Quality Line
Encyclopedia
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
, and operates over sixty buses throughout the south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
area, with many under contract to London Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
or Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge....
.
History
In the mid-1980s Epsom CoachesEpsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
made the move into the bus market.
Epsom Coaches took advantage of the deregulation of the bus industry, and initially began operating hopper type services around the Epsom area.
Since 1997, Epsom Buses have expanded into the London Bus market initially winning the tenders for routes S1
London Buses route S1
London Buses route S1 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line.-History:...
and 413 from London General. However these two routes were soon to be joined by other London tenders, including its service route 293
London Buses route 293
London Buses route 293 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Metrobus.-History:Route 293 was begun in April 1970, replacing route 93 between North Cheam and Epsom...
between Epsom General Hospital and Morden.
In 2003, Epsom Coaches decided to rebrand its bus division as Quality Line and repainted its vehicles from their traditional cream and brown into allover red - in order to comply with TfL (Transport for London) regulations regarding the colour of buses. However from July 2006 with the introduction of routes E15 and E16, Quality Line began to return to its roots with buses operating outside of London appearing in their traditional cream and brown livery, however since the displacement of Alexander bodied Darts from route S1
London Buses route S1
London Buses route S1 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line.-History:...
, buses outside of London have been appearing in red once again.
Until May 2007 the whole fleet consisted of only single decker buses. Since May 2007 Quality Line began to take delivery of high profile Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-deck vehicles, which began operating on routes 406
London Buses route 406
London Buses route 406 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line.-History:...
and 418 on the 30th June 2007. A number of single decker Enviro200 Darts also arrived at that time.
Garage (EB)
They have 1 garage, in Epsom. It is allocated the London Buses code EB.This garage holds 70 buses, and runs London bus routes 404, 406
London Buses route 406
London Buses route 406 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line.-History:...
, 411, 418, 463
London Buses route 463
London Buses route 463 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line for London Buses.-History:...
, 467, 470, 641, K5, S1
London Buses route S1
London Buses route S1 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Quality Line.-History:...
, S3 and S4. They also run Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge....
(SCC) routes 408, E5, E9 and E16.
On 2 October 2010, Quality Line successfully gained the contract of routes 411 and 641.
On 2 July 2011, Quality Line had successfully gained contract for route K5.
On 3 September 2011, Quality Line successfully gained the contract of route 467.
Quality Line has sucssesfully gained contracts for routes 465 and X26 and from 30 June 2012 will be operating it.
Bus types in use
- Mercedes-Benz O530 CitaroMercedes-Benz O530 CitaroThe Mercedes-Benz Citaro is the current Mercedes-Benz/EvoBus mainstream single-decker bus intended for public transport, introduced in 1997 and replaced the Mercedes-Benz O405/O405N series...
12m (MCL) for route 408. To be introduced on route X26 on 30 June 2012. - Dennis Dart SLF 8.8m / Alexander ALX200Alexander ALX200The Alexander ALX200 was a midibus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was one of the ALX-series, which accounted for 5 different models , built for new generation bus chassis produced since late 1990s.It was designed by John Worker, and was launched in summer...
for Surrey routes. - Dennis Dart SLF 8.8m / East Lancs MyllenniumEast Lancs MyllenniumThe East Lancs Myllennium is a type of bus body built on MAN, Volvo, DAF/VDL and Alexander Dennis chassis. It was built as a single and double deck body, with double deck bodies having slightly different names .-Single decker:...
(SD) for Surrey Routes and route S3 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m / East Lancs Esteem (SD) for route S4.
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 9.3m / East Lancs Esteem (SD) for route S1.
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (SD) for route S3.
- Optare SoloOptare SoloThe Optare Solo is a low-floor midibus manufactured by Optare in Leeds, UK since 1997. The name "Solo" is a play on the low-floor status of the bus, the manufacturer believing its vehicle having an entrance that is "so low" from the floor, namely 200 mm with kneeling suspension.The innovative...
(OP) for routes 404, 463, 470, K5, S4 and Surrey Routes. - Optare VersaOptare VersaThe Optare Versa is a midibus built by Optare in its Leeds factory. It was officially launched in Britain at the Euro Bus Expo 2006 at the NEC, Birmingham, on 7 November 2006, with the first order of 25 buses being placed by Stagecoach on the same day....
11.1m (OV) for routes 411 and 641. To be introduced on route 465 from 30 June 2012 - Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m (DD) for routes 406, 418 and 467.