Stagecoach South is a bus operator providing services in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

. It operates services in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

with some routes extending into

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. It operates 487 buses from eight depots. It is branded as four sub-divisions: Stagecoach in Hampshire, Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey, Stagecoach in the South Downs, and Stagecoach in Portsmouth.

Stagecoach in Hampshire

Stagecoach in Hampshire operates from depots in

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, and

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. In 2015, Stagecoach unveiled £2.5 million investment in new

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200) is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014, as the successor to the Enviro200 midibus and Enviro300 full-size bus. The first Enviro200 MMC ...

buses for Winchester

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

services, featuring a gold and purple livery, inspired by King

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

. In 2017, Stagecoach launched six new

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro400) is a low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2014, replacing the Alexander Dennis Enviro400. The Envi ...

buses for the route 64 to Alton, which also received extra journeys in evenings and Sundays, the unveiling taking place at the

Winchester Science Centre Winchester Science Centre (previously known as INTECH) is a hands-on, interactive, science and technology centre located in Morn Hill, just outside the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. The centre opened in 2002 after grants from Mill ...

Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey

Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey operates from depots in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

and in

Peasmarsh Peasmarsh is a village and civil parish in the Rother district, in the county of East Sussex in England. It is located on the A268 road between Rye and Beckley, some north-west of Rye. The village church, dedicated to St Peter and Paul, lie ...

, just outside of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. It is made up of

Alder Valley Alder Valley was a bus operator in South East England. National Bus Company era Alder Valley was formed when National Bus Company (NBC) subsidiaries Aldershot & District Traction (A&D) and Thames Valley Traction (TV) merged on 1 January ...

's remaining operations, taken over by Stagecoach on 26 October 1992. The company operates a number of routes across

and

, serving Aldershot,

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, Farnborough,

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

, and

. Many of the routes are branded, with large route number vinyls, or with names such as ''Yo-Yo'' and ''The Kite''. In 2002, a number 22 Stagecoach bus, operating a journey from Aldershot to the

Old Dean The Old Dean is a suburb of Camberley in Surrey, England. The area starts approximately 1 km boxing the compass, NNE from the town centre. The estate is built on the Olddean or Old Dean common land, Common falling within the district of Sur ...

estate, was hijacked by two armed men. On 9 February 2009 route 1 was upgraded to Goldline status with new vehicles. Route 2 lost its service name of ''The Marbles'' in 2008/9. Due to

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

cuts in October 2011, routes 2 and 3 lost some of their evening services on Monday-Friday. Route 18 also lost a handful of evening services. Route 41

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

to Farnborough was taken over by

Countryliner Countryliner was a bus and coach operator, based in Uckfield, England. It ran over fifty bus services, mainly operating in Sussex and Kent with some operations into Hampshire. On 8 October 2012, it was placed in administration. It continued ot ...

. In September 2012,

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

's bus review phase 3 saw route 92 renumbered to 72 to fit with routes 70 and 71. However, a month later, Countryliner went into administration, with Stagecoach taking back route 46, as well as Surrey County Council school routes 43, 45, and 87, all on an emergency basis until July 2013. Countryliner ceased trading on 18 January 2013 with Stagecoach operating route 41 for one week before it passed to sister company Fleet Buzz. Stagecoach stepped in to take control of the route 94 between

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

and Camberley, after

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

proposed to close its bus depot in Bracknell and withdraw most of its services in the area from Saturday 29 August 2015. However, Stagecoach withdrew the service from 12 March 2016 over its loss-making nature. Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey opened a new depot at Peasmarsh in October 2015, which oversaw the relocation of several south Surrey bus routes from Aldershot and Haslemere to the new depot. After the takeover of Fleet Buzz, the Hants & Surrey division maintained a presence in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

until 16 April 2018, when the route 7 was split and

Reading Buses 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, and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater L ...

took over the northern section to

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach ...

. As part of the deal, two Stagecoach vehicles were sold to Reading Buses. Guildford Glide

Two brand new services were launched from 29 July 2018 serving Guildford, the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

and Stoughton. In January 2019, working with the BYD/ ADL Partnership, energy storage specialist Zenobe Energy, as well as members of

and

Guildford Borough Council Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildfo ...

, Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey introduced nine electric

Alexander Dennis Enviro200EV The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200) is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014, as the successor to the Enviro200 midibus and Enviro300 full-size bus. The first Enviro200 MMCs ...

buses on their Guildford

Park & Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...

network, representing an investment of over £3 million. After

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parish, about southeast of Guildford in Surrey, England. It lies on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner of the Weald, a large remnant forest, the ma ...

and

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. However, shortly after the network expansion, Stagecoach reduced frequencies on its services owing to a driver shortage following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Despite the reduced timetable coming into effect on 2 January 2022, routes continued to suffer cancellations. For example, on Thursday 30 June 2022, the company had to cancel 70 journeys, posting cancellations on their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed. This occasionally left a number of schoolchildren in Surrey stranded. A further timetable reduction was announced by summer 2022, affecting the high-frequency Guildford and Woking town services.

Stagecoach in the South Downs

Stagecoach in the South Downs operates from depots in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, and

Bordon Bordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies in the interior of the royal Woolmer Forest, about southeast of Alton. The town forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill which is one of two contiguous villages ...

and

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

. In August 1989, Stagecoach purchased

Southdown Motor Services Southdown Motors Services Ltd (although this was the legal name of the company (until 1992) it was normally referred to as Southdown Motor Services) was a bus and coach operator in East and West Sussex and parts of Hampshire, in southern Engl ...

, which had previously been owned by the National Bus Company until sold in a

management buy out A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or High-net-worth individual, individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout b ...

Stagecoach in Portsmouth

Stagecoach in Portsmouth operates buses in the

city area as well as

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Castl ...

Waterlooville Waterlooville is a market town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town has a population of about 64,350 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendwort ...

, and

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

areas. The main routes in which they operate are as follows: Route 20 From Havant to Portsmouth Hard via QA Hospital; route 21 from Havant to Portsmouth via Anchorage Park; route 23 from

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

Leigh Park Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren'). Staunton C ...

via Farlington; route 39 from Havant Bus station to

Wecock Farm Wecock Farm is a 1970s council estate on the western edges of Waterlooville originally built by Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a u ...

in Waterlooville via Asda after 9:00 and before 3:00; routes 30 and 31 from Havant to Hayling island. The company also operates the Coastliner 700 service from Portsmouth to

Fleet Buzz

Fleet Buzz, initially known as Countywide Travel, was formed in 1995 as a bus and coach company, based on vehicles from

Marchwood Motorways Marchwood Motorways was a bus and coach operator based in Totton, Hampshire. Formed as an independent in the 1940s, it was a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group from 2006 until it became dormant in 2010. Its operations were subsumed by those of Bl ...

and a depot was established in

. In 1998 the depot relocated to the site formerly used by Oakley Coaches in

Oakley, Hampshire Oakley is a village in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire, England, located around 4.5 miles (7 km) west of Basingstoke. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 5,322. Together with the smaller village of Deane, it forms t ...

, placing itself at a strategic location on a route the company ran between Basingstoke and

. Countywide Travel also parked buses at

Hart District Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the urban district of Fleet, and the Hartle ...

Council's Household Waste Recycling Centre near

Hartley Wintney Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart (district), Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet, Hampshire, Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of ...

, but, due to safety concerns, vacated the latter premises in 2007. Countywide Travel took over many of the routes from

Tillingbourne Bus Company Tillingbourne Bus CompanyCompanies House extract company no 259480

when it ceased trading in 2001. On 1 October 2007 the coach business was sold to Weavaway Travel and the bus operation moved to

Crondall Crondall () is a village and large civil parish in the north east of Hampshire in England, in the Crondall Hundred (division), Hundred surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village is on the gentle slopes of the low western end of the North ...

. Around this time, the company was renamed ''Fleet Buzz'' as a wordplay for its predominant presence at

Fleet, Hampshire Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart District Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 197 ...

Mercedes-Benz Vario The Mercedes-Benz Vario (model designation BM667/668/670) is a full-size commercial heavy van manufactured by Mercedes-Benz between 1996 and 2013. History The Vario was launched in 1996 as a facelifted version of the Mercedes-Benz T2. The bod ...

s used to form the backbone of the fleet, but in 2008/09 the company upgraded its fleet with the purchase of four new

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

s and four

Optare Versa The Optare Versa is a low-floor midibus that was manufactured by Optare at its Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. In total 883 were produced between 2007 and 2018.Caetano Nimbuses that previously operated with

Travel de Courcey Travel de Courcey was a bus and coach operator based near Coventry in the West Midlands region of England. It operated local bus services in the Coventry and Warwickshire area and National Express contracts. History Mike de Courcey Travel was ...

and

. These buses were painted in a livery of yellow (lower body) and black (upper body). Afterwards, other Stagecoach-branded buses replaced the remainder of the step-entrance fleet. In December 2011, the business was sold to Stagecoach with 22 buses and 29 staff. It was run as a low-cost unit of Stagecoach South. Alongside the new Optare buses, four

Plaxton Pointer The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) was a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess, Plaxton and latterly built by Alexa ...

s and three

Alexander ALX200 __NOTOC__ The Alexander ALX200 was a single-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was created for low-floor bus chassis produced from the late 1990s. It was launched in spring 1996 as a low floor replacement of the Ale ...

s - one in plain white - were transferred from

Selkent Selkent (an acronym of South East London & Kent) is a bus company operating in central and south London and some parts of north-west Kent. It is a subsidiary brand of Stagecoach London and operates services under contract to Transport for London ...

. Further withdrawn step-entrance Stagecoach buses were transferred or placed on loan to the division. Major network changes in April 2013 saw the Fleet Buzz franchise expand further into

, Basingstoke and

. On 31 December 2014, three years after the Stagecoach takeover, the website was updated to announce the end of the Fleet Buzz name with operations fully integrated into Stagecoach South from the date of a major network change on 5 January 2015. The depot at Crondall closed on 23 May 2015, with staff, routes and buses transferred to Basingstoke and Aldershot.

References

External links

Official website
{{Bus companies in South East England Stagecoach Group bus operators in England Bus operators in Hampshire Bus operators in Surrey Bus operators in Berkshire Bus operators in West Sussex Bus operators in Wiltshire

Stagecoach in Hampshire

Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey

Stagecoach in the South Downs

Stagecoach in Portsmouth

Fleet Buzz

See also

References

External links