![]() Salisbury Reds | |
![]() Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in 2019 | |
Parent | Go-Ahead Group |
---|---|
Founded | 2010 |
Headquarters | Poole |
Locale | Wiltshire |
Service type | Bus services |
Destinations |
|
Operator | Go South Coast |
Chief executive | Andrew Wickham |
Website | www.salisburyreds.co.uk |
Salisbury Reds is a bus operator in Salisbury, as well as the surrounding Wiltshire area. It is part of the Go South Coast sector of the Go Ahead Group. Much of the company's operations formerly came under the Wilts & Dorset brand, though this was phased out from 2012.
Salisbury Reds operates bus services in the Salisbury and Amesbury areas formerly operated under the Wilts & Dorset name. It was introduced in 2010, initially on Wilts & Dorset routes in the city of Salisbury. The brand was then extended to cover all routes in Wiltshire. [1]
Four years later, in January 2014, the bus stations at Salisbury and Amesbury were closed to the public and the stops moved to roads outside the stations, with the then Salisbury Reds' operations director Ed Wills saying "We would rather preserve jobs and services than spend a fortune upgrading facilities that are being used by only a small number of our customers". [2] [3]
The company celebrated the centenary of Wilts & Dorset in 2015 by repainting some of its buses into its pre-war and post-war liveries. [4] The operation had a livery redesign in February 2019. [5] This was alongside an order for three new electric buses to be placed on two Salisbury park and ride routes (PR9 and PR15). These buses arrived in February 2020. [6] [7]
In 2024, Salisbury Reds and Wiltshire County council made a successful bid for 23 new electric buses, as part of the UK government's 'ZEBRA' scheme. This represents an investment of £11.4 million. As part of this, the Salisbury bus depot will be modernised to support these vehicles. This will be completed by February 2026. [8]
Salisbury Reds is the main operating company. It runs roughly 50 public routes, spanning Andover in the east, Shaftesbury in the west and Swindon in the north. It also operates school services. [9]
The Salisbury Park and Ride service began operation in March 2001 to one park and ride site, Beehive, to the north of Salisbury city centre. [10] A second site was opened at Wilton in 2005, [10] and two more followed, taking the total to four. [11] A fifth site was later opened at Petersfinger, to the south-east of the city. [12]
Initially, the routes used Optare Excels in a light green and white livery. In 2005, these were replaced by new Volvo B7RLEs, also in green and white; for a short period in late 2004, the service was operated using 'more' branded B7RLEs.
In February 2011, Wilts & Dorset lost the contract to operate the Salisbury Park and Ride network to independent operator Hatts Travel. [13] In August 2014, due to the collapse of the Hatts group, the park & ride contract was handed back to Salisbury Reds to run for Wiltshire Council. [14]
Activ8 is a joint half-hourly service between Salisbury and Andover via Tidworth, operated in partnership with Stagecoach South and supported by Wiltshire and Hampshire County Councils. The brand was launched in February 2007. Salisbury Reds primarily use specially branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs on the route, [15] having previously used Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Scania OmniCitys and Optare Spectras.[ citation needed ]
The Stonehenge Tour was rebranded in 2008, linking Salisbury railway station, the city centre, and Stonehenge. A recorded commentary describes the views along the length of the route. The tour was operated by Wills & Dorset Optare Spectras, but is now run using a combination of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC vehicles, which have been specially painted in a New Stonehenge Tour Livery. [16]
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settled around 8820 BC. The parish includes the hamlets of Ratfyn and West Amesbury, and part of Boscombe Down military airfield.
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.
Xplore Dundee is a bus operator based in Dundee, Scotland, operating services mainly within the city. The operator also runs a service to Edinburgh Airport. It is a subsidiary of McGill's Bus Services.
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Stagecoach (South) Limited, trading as Stagecoach South, is a bus operator providing services in South East England as a subsidiary of Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extending into Brighton and Wiltshire. It operates 487 buses from eight depots.
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The York park and ride is a park and ride network in the cathedral city of York, England, with sites operated by the City of York Council and bus services operated by First York. It is the largest park and ride network in the United Kingdom, with 4,970 car spaces across six sites: Askham Bar, Grimston Bar, Monks Cross, Poppleton Bar, Rawcliffe Bar and York Designer Outlet.
Wilts & Dorset was a bus and coach operator providing services in East Dorset, South Wiltshire, and West Hampshire. It was part of Go South Coast, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group, since 2012, the brand was withdrawn, with it being replaced by Morebus in Dorset and Salisbury Reds in Wiltshire.
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom.
Canterbury Park and Ride is a park and ride system operated by Stagecoach South East in the English historic cathedral city of Canterbury. It was designed to reduce pollution in the city centre.
Kernow is a bus company operating services in Cornwall, England. It is part of First South West, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
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.
Lynx, the trading name of 'Coastal Red Ltd', is an independent bus company based in King's Lynn and operating services across west and north Norfolk and eastern Cambridgeshire.
Salisbury bus station was a bus station in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The station had five stands underneath a red brick building which was built in 1939 as the headquarters of the Wilts & Dorset bus company. It was closed in 2014 on the grounds of high maintenance costs.
Morebus is a bus operator in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, as well as the surrounding Dorset area. It is part of the Go South Coast sector of the Go Ahead Group. Much of the companies operations formerly came under the Wilts & Dorset brand, though this was phased out from 2012.