ROUTEMASTER BOURNEMOUTH
When buses competed and adrenalin ran in the streets of Bournemouth
When conductors staged a come back ...... in 1993 / 1994
| It all started on Monday 17th May 1993 with four crew
operated Routemasters running on route 604 from The Square in central Bournemouth
and on
through Charminster, Winton, Ensbury Park and Kinson to a terminus at Cunningham Crescent (West Howe).
Routemaster Bournemouth operated from rented garage space in the former trolleybus depot in Southcote Road, and the traffic office was in what had once been the trolleybus conductor's cashing up and paying in room. Part of the reason for the start of the Routemaster operation - apart from perceived commercial opportunity - was a need to generate income for a transport museum in Bournemouth. Several of the directors were involved with both the bus operation and the museum. |
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RM 288 at Alum Chine in 1993 awaiting departure on the summer
seafront 601
route to Boscombe Pier (with yours truly
driving).
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In the first week of operations, YVS286 is seen approaching the Gervis Place
stop at Bournemouth Square on the 604 service
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The 604 service was quickly followed on 11th June by three more Routemasters working route 607 from Bournemouth Square to Boscombe and Fishermans Walk, and then on 26th June by the open top seaside route 601, linking Boscombe Pier and Bournemouth Pier to Alum Chine via the overcliff drives. The weekday run out at this time totalled twelve buses (including one for the circular tour service 600), but only seven were needed on Sundays when the 604 did not operate. On weekdays bus workings 1 to 4 covered the 604, 11 to 13 were on the 607, and 21 to 24 on the seafront 601. On weekdays there were 15 crew duties and on Sundays 8 crew duties, in both cases supplemented by two OPO duties for the evening service on the 601. An additional crew of driver and guide operated the 600 circular tour. A weekly 'Mastercard' costing £5 (£3 pensioners or children) was introduced for unlimited travel on the green bus Routemaster services.
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Incumbent Bournemouth town service operator Yellow Buses soon
responded to the perceived attack on their routes by this upstart Routemaster
operation!
A fleet of "White Buses" appeared - but only on the services covered by Routemaster - with a timetable registered to run a few minutes in front of each Routemaster departure. The picture alongside shows White Bus OEL122M at Bournemouth rail station - route W6 shadowed (or rather preceded!) the 604's to Kinson and West Howe. Similarly the W2 covered the 607 route to Fishermans Walk. |
Routemaster Bournemouth services continued to evolve, and from 19th October 1993 a new timetable was introduced with the 607 route extended to Christchurch and Somerford, both as 607 via Cranleigh Road and 608 via Southbourne. The 604 along Leybourne Avenue was joined by a new 605 along the main Wimborne Road in Winton and Moordown and then through Kinson to Bear Cross and Bear Wood. Seafront service 601 and circular tour 600 had already been withdrawn for the winter. A new competitive White Bus service W3 was started to cover the 605 route and White Bus W2 was extended to Somerford. True to name, during the first summer season in 1993, most of the operations were by crew operated Routemasters. But from autumn 1993 onwards through to the end of the services, increasingly a mixed collection of one person operated Leyland Nationals, Fleetlines and Volvo Ailsas played a bigger part in the day to day run out.
| A further timetable revision from 2nd December
1993 saw the 605 withdrawn over the outermost section of route between
Kinson and Bear Wood and diverted to run to West Howe, thus becoming a circular service through Kinson and
West Howe with the 604. The 604 in turn had been rerouted to operate from
Leybourne Avenue along East Howe Lane to West Howe and thus to Kinson.
At this time the 607 and 608 were cut back at their outer end from Somerford to Purewell Cross. From 14th December new White Bus route W1 was introduced to cover the 608 service which had previously been ignored by the competition. On 1st January 1994 the operating base was moved from Southcote Road to the same hangar as used by the transport museum collection at Hurn Airport, a few miles north of Bournemouth. In this large hangar BAC111 aircraft had once been constructed in years gone by. Spring 1994 saw another timetable issued and the 607 and 608 were extended back to the original Somerford terminus from 14th March. The 608 was diverted away from Tuckton Road, Southbourne, along Belle Vue Road. The company celebrated its first anniversary on 17th May 1994 and RM 293 operated in service on the 607 route with a suitable commemorative shield on high over the top deck front windows. The seafront 601 service was reintroduced from 28th June as was circular tour 600. White buses W1 and W2 were withdrawn from 13th June but increased frequencies were operated on the similar 'traditional' Yellow Bus 20 and 23 services. |
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| RM 292 awaits another departure on the 607 service to Somerford with driver Peter Holmes |
A planned route that summer was the 606 to operate from Bournemouth Square through Boscombe and Iford to Christchurch, following the line of the Yellow Bus 20 route, but initially to be evenings and Sundays only. However the 606 never came to fruition apart from a short-lived single weekday departure from Bournemouth at 18.18, which through a quirk of the duty scheduling was a depot working from a crew operated running line on the 607.
But by this second summer season things had started to go wrong, and runs were being missed, especially on the 604s and 605s. Competitive operations ceased with the unfortunate collapse of Routemaster Bournemouth after fifteen months operation. Efforts were made to attract additional investment but green bus operations ceased suddenly for financial reasons after 10th August 1994, by which time only three Routemasters were scheduled for daily service (on route 607 short workings from Bournemouth to Tuckton Bridge) out of a by then weekday operational requirement of nearly 20 vehicles.
And to think they used to pay me to drive a Routemaster ! Join me on late turn 114 duty.
