South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach
Encyclopedia
SGBC Ltd t/a South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach operate a number of bus services in the Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 area. The majority of their bus services are school routes operated on behalf of South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

 Council, Bristol City Council and the Cabot Learning Federation, as well as a number of National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...

 services from the Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 area. Peak time commuter services are also operated from the north Bristol fringes into the city centre.

History

South Gloucestershire can trace its history back to 1982 when Roger Durbin set up operations as Durbin’s Coaches. After steadily expanding over the years the operations began to attract the attention of Badgerline Holdings and during 1994 Durbin’s Coaches were taken over by the Bristol Omnibus Company
Bristol Omnibus Company
The Bristol Omnibus Company is the former name of the dominant bus operator in Bristol, one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. The company once ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. The name was in operational use until 1985...

. Roger Durbin was imposed with a restriction to start operating again in the Bristol area for 3 years as part of the agreement for the sale. Whilst Roger Durbin left the company, Tony Lavoie, the marketing manager stayed with the company, moving to City Lines Lawrence Hill depot as the general manager.

After a few months Lavoie left to start up his own bus company, Leisure Travel. By 1997, with a fleet of 24 vehicles, Roger Durbin returned to the industry as a partner in the business, and in 1998 the company began trading as South Gloucestershire Bus Company with a blue and white livery. Also during 1998 the pair purchased a local taxi firm which they renamed South Gloucestershire Taxi Company with a similar fleet name as the bus business. Durbin took on the bus side of the business while Lavoie looked after the running of the taxi company. During 1999 the original Durbin’s Coaches business was re acquired from First Bristol
First Bristol
First Bristol is a bus operator based in Bristol, England. It is part of FirstGroup, and is the dominant public transport company in the city.-History:...

, who had continued to trade as Durbin’s Coaches and then First Durbins as a ‘low cost’ unit within First.
The company rapidly expanded over the next few years winning various tenders for supported services from South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council, at one point even operating service 620 from Bath to Stroud
Stroud
Stroud a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England.Stroud may also refer to:*Stroud, New South Wales, Australia*Stroud, Ontario, Canada*Stroud , Gloucestershire, UK*Stroud...

. During 2003 the goodwill and custom as well as the majority of the fleet of Eastville Coaches was bought from the proprietor Mr Phillips. With the Eastville goodwill came a lucrative entrance to National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...

 contracts. A number of vehicles were brought into to update the Eastville fleet but after 18 months the original Eastville Coaches began trading again and the SGBC Eastville Coaches fleet were painted plain white with ‘A Durbin Group Company’ tagline.

Also during 2003 the taxi operation was separated from the bus operation, which saw Lavoie leave the fold, he now works for Bristol coach operator Eurocoaches.

The company continued to expand, picking up contracts with the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

 for student transport, Orange & Axa
Friends Life
Friends Life is a life assurance company formed in 2011, comprising the merged UK operations of Friends Provident and the life assurance businesses acquired from Bupa and AXA UK. The new company began trading in March 2011 with over 5 million customers worldwide.The head office is located at One...

 for staff shuttles, National Express for Rail Replacement and coach service contracts and further tenders from Bristol City & South Gloucestershire Councils. The fleet was made up of mainly second hand vehicles such as Leyland Lynx
Leyland Lynx
The Leyland Lynx is a single-decker bus built by Leyland between 1984 and 1992. It was designed to replace the ageing Leyland National.Production vehicles began to enter service in 1986. From 1990 to 1992 the updated Lynx II version was produced...

 and Leyland Titan
Leyland Titan
The Leyland Titan was a chassis with a front-mounted engine designed to carry double-decker bus bodywork. It was built mainly for the UK market between 1927 and 1942, and then between 1945 and 1970 after World War II....

s, and Volvo B10M
Volvo B10M
The Volvo B10M is a popular mid-engined bus and coach chassis built by Volvo between 1978 and 2001. It was built as the successor of the B58 and was equipped with a 9.6-litre horizontally-mounted Volvo THD100/THD101/THD102/THD103/THD104/DH10A diesel engine mounted under the floor, near the middle...

s for the coach fleet. There were two Dennis Dart SLFs that were new to Durbin in 2003 for Orange and UWE work. It was revealed in 2007 that the South Gloucestershire fleet was the most un environmentally-friendly bus fleet in the country with an emission level of 15.79 g/kW.

Sale to Rotala

In 2007 the bus side of the company was sold to Rotala
Rotala
Rotala is an Alternative Investment Market listed company, which owns a variety of UK transport operators.Rotala was set up in 2005, with the main intention of acquiring or gaining majority interest in businesses within a number of areas.-Surrey Connect:...

 Group subsidiary Flights Hallmark
Flights Hallmark
Flights Hallmark is a luxury coach and corporate cars business, which is part of the Rotala group. It is based in the English Midlands and has depots around the country, including one at Heathrow Airport.- History :...

. The sale included 68 buses for the price of £1.26 million and the right to operate the routes they were used on for a further £600,000. The takeover was completed in stages and everything was finalized by the 31st March 2008. It was stated at the time that the assets being acquired had an annual turnover of £4.2 million pounds. The business was slowly rebranded as Wessex Connect
Wessex Connect
Wessex Connect was founded in Bristol by Rotala, through its subsidiary company Flights Hallmark, to provide Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council with an alternative to the near monopoly currently held in the city by FirstGroup....

, however the majority of the vehicles that Rotala purchased stayed in South Gloucestershire livery. They were gradually disposed of as and when Rotala were able to replace them with suitable low floor vehicles. Most of the low floor vehicles from the SGBC fleet were painted white and ended up with Rotala group company Central Connect
Central Connect
Connect Buses is the brand name used to cover all aspects of the Rotala Group bus operations. It operates in a number of mainly urban places in the United Kingdom, with the regional brand names reflecting the places served.-Central Connect/Blue Diamond:...

.

After the sale to Rotala, SGBC were left with school services, the 462 commuter service and the Axa 101 service, that both interworked with school services. The fleet has been continually updated since the sale in 2007 with more modern coaches and further second hand buses. All coaches are now white with a new South Gloucestershire fleet name in silver, and school vehicles are gradually being painted into an all over yellow scheme inspired by the purchase of a former Plymouth Citybus
Plymouth Citybus
Plymouth Citybus is one of the principal bus operators serving the City of Plymouth, England, and the surrounding area. Plymouth Citybus's route network serves almost exclusively the boroughs and inner-city areas of Plymouth, with the majority of rural services handled by First Devon and...

 school vehicle. The blue livery is still a familiar site on the street of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 with a large proportion of the bus fleet still in this livery.

It was in 2007 that 8 Van Hool
Van Hool
Van Hool NV is a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers.The company was founded in 1947 by Bernard van Hool in Koningshooikt, nearby Lier, Belgium. In the early years, the company introduced serial production and exported their products all over Europe...

 bodied coaches were acquired from Go West Midlands
Go West Midlands
Go West Midlands was a bus company based in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. It was owned by Go-Ahead Group and was formed through Go-Ahead buying Probus Management Limited and Birmingham Coach Company and merging the two...

 (themselves selling out to Rotala) for the coach fleet. These arrived in National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...

 livery for use on National Express service 319 from Dec 07 to Jan 08, duplicates and Friday & Sunday extras on the 040 service. Although they were regularly used on school services and soon ended up being painted all over white.

National Express

It wasn’t until 2008 that South Gloucestershire were awarded their first National Express contract operating the 200. This was picked up from First Coaches who handed in the contract, with most of their drivers transferring across with the contract. Initially the service was worked by the Van Hools, until a fleet of 7 new tri axle Scania K340EB6/Caetano Levante
Caetano Levante
The Caetano Levante is a coach body built on the Scania K-series 6x2 & 4x2, Volvo B12B 4x2 chassis and recently Volvo B9R 4x2 chassis, exclusively for National Express in the UK...

 were delivered specifically for the service. These were followed by a further three former National Express operations owned vehicles in 2009. They joined the fleet around the time SGBC picked up their second full time contract, the 040, also won from First Coaches. Again the majority of the drivers transferred across with the service, which was worked by the 9 Levantes, with 5 Van Hools now being used on the 200. A further service was picked up in mid 2010, the 402/3 routes from Bath were won after First Somerset & Avon
First Somerset & Avon
First Somerset & Avon Ltd provides bus services in Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and West Wiltshire. It is part of First Group. First Somerset & Avon operates an extensive network of services in and around Bath, Bridgwater, Bristol, Taunton, Trowbridge, Wells, Weston-super-Mare and...

 handed in the contract, the drivers were given the option to TUPE across or stay with First on service work. To work these routes a batch of 12 Volvo B9R/Caetano Levantes were ordered to be split between 5 for the 200 and 7 for the 402/3. However due to issues regarding delivery the start date had to be pushed back a few months and eventually they were delivered for an August start with the service starting a few weeks before and being covered by second hand purchases.

Further services have been picked up in 2011 including the 318 which was taken over from Applegates Coaches, and the 339 service that was previously operated by Hookways of Meeth, but was awarded to SGBC after Hookways got into financial trouble. The 502 service was also covered by SGBC for a few weeks after the collapse of Hookways.

In addition to the full time Nat Ex work, services to special events at locations such as Glastonbury and Wembley are also operated from the South West & Wales and mainly uses vehicles from the private hire or Nat Ex spares fleet.
South Gloucestershire have a varied fleet of National Express coaches that includes:
  • • 8 DAF SB4000/Van Hool Alizee
  • • 9 Scania K340/Caetano Levante
    Caetano Levante
    The Caetano Levante is a coach body built on the Scania K-series 6x2 & 4x2, Volvo B12B 4x2 chassis and recently Volvo B9R 4x2 chassis, exclusively for National Express in the UK...

  • • 12 Volvo B9R/Caetano Levante
    Caetano Levante
    The Caetano Levante is a coach body built on the Scania K-series 6x2 & 4x2, Volvo B12B 4x2 chassis and recently Volvo B9R 4x2 chassis, exclusively for National Express in the UK...

  • • 2 Scania K114
    Scania K114
    The Scania K114 is a rear-engined bus built by Scania of Sweden with an 11-litre engine.It could be built as a coach or an intercity bus ....

    /Van Hool Alizee


South Gloucestershire currently operate five National Express routes.
  • Service 040
    National Express Coach route 040
    National Express Coaches Route 040 is a UK coach service operated by National Express Coaches in England which starts in Bristol and travels directly to London. One journey a day continues to Burnham-on-Sea.-Expansion:...

     from Bristol
    Bristol
    Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

     to London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

     direct.
  • • Service 200 from Bristol
    Bristol
    Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

     to Gatwick Airport via Reading
    Reading, Berkshire
    Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

     and Heathrow Airport.
  • • Service 339 from Westward Ho!
    Westward Ho!
    Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford and Bude...

     to Grimsby
    Grimsby
    Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...

    .
  • • Service 402 from Frome
    Frome
    Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...

     to London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

     via Trowbridge
    Trowbridge
    Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....

    , Newbury
    Newbury
    -In the United Kingdom:* Newbury, Berkshire**Newbury **Newbury Racecourse**Newbury F.C.**A.F.C. Newbury**Newbury R.F.C.**Newbury Building Society**Newbury Weekly News**Newbury College**Newbury railway station...

     & Heathrow Airport.
  • • Service 403 from Bath to London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

     via Swindon
    Swindon
    Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...

     & Heathrow Airport.

Bus routes

At the present time, South Gloucestershire's only scheduled bus services are the 462 and 462A routes, which run at peak hour times from Emersons Green
Emersons Green
Emersons Green is a residential area on the northern outskirts of Bristol, England. It was developed from farming land during the 1990s and early 21st century, and sits between the historic villages of Mangotsfield and Downend...

, Mangotsfield and Bromley Heath to either Bristol Temple Meads Station or Clifton Triangle via Bristol City Centre. Service 462A operates on school days only and comprises of one single journey from Temple Meads to Emersons Green via Downend. Prior to April 2011 a morning journey from Downend to Temple Meads operated on this route.

South Gloucestershire also operate route 101 for Friends Life
Friends Life
Friends Life is a life assurance company formed in 2011, comprising the merged UK operations of Friends Provident and the life assurance businesses acquired from Bupa and AXA UK. The new company began trading in March 2011 with over 5 million customers worldwide.The head office is located at One...

. This service is also a peak time only service with four return runs in the morning and 5 return runs in the evening. The service runs from Axa at Parkway, near Stoke Gifford, to Lewins Mead in Bristol City Centre via the A4174
A4174 road
The A4174 is a major road in England which runs around the northern and eastern edge of Bristol, mainly in South Gloucestershire, and through the southern suburbs of Bristol...

 and M32
M32 motorway
The M32 is a motorway in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, England. It provides a link from Bristol city centre to the M4 and is part of the Bristol Parkway. At about , it is one of Britain's shortest motorways...

. This service is not available to the general public.

Most of the services are operated by the familiar blue buses from the fleet, however, because routes are interworked with school services from time to time Yellow school buses or the white coaches are also used on the services. Also due to limited resources sometime certain services will be worked by a National Express coach returning to the depot, for example PM workings on the 101 service from the Centre sometimes see a Nat Ex coach used on its way back to the depot, instead of running much of the same route to the depot empty.

School Services

In total 40 school services are currently operated, split between:
  • John Cabot Academy (11)
  • Cabot Learning Federation Link (1)
  • Ashton Park School (3)
  • Marlwood School
    Marlwood School
    Marlwood School is a comprehensive secondary school located in Alveston, South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England.It is situated on the B3561 on the outskirts of the south-west of the village.-Grammar school:...

     (9)
  • The Castle School
    The Castle School
    The Castle School is a mixed-sex secondary school for students aged 11–18 in Thornbury South Gloucestershire, England, which serves the town and the surrounding villages. Pupils from Bristol also attend the school...

     (2)
  • Marlwood & Castle (1)
  • UWE & Filton College (1)
  • Katherine Lady Berkeley (2)
  • Yate Sixth Form Link (1)
  • Wellsway School
    Wellsway School
    Wellsway School is a mixed comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 18, maintained by Bath and North East Somerset Local Education Authority situated on the eastern side of Keynsham, Somerset, England...

     (1)
  • Backwell School
    Backwell School
    Backwell School is an academy in Backwell, North Somerset, England. The school, which has had academy status since May 2011, is a specialist Arts College, and includes a sixth form and takes pupils from the age of 11 to the age of 18...

     (1)
  • Mangotsfield School
    Mangotsfield School
    Mangotsfield School is a specialist coeducational engineering and science college for students between the ages of 11 and 18 located in Mangotsfield in South Gloucestershire, north of the Kingswood suburb of Bristol, England.-History:...

    (1)
  • Concorde Partnership (1)
  • Winterboune International Academy (4)
  • The Ridings Federation Link (1)


Most of the services are interworked with each other, for example the Wellsway, Mangotsfield School, Winterbourne International Academy and UWE and Filton College routes are interworked with the John Cabot routes. John Cabot routes are also interworked with the 462 and 101 routes. South Gloucestershire's school bus routes use a mixture of single and double decker buses and coaches and all three types of vehicles appear on the 462. It is also not un common to see Wessex Connect vehicles in use of school routes when South Gloucestershire are stretched for demand.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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