 | |
| Parent | Alan Peters |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1991 |
| Headquarters | St Philip's Marsh, Bristol |
| Service area | Somerset |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Routes | 11 (including 6 shopper buses, 2 school buses) [1] |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 4 (September 2022) |
| Website | www.abus.co.uk |
Abus is an English bus company based in Bristol that operates school bus services in Bath and Sainsbury's shopper buses around South Bristol.
Abus was founded in May 1991 by former Badgerline manager Alan Peters with an Eastern Coach Works bodied Daimler Fleetline on route A49 from Bristol to Keynsham competing with Badgerline's 349. In February 1992, it began operating its first service under contract to Avon County Council. From 1997, it began operating route 349 in co-operation with Badgerline. [2] [3] [4]
In 1998, Abus operated the first low floor double deck bus in the world, an Optare Spectra bodied DAF DB250. In 1999, it began operating co-ordinated services from Castle Cary railway station to the Glastonbury Festival. [3] [4] By 2016, it was operating route X9 from Bristol to Nailsea under contract to First West of England. [5]
In June 2016, Abus operated 24 buses. [5]
In November 2018, ten buses were destroyed in a fire at Abus' St Philip's Marsh depot. [6] [7] With the pending introduction of a low-emission zone in Bristol that would require much of the fleet to be replaced, Peters decided to semi-retire with operations on service 349 ceasing on 28 August 2021. [3] [4] [8] Since ceasing operations on service 349, the company gained 6 shopper routes to and from Winterstoke Road Sainsbury's in South Bristol, and also operates school buses R2 & R3 to Ralph Allen School in Bath.
After First West of England started withdrawing routes owing to a driver shortage and commercial nonviability, it came to some of the smaller operators such as Abus to take some routes on. On September 27 Abus officially started running route 22 between the University of Bath and Twerton. Following this on October 10 Abus started running route 96 in South Bristol between Hengrove and Brislington. As well as this they operated route 178 between Brislington P&R and Paulton jointly with Citistar with Abus providing one journey in each direction daily. Both the 96 and 178 were withdrawn on April 2nd.
As of September 2023, Abus operate five buses:
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Limited, trading as Metrobus, is a bus operator with routes in parts of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Greater London. Formed through a management buyout in 1983, Metrobus was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in September 1999 and is now under the control of Brighton & Hove, part of the Go-Ahead Group.
Cardiff Bus is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to remain in council ownership.
Switch Mobility is a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company is responsible for the EV operations of the group with Ashok Leyland focusing on its core business of diesel-powered vehicles as well as work on alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.
The VDL DB250 was a twin-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach.
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.
The Optare Spectra was a double-decker bus body built on both the step entrance DAF DB250 and low-floor DB250LF chassis between 1991 and 2006.
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.
The East Lancs OmniTown was a low-floor midibus body sold in the United Kingdom by East Lancs and Scania. It used the Scania N94UB chassis, which is the single-decker version of the N94UD double-decker chassis, with East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodywork. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the OmniTown chassis. The confusion concerning the chassis, and indeed the buses, arises due to the complexity of the OmniTown's and other Scania products' histories.
Tootbus London, formerly The Original Tour is a London bus tour operator using open-top double-decker buses. It also holds the franchise to run City Sightseeing's London tour. Based in Wandsworth, it is a subsidiary of RATP Dev.
The Northern Counties Palatine was a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England.
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare, East Lancs and Darwen. It could be built as a body available on Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Volvo B9TL or Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis with the 2-axle and 3-axle variants. It is the double-decker equivalent of the Optare Esteem. Some 3-axle Olympus buses were built.
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June 2008 Darwen performed a reverse takeover with the then bus manufacturer Optare, with the Darwen name disappearing.
First West of England is a bus operator providing services in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Stephensons of Essex is a privately owned bus company based in Rochford, Essex. It operates local bus services throughout Essex and West Suffolk, from headquarters at Rochford, near Southend-on-Sea, and depots at Maldon, Boreham, Braintree and Haverhill.
Western Greyhound was a bus operator based in Summercourt, near Newquay, which operated services in Cornwall and Devon from January 1998 until March 2015.
Stagecoach in Preston was a network of bus routes running within the city of Preston, Lancashire and into the surrounding area. It was founded in 2009 after Stagecoach Group acquired Preston Bus that was founded in 1904. The company operated from the main depot on Selbourne Street. In January 2011, the company was sold to Rotala, which now operates the services under the Preston Bus brand.
Buses are the main form of public transport in Bristol, England. Most bus services are operated by First West of England. Other companies offering services include Abus, Citistar, The Big Lemon, Transpora Bus, Stagecoach West and Newport Bus.
The East Lancs OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro 3, and later Scania N230UD and N270UD at Euro 4 and Euro 5, the bodywork consists of a modified East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the Darwen Group and finally Optare before ceasing in 2011.
Adventure Travel is a bus and coach company in South Wales. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.