Parent | Go-Ahead Group |
---|---|
Founded | 1884 |
Headquarters | Hove |
Service area | West Sussex East Sussex Kent |
Service type | Bus services |
Destinations | Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Lewes Shoreham-by-Sea Steyning Tunbridge Wells |
Fleet | 263 (November 2022) |
Website | www.buses.co.uk |
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Limited, [1] trading as Brighton & Hove, is a bus company operating most bus services in the city of Brighton and Hove in southern England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
Brighton & Hove was established in 1884 as Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company. In 1916, Thomas Tilling took over the company and replaced all its remaining horse buses with motor buses. [2] In November 1935 it was formed as the Brighton Hove and District Omnibus Company. [1] In January 1969 it merged with Southdown Motor Services as a subsidiary of the National Bus Company. In January 1985 in preparation for privatisation, Brighton & Hove was separated from Southdown. In May 1987 it was sold in a management buyout. In November 1993, Brighton & Hove was sold to the Go-Ahead Group. [3] [4]
In 1997, the Go-Ahead Group purchased Brighton Transport (1993) Ltd. for £5.76 million. Brighton Transport was the former municipally-owned bus operator in the city which latterly traded as Brighton Blue Bus following a management buyout in 1993. Go-Ahead merged the Brighton Blue Bus operations with those of Brighton & Hove following the completion of the purchase. [3] [5]
Brighton & Hove's operations expanded further in September 2007 with the acquisition of Stagecoach South's Lewes operations, which operated routes from Brighton to Eastbourne, Tunbridge Wells and Lewes itself. 15 out of 26 vehicles based at Lewes' depot were included in the sale, as were its 70 staff, however the depot building was not included in the acquisition and was subsequently closed. [6]
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. There are 40 separately-numbered standard routes. Frequencies range from every 5 minutes to two journeys per day. In addition, there are nine night bus routes and 19 school bus routes. In September 2005, the company took over many routes previously operated partly or entirely by Stagecoach South, the best example being the Coaster services 12 and 13X to Seaford and Eastbourne. [7]
The company operates from three depots: Conway Street, Whitehawk and Lewes Road. Conway Street also serves as the company's headquarters. The company also has four outstations in Newhaven, Eastbourne, Uckfield and Durrington.
Between 1996 and 1997, five of Brighton & Hove's most popular routes (1/1A, 5/5A/5B, 7, 25 and 49) were enhanced with new buses and individual route branding. All five routes offer regular services, modern buses and a wide range of connections throughout the centre of Brighton and Hove, reinforced by a colour-coded diagrammatic map. [8] Since 2004, Brighton & Hove have gradually introduced new buses to the Metro routes, the majority being Scania OmniDekkas. In April 2011, Metro 7 was removed from the Metro network and rebranded as Route 7 with brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs operating on the route. The last Metro branded buses in service were the Scania OmniCity double deckers delivered in 2009, mostly operating on Metro 5. The final few examples of Metro branding were removed in October 2013. [9]
The Regency Route is one of Brighton & Hove's branded routes. It began as route 729 by the nationalised Southdown Motor Services subsidiary of the National Bus Company, of which Brighton & Hove was a part, and the route was part of the NBC's cross-country "Stagecoach" network.
The Regency Route currently consists of the following services: [10]
These services combine to give an off-peak service of a bus every 10 minutes in each direction between Brighton and Lewes on weekdays and Saturdays, and a bus every 20 minutes in each direction on Sundays.
Three "Breeze" branded routes, with the slogan "breeze up to the Downs and beyond", currently run to beauty spots of the Sussex Downs on weekends and bank holidays: [11]
As of 2018 [update] the routes had an annual ridership of under 300,000 separately. [17] In February 2024, Brighton and Hove City Council proposed withdrawing its subsidies for routes 77 and 79. [14] The following month, it said it had secured funding for an additional year but that the routes would have to operate on a commercial basis after that. [18]
In July 2024, the company launched a new limited stop bus service, 1X, which replaced route 1A. [19] It operates between Mile Oak and Brighton Marina with an end-to-end journey time of approximately 45 minutes. Six new Enviro400MMCs (739-744) were ordered to operate on the route. [20]
In 2016, the company's coaching division was rebranded to Spirit of Sussex. It provides private hire and contract routes across the South East. The coaching fleet is split between depots, with the majority of vehicles stationed at their Ringmer depot which was acquired from Eastbourne Sightseeing when Brighton & Hove purchased the operation. [21]
On 29 August 2024, Brighton & Hove announced they had purchased Lewes-based Regency Coaches, with the brand being absorbed into Spirit of Sussex, including 16 vehicles and 14 staff. [22]
Brighton & Hove face limited competition on some of its network of routes. The Big Lemon bus operator, a community interest company founded in 2007 who used to run a route between the University of Sussex and central Brighton, is the largest competitor. It was set up in an effort to make Brighton and Hove's public transport options more sustainable by using biodiesel collected by the company from businesses around the city as well as offering private hire services. [23]
The Big Lemon originally operated an express service numbered 42X which ran from Brighton station to Falmer station using elderly step entranced buses. However the service was dropped in December 2007. A relaunch of the service commenced in early 2008 numbered 42. In 2010 the company started two more services, 43 and 44. However just months after it began route 43 ended due to low passenger numbers. In 2011 The Big Lemon faced competition from Brighton & Hove Buses in that Brighton Buses lowered its fares to match fares charged by The Big Lemon. In January 2012 The Big Lemon stopped running route 42 and continued to run route 44 only, split into two shuttles numbered UB1 and UB2. [24] The Big Lemon subsequently ceased operation of these services, and shuttle UB1 was operated by the University of Brighton until June 2023. [25] The company now operates tendered routes 16, 47 and 52. [26]
Other companies which run into the city include Brighton & Hove subsidiary Metrobus, which operates routes 270 (to/from East Grinstead), 271, 272 and 273 (all to/from Crawley, with the former two also serving RSC Hospital). Stagecoach South and Stagecoach South East run route 17 Horsham to Churchill Square, route 700 Portsmouth to Old Steine and route 701 Eastbourne to Old Steine. [27] Compass Travel also operate the routes 37 and 37B which operate from Bristol Estate to Meadowview.
Under the Transport Act 1985 Brighton and Hove City Council has the authority to put out to tender contracts (>5 years) to fill gaps in bus availability that arise due to lack of profitability. For example, the 81, 81A and 81C buses are subsidised, depending on route, from .03p (based on operations Monday – Saturday services) up to £1.32 (based on Winter Sunday evening services) for each fare bought. [28] The council is also obliged to subsidise school bus routes. For example, the 91 Cardinal Newman School bus is currently subsidised at £4.10 per single journey. [28]
Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company operates the majority of the contracts. [28]
Year | Subsidy |
---|---|
2011–12 | £1,177,600 |
2010–11 | £1,140,200 |
2009–10 | £1,236,800 |
2008–09 | £1,340,000 |
2007–08 | £1,143,600 |
The company operates, to a large extent, a flat fare system – people can travel on almost all of its buses, and to almost everywhere on its network, for fixed prices. The CitySAVER ticket allows people to travel as often as they want for one day anywhere on any combination of buses, with a few exceptions. There are also longer-period season tickets, there are tickets valid also with local rail services and other bus operators, and various concessions for students, people under 16, passengers boarding at Brighton Station and several others. [30]
In late 2011, the company began supporting Go-Ahead's The Key smartcard a bid to curb ticket sharing and speed up boarding times. It can also be used to store train tickets. [31]
Brighton & Hove buses also support The Key's keyGo system for pay-as-you-go travel within the PlusBus zones in Brighton, Eastbourne and Lewes. Journeys are charged per touch in, and are capped daily. If a train journey has been made on the same day with keyGo, the system will cap bus transport to the relevant PlusBus cap. [32]
Contactless payments were first made available in November 2018 as a method for payment, [33] and in September 2019, the company piloted the first tap-on, tap-off contactless scheme in the UK alongside its sister company, Metrobus, with aims to improve boarding times and make travelling convenient. [34]
As of 2024, the company's entire operational fleet each wear the name of a person notable to the city, famous or not, commemorated on the front. [36] [37]
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 with local connections. [38]
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: "The nominations must have made a significant contribution to the life of the local area during their lifetime and must have since died." [39] However several living people are in fact featured on the bus fronts.
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 to that point. For a year one of the buses had been named after local historian and journalist Adam Trimingham. [40]
Amid protests and petitions against memorials during the George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom, in July 2020, Brighton & Hove temporarily removed the name Sir Winston Churchill , first carried in the fleet since 2000, from one of their buses in the Spirit of Sussex fleet. [41] [42] This bus was later given the name Betty Howard, chairperson of the Women's Guild Friendship and a prominent private hirer of Brighton & Hove coaches, in November 2020. [43]
As of 2024 the Brighton & Hove fleet consists of roughly 300 buses. [44] The company mainly uses Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMCs, Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs, Wright StreetDeck and Scania Omnidekkas. [45] In October 2019 the company received 30 Alexander Dennis Enviro400ER hybrid electric buses for use on Route 5/5A/5B, which are geofenced to be used in electric mode within Brighton and Hove's ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone). [46] An additional 24 buses were delivered in 2020 for use on Route 1/1A. [47]
In April 2022, the bus company announced that by the end of 2022, all articulated buses ("bendy buses") in its fleet would be withdrawn. [48] The Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, acquired from Go-Ahead London started on Route 25 in April 2010 and were used on the 25, 25X and N25 routes from Old Steine or Portslade to the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. [49] The company stated the withdrawal of these buses was due to low passenger usage after the COVID-19 pandemic, high fuel usage, and a lack of spare parts for the buses. The final articulated bus was withdrawn after operating a special service on 7 November, with the buses replaced with refurbished Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs transferred from Go-Ahead London (201-216 which are ex-WVL 451-453, 477-480, 468, 470-476, 469). [50] [48]
In June 2023, the company announced it would be replacing its red and cream livery with a teal and aqua livery. [51]
In early 2024, deliveries commenced for a new fleet of 44 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses, to operate the Coaster routes, as well as Route 1X. [52]
All of the listed incidents have involved at least one Brighton & Hove bus.
Brighton is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the city of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located 47 miles (76 km) south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of "Brighthelmstone" was documented in the Domesday Book (1086). The town's importance grew in the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed, but it languished in the early modern period, affected by foreign attacks, storms, a suffering economy and a declining population. Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France. The town also developed in popularity as a health resort for sea bathing as a purported cure for illnesses.
East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the northeast, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the northwest, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.
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.
Brighton railway station is the southern terminus of the Brighton Main Line, the western terminus of the East Coastway Line and the eastern terminus of the West Coastway Line in England, and the principal station serving the city of Brighton, East Sussex. It is 50 miles 49 chains from London Bridge via Redhill.
Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Stadium for sponsorship reasons and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in Falmer, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. With a capacity of 31,876, it is the second largest stadium in South East England, after St. Mary's Stadium (Southampton), and the 29th largest stadium in the United Kingdom.
The East Coastway line is a railway line along the south coast of Sussex to the east of Brighton, England. Trains to the west of Brighton operate on the West Coastway line. Together with the West Coastway and the Marshlink line to the east, the line forms part of a continuous route from Havant to Ashford. The Brighton Main Line route to Eastbourne and Hastings, via Plumpton and Cooksbridge, shares the East Coastway line east of Lewes station.
Falmer railway station is in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, south-east England, 3 miles 39 chains (5.6 km) from Brighton railway station on the East Coastway line. It is operated by Southern.
Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury; it provides services in Kent and East Sussex, in South East England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group.
Moulsecoomb is a suburb of Brighton, Sussex, England, on the northeast side around the A270 Lewes Road, between Coldean and Bevendean, 2+1⁄4 miles (3.6 km) north of the seafront. The eastern edge adjoins Falmer Hill on the South Downs. It is often divided into smaller sections on maps: North Moulsecoomb, East Moulsecoomb and South Moulsecoomb.
Coldean is a suburb of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Located in the northeast corner of the urban area, it was developed by Brighton Corporation in the 1950s as one of several postwar council estates necessitated by the acute housing shortage in the area after World War II.
Public transport in Brighton and Hove, a city on the south coast of England, dates back to 1840. Brighton and Hove has a major railway station, an extensive bus service, many taxis, coach services, and it has previously had trolley buses, ferries, trams, auto rickshaws and hydrofoils.
Southdown Motor Services was a bus and coach operator in East and West Sussex and parts of Hampshire, in southern England. It was formed in 1915 and had various owners throughout its history, being purchased by the National Bus Company (NBC) in 1969. The company fleet name was lost when it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group in 1989 but buses operated under that legal name until 2015 when the operating licence was transferred to another company within the Stagecoach Group and 1915 company became dormant but still owned by the Stagecoach Group.
Articulated buses, colloquially known as "bendy buses", were rarely used in the United Kingdom compared to other countries, until the turn of the millennium. This was due to a preference for the double-decker bus for use on high capacity routes. In June 2006, there were over 500 articulated buses in the United Kingdom, although they were still heavily outnumbered by double deckers. The majority of this fleet was used in London, although these buses would be withdrawn by end of 2011.
The Big Lemon is a bus and coach operator in Brighton, East Sussex, Bristol and Bath. It is registered as a Community Interest Company.
The Regency Route is a name given since 1977 to a regular bus service between Brighton in East Sussex and Tunbridge Wells in Kent, both towns with a Regency heritage. The route runs via the East Sussex towns of Lewes, Uckfield and Crowborough.
Coastliner 700 is a bus service operated in West Sussex and south east Hampshire, England, by Stagecoach South between Brighton and Portsmouth via Hove, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Littlehampton, Wick, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Havant, and Portsmouth with a daytime frequency of every 12 minutes on Mondays to Saturdays; the service runs every 20 minutes on Sundays. The route has its own livery and is usually operated with double-decker buses.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC is a low-floor double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2014, replacing the Alexander Dennis Enviro400. The Enviro400 MMC is produced at Alexander Dennis' Falkirk and Scarborough factories in the United Kingdom.
Lewes Road is a major road in the English seaside city of Brighton and Hove. It was part of the A27 cross-country trunk route until the Brighton Bypass took this designation in the 1990s; since then it has been designated the A270. The road runs northeastwards from central Brighton through a steep-sided valley, joining the A27 at the city boundary and continuing to Lewes, the county town of East Sussex.
Coaster is the brand name given to a series of bus routes operated by the Brighton & Hove bus company, running between Brighton and Eastbourne in East Sussex, England.
Breeze is a brand name given to a group of three tourist-oriented bus routes, numbered 77, 78 and 79, operated by the Brighton & Hove bus company. The routes operate under the slogan "breeze up to the Downs and beyond" and link the city of Brighton with three popular countryside destinations within the South Downs National Park – respectively Devil's Dyke, Stanmer Village and Ditchling Beacon.
Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 550 (BF12 KXP) in the Spirit of Sussex hire fleet had its Sir Winston Churchill name removed in July as a precaution following damage to statues around the country.
Media related to Brighton & Hove (bus company) at Wikimedia Commons