Parent | Southampton City Council |
---|---|
Commenced operation | 1986 |
Ceased operation | 28 July 1997 |
Headquarters | Southampton |
Service area | Southampton |
Service type | Bus services |
Southampton Citybus [1] was a bus operator which operated local services throughout the English city of Southampton. It was formed in 1898 as Southampton Corporation Transport. In 1986, as a result of deregulation an 'arms-length' limited company was formed in the name of Southampton Citybus and the coat of arms of the City of Southampton was removed, and replaced with the new branding. The company was owned by the town council until 1954, and the city council until 1993. It was then bought by its employees, in 1997 it was purchased by FirstGroup and was part of First Hampshire & Dorset until their Southampton operations ceased in February 2023.
Southampton Citybus was formed in 1898 as Southampton Corporation Transport when the town council took over the Southampton Tramways Company. The company initially operated a fleet of horse-drawn trams and buses, replacing them with electric trams in 1901. A motorbus service was launched in 1901 but proved unsuccessful, and was withdrawn until 1919, when it was reintroduced. The tram network was expanded during the 1920s, but by 1929 it was decided that no new tram services would be introduced. [2]
A ferry operation across the River Itchen was acquired in 1934, and operated until 1977 when a bridge was opened in its place. Tram services began to be closed in the 1940s, with the last operation abandoned in 1950. The bus network continued largely unchanged until 1986, when the company was reformed as an arms length operation and renamed Southampton Citybus. [2] [3]
Southampton Citybus was owned by the city council until 1993. It operated a fleet of around 150 vehicles, and a small coaching division named Red Ensign. [4] Following the Transport Act 1985 and the deregulation of the bus market, it faced aggressive competition from Southern Vectis, the dominant Isle of Wight bus company, which started Solent Blue Line in 1987 as a bid to expand onto the mainland, competing on some of the same major routes as Citybus. In response Citybus introduced crewed AEC Routemasters. [3] [5]
The council sold the company to its employees in 1993 for around £3 million. Following this Citybus introduced sixteen natural gas powered Dennis Dart buses into regular service, the largest such fleet in the UK. Much of the fleet of 160 buses was replaced during this period, and the company was profitable. [3] [6]
On 28 July 1997 the company was purchased by FirstGroup for around £11 million. [3] [7] After a brief period where the name was kept, the service became First Southampton, and later part of First Hampshire & Dorset. In 2014, First Hampshire & Dorset introduced a new brand for high-frequency routes in Southampton, CityRed, with a red variant of the First livery, marking a return of the traditional Southampton colour, although eventually all buses sported the CityRed branding. Some of these buses carry the slogan "Southampton's city buses". [8] In 2022, after 25 years of operations, First announced they would withdraw their CityRed bus services from Southampton in February 2023. [9]
Citybus Limited is a bus company which provides both franchised and non-franchised service in Hong Kong. The franchised route network serves Hong Kong Island, cross-harbour routes, North Lantau, Hong Kong International Airport, Kowloon, New Territories, Shenzhen Bay Port and Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Hong Kong Port. The non-franchised routes serve mainly City One Sha Tin. It also provides bus rental services and staff bus services for some large companies, such as TVB and China Light and Power.
Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater London. The operating company is owned by Reading Borough Council.
Warrington's Own Buses is a municipal bus company which operates a network of services within the Borough of Warrington and the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown, Wigan, Halton, Bolton and Northwich.
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.
Leicester Citybus, trading as First Leicester, is a bus operator providing services in Leicester. FirstGroup own 94% of the company with Trentbarton owning the other 6%.
Xplore Dundee is a bus operator based in Dundee, Scotland, operating services mainly within Dundee City. The operator also runs a service to Edinburgh Airport. It is a subsidiary of McGill's Bus Services, which is based in Greenock, Scotland.
First Hampshire & Dorset is a bus operator providing services in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Plymouth Citybus is a bus operator in Plymouth. It is a subsidiary of the Go South West sector of the Go-Ahead Group.
Blackburn Transport was a municipal bus company based in Blackburn from 1881 until 2007.
Solent Blue Line Limited, primarily trading under the name Bluestar, is a bus operator providing services in Southampton and surrounding areas of Hampshire. It is a subsidiary of the Go South Coast sector of the Go-Ahead Group.
Hants & Dorset Motor Services Ltd was a stage carriage bus service operator in southern England between 1920 and 1983.
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, which was broken up as a result of the deregulation of bus services. South Yorkshire Transport operated buses in and around Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley.
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies.
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.
Belfast Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
'First Manchester, Midlands & South Yorkshire is an operating unit of FirstGroup operating in the English Midlands, Manchester and South Yorkshire. The unit was formed in 2008 with the merger of the management and administration of First Potteries, First Worcester and First Leicester. On 1 June 2020, First Midlands merged with First Manchester and First South Yorkshire. During a group restructure in 2022, Worcester moved from Midlands control to First West & Wales.
Xelabus Limited is an independent bus and coach operator, based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It primarily operates public bus services within the Southampton area. All their operations come under their parent, Xelagroup Ltd.
Buses in Portsmouth are a form of public transport in the city of Portsmouth, England. Motor bus services in Portsmouth began in 1919, and were expanded in the 1930s following the closure of the Portsmouth Corporation Transport tram network. Trolleybuses were also operated between 1934 and 1963. Until 1988 the majority of services were provided by Portsmouth Corporation Transport, a municipal bus company owned by Portsmouth City Council. Other services into the city were operated by Southdown Motor Services, latterly as a subsidiary of the National Bus Company.
Southampton Corporation Transport motor bus services started in 1919 as a successor to Southampton Corporation Tramways. After Southampton achieved city status in 1964 it was renamed Southampton City Transport. In 1986, as a result of deregulation it became Southampton Citybus, an arms-length company that was sold to the staff in 1993. It continued trading as Southampton Citybus until it was bought by First Bus in 1997.