Yellow Buses

Yellow Buses traces its origins to July 1902, when Bournemouth Corporation began operating trams. Bus services commenced in 1906 to act as feeders to the tram system. In 1930 more bus services were started away from the tram system, to serve Kinson and Holdenhurst when those areas were added to the borough of Bournemouth.

In 1933 the corporation began to operate trolleybuses, and by 1936 replaced all the trams with trolleybuses. The trolleybuses were replaced by buses between 1963 and 1969.[2]

With the passing of the Transport Act 1985 and subsequent deregulation of bus services, Yellow Buses was incorporated as a private limited company, Bournemouth Transport Limited.[1] All shares in the limited company were owned, however, by Bournemouth Borough Council. In 2005, with a need to modernise the fleet and a realisation that full privatisation would better equip the operator to overcome the increasing competition it was facing from Wilts & Dorset, the Council offered the company for sale.[3]

Transdev Yellow Buses logo

In December 2005 Bournemouth Borough Council sold 90% of the shares in Bournemouth Transport Limited to Transdev. The Council retained a 10% shareholding.[4] The operation was rebranded as Transdev Yellow Buses.

Transdev then decided to make its mark on Yellow Buses by giving the network a complete overhaul. This became the Big Network Change of 2 July 2006, where each bus, each journey, and each route (even route numbers) was changed. To make sure that the public were made aware of these changes, Transdev Yellow Buses held road shows across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch to publicise its new network, livery, branding and new fare structure. Transdev subsequently made slight changes to the network with funding from Bournemouth Borough Council, including the introduction of routes 37 and 38, the extension of route 41 at both ends to Boscombe Pier and to Throop Church, and the re-introduction of route 24 to Bournemouth, also restoring this route's evening service and its Sunday service between Bournemouth Railway Station and Alum Chine. Also, for the first time in recent years, Transdev Yellow Buses decided not to run services on New Year's Day 2007 except route 747, which ran a normal Monday service.

In April 2010 services were expanded into East Dorset with the launch of the hourly route 29 between Bournemouth, Winton, Ferndown and West Moors.[5]

RATP Yellow Buses logo

In 2009 Transdev's majority owner, Caisse des dépôts et consignations, commenced negotiating with Veolia Environnement to merge Transdev with Veolia Transport. As part of the resulting agreement, it was agreed that the RATP Group, which had a minority shareholding in Transdev, would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment. Transdev Yellow Buses was included and was transferred on 3 March 2011. The business resumed trading as Yellow Buses.

On 16 November 2013 the A1 (Airport Shuttle) once again become a Yellow Buses route, after six years of being operated by Discover Dorset.[6] In 2016, RATP Group purchased the 10% shareholding in Bournemouth Transport Limited that it did not already own.[7]

In January 2017, Yellow Buses announced it was reorganising most of its routes "after extensive research into the life and work patterns of passengers".[8] The 1a, 1b and 1c services between Poole and Christchurch were replaced with new 'P' services ('P' standing for 'Priory', denoting Christchurch Priory) and ceased to run along Christchurch Road, taking a more lengthy route via Holdenhurst Road. Other lettered services included 'B' for 'Bourne', 'U' for 'University', and 'V' for 'Kinson Village'.[9] The new routes, and the rushed introduction of the new timetables, led to scores of complaints from passengers[10] and in October that year, Bournemouth Transport Limited, which owned and ran Yellow Buses, posted pre-tax losses of £124,000 at Companies House (generating a loss after tax of £193,000).[11][12] Andrew Smith, the managing director, announced his resignation days after the accounts were published.[12]

In early 2018, it was announced that Yellow Buses would be reverting to its old route-name format - '1', '1a', '1b' and so on - these changes coming into effect on 8 April 2018.[13] This necessitated painting and rebranding the company's entire fleet of 140 buses and updating the timetable information at more than 1,000 stops. David Squire, who had replaced Andrew Smith as MD, said: "Everything is in place for Sunday's launch of our revised network. It has been a tremendous team effort and I think our 15 million passengers will notice a positive difference in our services from April 8."[13] The company continued to post losses at Companies House, however, generating pre-tax losses of £1,818,000 in the year ending 30 December 2017[14] and further losses of £1,975,000 in the year to 31 December 2018.[15] On 2 July 2019, following a review of its operations, RATP Group sold Bournemouth Transport Limited to the three directors of the latter company in a management buyout.[16][17]

In 2020, Yellow Buses stopped using Poole Bus Station due to the anti-social behaviour in the area.[18][19]

Marshall bodied Leyland Olympian in October 1997

In the 1980s the fleet mainly consisted of Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines (most of which had unusual Alexander AL type bodies as opposed to the AD type) and Leyland Atlanteans. 20 Leyland Olympians with Marshall bodies (the only ones of their kind) were also owned, as were a small number of Ford Transit minibuses. Some of the Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines were convertible open-top buses for what was once an extensive summer service.

Five Volvo Citybuses, with East Lancs coach-style bodywork were purchased in 1986 (fleet numbers 200 to 204 inclusive). They spent much of their time in what was then the coaching division of the Yellows—"Yellow Coaches of Bournemouth". They eventually made their way to the Yellow Buses fleet and into regular service. Ten Volvo Citybuses with Alexander RV-type bodies were bought, five in 1988 and a further five in 1989.

18 Dennis Dominators with East Lancs E-type bodies (built to Alexander R-type design) were purchased, and have turbo-charged Gardner 6LXCT engines: seven in 1990, seven in 1991 and four in 1992 (fleet numbers 266 to 269 inclusive). Six East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances were bought in 1993.

In 1995/6, a large batch of Dennis Darts with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork were purchased, and are worth noting as the bodies are wider than usual Darts (regardless of bodywork): 12 in 1995 and 10 in 1996.

In 1997/8, delivery of Dennis Dart SLFs with East Lancs Spryte bodywork: two in 1997 and eight in 1998. The 1998 batch were originally in "Super Route 6" livery. In 1999 Yellow Buses took delivery of its first new double decks since 1992, being nine East Lancs Lolyne-bodied Dennis Tridents.

East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TL

Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL

East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodied Volvo B7TL

East Lancs Lolyne bodied Dennis Trident 2

Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart

Eight East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TLs arrived in 2000. 2002 saw another eight East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TLs being added to the fleet, three of them (convertible to open-top format.

Yellow Buses took delivery six Volvo B7TLs in 2003, the bodywork of which were split equally between East Lancs Vyking and Wright Eclipse Gemini. This year also saw another one of the original 18 Dennis Dominator/East Lancs E Types taken out of service. The company withdrew all six East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances. The Leyland Fleetlines in the fleet were sold to Thamesdown between 2003 and 2006.

The only deliveries in 2004 were a further six further Volvo B7TLs, again equally split between East Lancs, this time with East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodywork, and Wright Eclipse Gemini. A further three East Lancs Myllennium Vyking Volvo B7TLs arrived in 2005, plus four VDL SB120/Wright Merits, the latter in a revised livery (before the sale to Transdev) of yellow and white, relieved with two blue upward sweeping bands to the rear.

In 2006, under Transdev ownership, a selection of 21 second-hand single decks arrived, all of which were low-floor Dennis Darts on either Plaxton Pointer, East Lancs Spryte or Wright Crusader bodies, all in the new Transdev Yellow Buses livery. The remaining East Lancs coach-style Volvo Citybuses were withdrawn for sale.

In 2007 the company commenced repainting the remainder of the Volvo Citybuses, but this stopped when the company started looking into purchasing some double-deckers.

The driver-training fleet has also been changed. The company withdrew the last two East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances. In their place, the 1997 batch of Dennis Dart SLFs with East Lancs Spryte bodywork were painted up in special yellow and purple driver-training livery.

10 reasonably new buses arrived, all being 55-plate Alexander Dennis Dart Pointers. These came from Manchester Airport, and because Yellow Buses were due to stop running the airport service in November, the buses had their luggage racks removed. To this end, a large part of the 1995 batch of Dennis Darts with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork were withdrawn and put up for sale by Ensignbus. Two were sold to Brighton-based independent The Big Lemon. In November 2007, an ex-demonstrator Alexander Dennis Enviro400 arrived.

A single deck Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart went into service in mid-January 2008, numbered 515. In September 2008, 11 brand new Optare Versas arrived at the depot. These had registrations to match their fleet numbers in the Txx TYB range (18 to 28 inclusive) and entered service on Route 1a (Bournemouth-Somerford) on 1 October 2008. In November, an order was announced for 11 Optare Tempos to follow on from the Versa order.

Towards the end of the year, Dennis Dart East Lancs EL2000s 460 to 463 were withdrawn.

Your Bus was also launched during September 2008 by TYB, to run the school specials they had contracts for, with three Volvo Citybuses and one Dennis Dart East Lancs EL2000 in the TYB "Your Bus" Livery. This fleet was expanded in September 2009 with the introduction of the Bournemouth & Poole College contract, with extra Darts and an extra Volvo Citybus added to the fleet.

11 Optare Tempos entered service during May 2009.

The early part of 2010 saw the withdrawal of the remaining Volvo Citybuses that were not then in the Your Bus section of TYB.

In spring 2010 the Trident Lolynes were refurbished. Notable differences were the addition of a wheelchair ramp and area, more stop buttons on both decks, flooring to the same specification as the Optare single-deckers already in the fleet, new seating with different arrangements both on the lower and especially the upper deck where the seats were spaced further apart, increasing leg-room, slightly reducing capacity, and improving CCTV.

In June 2010 seven new Optare Tempos were introduced.

In spring 2011 the refurbishment of the fleet continued with the East Lancs Myllennium Vykings and the Wright Eclipse Geminis (fleet numbers 180 to 185 inclusive) receiving new flooring, seating and improved CCTV. Five new Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2s arrived in May 2011.[20]

In summer 2011 the remaining step-entrance Darts in the Your Bus fleet left the service with only the Citybuses in this fleet covering the St Peter's School contracts from September 2011. Also, YB acquired from sister company, London United, four ALX400 buses converted from dual door to single door format, three of which were Dennis Tridents and the other being a Volvo B7TL. YB also acquired five Optare Solo's, two being from Door to Dorset. The remaining three Optare Solo's origins are unknown.

In autumn 2011 two Alexander Dennis Enviro300 single deckers arrive.

In summer 2013 eight Wright StreetLite Max single deckers were purchased at a cost of £1.1 million.[21]

2014 new arrivals

In late March 2014 ten Wright StreetLite Max single deckers entered service at a cost of £1.4 million.[22] Also 5 [[Wright Eclipse Gemini 2]] buses entered service at an unknown cost.

187 BL14 LTA Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Delivered Brand New

188 BL14 LTE Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Delivered Brand New

189 BL14 LTF Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Delivered Brand New

190 BL14 LTJ Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Delivered Brand New

191 BL14 LTK Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Delivered Brand New

859 HF14BWM Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

860 HF14BWN Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

861 HF14BWO Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

862 HF14BWP Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

863 HF14BWU Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

864 HF14BWV Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

865 HF14BWW Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

866 HF14BWX Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

867 HF14BWY Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

868 HF14BWZ Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

869 HF14BXA Wright StreetLite Max Delivered Brand New

2015 new arrivals:

In April 2015, Yellow Buses announced the arrival of 8 new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 double deckers at a cost of £1.6 million.[23] During the launch of these vehicles, 4 further Gemini 2 vehicles were also added to the fleet.

192 BF15KFA Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

193 BF15KFC Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

194 BF15KFD Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

195 BF15KFE Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

196 BF15KFG Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

197 BF15KFJ Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

198 BF15KFK Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

199 BF15KFL Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 Delivered Brand New

2017 new arrivals:

In 2017, the following buses joined the fleet. A large investment by Yellow Buses saw 6 brand new buses join the fleet. These are the first buses in Yellow Buses fleet to have stop-start technology.

200 SN17 MTY Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

201 SN17 MTU Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

202 SN17 MTV Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

203 SN17 MTZ Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

204 SN17 MTY Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

205 SN17 MTZ Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMC Delivered Brand New

2018 new arrivals:

2018 saw the arrival of 18 single deck ex Tower Transit buses most of which being allocated to route 1.

519 YX12 AEA Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

520 YX12 AED Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

521 YX12 AEF Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

522 YX12 AEO Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

523 YX12 AEP Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

524 YX12 AEU Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

525 YX12 AEW Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

526 YX12 AEY Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

527 YX12 AGY Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

528 YX12 AJY Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

529 YX12 AKN Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

530 YX12 AKP Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

531 YX12 AKU Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

532 YX12 AKV Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

533 YX12 AMK Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

534 YX12 ARZ Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

535 YX12 AXU Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

536 YX12 AXV Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 from Tower Transit London

537 YX12 AZN [[Alexander Dennis Enviro 200]] from Tower Transit London

2019 new arrivals:

2019 saw a variety of buses join the fleet starting with 116 and 117 joining the fleet for two school contracts which were cancelled at the last minute, the buses were then branded for route 5 where they remain. 126-129 joined from Preston Bus with all 4 entering service straight away, unfortunately 129 was involved in a RTC a few days into service and was away getting repaired for a few months. 206 and 207 then joined the fleet with 207 being branded for the Jetbus737 the route from Bournemouth to Bournemouth Airport, this bus also has luggage racking inside for suitcases.

116 LF55 CYV Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London

117 LF55 CYX Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London

126 BX62FNV Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Preston Bus

127 BX62FOJ Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Preston Bus

128 BX62FUO Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Preston Bus

129 BX62 FUU Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Preston Bus

206 SN12AVY Alexander Dennis Enviro400 from Tower Transit London

207 SN13CHZ Alexander Dennis Enviro400 from First Group Manchester

2020 new arrivals:

2020 saw 5 buses arrive from Abellio London and these were all converted to open top buses ready for a busy season, however due to the [[COVID-19]] pandemic only two entered service and the other three remain in storage. 208-212 were purchased in the summer of 2020 to help with the social distancing impact of the pandemic as these buses can seat a lot more passengers than the single deckers in the fleet, these buses replaced the Optare Tempos which subsequently left when these arrived.

437 BX55XNG Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London (converted to open top for season routes)

438 BX55XNK Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London (converted to open top for season routes)

439 BX55XNR Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London (converted to open top for season routes)

440 BX55XNU Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London (converted to open top for season routes)

441 BX55XNW Wright Eclipse Gemini from Abellio London (converted to open top for season routes)

208 JMN46R Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Isle of Man Public Transport

209 JMN48R Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Isle of Man Public Transport

210 JMN49R Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Isle of Man Public Transport

211 JMN50R Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Isle of Man Public Transport

212 JMN51R Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 from Isle of Man Public Transport