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 Optare Solo M880SL in Yeovil in February 2016 | |
| Parent | Alan Graham |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Southgate Road, Wincanton BA9 9EB [1] |
| Service area | Dorset Somerset Wiltshire |
| Service type | Bus & coach services |
| Hubs | Yeovil Isle of Portland |
| Fleet | 70 (February 2021) [2] |
| Website | www |
South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operates services around Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, in South West England.
Reggie Wake started bus services from South Barrow in February 1930. Business expanded during World War II and the main base was moved to nearby Sparkford. A trunk route from Yeovil to Castle Cary and Shepton Mallet was started in 1947 and operated by double-decker buses from 1949 until 1968. Several other operators were taken over which led to setting up a second depot in Wincanton. In 1964 it became a limited company, Wakes Services Limited. [3] By 1979 some of the smaller services had been withdrawn but the Yeovil-Shepton mallet service continued. At this time 4 buses and 21 coaches were in use. [4] Bus deregulation in the 1980s encouraged further growth of the network to places such as Taunton, Frome and Bridport in Doreset. In 1996 the fleet had 35 vehicles. The Wake family sold the business in 1999 to AG Hulbert & Son of Yeovil and the combined business branded as South West Coaches [3] . [5]
In April 2008, Safeway Services of South Petherton was purchased, [6] [5] followed in October 2009 by Sureline on the Isle of Portland. [7] [8]
| Founded | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Unit 17, Tradecroft Industrial Estate, Isle of Portland, Dorset [ citation needed ] |
| Service area |  United Kingdom |
| Service type | Urban bus services |
| Destinations | Isle of Portland, Weymouth, Dorchester, Bridport, Yeovil |
| Fleet | 15 [9] |
Sureline was a bus operator based in the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. It operated from Portland through Weymouth to Dorchester. Formed in 2002, Sureline became defunct in 2009 and was taken over by South West Coaches. [8]
Sureline was established in 2002 by David Beaman and Bill Landucci. Operations began on 24 August that year with a service running between Portland and Dorchester on weekdays only. [8] Sureline was initially based at Southwell Business Park but relocated to Tradecroft Industrial Estate, near the village of Easton, in July 2003. They first began operating with a fleet of eight Mercedes 709 buses. By early 2003, four more buses of the same type had been acquired with seven used for daily services. Sureline's operations extended from 2003 with new routes and timetables, including an extension to Portland Bill. In 2004, the fleet was increased with the arrival of two Dennis Dart buses, while one of the 709s were scrapped. [8]
While local services continued to evolve and expand, in September 2005, Sureline also began two services from Dorchester to Yeovil. One went via Maiden Newton and Cattistock, while the other went via Cerne Abbas and Sherborne. 2006 saw the opening of the operator's new maintenance facility at Southwell Business Park. By this time, Sureline was employing approximately thirty drivers and had a peak vehicle requirement of fourteen. Some service reduction was seen in 2007, including a reduction of Saturday operations on the main Portland to Dorchester route. Weekend operations of the two Yeovil routes were transferred to Nordcat of Sturminster Newton. The timetable changes continued into 2008 and 2009; the 212 and X37 services from Dorchester to Yeovil were amended to run on schooldays only, while more focus was given to the X10 and X20 routes in the Weymouth to Dorchester sector. This resulted in a much reduced service to and from Portland, despite being the operator's base. [8]
On 26 October 2009, Sureline was taken over by South West Coaches of Wincanton, who were also the successors to the long-established Wakes of Sparkford and Wincanton. Both Sureline founders, Beaman and Landucci, left the company. To date, the new operators continue many of the services that were provided by Sureline including the original route on Portland. [8] Speaking to the Dorset Echo, Beaman claimed the decision to sell Sureline was made to "safeguard its future", while he also blamed increasing government regulation for small bus firm, resulting in increased difficulty to generate profit. [9]
South West Coaches have little competition in their operating area since another independent operator, Nippy Bus, with its N10 route competing with South West Coaches' route 81, ceased operations in 2017. [10] [11] First Hampshire & Dorset still competes on the Portland routes. [12] In most villages, South West Coaches is the sole bus operator, so that public transport users are heavily reliant on its services. The geographical area covered stretches from Minehead and Taunton in the west to Salisbury in the east and from the Isle of Portland and Bournemouth in the south to Warminster and Frome in the north. [2] [13]
The company operates local town services in Yeovil under contract to Somerset County Council, ex Sureline routes in Dorchester, Weymouth and on the Isle of Portland. A large proportion of its work is coach trips as well as private hire and school contracts. In Somerset, South West Coaches is the leading provider of infrequent services. [14] [15] In Dorset, it provides many school services for Dorset Council. [16]
In July 2017, the company began to operate a Shaftesbury to Gillingham service. [17] In October 2017, after First Dorset had ended its service from Wyke Regis to Weymouth, South West Coaches agreed to a local request to take over the route. [18] In November 2017, with the unexpected closure of Nippy Bus, South West Coaches took over providing transport services to Strode College. [19] On an evening in March 2018, a South West Coaches bus travelling through Chard had windows smashed by projectiles thrown by boys aged about 10 to 13. [20]
There are three Depots in Somerset, at Wincanton, Yeovil, and West Pennard, and one in Dorset, in the Isle of Portland. [2]
As at February 2021, the fleet consisted of some seventy buses and minibuses. [2]
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter and Plymouth, and to Padstow, Ilfracombe and Bude. It developed a network of routes in Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, including Portsmouth and Reading.
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2021) was 49,698. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, 126 miles (203 km) west of London, 41.8 miles (67.3 km) south of Bristol, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Sherborne and 27.6 miles (44.4 km) east of Taunton. The aircraft and defence industries which developed in the 20th century made it a target for bombing in the Second World War; they are still major employers. Yeovil Country Park, which includes Ninesprings, is one of several open spaces with educational, cultural and sporting facilities. Religious sites include the 14th-century Church of St John the Baptist. The town is on the A30 and A37 roads and has two railway stations.
Yeovil Junction railway station is the busier, but less central, of two railway stations serving the town of Yeovil in England. The station is 2 miles (3.2 km) outside the town, in the village of Stoford. Although Yeovil is in Somerset, the station was in Dorset until 1991. It is 122 miles 48 chains (197.3 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
The A37 is a major road in south west England.
Weymouth railway station is the main railway station serving the town of Weymouth, Dorset, England. The station is the southern terminus of both the South West Main Line, 142 miles 64 chains (229.8 km) down the line from London Waterloo, and the Heart of Wessex Line from Bristol Temple Meads and Gloucester, 168 miles 63 chains (271.6 km) from London Paddington.
Dorchester West railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset, England. The station is managed by Great Western Railway. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line between Castle Cary and Weymouth, 161.63 miles from the zero point at London Paddington, and is at the southern end of a single track section from Maiden Newton. The line becomes double at the station and remains so to just before nearby Dorchester Junction, where the line joins the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth.
First Hampshire & Dorset is a bus operator providing services in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dorset. It opened the first part of the network but found it impossible to raise further money and sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850.
Dorset is a county in South West England. The county is largely rural and therefore does not have a dense transport network, and is one of the few English counties without a motorway. Owing to its position on the English Channel coast, and its natural sheltered harbours, it has a maritime history, though lack of inland transport routes have led to the decline of its ports.
This article describes the history and operation of the railway routes west of Salisbury built by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and allied companies, which ultimately became part of the Southern Railway in the United Kingdom. Salisbury forms a natural boundary between the Southern Railway core routes in the counties surrounding London, and the long route connecting with the Devon and Cornwall lines.
South Petherton is a large village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, located 5 miles (8 km) east of Ilminster and 5 miles (8 km) north of Crewkerne. The parish had a population of 3,737 in 2021 and includes the smaller village of Over Stratton and the hamlets of Compton Durville, Drayton, Wigborough and Yeabridge. The River Parrett forms the eastern boundary of the parish. The village is approximately 2 miles (3 km) from East Lambrook, Martock and Lopen.
The earliest known infrastructure for transport in Somerset is a series of wooden trackways laid across the Somerset Levels, an area of low-lying marshy ground. To the west of this district lies the Bristol Channel, while the other boundaries of the county of Somerset are along chains of hills that were once exploited for their mineral deposits. These natural features have all influenced the evolution of the transport network. Roads and railways either followed the hills, or needed causeways to cross the Levels. Harbours were developed, rivers improved, and linked to sources of traffic by canals. Railways were constructed throughout the area, influenced by the needs of the city of Bristol, which lies just to the north of Somerset, and to link the ports of the far south-west with the rest of England.
Nippy Bus was a privately owned bus company operating services in Somerset, England. It operated local town services in Yeovil under contract to the Somerset County Council as well as rural services. Nippy Club was launched in 2010 utilising a coach on chartered services twice a month for clubbers.
The Salisbury and Yeovil Railway linked Salisbury (Wiltshire), Gillingham (Dorset) and Yeovil (Somerset) in England. Opened in stages in 1859 and 1860, it formed a bridge route between the main London and South Western Railway (LSWR) network and its lines in Devon and Cornwall. Its trains were operated by the LSWR and it was sold to that company in 1878. Apart from a short section in Yeovil it remains open and carries the London Waterloo to Exeter service of South Western Railway.
Matthew Pitt was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622, and again in 1624.
The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from its depot in the town of Taunton since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon.
Berrys Coaches is a coach operator based in Taunton, Somerset. It was established in 1920 and is still a family owned business today.
The 2017 Somerset County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 55 councilors were elected from 54 electoral divisions, which each returned either one or two county councilors by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office.
Media related to South West Coaches at Wikimedia Commons
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