Silver Rider (bus route)

Silver Rider 1
Overview
Operator Z&S Buses
Garage Aylesbury
Vehicle Optare Solo, Enviro200 Dart
Peak vehicle requirement 2
Predecessors Arriva Shires & Essex
Route
Start Fairford Leys, Buckingham Park
Via Prebendal Farm, Aylesbury College
End Aylesbury town centre
Length 5 miles, 30 mins
Service
Frequency 15
Weekend frequency 20

Silver Rider is a frequent bus service and railway station shuttle forming part of Aylesbury's rainbowroutes network of bus services,[1] currently operated by local independent operator Z&S Buses[2] and previously by Arriva Shires & Essex. It is given service number 1.

History

The service runs between the new village of Fairford Leys to the south-west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Fairford Leys was built in the late 1990s and the Silver Rider service commenced in January 2004 as a dedicated service for the village, after it had been served by the diverted route 4 up until this point. By September 2006, the route was carrying around 3,000 passengers per week, and new vehicles were introduced to increase capacity.[3]

It was the first service in Aylesbury to act as a dedicated railway station shuttle to Aylesbury Station, with a peak hour timetable designed to meet and wait for trains used by London commuters. Silver Rider was the second of Aylesbury's rainbowroutes to be launched, after redroute 9 commenced in the previous February.

Initially operated by Arriva Shires & Essex for a period of 5 years, operations were taken over by Z&S Buses in February 2009.[4]

As of September 2013, Silver Rider buses started serving Buckingham Park, replacing the now less frequently used Route 7 (formerly Purple Route 7).[5]

Service

An Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart of Z&S Buses operating on the route

Silver Rider provides a frequent and direct link from the centre of Fairford Leys, a new village built south-west of Aylesbury, to the centre of Aylesbury and also serves the housing development of Prebendal Farm. Buses start from Hampden Square in the village and proceeds through residential roads on a hail and ride basis, with no fixed bus stops or boarding points. It also utilises a dedicated bus-only link between Fairford Leys Way and Fowler Road on Prebendal Farm to provide a quicker alternative to private car journey on the same route.

The service runs every 15 minutes and is timetabled specifically for commuters to catch onward Chiltern Railways services into London from Aylesbury station. Holders of monthly or longer season tickets with Chiltern Railways travel for free on the service.[6]

Route

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rainbowroutes.co.uk
  2. ↑ http://www.zands.co.uk
  3. ↑ BARBECUE CELEBRATES SUCCESS OF SILVER RIDER BUS SCHEME Bucks Herald, 7 September 2006
  4. ↑ Improvements to Aylesbury's bus network Bucks Herald, 16 February 2009
  5. ↑ All change local bus network revisions for Aylesbury Bucks County Council, 28 August 2013
  6. ↑ Five new bus services to be launched Bucks Free Press, 6 January 2004
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