Crosville Motor Services (Weston-super-Mare)

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Crosville Motor Services
Weston-super-Mare Princess Royal Square - Crosville LEU263P and 309 (W975TRP).jpg
Open top Bristol VRT and Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart in Weston-super-Mare in July 2013
ParentJonathan Jones-Pratt
Founded2011;13 years ago (2011)
Defunct21 April 2018;6 years ago (2018-04-21)
Headquarters Weston-super-Mare
Service area Somerset
Alliance Somerset Passenger Solutions
DepotsFormerly at Winterstoke Road, Weston-super-Mare
Fleetcirca 30 (2013)
Website www.crosvillemotorservices.co.uk

Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator running both contract hire and public bus services between 2011 and 2018 from its base in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It also operated a fleet of heritage vehicles and continues to do so as 'Crosville Vintage'.

Contents

History

Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL in Weston-super-Mare in August 2015 Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier - Crosville 402 (V135LGC).JPG
Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL in Weston-super-Mare in August 2015
Yutong ZK6129H coach at the company's depot in September 2016 Crosville Motor Services - YC15WCX.JPG
Yutong ZK6129H coach at the company's depot in September 2016

The original Crosville Motor Services was a major bus operator running services in Mid and North Wales and North West England. The name fell out of use after that company was privatised but was resurrected by this new operator. Some of the heritage fleet were once used by the original Crosville.

Although contract and private hire work had been undertaken from 2011, Crosville's first four commercial bus routes commenced operation in April 2012. These included routes from Weston-super-Mare to Sand Bay and Burnham-on-Sea, also a sea front tour to Uphill which was operated by heritage buses on summer Sundays and public holidays. [1]

In April 2013, Crosville commenced operating a further two routes, 4 and 83. [2]

In 2016, Crosville's proprietor commenced operating services during the construction of EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C nuclear power station through a 50% shareholding in Somerset Passenger Solutions. [3] [4] [5] Although operated independently, there was some sharing of resources with Crosville. [6]

In April 2016, Crosville commenced operating services in Bristol and South Gloucestershire under contract to North Somerset Council. [7] [8]

In July 2017, six routes were withdrawn and an enforced reduction in fleet size by the Traffic Commissioner following a public enquiry after some vehicles were found to be operating in unsafe condition. After this, the managing director, Jon-Jones Pratt, announced that Crosville would cease operation in Weston Super Mare in early 2018. [9] [10] In February 2018, the company announced that it would cease all local bus services and school operations at the conclusion of services on 21 April 2018. [11] [12] Following a further public enquiry by the Traffic Commissioner, Crosville's operating licence was revoked from 25 April 2018. [13] All services on the final day were operated by vehicles from the heritage fleet. [14]

After operations ceased, First West of England introduced a replacement service to Sand Bay, [15] while Bristol independent Carmel Coaches took over route 106 on a temporary basis. [14] [16] [17]

Fleet

Heritage Bristol Lodekka and Bristol L5G at Bristol Harbour in April 2013 Bristol Harbourside - Southern Vectis 573 (YDL318) and Crosville KG118 (KFM767).jpg
Heritage Bristol Lodekka and Bristol L5G at Bristol Harbour in April 2013

In January 2012, the Crosville fleet comprised 25 vehicles, including modern coaches and the heritage fleet. [18] [ better source needed ] To operate its first four commercial services, the operator purchased two Dennis Dart single deck buses as well as a part-open-top Leyland Olympian from Xelabus of Eastleigh. Two Optare Solos and a Mercedes-Benz 811D minibus were also purchased from Blue Iris Coaches of Nailsea. [19]

After operations ceased, four buses from the heritage fleet were retained in Weston-super-Mare by parent company JJP Holdings SW [14] [20] and promoted as the 'Crosville Vintage' fleet. [21] Most of the other heritage vehicles were retained by the owner as a private collection. These were stored at five locations but planning permission was granted in 2020 to house them all at a single site in Uphill. [22]

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References

  1. ↑ "News". Crosville Motor Services. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Crosville awarded 2 new routes". Crosville Motor Services. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Find out more about the south west businesses that will benefit from Hinkley Point C" (Press release). EDF Energy. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "You think green Southern National buses no longer run in Somerset? Watch this space". Chard and Ilminster News . 6 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Southern National returns". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 1365. 12 February 2016. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "Weston's Crosville to close its doors". Coach & Bus Week . No. 1332. Peterborough. 6 March 2018. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "Crosville awarded North Fringe Bristol Commuter Service". Crosville Motor Services. 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "New coach operator for North Somerset commuter service". North Somerset Council. 8 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Robins, Sheridan (28 February 2017). "Six bus routes cancelled in Weston-super-Mare". The Weston & Somerset Mercury . Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Millett, Briana (5 July 2017). "Crosville ordered to scale back its operation after serious mechanical failures". The Weston & Somerset Mercury. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  11. ↑ Baker, Hannah (5 March 2018). "Crosville to end bus and school services in Weston-super-Mare". Bristol Post. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "Crosville to cease all bus operations" . Buses . No. 757. Stamford: Key Publishing. 15 March 2018. p. 7. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  13. ↑ Jewell, Mike (20 March 2018). "TC revokes Crosville's O-Licence". routeone. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 "Crosville commemorates its closure with vintage day" . Buses. No. 759. Stamford: Key Publishing. 17 May 2018. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Woodsford, Henry (25 April 2018). "New bus service running in Weston after Crosville axes routes". The Weston & Somerset Mercury. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Crosville to close next month after seven years in Weston". routeone. 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  17. ↑ Robinson, Sarah (21 March 2018). "Temporary solution found for axed Weston bus route". The Weston & Somerset Mercury. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "Crossville running Day 2012". Trains Ferries Busses. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Revised Crosville challenges First". Buses. No. 687. Stamford: Key Publishing. June 2012. pp. 10, 54.
  20. ↑ "Crossville Motor Services-closes Weston operations". Bus & Coach Buyer. Peterborough. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Crosville Vintage". Crosville Vintage. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  22. ↑ "Valuable bus collection moves to Weston-super-Mare". BBC News. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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