Wessex Connect
Encyclopedia
Wessex Connect was founded in Bristol
by Rotala, through its subsidiary company Flights Hallmark
, to provide Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council with an alternative to the near monopoly currently held in the city by FirstGroup.
In a deal which was finalised in March 2007, Wessex Connect took over two of the city's park and ride
schemes. The Long Ashton operation was won from Bristol City Council, while car park firm NCP
awarded Wessex Connect the contract for the Avonmouth service.
was sold to Rotala Group subsidiary Flights Hallmark trading as Wessex Connect. The sale included 68 buses for the price of £1.26 million and the right to operate the routes they were used on for a further £600,000. The takeover was completed in stages and everything was finalized by the 31st March 2008. It was stated at the time that the assets being acquired had an annual turnover of £4.2 million pounds. The business was slowly rebranded as Wessex Connect, however the majority of the vehicles that Rotala purchased stayed in South Gloucestershire livery. They were gradually disposed of as and when Rotala were able to replace them with suitable low floor vehicles. Most of the low floor vehicles from the SGBC fleet were painted white and ended up with Rotala group company Central Connect.
From 11 May 2009, Wessex Connect started operating a new branded Uni-Connect U18 service between Bath University and Lower Oldfield Park via Bath City Centre. The fleet of U18 buses are painted in a dark blue colour scheme. Due to the success of this route Wessex Connect started to operate more routes within Bath.
On 27 September 2010, Wessex Connect introduced services on two more routes in Bath, this time under the 'Royal Bath' brand name. The 5 and 10 services, running to Twerton and Southdown respectively, are in addition to frequent services on both of those routes run by their main competitor in Bath, First
.
During September 2011 Wessex moved into a new depot which was a specially converted former timber yard on St Andrew's Road in Avonmouth. The move allowed Wessex to set up a new regional head office for the south west operations where all the maintenance requirements could be met. Their previous depot, which was owned by South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach, was operating at near full capacity following the growth of both businesses. .
902: A4 Portway Park and Ride
903: A370 Long Ashton Park and Ride
Council supported bus services (Bristol)
17: Longwell Green (ASDA) - Kingswood - Staple Hill
85: Emerson's Green - Yate
86: Wotton under Edge - Chipping Sodbury - Kingswood, Bristol
87: Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Emerson's Green - Kingswood - Longwell Green
88: Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Iron Acton
354: Bristol - Long Ashton - Nailsea
482/483: Chipping Sodbury - Cribbs Causeway
501: Avonmouth - Abbey Wood M.O.D
502: Shirehampton - UWE Frenchay
505: Bower Ashton - Southmead Hospital
506: Southmead Hospital - Create Centre
507: Southmead Hospital - Kingswood
508: Sea Mills - Bentry
511: Stockwood - Knowle - Bedminster
512: Bedminster - Totterdown - Redcliffe - Broadmead - Bedminster
513: Brislington - Knowle
514: Brislington Tesco - Knowle
532: Keynsham - Cherry Gardens - Oldland Common - North Common - Cadbury Heath - Aspects Leisure Park (Longwell Green)
533: Keynsham - Willsbridge - Oldland Common - North Common - Cadbury Heath - Aspects Leisure Park (Longwell Green) - Kingswood - Staple Hill - Mangotsfield
581: Hanham - Chipping Sodbury
620: Old Sodbury - Bath
622: Chipping Sodbury - Thornbury - Cribbs Causeway
624: Bristol - Pilning - Severn Beach
625: UWE - Cribbs Causeway - Severn Beach
626: Bristol Centre to Wotton under Edge
627: Yate - Charfield - Wotton under Edge
657: Clevedon - Wraxhall - Bristol (Sundays only)
678: Erithlington - Bristol (Sundays only)
689: Centre, Bristol - Staple Hill - Mangotsfield - Pucklechurch - Westerleigh - Yate
X27 Yate - Bristol (express service)
All Bristol Nightbus services - N1 to N8 and N50.
Council supported bus services (North Somerset)
121: Weston-super-Mare - Wrington - Bristol Airport - Bristol
660: Portishead - Yatton - Congresbury
661: Yatton Station - Clevedon
Council supported bus services (Bath)
20A: Bus Station, Bath - Weston - Twerton - Whiteway - Combe Down - University of Bath - Widcombe Hill
20C: Bus Station, Bath - Widcombe Hill - University of Bath - Combe Down - Whiteway - Twerton - Weston
Spa Link: Newton Park - Sion Hill
Student Shuttle services. Soon after Wessex Connect in conjunction with UWE developed a network of routes based around the Frenchay Campus called Ulink
, to provide a new high-quality low-cost bus service for students and staff. As it stands in September 2011 the network has been re branded as Wessex Red and has grown from a PVR of 5 with 3 routes in 2007 to a PVR of 26 with a network of 8 routes, with regular duplicate services operated by allover Red buses.
The network was noinamted for the Department for Transport Winning New Customers Award at the 2009 UK Bus Awards, in the end finishing highly commended..
U18: Lower Oldfield Park - City Centre - University of Bath
10: City Centre - Southdown - City Centre
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
by Rotala, through its subsidiary company Flights Hallmark
Flights Hallmark
Flights Hallmark is a luxury coach and corporate cars business, which is part of the Rotala group. It is based in the English Midlands and has depots around the country, including one at Heathrow Airport.- History :...
, to provide Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council with an alternative to the near monopoly currently held in the city by FirstGroup.
In a deal which was finalised in March 2007, Wessex Connect took over two of the city's park and ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
schemes. The Long Ashton operation was won from Bristol City Council, while car park firm NCP
National Car Parks
National Car Parks is the United Kingdom’s largest private car park operator, with over 200,000 spaces across more than 700 locations in towns and cities, railway stations and at airports....
awarded Wessex Connect the contract for the Avonmouth service.
History
In 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & CoachSouth Gloucestershire Bus & Coach
SGBC Ltd t/a South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach operate a number of bus services in the Bristol area. The majority of their bus services are school routes operated on behalf of South Gloucestershire Council, Bristol City Council and the Cabot Learning Federation, as well as a number of National...
was sold to Rotala Group subsidiary Flights Hallmark trading as Wessex Connect. The sale included 68 buses for the price of £1.26 million and the right to operate the routes they were used on for a further £600,000. The takeover was completed in stages and everything was finalized by the 31st March 2008. It was stated at the time that the assets being acquired had an annual turnover of £4.2 million pounds. The business was slowly rebranded as Wessex Connect, however the majority of the vehicles that Rotala purchased stayed in South Gloucestershire livery. They were gradually disposed of as and when Rotala were able to replace them with suitable low floor vehicles. Most of the low floor vehicles from the SGBC fleet were painted white and ended up with Rotala group company Central Connect.
From 11 May 2009, Wessex Connect started operating a new branded Uni-Connect U18 service between Bath University and Lower Oldfield Park via Bath City Centre. The fleet of U18 buses are painted in a dark blue colour scheme. Due to the success of this route Wessex Connect started to operate more routes within Bath.
On 27 September 2010, Wessex Connect introduced services on two more routes in Bath, this time under the 'Royal Bath' brand name. The 5 and 10 services, running to Twerton and Southdown respectively, are in addition to frequent services on both of those routes run by their main competitor in Bath, First
First Somerset & Avon
First Somerset & Avon Ltd provides bus services in Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath and West Wiltshire. It is part of First Group. First Somerset & Avon operates an extensive network of services in and around Bath, Bridgwater, Bristol, Taunton, Trowbridge, Wells, Weston-super-Mare and...
.
During September 2011 Wessex moved into a new depot which was a specially converted former timber yard on St Andrew's Road in Avonmouth. The move allowed Wessex to set up a new regional head office for the south west operations where all the maintenance requirements could be met. Their previous depot, which was owned by South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach, was operating at near full capacity following the growth of both businesses. .
Wessex Connect routes
Park and Ride902: A4 Portway Park and Ride
Portway Park and Ride
The Portway Park and Ride site is located on the A4 Portway at Shirehampton, to the North West of Bristol, adjacent to junction 18 of the M5 motorway.-History:...
903: A370 Long Ashton Park and Ride
Council supported bus services (Bristol)
17: Longwell Green (ASDA) - Kingswood - Staple Hill
85: Emerson's Green - Yate
86: Wotton under Edge - Chipping Sodbury - Kingswood, Bristol
87: Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Emerson's Green - Kingswood - Longwell Green
88: Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Iron Acton
354: Bristol - Long Ashton - Nailsea
482/483: Chipping Sodbury - Cribbs Causeway
501: Avonmouth - Abbey Wood M.O.D
502: Shirehampton - UWE Frenchay
505: Bower Ashton - Southmead Hospital
506: Southmead Hospital - Create Centre
507: Southmead Hospital - Kingswood
508: Sea Mills - Bentry
511: Stockwood - Knowle - Bedminster
512: Bedminster - Totterdown - Redcliffe - Broadmead - Bedminster
513: Brislington - Knowle
514: Brislington Tesco - Knowle
532: Keynsham - Cherry Gardens - Oldland Common - North Common - Cadbury Heath - Aspects Leisure Park (Longwell Green)
533: Keynsham - Willsbridge - Oldland Common - North Common - Cadbury Heath - Aspects Leisure Park (Longwell Green) - Kingswood - Staple Hill - Mangotsfield
581: Hanham - Chipping Sodbury
620: Old Sodbury - Bath
622: Chipping Sodbury - Thornbury - Cribbs Causeway
624: Bristol - Pilning - Severn Beach
625: UWE - Cribbs Causeway - Severn Beach
626: Bristol Centre to Wotton under Edge
627: Yate - Charfield - Wotton under Edge
657: Clevedon - Wraxhall - Bristol (Sundays only)
678: Erithlington - Bristol (Sundays only)
689: Centre, Bristol - Staple Hill - Mangotsfield - Pucklechurch - Westerleigh - Yate
X27 Yate - Bristol (express service)
All Bristol Nightbus services - N1 to N8 and N50.
Council supported bus services (North Somerset)
121: Weston-super-Mare - Wrington - Bristol Airport - Bristol
660: Portishead - Yatton - Congresbury
661: Yatton Station - Clevedon
Council supported bus services (Bath)
20A: Bus Station, Bath - Weston - Twerton - Whiteway - Combe Down - University of Bath - Widcombe Hill
20C: Bus Station, Bath - Widcombe Hill - University of Bath - Combe Down - Whiteway - Twerton - Weston
Spa Link: Newton Park - Sion Hill
Wessex Red
A major contract that came with the purchase of South Gloucestershire was the University of the West of EnglandUniversity of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
Student Shuttle services. Soon after Wessex Connect in conjunction with UWE developed a network of routes based around the Frenchay Campus called Ulink
Ulink
Wessex Red is the brand for bus services run under contract for the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol in Bristol by Wessex Connect. The services originally began in September 2007 for students and staff of UWE only. However since September 2008 the bus services have...
, to provide a new high-quality low-cost bus service for students and staff. As it stands in September 2011 the network has been re branded as Wessex Red and has grown from a PVR of 5 with 3 routes in 2007 to a PVR of 26 with a network of 8 routes, with regular duplicate services operated by allover Red buses.
The network was noinamted for the Department for Transport Winning New Customers Award at the 2009 UK Bus Awards, in the end finishing highly commended..
Uni-Connect
U10: Kingsway - Lower Oldfield Park - University of BathU18: Lower Oldfield Park - City Centre - University of Bath
Royal Bath
5: City Centre - Twerton - Whiteway - Twerton - City Centre10: City Centre - Southdown - City Centre