Go South Coast Limited (T/A Bluestar) Scania NU230D OmniCity
Bluestar….a potted history….
Go South Coast includes a multitude of brands and includes Morebus (services in Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch plus the surrounding areas), UNIBUS (The brand for Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth services), Salisbury Reds (The brand for Salisbury, as well as the surrounding area.)Southern Vectis (The brand for all buses on the Isle of Wight) Swindon's Bus Company (formerly Thamesdown Transport– The brand in Swindon), Unilink (Contracted to provide services for the University of Southampton) and finally Bluestar, which provides services in Southampton.
Bluestar started as a competitor to what was Southampton Citybus, a company that eventually became part of First Hampshire and Dorset. It was supported by Southern Vectis and traded under the Solent Blue Line title.
In October 1987, The Hants & Sussex Bus Company was purchased by Solent Blue Line, from Basil Williams.[5] This deal was finalised on 3 October 1987.
Throughout the 1980s, the National Bus Company was privatised and forcibly demerged. The bus market as a whole was deregulated. This resulted in Hants & Dorset being broken into three new companies in 1983. One of these was Hampshire Bus, which became part of Stagecoach South in April 1987. The Southampton and Eastleigh arm of this company was then sold to Solent Blue Line on 4 October 1987. The sale included 82 buses, the Eastleigh Chickenhall Lane depot and the local routes.
After less than a year operating, the company had gone from 16 buses to over 115. It had also developed a significant network.
Due to this, rationalisation was undertook, with the company restructuring its operations. By 1988, it was in a good position to challenge CityBus. In the next five years, the company bought new vehicles, so that in 1993, 1 in 3 of its buses were new. At this point, some services started to be run under franchise by Marchwood Motorways, with them operating route '30' and '32' from Totton to Southampton. This would later expand to include route '18' and '19'. This was based out of their Totton Salisbury Road depot. Brijan Tours was also used to run some services.
In July 2005 Solent Blue Line was included in the sale of Southern Vectis to the Go-Ahead Group. The head office functions of the company were consolidated with those of the other Go South Coast companies, Southern Vectis and Wilts & Dorset, in Poole
In March 2006, the company changed its legal name to Solent Blue Line. Then in October, Solent Blue Line purchased Marchwood Motorways.After the withdrawal of the Red Rocket brand on 25 February 2008, most of the company's services began to run under the Bluestar brand.
In December 2022, First Hampshire & Dorset announced the intention to withdraw their Southampton-based operations which took place on 19 February 2023 with Bluestar adding six replacement routes to its network, servicing the areas where the former company operated. In June 2023, Xelabus reduced their public bus network and passed two of its routes to the company. Since the company's takeover of First's Southampton's operations, in May 2024 they had received an order for 16 new Enviro400 MMCs for routes 2 and 7, as well as an additional 18 single deck buses and 11 refurbished London double decker buses to support their network.
Seen here in Bournemouth ls 1114 (HW58ATK).
Go South Coast Limited (T/A Bluestar) Scania NU230D OmniCity
Bluestar….a potted history….
Go South Coast includes a multitude of brands and includes Morebus (services in Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch plus the surrounding areas), UNIBUS (The brand for Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth services), Salisbury Reds (The brand for Salisbury, as well as the surrounding area.)Southern Vectis (The brand for all buses on the Isle of Wight) Swindon's Bus Company (formerly Thamesdown Transport– The brand in Swindon), Unilink (Contracted to provide services for the University of Southampton) and finally Bluestar, which provides services in Southampton.
Bluestar started as a competitor to what was Southampton Citybus, a company that eventually became part of First Hampshire and Dorset. It was supported by Southern Vectis and traded under the Solent Blue Line title.
In October 1987, The Hants & Sussex Bus Company was purchased by Solent Blue Line, from Basil Williams.[5] This deal was finalised on 3 October 1987.
Throughout the 1980s, the National Bus Company was privatised and forcibly demerged. The bus market as a whole was deregulated. This resulted in Hants & Dorset being broken into three new companies in 1983. One of these was Hampshire Bus, which became part of Stagecoach South in April 1987. The Southampton and Eastleigh arm of this company was then sold to Solent Blue Line on 4 October 1987. The sale included 82 buses, the Eastleigh Chickenhall Lane depot and the local routes.
After less than a year operating, the company had gone from 16 buses to over 115. It had also developed a significant network.
Due to this, rationalisation was undertook, with the company restructuring its operations. By 1988, it was in a good position to challenge CityBus. In the next five years, the company bought new vehicles, so that in 1993, 1 in 3 of its buses were new. At this point, some services started to be run under franchise by Marchwood Motorways, with them operating route '30' and '32' from Totton to Southampton. This would later expand to include route '18' and '19'. This was based out of their Totton Salisbury Road depot. Brijan Tours was also used to run some services.
In July 2005 Solent Blue Line was included in the sale of Southern Vectis to the Go-Ahead Group. The head office functions of the company were consolidated with those of the other Go South Coast companies, Southern Vectis and Wilts & Dorset, in Poole
In March 2006, the company changed its legal name to Solent Blue Line. Then in October, Solent Blue Line purchased Marchwood Motorways.After the withdrawal of the Red Rocket brand on 25 February 2008, most of the company's services began to run under the Bluestar brand.
In December 2022, First Hampshire & Dorset announced the intention to withdraw their Southampton-based operations which took place on 19 February 2023 with Bluestar adding six replacement routes to its network, servicing the areas where the former company operated. In June 2023, Xelabus reduced their public bus network and passed two of its routes to the company. Since the company's takeover of First's Southampton's operations, in May 2024 they had received an order for 16 new Enviro400 MMCs for routes 2 and 7, as well as an additional 18 single deck buses and 11 refurbished London double decker buses to support their network.
Seen here in Bournemouth ls 1114 (HW58ATK).