Morebus(stylized asmore) is a trading name of bus operatorGo South Coastprimarily used inBournemouth,ChristchurchandPoole,and the widerDorsetarea. Operations in the area were formerly part of theWilts & Dorsetbrand, phased out from 2012 onwards.
 | |
 | |
| Parent | Go-Ahead Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 2004 |
| Headquarters | Poole |
| Locale | Dorset |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Destinations |
|
| Operator | Go South Coast |
| Chief executive | Andrew Wickham |
| Website | morebus.co.uk |
History
edit
The brand was launched in December 2004 as a premium service replacing routes 101 to 105 between Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch, and routes 155, 156 and 157 between Poole andCanford Heath.The service launched with 30Wright EclipsebodiedVolvo B7RLEsingle-deck buses. The buses carried a livery of mostly dark blue with red at the back; the original 30 also carried slogans such as "looks like a bus, works like a dream."
Such was the success of themoreservices, the frequency on the m1 and m2 routes was increased, with the m1 extended to theCastlepoint shopping centreon the outskirts of Bournemouth fromBournemouth railway station.With only 30morebranded buses in the fleet at the time, the branded routes to Canford Heath were discontinued, with the 'm' dropped from the route number and standard liveried vehicles used. For these routes to becomemoreroutes again, a batch ofMercedes-Benz Citaroswere ordered. The originalmorebuses were going to be Citaros, but it had been thought thatVolvowould offer a quicker delivery time. Further changes to the routes occurred on 25 May 2008, with the m2 being withdrawn from Burton (transferred to Route X12 which was also later withdrawn) and Somerford to terminate at Boscombe.[citation needed]
During 2010, themorebrand was refreshed with every bus being repainted in a slightly brighter, simpler version of the previous livery,[1]each highlighting a good reason for using themorebuses; for example "morefrequent".
In May 2011, routes m5 and m6 were once again dropped from themorebrand and renumbered routes 5 and 6.
In June 2012, Go South Coast announced a £5.5 million investment in 36Wright Eclipsebodied Volvo buses to be used on the m1 and m2 routes, whilst the previous 38 Volvos and Citaros would be cascaded onto other services, replacing older buses. Also at this time, routes 8 and 9 became part of themorebrand.[citation needed]
Following the decision by the administrators ofYellow Busesto cease all bus operations in August 2022, Morebus took over several routes and offered a £2000 welcome bonus to recruit existing drivers who had a PCV licence. As a result, Morebus obtained amonopolyin the bus services acrossBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole(BCP).[2]The subsidised routes 18, 33 and 36 were then contracted by BCP Council toXelabusunder theYellow Coachesbrand, but these reverted to Morebus since February 2023.[3][4]
In 2023, Morebus announced a £7.7 million investment in 28Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCbuses.[5]
Services
editMorebus
editMorebus is the main operating company. It runs roughly 50 public routes, spanningHythein the east,Warehamin the west andSalisburyin the north. It also operates many school and college services.[6]
UniBus
edit
Morebus operates five routes on behalf ofBournemouth UniversityandArts University Bournemouth.During the summer of 2016, the services were rebranded as 'Unibus', with new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC's arriving in a new livery, all with different colour schemes. These buses have WiFi and USB chargers, which passengers can use at no extra cost.
From 2004, when the university contract was transferred to Wilts & Dorset fromYellow Buses,until the end of 2009, services were branded as Unilinx and operated by a mixed fleet of double-deck buses (Optare Spectrasand brand-newVolvo B7TLELC Myllennium Vykingconvertibles) painted in a modified version of the 'more' livery. Unilinx-branded buses were also a common sight on non-Unilinx services, especially on service 152 (later the 52) where ELC Myllennium Vyking buses ran open-top throughout the summer.
In 2009, when the university contract was renewed, eight buses (of which six were ScaniaEnviro 400double deckers) were used on the U1, U2 and U4 routes, with a ScaniaSolarsingle deck bus on the U3 route. These were purchased new, while an ex-LondonarticulatedMercedes-Benz Citaro bus was introduced to route U1 on 10 January 2010, primarily running a shuttle service to boost capacity between Talbot Campus and the student residences at Lansdowne.[7]It was believed to be the first such bus in service on the South Coast, and initially had its route number and destination blinds as part of its livery (including a misspelling of 'Cranborne' as 'Cranbourne') as this bus was used exclusively between Talbot Campus and Cranborne House. From January 2010, these routes were branded as 'The Bus for Bournemouth University' or 'The Bus for BU', with buses appearing in the institution's primary corporate colours of white and pink. For the 2012–2013 academic year, a second articulated bus was acquired.
The university contract was renewed again in 2016, with 12 new ADL Enviro 400MMC buses introduced[8]and in 2022 a new fleet of ADL Enviro 400 double decker buses, with USB chargers for smart devices, free WiFi and the low emissions Euro 6 engine were introduced for the university routes, with the older buses reassigned to other morebus services.[9]
In 2023 a new Unibus route, the U5, was introduced to access the university multi-sport site at Chapel Gate.[10]
Breezers
edit
More operates four all-year services under theBreezerbrand, with service 40 going from Poole toSwanageviaWarehamandCorfe Castle,service 50 running fromBournemouth railway stationto Swanage via theSandbanks Ferry,service 60 going from Rockley Park to Sandbanks viaPooleandLilliputand service 70 going fromAlum Chineto Bournemouth East Cliff viaWestbourne.
These services run more frequently in the summer, the 70 being extended in both directions - from Rockley Park toHengistbury Head- with additional services including service 30 from Swanage toWeymouth(and one trip each way to/fromDorchester), service 31 that goes fromWool Rail StationtoLulworth Cove&Durdle Doorand service 35 that goes fromSwanagetoWareham Forest.Services 50, 60 and 70 normally use open-topped buses throughout the summer.[11]
As of summer 2024, more operates the followingBreezerroutes:
Jurassic Breezer
Campsite Connect
Purbeck Breezer
- 40:Swanage–Poole(viaWareham)
- 50:Swanage–Bournemouth railway station(viaSandbanks Ferry)
Harbour Breezer
- 60:Rockley Park–Sandbanks(viaPoole)
Beach Breezer
The New Forest Tour
editCircular tourist routes in theNew Forestusing open-top buses are operated jointly byBluestarand Morebus.[12]
Coach operations
editDamory
editDamory operates school bus services as well as some public services primarily within west Dorset such as service CR8 to Weymouth via Dorchester from itsBlandford Forumdepot. In October 2013 it commenced operating the Rossmore Flyer fromAlderneyto UpperParkstone,now cascaded into routes 7A, 7B and 7C.[13]Later in 2015, it had purchased five newOptare Solosto run primarily on its local Dorchester services.[14]
It also operates as a private hire company, with it originally created by the purchasing and merging of Damory Coaches, Oakfield Travel,[15]and Blandford Bus Company.[16]
Excelsior Coaches
editExcelsior Coaches is a private hire brand which commenced when Morebus purchased Excelsior Motorways following the retirement of its owner in October 2016.[17][18]
See also
editExternal Links
editReferences
edit- ^"Omnibuses: More Paint".Omnibuses.blogspot. 12 September 2010.Retrieved28 January2014.
- ^"Bournemouth's Yellow Buses collapses after failing to find buyer".BBC. 4 August 2022.
- ^"Yellow Coaches awarded council contract to run three Yellow Buses routes".Bournemouth Echo.Retrieved14 August2022.
- ^"Morebus to take over former Yellow Buses routes after Xelagroup pulled out".Bournemouth Echo.Retrieved15 February2023.
- ^"New buses on order".morebus.co.uk.Retrieved3 March2023.
- ^https:// morebus.co.uk/services
- ^"Bendy buses en route to Dorset service".bournemouthecho.co.uk.Retrieved16 March2024.
- ^"BU launches new, improved UNIBUS service with morebus".
- ^"New buses on Bournemouth's roads".
- ^"U5 to Chapel Gate".
- ^"Breezers from more".More Bus.Go South Coast.Retrieved16 March2024.
- ^"Contact Us | New Forest Tour".thenewforesttour.info.Retrieved18 October2016.
- ^"morebus".Wayback Machine.Archived fromthe originalon 1 November 2013.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^"Damory Coaches adds five new buses to its fleet".Dorset Echo.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^Oakfield TravelCountrybus
- ^Damory CoachesCollins Place
- ^"90-year-old coach firm is sold to Morebus owner".Bournemouth Echo.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^"EXCELSIOR MOTORWAYS – THE BOURNEMOUTH COACH OPERATOR".countrybus.co.uk.Retrieved28 June2022.