Wessex Bus facts for kids
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| Parent | Rotala |
| Founded | April 2007 |
| Defunct | 1 September 2018 |
| Headquarters | Avonmouth |
| Service area | Bristol Bath |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 14 (July 2018) |
| Hubs | Southmead Hospital |
| Fleet | 105 (2017) |
| Chief executive | Steven Watkins |
| Web site | www.wessexbus.com |
Wessex Bus was a company that ran buses in the West of England. It operated from June 2007 until September 2018.
Contents
History of Wessex Bus
In June 2007, a company called Rotala bought the bus part of South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach. This new bus service was named Wessex Connect. The deal included 68 buses. It took until March 2008 to finish, as local councils needed to agree to the changes.
In September 2011, Wessex Bus moved to a new main office and garage in Avonmouth. This new place used to be a timber yard. The move helped Wessex Bus set up a new main office for its operations in the South West. It also allowed them to do all their bus repairs there. Their old garage was getting too small because both businesses were growing.
By 2017, Wessex Bus had 105 buses. They also had a second garage in Keynsham.
Wessex Bus stopped running on September 1, 2018. This happened because they lost many of their bus routes that were paid for by local councils. Other bus companies took over these routes. Eight bus routes, nine buses, and 60 employees moved to Stagecoach West. One route, the 42, was taken over by First West of England.
Wessex Star Bus Services
When Wessex Connect bought the bus company, they also took over a big contract. This contract was for the University of the West of England (UWE) Student Shuttle services. The UWE Flyer was one of the first routes Wessex Connect ran. Soon after, they added the Student Shuttle and Bower Aston shuttle.
From September 2007, UWE and Rotala worked together to create a network of bus routes. These routes connected different university campuses and student housing. They were called Ulink services.
These services became very popular with students and staff. In September 2008, about 6,000 people used them every day. By September 2011, the bus network was renamed Wessex Red. It had grown from three routes needing five buses in 2007 to eight routes needing 26 buses. Some routes, like the U4, often needed extra buses because so many people used them.
In 2012, the UWE name was removed, and the buses were just called Wessex Red. The "U" in the route numbers (like U1) was changed to a "1" (like 11). This was done to make the routes seem more welcoming to everyone, not just students.
On September 1, 2014, Wessex Red changed its name again to Wessex Star. In November 2015, they started a new route called The One. Later, they added The One 2. However, The One 2 route was stopped in December 2016. All Wessex Star services were stopped by July 2017.
Uniconnect Services
On May 11, 2009, Wessex Connect began running a special Uni-Connect U18 bus service. This route connected the University of Bath with Lower Oldfield Park, going through Bath city center. All bus services run by private companies from the university were stopped in September 2017.
Wessex Bath Services
Wessex had success with its Uni-Connect services in Bath. Because of this, they started more bus routes that were similar to existing ones run by First Somerset & Avon. On September 27, 2010, Wessex started new routes 5 and 10. These were branded as Royal Bath. They went to Twerton and Southdown. First also ran frequent buses on these same routes.
On October 3, 2010, Wessex Connect took over route 620. This route went between Tetbury and Bath. The previous company, Cotswold Green, had stopped running it.
Park & Ride Services
Wessex Bus operated two park & ride services in Bristol:
- 902 Portway park and ride: This was run under a contract with Bristol City Council.
- 505 Long Ashton park and ride: This was run under a contract with National Car Parks.
Wessex Bus tried to get these contracts again, but they were not chosen. In April 2012, the contracts went to CT Plus and First Bristol. In September 2014, Wessex started a new park and ride service, the 901. This route went between Portway and Clifton. This service stopped in September 2016. Wessex also ran the 505 service between Southmead Hospital and Long Ashton park & ride.
