| The Omnibuses Repository | » Omnibuses
Repository Home » Other Renowned Sites » Contact Us » Go to the Omnibuses Blog |
Celebrating Silver—'new' Wilts & Dorset at 25
'Busing' couldn’t let 2008 slip by without celebrating one of Dorset’s premier operators’ silver jubilee 1983-2008. Last year, ‘new’ Wilts & Dorset hit 25 years old...When in 1983 the National Bsus Company formed the ‘new’ Wilts & Dorset as but one newcomer out of the old Hants & Dorset, W&D’s fleet understandably had a very familiar NBC feel to it. An allocation of just over 200 included the inevitable Bristol LH, RE & VR types, and the Leyland National. There was also a modest 16 Fleetline contingent, including second-hand examples, and more were to follow under W&D, all allocated to Poole, and all replacing what were then ageing REs.
 |
Badger Vectis competition in 1987 initially in Salisbury then Poole brought out mothballed REs but this wasn’t enough. Hired South Wales Transport Leyland Nationals gave way to a flotilla of sundry second-hand double decks, including over 10 MCW bodied Bristol VRs, late of West Midlands via an unsuccessful and indeed inharmonious spell at Crosville.
The main riposte was in the shape of up to 45 new MCW Metrorider minibuses, for both north & south. More followed as the fleet strength increased by over one third. The love affair with Metroriders continued, both new and second hand and as late as 1995 W&D was buying new (larger) ones, by then built by Optare. Yet more second-hand Metroriders arrived in 2000.
Aside from the Metroriders, the five years to 1992 were dominated by second-hand acquisitions, including Olympians and interestingly three VRs. 1992 saw the first native VR withdrawals.
From 1993, W&D left the past. In a long collaboration with Optare, W&D stepped out in style with the purchase of the first of what would amount to some 70 DAF/Optare Spectras, supplemented in by second-hand DAF/Northern Counties Palatine-bodied buses destined as convertible open tops. 1993 also a handful of equally striking DAF/Optare Delta single decks, followed ten years later by a modest number of Optare Excel single deck integrals.
Though the Metroriders had proved more durable than even W&D had hoped, Optare Solo minibuses began replacing both Metroriders and conventionals for an intensive spell from 1998-2000, with over 70 arriving, W&D being early adopters of this now ubiquitous vehicle.
Now in Go Ahead ownership from 2003, another change of purchasing policy followed what were the disappointing 2000-2003 Excels. Late 2004 saw the arrival of nearly 40 Volvo/Wright Eclipses principally for the More corridors on the m1/2 and initially the m5/6. Like the Spectras, W&D went for something different, this time with some 2+1 seating in these 12m buses that carried a maximum of just 40. The return to integral designs followed in 2006 with just under 30 Mercedes Benz Citaros, to More (& Pulseline) specification. Production difficulties at Wrightbus were cited as the reason for Mercedes winning the order.
Between the Eclipses & Citaros came a modest 2005 batch of new Volvo/East Lancs Myllenium convertible double decks.
Since 1993, W&D has largely been in a strong enough position to purchase new. Some of its old timers still managed to soldier on. In spite of withdrawals at a fairly rapid pace, the VR was still a common enough site in Poole as late as 2005. It's understood there remain just two active VRs on the fleet, relegated to school duties, in an incredible link back to 1983. With the purchase of new Scanias this year, it will be interesting to see how long what is basically a 1960s-design remains alongside 21st century technology
Part 2
When ‘new’ Wilts & Dorset was formed in 1983, the old regime was almost ending. W&D managers busied themselves in preparing for the dual opportunities of deregulation and privatisation. Deregulation in October 1986 brought no initial issues other than a loss of some socially necessary services in Lymington and Fordingbridge. This situation didn’t last long, with Poole Bay Services, Verwood Transport and Maybury Coaches subsequently competing.
Among the contenders to buy W&D, the most interesting were second- and third-privatised former NBC bus subsidiaries, Badgerline & Southern Vectis. In the event, W&D passed to its management in June 1987, the last of the three former H&D companies to reach the private sector. Unlike many new privatisations, the obligatory livery change was traditional, continuing to feature red.
The retention of red was a smart move when considering the two major incursions to follow. One in June 1987 was in Salisbury from disgruntled bidder Badgerline; the other four months later in Poole, jointly by Badgerline and Southern Vectis. W&D engaged the opposition fully, including the adoption of ‘Skipper’ minibus services. Few people realise the 18-month competition almost weakened W&D fatally and, upon Badger Vectis’ unexpected retreat, the effects of the sustained attack took years to right.
What followed was therefore a much-needed period of consolidation and relative stability. From 1993, W&D felt confident enough to invest significantly in new conventional stock. During this period, the network changed relatively little and an observer in 2004 might well have noticed but few changes, such as the 105 Poole-Christchurch area.
Changes following the unexpected 2003 sale to Go Ahead were on the horizon. The view was that Go Ahead might best protect the former NBC team’s by now highly profitable business. It’s noteworthy that Go Ahead has failed to achieve the margins once enjoyed by the old W&D.
The first major network change was the relauch in December 2004 of the Poole-Christchurchs and Poole-Canford Heaths, as More bus. W&D extended the m1 Poole-Bournemouth to Castlepoint via Charminster, across ailing Yellow Buses’ territory, in 2005. Failure to buy Yellow Buses influenced the launch of other competitive strikes in the Bournemouth area, all bar More being unsustainable. There followed a general southern recasting in June 2006, setting aside much of the old network and route numbers. When the region’s other premier operator Transdev Yellow Buses embraced the Poole-Somerford corridor from 2006, some would say it relegating W&D to an equal status upon the truncation of W&D’s More at Boscombe, this year. W&D's remaining long-distance services also fell in 2008, owing to EU drvers' hours regulations.