Newport Bus

Last updated

Newport Bus
Bws Casnewydd
Newport Transport logo.png
Newport Bus YD70 CHO (cropped).jpg
Yutong E12 at Friars Walk in May 2023
Parent Newport City Council
Founded1 July 1901;122 years ago (1901-07-01)
HeadquartersCorporation Road, Newport
Locale Newport, Wales
Service area South Wales
Service typeBus
Routes73 (including school routes) [1]
Destinations Cardiff
Chepstow
Monmouth
Newport
Cribbs Causeway
Bristol
Lydney
Hubs Newport bus station
Annual ridership7.6 million [2]
Fuel typeDiesel
Electric
OperatorNewport Transport Limited [3]
Chair
Managing Director		Cllr Debbie Harvey [4]
Scott Pearson [5]
Website www.newportbus.co.uk

Newport Bus (the operating name of Newport Transport Limited) is the main provider of bus services in the city of Newport, Wales. A limited company whose shares are wholly owned by Newport City Council, it is one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom.

Contents

History

In 1901, the Newport Corporation took over the town's horse-drawn bus service, establishing a municipal bus operation. [6]

Motorbus services began in April 1924, [7] although the corporation was prohibited from running services beyond Rogerstone and Langstone without the assent of local councils by the Newport Corporation Act 1925. [6] [8] This prohibition was removed in 1981, allowing then-Newport Borough Council to operate more extensive services. [6] [9]

By 1985, the Borough Transport Department held responsibility for the town's bus services. [10] [11] Following passage of the Transport Act 1985, which deregulated the UK bus network and required local councils to transfer the functions of their bus operations to commercial entities, a stand-alone company limited by shares was incorporated on 10 March 1986. [3] Initially named Newport Buses Ltd, the company was renamed Newport Transport Ltd on 9 October 1986, [3] before formally taking over operation of bus services in Newport from the Borough Transport Department on 26 October 1986. [10]

In the 1980s, Newport Transport was the largest operator of Scanias in the United Kingdom. [12] It also operated Renault 50 midibuses. [13]

The bus operation was rebranded from Newport Transport to Newport Bus in 2011.[ citation needed ]

After receiving a £1 million grant from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles in February 2019, [14] the company placed an order for 15 fully-electric, zero-emission Yutong E12 buses. The first demonstrator vehicle, funded by the grant, began operating in August 2019, [15] with the remaining vehicles entering service in 2020, [16] [17] the first electric buses to operate in Wales. [18] Following additional funding of £2.8 million from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) and commercial partnerships, a further 16 Yutong vehicles were ordered in April 2021. [19]

On 1 March 2020, the company introduced the Ticketer contactless payment system on all its routes, a system used by Cardiff Bus since 2018, enabling payment by card and NFC-enabled devices, as well as recognition of QR codes from paper day/week tickets. [20] [21] The company also aims to provide ticket sales and journey tracking though a mobile app in the first half of 2020, to be followed by real-time bus information. [21]

On 18 May 2020, in partnership with Transport for Wales (TfW), and its parent local council, Newport Bus transferred some of its routes to Fflecsi, a demand responsive transport service in the city, in which Newport Bus continues to operate the service but is commanded by TfW. [22] The scheme is to end on 25 September 2022. [23]

Services

Newport Bus operates a network of services from Newport bus station throughout the city; services extend as far as Chepstow in the east, including three local services within Chepstow, Monmouth in the north, and Cardiff in the west. [24] Route 30 to Cardiff is operated in partnership with Cardiff Bus. [25]

As of 4 January 2021, Newport Bus operates TrawsCymru route T7 from Chepstow to Bristol via Cribbs Causeway. [26]

As of 2020, discussions are ongoing with TfW for the network to form part of the South Wales Metro rail and bus project. [27]

The company operates Fflecsi services in two zones (1 and 26) centred on Rogerstone and St. Julian's respectively (overlapping in the city centre), which replaced solely operated Newport Bus routes 1, 1B, 11A and 11C in Zone 1, and 26A and 26C in Zone 2. The service is a trial project, but was extended beyond the initial time frame [28] [29] for a further year following funding by TfW. The Fflecsi scheme is to end after 25 September 2022 and Newport Bus has introduced or amended other routes from 4 September 2022 as a replacement. [30]

The company also offers various commercial transport services.

Livery

The original pre-war livery of maroon was changed to green and cream in the 1940s [31] and remained the same until August 2009, when it was replaced with a livery of dark green and white with lime green and grey logos at the rear. From 2018, a new livery of all-over green was introduced.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scania N113</span> Motor vehicle

The Scania N113 was a transverse-engined step-entrance and low-floor city bus chassis manufactured by Scania between 1988 and 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yutong</span> Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles

Yutong is a Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles, especially electric buses, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan. Yutong also has businesses in construction machinery, real estate, and other investments. As of 2016 it was the largest bus manufacturer in the world by sales volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Bus</span> Municipal bus operator in Cardiff, Wales

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric bus</span> Bus powered by electricity

An electric bus is a bus that is propelled using electric motors as opposed to an internal combustion engine. Electric buses can store the needed electricity on board, or be fed continuously from an external source. The majority of buses storing electricity are battery electric buses, where the electric motor obtains energy from an onboard battery pack, although examples of other storage modes do exist, such as the gyrobus which uses flywheel energy storage. When electricity is not stored on board, it is supplied by contact with outside power sources. For example, overhead wires as in the trolleybus, or with a ground-level power supply, or through inductive charging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Go North East</span> British bus operator

Go North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. The company was the foundation of today's Go-Ahead Group, which now operates bus and rail services across the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, Ireland, Norway and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogerstone railway station</span> Railway station in Newport, Wales

Rogerstone railway station is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in the community of Rogerstone in Newport, south Wales. The station is situated ½ mile north of the original station on the site of former rail sidings. The station is within the Afon Village housing development. Access to the single-platform station and associated car park is off Lily Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottingham City Transport</span> Bus operator in Nottingham, England

Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly-owned, it is today the second largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom after Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport bus station</span> Bus terminus and interchange in Newport, Wales

Newport Central bus station is a bus terminus and interchange located in the city centre, Newport, South Wales. It is the largest road transport hub for public services in the county. It is situated on the Newport Market site and the adjacent Friars Walk site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach South Wales</span> British bus operating company

Stagecoach in South Wales is a bus operator providing services in South East Wales. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Articulated buses in the United Kingdom</span>

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.

Buses are the most common form of public transport in the United Kingdom. In Great Britain outside Greater London, bus transportation is provided by the market rather than a public service, and are privately owned and operated, except in Northern Ireland, where it is publicly provided and delivered. Councils have a duty to step in and support bus services where they are deemed socially necessary.

Bus transport in Cardiff, the capital and most populous city in Wales, forms the major part of the city's public transport network, which also includes an urban rail network, Waterbus and international airport. Cardiff is a major city of the United Kingdom and a centre of employment, retail, business, government, culture, media, sport and higher education.

TrawsCymru is the brand name for a network of regional bus services in Wales, sponsored by the Welsh Government. It was introduced as a replacement for the TrawsCambria network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemilang Coachworks</span> Commercial vehicle manufacturer

Gemilang Coachwork Sdn Bhd ("GML") is a manufacturer of commercial vehicles including but not limited to buses and coaches. Based in Malaysia, GML specialises in designing and manufacturing bus bodies and the assembly of buses. GML is also one of the first companies in Malaysia to assemble fully electric buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventure Travel (bus company)</span> British bus operating company

Adventure Travel is a bus and coach company in South Wales. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport for Wales</span> Transport authority in Wales

Transport for Wales is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Transport for Wales Rail, the train operator of the Wales & Borders railway franchise; Pullman Rail Limited; and TfW Innovation Services Limited, a joint venture between TfW (51%) and former operator KeolisAmey Wales (49%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fflecsi</span> Demand-responsive bus service in Wales

Fflecsi is a trial demand-responsive bus service administered by Transport for Wales (TfW) and local authorities, operated by local bus operators across Wales. Pilot trials of the service are conducted across Wales, which included a city-wide trial in Newport until September 2022. The effectiveness of the service is being monitored as full bus services resume in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pilots, fflecsi will replace some pre-existing scheduled bus routes in the service areas where it operates. The technology behind the service is made by ViaVan, and the pilot is funded by the Welsh Government, to invest in new approaches to public transport in Wales as part of their Llwybr Newydd strategy. The pilot was included in Welsh Labour's manifesto for the 2021 Senedd election, as part of their plan to increase investment in bus services, and reducing Wales' carbon emissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yutong E10</span> Chinese battery electric single-decker bus

The Yutong E10, also sold as the longer Yutong E12, is a battery electric single-decker bus manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2016 for both Chinese and international bus operators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yutong TCe12</span> Chinese battery electric coach

The Yutong TCe12, sold as the Yutong ICe12 in continental Europe, is a battery electric coach manufactured by Yutong in Zhengzhou since 2017 for international bus and coach operators. It is based on the same technology used in the Yutong E10 battery-electric single-deck bus, having a maximum all-electric range of 200 miles, and can be configured as a school bus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bus transport in Wales</span> Overview of buses in Wales

Bus transport in Wales is a significant form of public transport in Wales. In 2021–22 52.3 million journeys were travelled in Wales on local buses.

References

  1. ↑ "Routes & Maps". Newport Bus. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "About Newport Bus". Newport Bus. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Newport Transport Limited". Companies House . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Councillor details - Councillor Debbie Harvey". democracy.newport.gov.uk. 2 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "A Christmas Message". Newport Bus. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Millier, Noel (5 September 1981). "Newport plays the Scania variations". Commercial Motor . pp. 27–29. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "Cardiff and Newport as Bus Centres". Commercial Motor . 3 April 1928. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Bus Developments in South Wales". Commercial Motor . 4 August 1925. Retrieved 28 April 2020. These [extra-boundary] services are to be established under the newly obtained powers of the authority under which the assent of the local councils concerned in the routes had to be obtained.
  9. ↑ "The Newport (Revocation of Restrictions) Order 1981". Legislation.gov.uk . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 Newport Transport Limited. Newport Transport Limited, Directors Report on the Accounts for the Period 10th March 1986 to 31st March 1987 (PDF) (Report). Companies House . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "About Newport Transport". Newport Transport. Archived from the original on 5 December 2003. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Newport sticks with Scanias". Commercial Motor . 20 September 1986. p. 20. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  13. ↑ "Renault order well received". Commercial Motor . 7 January 1988. p. 17. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "Electric buses for Cardiff and Caerphilly win funding". BBC News . 6 February 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  15. ↑ Bird, Nelli (19 August 2019). "Electric buses: Wales' first to hit the roads in Newport". BBC News . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "Announcing our own fleet of zero emission fully electric buses" (Press release). Newport Transport. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  17. ↑ "Newport Transport orders electric Yutong fleet". Coach & Bus Week . 29 May 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  18. ↑ Burkitt, Sean (8 October 2020). "First electric buses in Wales to launch next week in Newport". WalesOnline. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  19. ↑ Searle, Joshua (17 April 2021). "New fully-electric buses set to hit streets of Newport". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  20. ↑ "Newport Bus to launch contactless fare payment from Sunday". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  21. 1 2 "Make the switch to zero emissions with Newport Bus". South Wales Argus . Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  22. ↑ "Fflecsi Service". Newport Bus . 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  23. ↑ Thomas, Nicolas (12 August 2022). "Newport Fflecsi bus scheme ending after trial scheme". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  24. ↑ "Journey Planner - Route Timetable 2020". Newport Bus. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  25. ↑ "30 Cardiff to Newport". Cardiff Bus. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  26. ↑ "Traws Hafren T7 Route". Archived from the original on 29 December 2020.
  27. ↑ Barry, Sion (7 December 2015). "The South Wales Metro project explained". walesonline. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  28. ↑ O'Neill, Ryan (4 September 2020). "Newport Bus is not axing its fflecsi bus service after all". WalesOnline. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Newport". Transport For Wales. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  30. ↑ Moody, Tom (31 August 2022). "Newport Bus changes as Fflecsi bus trial comes to an end". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  31. ↑ Thomas, DB; Thomas, EA (1982). Trams and Buses of Newport 1845 to 1981. ISBN   0903434482.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Newport Transport at Wikimedia Commons

51°35′12.515″N2°58′57.83″W / 51.58680972°N 2.9827306°W / 51.58680972; -2.9827306

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.