 |
|
|---|---|
 One of Thamesdown's Scania/Wright Solars |
|
| Founded | 1904 |
| Headquarters | Swindon |
| Locale | Borough of Swindon |
| Service area |  United Kingdom |
| Service type | Urban and interurban bus services, school bus, Park and Ride |
| Destinations | Swindon Urban Area, Aldbourne, Ashton Keynes, Avebury, Axford, Baydon, Beckhampton, Berwick Bassett, Bishopstone, Broad Hinton, Cricklade, East Kennet, Foxhill, Fyfield, Greatfield, Hinton Parva, Idstone, Kingstone Lisle, Lambourn, Leigh, Liddington, Lockeridge, Lydiard Millicent, Manton, Marlborough, Mildenhall, Newbury, Purton, Purton Stoke, Ramsbury, Stitchcombe, Uffington, Wanborough, West Kennet, West Overton, Winterbourne Bassett, Winterbourne Monkton |
| Fleet | 112 buses |
| Operator | Thamesdown Transport Ltd |
| Chief executive | Paul Jenkins |
| Web site | www.thamesdown-transport.co.uk |
Thamesdown Transport is a bus operator serving the town of Swindon and the surrounding area in the Borough of Swindon and county of Wiltshire. The company is owned by Thamesdown Transport Ltd and Swindon Borough Council holds almost all of the shares[1]. As such, it is one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the UK.
Contents |
History
Thamesdown Transport has its origins in 1904, when Swindon Corporation started to operate electric trams. Motor-bus operation started in 1927 and two years later all the trams were replaced by this form of transport[2].
On local government re-organisation in 1974 the functions of the corporation were transferred to the new Thamesdown district, and the name of the bus operation was changed to Thamesdown Transport. When bus services were deregulated in 1986, Thamesdown Transport was transferred to a limited company at arm's length from the owning council.
During the 1980s, operations were expanded to rural areas around Swindon, to replace services withdrawn by the Bristol Omnibus Company.
Operations
The current fleet is composed of 114 buses and 5 ancillary vehicles (including recovery and repair vehicles).[3] Low Floor single decker buses have replaced double deckers in the major routes with the larger buses now repainted yellow and used mainly as school buses during term time.
Thamesdown implemented a fastFare system on 1 August 2005 in which passengers must pay the exact fare as change will not be given by the driver.[4] This has generated some criticism as its implementation often results in passengers paying more than the necessary fare.[5] This can be due to not having the correct change or, more commonly, tourists and visitors being unaware of the policy until after they have deposited money. The reasoning behind the policy is that if the driver does not have to deal with giving change, passenger loading times are shortened, resulting in a faster and more reliable service. It also reduces the risk of attacks on drivers.
Swindon's other main bus company Stagecoach in Swindon does not participate in the scheme.[6] Tickets are valid on both companies services for the majority of destinations in the Swindon Urban Area and beyond, with Stagecoach providing Sunday services to the region.
Thamesdown have also implemented a Text and Go service, where passengers can send an SMS message containing a seven digit bus stop identifier to a premium number to receive information about the next three buses due to arrive at that stop.[7]
Bus types
| Type | A Fleet | B Fleet | Training Fleet | Withdrawn | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Deckers | 26 | |||||
| Leyland Fleetline | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Dennis Dominator | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Leyland Olympian | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Volvo Olympian | 4 | 6 | 2 | 12 | ||
| Single Deckers | 82 | |||||
| Dennis Dart | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Dennis Dart SLF | 15 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Dennis Dart SPD | 36 | 36 | ||||
| Scania L94UB | 10 | 10 | ||||
| Scania K230UB | 12 | 12 | ||||
- A Fleet - fitted with ticket machine and for general service.
- B Fleet - Contract Bus (not fitted with ticket machine).
- Training fleet - for use in training new drivers.
- Withdrawn - taken out of service for refurbishment, repair or sale.
Paint schemes
The majority of the A fleet is painted in the standard livery apart from the following -
- 69: Brunel FM colourbus[8]
- 70: Priory Vale colorbus[9]
- 184, 185/198: Park and Ride livery[10]
- 199, 200: Priory Vale Shuttle livery[11]
- 201 - 203: Hospital Express livery[12]
The majority of the B fleet is painted in the predominantly yellow student livery[13] except for -
- 299 - 1970s retro livery[14]
There is also one single decker painted Gold in commemoration of the company's centenary.[15][16]
Fleetline Farewell
On Saturday 16 February 2008 Thamesdown Transport ran special journeys between Haydon Wick and Eldene to say farewell to the Fleetline double-deck bus after 40 years of service.
For the last few years these buses had been used as school buses.
Routes
- The table below shows the main service routes operated by TT.
- Please note that colours shown in the table are derived from the Network Map but do not appear on the vehicles themselves.
- SPD/SLF= Dart SLF/SPD
- SCA= Scania L94/K230
- Stagecoach operate services 13/14 and 17 alongside Thamesdown on Sundays and bank holidays.
- Stagecoach Dennis Tridents are used on some Sunday services.
| Service | Route | Bus type |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 1A | Middleleaze - Ramleaze - Grange Park - Link Centre - Great Western Outlet Village - Fleming Way | SCA |
| 2 | Fleming Way - Covingham | SCA |
| 11, 11A | Haydon Wick - Greenmeadow - Pinehurst - Fleming Way - Old Town - Croft - Lawn - Coate Water - Great Western Hospital | SPD/SLF |
| 13, 14 | Eldene - Liden - Coate Water - Lawn - Old Town - Fleming Way - Rodbourne - Moredon - Haydon Wick | SCA |
| 15 | Fleming Way - Northern Road - Wood Hall - Haydon Wick - Abbey Meads - St Andrew's Ridge | |
| 16 | Fleming Way - Great Western Hospital | SPD/SLF |
| 17 | Penhill - Gorse Hill - Rail Station - Fleming Way - Walcot West - Cavendish Square - Park North | SPD/SLF/SCA |
| 18 | Fleming Way - Great Western Outlet Village - Bridgemead - Taw Hill - Oakhurst - Haydon Wick | SPD/SLF |
| 19 | Great Western Hospital - Old town - Fleming Way - Great Western Outlet Village - Link Centre - Shaw - Peatmoor | SPD/SLF |
| 20 | Bus station - Stratton - Covingham - GW HOSPITAL | |
| 22, 25 | Bus Station - Old Town - West Swindon Centre - Blagrove - Windmill Hill | |
| 24 | GW HOSPITAL - Lawn - Cavendish Square - Fleming Way - Haydon Wick -Blunsdon | |
| 30 | Fleming way - Walcot East - Park North - Cavendish Square - GW Hospital | |
| 26 | Fleming Way - Rodbourne - Fleming Way | |
| 43, 43A | Fleming Way - Old Town - Wroughton - Broad Hinton - Winterbourne Bassett - Berwick Bassett - Avebury - Beckhampton - West Kennett - East Kennett - West Overton - Lockeridge - Fyfield - Manton - Barton Park - Marlborough - St John's School | |
| 47, 47A | Bus Station - Coate Water - Great Western Hospital - Wanborough' - Bishopstone - Ashbury - Kingston Lisle - Woolstone - Uffington - Lambourn - Newbury | |
| 48, 48A | Bus Station - Great Western Hospital - Liddington - Foxhill - Baydon - Aldbourne - Ramsbury - Axford - Mildenhall - Marlborough | |
| 52, 53 | Bus Station - Gorse Hill - Groundwell - Great Western Outlet Village - Link Centre - Shaw - Peatmoor - Common Platt - Lydiard Millicent - Greatfield - Purton - Purton Stoke - Blunsdon Abbey - Blunsdon - Cricklade - Leigh - Ashton Keynes | |
| 70 | Marlborough - Ogbourne St. George - Draycot Foliat - Chiseldon - Great Western Hospital - Old Town - Bus Station | |
| 80 | Kingsdown - Lower Stratton - Stratton Park - St Joseph's School | |
| 175 | Blunsdon - Highworth - Kingsdown - Grange Drive - New College | |
| 176 | Taw Hill - Oakhurst - Haydon Wick - Abbey Meads - Groundwell West - New College | |
| 177 | Purton - Greatfield - Lydiard Millicent - Ramleaze - Link Centre - New College | |
| 901 | The Copse - Fleming Way - Regent Circus - Old Town - Wroughton | |
| T1 | Cricklade - Leigh - Ashton Keynes - Cotswold Hoburne - South Cerney - Cirencester | |
| T2 | Cricklade - Latton - Down Ampney - South Cerney - Siddington - Cirencester | |
| T3 | Lechlade - Fairford - Whelford - Kempsford - Marston Meysey - Meyseyhampton - Greenacres Park - Poulton - Ampney Crucis - Preston - Cirencester | |
| T4 | Hatherop - Quenington - Coln St Aldwyns - Aldsworth - Northleach - Fossebridge - Chedworth - Calmsden - Cirencester |
See also
References
- ^ Form 363a (Annual Return) for the period ending 12/11/2008, retrieved from Companies House WebCHeck service 2009-10-30. Lists 1489000 shares issued, 1488999 owned by Swindon Borough Council
- ^ Thamesdown Transport website
- ^ "Fleet Codes" (DOC). Thamesdown Transport. http://www.thamesdown-transport.co.uk/latest/scripts/fleetcodes-0107.doc. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ Lyndsay Scanlan. "Just the exact change please". Swindon Advertiser. http://archive.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/2005/8/2/80840.html. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ S Watson. "Expensive and inconvenient as well". thisiswiltshire.co.uk. http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/11/5/253616.html. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "No change in bus company's policy". Swindon Advertiser. http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/7/25/81444.html. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Text and Go". Thamesdown Transport. http://www.thamesdown-transport.co.uk/text_go/text_go.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2006). "69, H969XHR, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p33981732.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2005). "70, H970XHR, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p18196193.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2005). "184, S184BMR, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p18196174.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2006). "199, WV02NNB, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p29720562.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2005). "201, WU52YWE, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p19378566.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2006). "281, F81ODX, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p36665270.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Stuart Curwen (2005). "299, UMR199T, Barnfield Depot". Thamesdown Transport. fotopic.net. http://mrstuartcurwen436.fotopic.net/p18972387.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ Victoria Tagg (2004). "Bus firm's 100-year milestone". Swindon Advertiser. http://archive.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/2004/1/28/126856.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
- ^ "Bus company celebrates a golden year". Swindon Advertiser. 2004. http://archive.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/2004/3/11/123048.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
External links
- Official website
- Swindon Borough Council public transport homepage
- Swindon Park and Ride
- EFE Showbus photo gallery- Swindon Corporation Passenger Transport Department and Thamesdown Transport
- Swindon Vintage Omnibus Society - Fleet information and images
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
