brown to drive the bus prior to the Jeatt's taking over. The company commenced operations from North Street Garage in Winkfield which is still the company's depot.[2]
In 1955 the charter side of the business was sold to Dick Mauler as Winkfield Coaches. In 1990 it was reamalgamated with White Bus Services. In 1987 some school services were acquired from A Mooore & Sons.[2]
The Windsor to Ascot bus service
The original route, which operated 7 days a week, started at Windsor Castle and exited the town via the hospital and Clewer Green, it carried on up St Leonard's Hill and then past North Street Garage, on through Cranbourne, to Lovel Hill and Brookside, along Fernbank Road and then via London Road to Ascot where it served both the Horse & Groom public house and the railway station, continuing on through South Ascot to Sunninghill where the service terminated.
In 1936 White Bus Services altered its route so as not to compete with other operators. The new route started from the same point at Windsor Castle and then entered Windsor Great Park at Queen Anne's Gate, travelling via Woodside, Cheapside and terminating at Sunninghill, journeys now took 40 minutes to reach Sunninghill as opposed to 48 minutes on the previous route. From here the route continued to the Windmill public house on the A30 London Road at Windlesham where it then turned right along the A30 to its new terminus at Bagshot Square, a journey of 54 minutes at a fare of 1/7d.
During the early 1940s the Windsor terminus was moved from outside the castle to the Great Western Railways' Windsor Central station where it remained until April 1992 when the station forecourt was closed for redevelopment. At this time the terminus was moved opposite the Theatre Royal, the route then exiting the town via Peascod Street. The terminus remained here for a number of years until Peascod Street was closed for pedestrianisation, at which time buses entering Windsor terminated opposite the Parish Church and departed from Lower Peascod Street, as they do now.
By the middle of 1968 the service had been cut back from Bagshot to Sunninghill, the Bagshot section of the route becoming less used as the years passed, also by this time the Sunday operations had ceased. September 1982 saw an extension of the route from Sunninghill to Ascot via South Ascot thus the White Bus Services once again served Ascot Railway Station and the Horse & Groom after an absence of 46 years. The current timetable sees 8 journeys from Windsor to Ascot (weekdays) and 6 on Saturdays, Ascot to Windsor sees 7 journeys (weekdays) and 6 on Saturdays, with two short workings, one commencing and one terminating at Fernhill (weekdays) and one commencing at Fernhill on Saturdays.
Fare Collection
In the early days Bell Punch tickets were used, with fare collection being undertaken by a conductor, in the early 1970s Setright ticket machines were in use but by this time the fares were collected by the driver, these machines remained in use until the mid-1990s when electronic ticketing technology appeared in the form of Wayfarer Saver ticket machines, which in turn gave way to Wayfarer III machines in 2010, these were necessary after the National Concessionary Fare scheme was rolled out across England and the need for accurate passenger data became apparent.
Fleet
As at October 2013 the fleet consisted of 18 buses and coaches.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ Companies House extract company no 1184445 CE Jeatt & Sons Limited
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 White Bus Service Buszone
