City Clipper
Encyclopedia
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. It was an independent company which started operations on 23 April 2007, but ended six months later on 13 October 2007.
History
City Clipper started operations on 23 April 2007 from its operations base at Basepoint Business centre in the Chapel area of the city. They operated two circular routes that almost approximately outlined the city centreSouthampton City Centre
Southampton City Centre is the commercial and organisational centre of the City of Southampton, and the transport hub of the city. Because Southampton is on the South Coast of England, the city centre is not at the geometric centre of the city, but at the southern extremity.The traditional heart...
. Service C1 operated clockwise, with C2 operating the same route in reverse. The service was operated solely by five Plaxton Primo
Plaxton Primo
The Plaxton Primo is a type of small low-floor bus based on the Enterprise Bus Plasma. It was launched by Plaxton in 2005.It is the result of close co-operation between Enterprise Bus Ltd and Plaxton. The fully welded stainless steel integral chassis final assembly is supplied in right hand drive...
s and employed 10 drivers.
Throughout the operation, the service was well publicised in the local papers, at first with an offer.
It came under a lot of criticism from Southampton residents, as first by people who thought that the service was unnecessary and would only add to the congestion. . When the service started, many people claimed that the buses usually ran empty, and some people were glad when the service was withdrawn. .
The City Clipper route competed in some areas with the City Loop service, currently operated by A2B Express Travel, which began in 2001 and also the Uni-link
Uni-link
Uni-link is the brand for bus services run under contract for the University of Southampton in Southampton, Hampshire, England, by existing bus companies...
City-Link service, both of which operate as a free service. City Clipper was an expansion of the City Loop service and linked Southampton Central station
Southampton Central railway station
Southampton Central railway station is a main line railway station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the Wessex Main Line, the South Western Main Line and the West Coastway Line...
, West Quay
West Quay
WestQuay is a shopping centre in Southampton, United Kingdom and has an area of of retail space and contains around a hundred shops, including major retailers such as, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Zara, Schuh, Waterstone's, Hollister Co., Bank, Apple, and many more top brand names.It is situated...
, Ocean Village
Ocean Village (marina)
Ocean Village is a large, mixed-use marina, residential, business and leisure development on the mouth of the River Itchen in Southampton, on the south coast of England. Ocean Village is currently undergoing a major £70m re-development project and is set to become one of the main leisure...
, Town Quay and St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium is the home of Southampton F.C., in the city of Southampton. It is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium and with a capacity of 32,689 is the largest football stadium in the south of England, outside of London.-History:...
. Unlike the City Loop or City-Link passengers were required to pay a fixed fare.
City Clipper announced on 8 October 2007 that the service would end on 13 October 2007, the last bus being the 19:00 from Town Quay. The company blamed lack of financial support from a number of unnamed parties for the closure of the service though (as above) it had been noted that it was common for City Clipper services to run empty or with few passengers even at peak times since the service began .