Bluestar (bus company)

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For other uses, see Blue star.
Bluestar
logo
Image
Slogan "A brighter way to go"
Founded 1987
Headquarters Eastleigh
Service area Hampshire, England
Service type Mainly urban bus services
Destinations Eastleigh, Southampton, and Hythe
Operator Go-Ahead Group
Chief executive Alex Horny
Web site www.bluestarbus.co.uk

Bluestar is a bus company operating in central Hampshire, England. It is based in Eastleigh and was started by Southern Vectis as Solent Blue Line in 1987. It is now owned by Go-Ahead Group, and part of the Go South Coast division.

The name Bluestar was originally the brand for the premier Solent Blue Line services, but with the withdrawal of the Red Rocket services on February 25 2008, all services now operate under the name. Some local routes run under the Baby Bluestar name. The New Forest Tour and the Solent Shuttle run under their own sub-brands.

Contents

[edit] Brands

Bluestar services run under a number of sub-brands. To complete the change of all Solent Blue Line routes running under the Bluestar name, a number of brands were discontinued. These can be seen on the Solent Blue Line page.

[edit] Bluestar

The main services are:

[edit] Baby Bluestar

[edit] Solent Shuttle

This is an express bus link between Portsmouth and Southampton. This service was originally run by Southampton City Bus and later First in Hampshire and Dorset as services 727 and 747. It has had a number of other operators since, prior to the Solent Blue Line attempt it was branded as the Solent Clipper and run by Tellings-Golden Miller, they retained part of the original Southampton City Bus route numbers with the services becoming X27 and X47. The Bluestar service was due to terminate on 2 June 2007 due to financial funding from the local councils being taken away, but it is now being continued due to popular demand, with a revised timetable from 2 July 2007.

[edit] The New Forest Tour

SBL 908 East Lancs Myllennium Vyking at Exbury Gardens.
SBL 908 East Lancs Myllennium Vyking at Exbury Gardens.
Main article: New Forest Tour

This circular open-top bus service was started in 2004, using distinctively branded yellow and orange Bristol VRs (in the same livery as the old Southern Vectis open-top services.) The service was reversed in 2005, to run in the opposite direction. For the 2006 season, two low-floor Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Myllenniums from Wilts and Dorset were used, retaining the Wilts and Dorset livery but with 'New Forest Tour' vinyls added. In 2007 the buses passed to Solent Blue Line and were repainted in a new green and orange livery, with ponies on the side. Again, this is similar to the Southern Vectis livery which that company uses on their open-top buses.

[edit] Nightstar

These are late night services running on Friday and Saturday nights aimed at people who have a night out in Southampton. All services begin at Leisure World and additionally call in the area of number of city centre bars and clubs. Nightstar services operate outbound from Southampton only and charge a flat fare of £3 except N18 and N19 which is £2. [1]. For these services, Solent Blue Line use the same buses as used in the daytime.

[edit] Fleet

A Bluestar DAF SB120/Wright Cadet.
A Bluestar DAF SB120/Wright Cadet.
A contrast in old and new liveries.
A contrast in old and new liveries.

Bluestar utilise a mix of single and double deck buses.

The double deck fleet is made up of seven East Lancs Lolyne bodied Dennis Tridents built in 1998, seven East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodied Volvo B7TL's built in 2001 and a Enviro 400-bodied Volvo B7TL which joined the fleet in October 2006 and entered service in November of that year. This vehicle, given the fleet number 758, was originally intended for Wilts and Dorset and is fitted out with their interior design. 758 is the only Enviro 400-bodied Volvo B7TL as the B7TL has been replaced with the Volvo B9TL. The company also has a number of Leyland Olympians and Volvo Olympians with East Lancs or Northern Counties Palatine 1 bodywork. The New Forest Tour utilises two East Lancs Myllennium Vykings from Wilts and Dorset.

Single deck buses include DAF SB120/Wright Cadets which are primarily used on Bluestar routes 18 and 19, Dennis Dart MPDs for use on Baby Bluestar services, Volvo B10Bs transferred from the Oxford Bus Company. A small number of Optare Solos transferred from Wilts and Dorset and ten new Mercedes-Benz Citaros arrived in 2006.

In late 2008 seven brand new Scania OmniCity double deckers will enter service with the company. They will be primarily used on the Bluestar 1 route.

[edit] Incidents

In February 2007 whilst being used as a rail-replacement bus a double-decker member of the Red Rocket fleet drove under a low bridge at Barnham causing the top to be ripped off, in addition to minor damage to the bridge. It is now with Southern Vectis as an open-topper.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nightstar Information

[edit] External links


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