Eastbourne Buses

Eastbourne Buses was a bus operator running within the Borough of Eastbourne and into the surrounding area, including Pevensey, Hailsham, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, and East Grinstead, with a fleet of around 50 vehicles. Eastbourne Buses was sold to the Stagecoach Group on 18 December 2008 for a reported £4 Million, beating Go-Ahead to the ownership.

Bus 64 on service 1
Founded1903
Defunct2008
HeadquartersBirch Road
LocaleBorough of Eastbourne
Service areaEastbourne, Hailsham, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, East Grinstead
Service typebus service
Routes10
Fleet61
OperatorStagecoach Group
WebsiteStagecoach East Sussex

History

Formed in April 1903, Eastbourne Buses claimed to be the first and oldest municipally owned motor bus operator in the world; the first bus service operated between Eastbourne railway station and Old Town.

In 2007, the company was fined over £25,000 for two accidents involving employees, one of which was fatal.[1]

At the beginning of 2008, the traffic commissioner fined the company for failing to run services on time.[2]

June 2008 reports had announced Eastbourne Council's intention to sell its majority shareholding in the company.[3]

Sale to Stagecoach

In early November 2008, local press reports had indicated that the company was to be sold by the end of the year to either the Go-Ahead Group or Stagecoach Group. The employees' trade union, Unite, wrote to Eastbourne Borough Council to ask the Council to sell to the Go-Ahead Group, because of work conditions and a superior fleet.[4]

On 25 November 2008, it was announced that Stagecoach was the preferred bidder. On 18 December 2008, Stagecoach took control of the Birch Road Depot.[5]

It is not the first time Stagecoach have run services in Eastbourne. They had run services until late in 2000 before they were withdrawn. They still operate services to Hastings and Bexhill from Eastbourne.

The sale has caused considerable controversy, with MPs criticising the secrecy surrounding the sale[6] and blaming each other's parties for the state the Eastbourne Buses got into, the Liberal Democrats claiming the Conservatives "failed to support Eastbourne Buses".[7]

There has also been criticism of the low sale price for the company – revealed at £3.7 million, lower than the original report of 4 - and criticism of Stagecoach, one MP saying that the company has effectively been "given away for nothing".[8] However, it was revealed that Go-Ahead had bid much lower at £2.85 million, so the council was forced to sell to Stagecoach, despite the union's calls.[7]

In April 2007 the company nearly had to close as it was unable to pay for fuel.[7] At that stage it was inevitable that the company would soon have to be sold.

In January 2009, rival company Cavendish Motor Services was also bought by the Stagecoach Group, making both companies one.

The Eastbourne Buses name was discontinued on 8 March 2009, with operations rebranded as Stagecoach in Eastbourne, which is now under the East Sussex operations of Stagecoach UK Bus.

Routes

Eastbourne Buses operated a number of different service types, including local services around Eastbourne town, as well as long-distance routes.

Town services

Eastbourne Buses ran five in-town services.

RouteBetweenAndRoute Details
1/1A/1C ShinewaterHamlands / Willingdon TreesVia Langney, Seaside, Terminus Road, Old Town, 1 runs via Victoria Drive, Willingdon Roundabout, Lindfield Road and Willingdon Trees. 1A runs via District General Hospital, Lindfield Road and Willingdon Trees. 1C runs via Willingdon Roundabout and Huggets Lane. In the Evenings, Route 1A goes via ASDA and Route 1C goes via Beatty Road, All evening services via Friday Street and extend to The Hydneye.
2 Hampden Park Station (Shinewater)Town CentreVia Winkney Farm, Birch Road and Seaside. On Sundays, Route 2 extends to Shinewater and does not go to Hampden Park or Birch Road.
3/3A MeadsTown CentreVia Meads Street, Carlisle Road and Compton Street. 3A terminates at Meads Street.
5 Stone CrossNorth HarbourVia Asda, Langney Point, Bridgemere, Terminus Road, District General Hospital, Sainsburys and Langney.
6/6A LangneyWillingdon Trees or Hampden Park Station6 via The Martello, Beatty Road and 6A via Priory Road, ASDA, and both routes via Seaside, District Hospital, Lindfield Road, Hazelwood Avenue (6), Maywood Avenue, and Hampden Park Station (6A).

Long-distance services

There were 3 long-distance services.

RouteBetweenAndRoute Details
51/51A Sovereign Harbour South or Town CentreHailsham Union Corner51 via District Hospital, Farmlands, Polegate High Street, Hailsham Town Centre. 51A via Beatty Road, Seaside, Bridgemere then as Route 51.
52 Town CentreTunbridge WellsVia District General Hospital, Polegate, Hailsham, Horam, Heathfield and Frant.
54 Town CentreEast GrinsteadVia Carew Road, District Hospital, Polegate High Street, Stone Cross, Hailsham Town Centre, Golden Cross, Halland and Uckfield.

School services

There were 2 school services.

RouteBetweenAndRoute Details
53 Eastbourne HospitalHeathfield Community CollegeVia Polegate, Dittons, Hailsham, Hellingly, Horam, Maynards Green and Heathfield.
501 ShinewaterRatton SchoolVia Langney Shopping Centre, Langney Point, Seaside, Town Centre and Kings Drive.

Fleet
Bus number 48, a Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 on service 4.
Bus number 128, a DAF SB220/Ikarus on service 51.
The previous Eastbourne Buses logo, used when buses were painted in the blue livery shown above.

The Eastbourne bus fleet comprised a number of different vehicle types, of both older and new vehicles. Twelve new vehicles joined the fleet in January 2009 as part of the Stagecoach takeover, the majority of which were Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts.

Fleet before takeover:

Single decker
Double decker

Trivia

One of the company's buses featured in the 2008 film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

See also

References
  1. BBC News - "Family mourns killed bus driver" Accessed 20 June 2008
  2. BBC News - "Bus firm fined for late services" Accessed 20 June 2008
  3. Bus and Coach magazine - "Speculation on Eastbourne Buses future" Archived 29 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 June 2008
  4. "Bus firm is close to being sold". TR Beckett Newspapers. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  5. "Eastbourne Buses was sold for £4million". TR Beckett Newspapers. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  6. "MP blasts 'cloak of secrecy' over sale of bus company". TR Beckett Newspapers. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  7. "How bus company almost went bust". TR Beckett Newspapers. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  8. "MP slams bus sale". TR Beckett Newspapers. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
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