Salisbury bus station | |
|---|---|
 The bus station in 2009 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Endless Street, Salisbury Wiltshire |
| Bus stands | 5 (A-E) |
| Bus operators | Salisbury Reds |
| History | |
| Opened | 1939 |
| Closed | January 2014 |
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. [1] It was closed in 2014 on the grounds of high maintenance costs.
The only operator at the station in its later years was the Salisbury Reds brand of Wilts & Dorset, by then a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. The station was mainly a hub for local services, including Salisbury's park and ride scheme serving five sites around the city. [2] Longer distance services, known as 'X' services, ran between the city and other surrounding areas, such as Southampton (X7), Pewsey (X4) and Bournemouth (X3). [3] [4] National Express coach services have always called at the Millstream coach park in the northwest of the city centre.
Only a third of Salisbury Reds' services called at the station by the time it closed in January 2014. It was also expensive to run, with services later making use of street stops and the city's park and ride sites instead. [1]
Despite being described as outdated and underused by Salisbury Reds, the station's closure, announced in November 2012, [5] was unpopular with Salisbury residents as it provided a focal point for services. [1] A spokesperson from Salisbury Reds also said that the station was originally opened for the much larger Wilts and Dorset bus company and the present company didn't need all of the space available. Even though the main reason for closing the station was to cut the costs of maintaining the ageing building, Salisbury Reds had been awarded £400,000 in March that year to improve the station and its services. [6] The station was closed at the same time as Amesbury bus station. [5]
Shortly after closure, the bus station was demolished. The construction of retirement homes, branded as 'Sarum Lodge', on the site was completed in February 2018. [7] Despite the closure of the station, Salisbury retains its Park and Ride services which terminate at various street stops in the city centre.
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately 20 miles from Southampton and 30 miles from Bath.
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Durrington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Amesbury, 10 miles (16 km) north-northeast of the city of Salisbury, and 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) northeast of the Stonehenge monument. It is on the eastern part of Salisbury Plain, the largest remaining area of chalk grassland in northwest Europe. The parish includes the hamlet of Hackthorn, on the northern outskirts of Durrington, and the military settlement of Larkhill, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west.
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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.
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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.