Overview | |
---|---|
Operator | First Hampshire & Dorset |
Vehicle | Closed Top Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini Volvo B7TL Alexander ALX400 |
Began service | November 1998 |
Former operator(s) | Southern National |
The Jurassic Coaster is a bus service operated by the Weymouth branch of First Hampshire & Dorset, running around the Jurassic coastline of the county of Dorset. [1] It features five routes, stretching from Axminster in the west to Poole in the east, with one of the routes in TripAdvisor's 2018 poll of most scenic bus routes coming in 12th place. [2]
The X53 route was introduced in November 1998 by Southern National, and operated at a frequency of one bus every three hours between Exeter and Dorchester via Seaton, Lyme Regis, and Bridport. In May 2001, the route was changed east of Bridport to instead serve Abbotsbury and Weymouth. In May 2003, the frequency of the route was increased to two-hourly, the Sunday service became year-round, and some summer services were extended beyond Weymouth to Wareham. [3]
In April 2004, the route was branded as CoastLinX53. The following month, the route was extended to Poole, with some buses continuing to Bournemouth. While the existing service was council-funded, the extensions to Poole and Bournemouth were operated on a commercial basis. [4] However, the Bournemouth extensions were cut in April 2008. [3]
After fifteen years of financial support from Devon County Council and Dorset County Council, [5] in March 2013 the route began being operated entirely on a commercial basis for the first time. A new livery was launched, together with the Jurassic Coaster branding. [3] By the following year, the route was running at an hourly frequency between Lyme Regis and Weymouth. [6]
In 2016, the X53 was split into multiple routes, with the X53 itself being shortened to only run between Axminster and Weymouth. Two new service were introduced numbered X52 and X54. The X52 ran between Exeter and Lyme Regis, avoiding Axminster, [7] while the X54 ran between Weymouth and Poole. The X52 service was reduced in frequency, and withdrawn in 2018, marking the end of First bus services in Exeter. [3] [8]
Sunday services were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but were reinstated in July 2020. [9] The Sunday service continued to run during the winter, unlike in previous years. [10]
In 2021, the logo and livery for the routes was updated. Route 501 was brought into the network with "Portland Coaster" branded open top buses and the X52 number was relaunched and reworked for a new route running between Bridport and Monkey World. [1] [11] [12]
The Jurassic Coaster network is formed of five routes, stretching from Axminster in the west, through Weymouth to Poole in the east. [13] Each of the six routes generally run to a two-hourly frequency. [14]
Route X50 operates between Weymouth and Swanage via Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Wool, Wareham and Corfe Castle. During the Summer months, buses run every hour along the full length of the route, however at other times of the year, the route only runs between Weymouth and Wool.
Route X51 operates between Weymouth and Axminster via Dorchester, Poundbury, Winterbourne Abbas, Bridport, Charmouth and Lyme Regis. [15]
The route is operated using a mixture of Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC closed top buses. The route runs throughout the year, although the Sunday service does not operate during the winter months. [14]
Route X52 operates between Monkey World and Bridport via Wool, Lulworth Cove, Osmington, Preston, Weymouth, Chickerell, Abbotsbury and West Bay. [15]
The route is operated using open-top Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini buses. The route operates during the summer months (between May and September) only. [14] [16]
Route X53 is the original Jurassic Coaster service and operates between Weymouth and Axminster via Chickerell, Abbotsbury, West Bay, Bridport, Charmouth and Lyme Regis. [15]
The route is operated using a mixture of Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC closed top buses. The route runs throughout the year, although the Sunday service runs only between Weymouth and Lyme Regis in the winter months. [14] [17] [18] [19]
Route X54 operates between Poole and Weymouth via Holton Heath, Wareham, Wool, Lulworth Cove, Osmington and Preston. [15]
The route is operated using a mixture of Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC closed top buses. The route runs throughout the year, although the weekend service does not operate during the winter months. [14]
Route 501 is branded as The Portland Coaster and operates between Weymouth and Portland Bill via Wyke Regis, Fortuneswell, Easton and Southwell. [20]
The route is operated using open-top Volvo B7TL Alexander ALX400 buses. The route operates during the summer months (between May and September) only. [16]
When the original X53 was introduced in November 1998 by Southern National, the route was operated with three Plaxton Paramount coaches. [3]
After the takeover of the company the same year and the rebranding of the route in 2004, the route was served with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvos for the Coastlinx53. In May 2021, the route network and livery was revised and modified open top Transbus ALX400s and Wright Eclipse Geminis as well as closed top Enviro400s were put into its colours and used on the network. [11] [12] [21]
Dorset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester.
Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical gardens, is owned by the Ilchester Estate, which owns 61 square kilometres of land in Dorset. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 481.
West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and Lyme Regis, along with Sherborne urban district and the rural districts of Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester and Sherborne. Its council was based in Dorchester.
The A35 is a major road in southern England, connecting Honiton in Devon and Southampton in Hampshire. It is a trunk road for some of its length. Most of its route passes through Dorset and the New Forest. It originally connected Exeter and Southampton, the original A35 ran along what is now the A3052 joining the present road at Charmouth.
The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B8L in 2018.
Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) southeast of Bridport and 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The village lies in the Bride Valley, close to the mouth of the small River Bride. It comprises 16th- and 17th-century thatched cottages, a parish church, two pubs, a primary school, shop, post office stores, beach café, hotel, garage, village hall, reading room a library. The parish has a National Coastwatch Institution Station, Lyme Bay Station.
The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian. It was built as the British bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a long rear overhang.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident and Plaxton President. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer.
First Hampshire & Dorset is a bus operator providing services in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Wool railway station serves the village of Wool in Dorset, England. It is on the South West Main Line, 125 miles 69 chains (202.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo. South Western Railway manages the station and operates all services.
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.
Wilts & Dorset is a bus and coach operator providing services in East Dorset, South Wiltshire, and West Hampshire. It operates services under the morebus brand around Bournemouth and Poole, and under the Salisbury Reds brand around Salisbury and Amesbury. It is part of Go South Coast, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
Excel is the brand name given to a number of bus services operated by First Norfolk & Suffolk, covering 80 miles (130 km) between Norwich bus station in Norfolk and Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire. Prior to February 2018, the route also extended from Norwich to Lowestoft in Suffolk via Great Yarmouth; this section of the route has since been replaced by Coastlink branded services X1 and X2. As of June 2021, the Excel route itself operates between Peterborough, King's Lynn and Norwich, with variations A, B, C and D providing different levels of service to intermediate villages.
The Volvo B5TL is a 2-axle low-floor double decker built by Volvo. It replaced the B9TL as Volvo's Euro 6 2-axle double decker product for the UK and Irish markets.
The Volvo B8L is a 3-axle bus chassis, for double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo Buses since 2016, with pre-production batches being produced as early as in 2016. It is powered by a 6-cylinder, 350hp 7.7 litre Volvo engine.
Network Norwich is the brand name given to First Norfolk & Suffolk bus services in and around the city of Norwich. First launched in September 2012, the network now consists of nine colour-coded lines extending across Norwich city centre, outer suburbs, and surrounding towns and villages across Norfolk and into Suffolk.
Cityrider is a bus service in Tyne and Wear, England, which connects Springwell Village, Wrekenton, Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne with Washington, Hylton Castle and Sunderland.
X53 may refer to:
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