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more
File:More Bus Logo.png
ParentGo-Ahead Group
HeadquartersPoole, Dorset, England
Service areaDorset
Service typeUrban and Interurban
DestinationsPoole, Bournemouth, Isle of Purbeck, Swanage & Dorset
Fleet226
OperatorGo South Coast
Chief executiveAndrew Wickham
Websitewww.morebus.co.uk

More bus is a bus company in England covering the Poole & Bournemouth areas as well as Blandford, Christchurch, Corfe Mullen, Dorchester, Ferndown, Lymington, New Milton, Ringwood, Swanage, Verwood, Wareham, West Moors & Wimborne. Its local headquarters is in Poole, Dorset but it is owned by the Go-Ahead Group, a major UK transport group.

More bus is a sub-brand of Wilts & Dorset and is the operating name for bus services in the Poole & Bournemouth area.

History

More was originally launched in December 2004 as part of £4 million investment. 'More' replaced services 101 to 105 between Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch and services 155, 156 and 157 between Poole and Canford Heath. The service was originally due to launch in October 2004 but due to a driver shortage this was postponed until December 2004. The service launched with 30 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban single-deck buses. 'More' buses carry a livery of mostly dark blue with red at the back; the original 30 also carry slogans such as "looks like a bus, works like a dream". All 'more' buses are air-conditioned.

Such was the success of the 'more' services it was decided that the frequency on the m1 and m2 routes was to be increased and the m1 extended to the Castlepoint shopping centre on the outskirts of Bournemouth from the Bournemouth Travel Interchange (the railway station). With only 30 'more' branded buses in the fleet at the time, the 'more' branded routes to Canford Heath were discontinued, with the 'm' dropped from the route number and standard liveried vehicles used. For these routes to become 'more' route again a batch of Mercedes-Benz Citaros were ordered. The original 'more' buses were going to be Citaros, but it was thought that Volvo would offer a quicker delivery time. Further changes to the routes occurred on 25 May 2008, with the m2 being withdrawn from Burton and Somerford.

From 30 May 2008, the m1 and m2 has run every half hour throughout the night on Fridays and Saturdays, operating under the 'Nightbus' sub-brand. From 9 January 2012, these were renumbered 'N1' and 'N2', but with the timetable remaining the same and the same 'More' fleet being used.[1]

A Volvo Wright Eclipse in the first 'more' livery.

In August 2008, Wilts & Dorset (using the 'more' brand) sponsored the Bournemouth Air Show. There was a large amount of publicity surrounding the event, with the company's name appearing in numerous places. In March 2008, one of the 'more' buses was repainted in a special blue advertising livery to promote the event. Advertising boards appeared in many places, and in around mid-August signs for the event were stuck to most Wilts & Dorset vehicles, as well as many fellow Go South Coast company Bluestar buses. The other sponsor for the event was Bournemouth based Excelsior coaches.[2]

During 2010 the "More" brand was refreshed with every bus being repainted in a slightly brighter, simpler version of the previous livery,[3] each highlighting a good reason for using the "More" Buses for Example "morefrequent" is applied to W&D 119 HF54 HGM.

In May 2011 routes m5 and m6 were once again dropped from the 'more' brand and renumbered as routes 5 and 6.

In June 2012 Wilts & Dorset announced a £5.5 million investment in 36 Volvo Wright Eclipse 2 buses to be used on m1/m2 routes whilst the previous 38 Volvo Wright Eclipse Urban buses would be cascaded onto other services replacing older buses.

In July 2012 it was announced that Wilts & Dorset bus services in and around the Poole & Bournemouth would be changing to more, whilst in and around the Salisbury & Amsbury areas would be branded as Salisbury Reds.

Current routes

'More' routes

The 'More' routes are usually operated only by 'More' livered buses. (Routes 8&9 have their own special route branded version of the More Livery.)

  • m1: Poole - Lower Parkstone - Westbourne - Bournemouth - Charminster - Castlepoint
  • m2: Poole - Upper Parkstone - Westbourne - Bournemouth - Boscombe - Southbourne
  • N1: Poole - Lower Parkstone - Westbourne - Bournemouth - Charminster
  • N2: Bournemouth - Boscome - Southbourne
  • N3: Bournemouth - Charminster - Bournemouth University
  • Routes 3&4: Poole - Broadstone - Wimborne
- 3: Poole - Broadstone - Corfe Mullen - Wimborne
Operates every half hour during the daytimes Monday to Saturday and runs direct via Broadstone Way between Poole and Broadstone and continues to Wimborne via Corfe Mullen
- 4: Poole - Oakdale - Creekmoor - Waterloo Estate - Broadstone - Merley - Wimborne
Operates every 15 mins between Poole & Broadstone with half hourly extensions to Wimborne via Merley during the daytimes Monday to Saturday. During evenings and Sundays, Route 4 runs either via Merley or Corfe Mullen as Route 3 does not run.
  • Routes 8&9: Poole Circular
- 8: Poole - Hamworthy - Turlin Moor - Upton - Creekmoor - Poole
Circular service running clockwise around Holes Bay. Some journeys in the evening and on Sundays terminate at Turlin Moor and do not serve Upton or Creekmoor.
- 9: Poole - Creekmoor - Upton - Turlin Moor - Hamworthy - Poole
Circular service running anti-clockwise around Holes Bay, along the reverse of the route of service 8. Some journeys in the evening and on Sundays start at Turlin Moor and do not serve Creekmoor or Upton.

Purbeck Breezer

In 2009 Wilts and Dorset rebranded their Swanage routes as the 'Purbeck Breezers' by purchasing 12 brand new Optare double decks (Visionaires Open-top/Convertibles & Closed-Top Olympus's). These routes are:

The Optare Olympus's are branded for Route 40. The permanent open-top Optare Visionaires are branded for Route 50 which typically operate on Route 50 all year round (unless the weather prevents them from running). The convertible Optare Visionaires are in general Purbeck Breezer branding and converted to Open-Top use for Route 50 during the summer months. All of the buses are fitted with a Ferry Lift allowing them to be interchangeable (as it is not uncommon during the winter months to see a Route 40 branded bus on Route 50).

Route ONE

  • Poole Town Service via Falkland Square, Poole Quay and Baiter Park

This is a frequent bus service linking Poole town centre and the hospital with the Old Town and the Quay. It is partially funded by a government grant as part of an initiative to encourage greater use of local bus services in the Borough of Poole. The service also receives sponsorship from the Dolphin Shopping Centre and Poole Town Centre Management. Prior to the introduction of Route ONE it was not possible to travel between the Bus Station and the Railway Station entrance by bus, nor was there a bus service between the hospital and Poole Old Town and Baiter Park. The service operates every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday usually utilising two Route ONE liveried Optare Solo SR's. The 50p fare allows passengers to hop on and off as many times as they like in a day.

Non-'More' routes

These services see a mix of 'More' and 'Wilts & Dorset' livered buses.

  • 7A: Talbot View - Upper Parkstone - Sea View - Tower Park
  • 7B: Bloxworth Estate - Upper Parkstone - Sea View - Tower Park
Operated by Damory Coaches in a special livered 'Route7' Optare Solo.
Operated by Damory Coaches Monday to Friday and only runs between Poole and Bear Wood. Sunday & Bank Holiday journeys are operated by 'More'. Service does not operate on Saturdays.
Both routes operate every half hour Monday to Saturday daytimes, thus giving a frequency of every 15 minutes between Poole & Bourne Estate.

The bus for Bournemouth University

File:Bus for BU Articulated bus.jpg
Mercedes-Benz Citaro on Bus for BU route U1 on a frosty morning.

More Bus operates four routes on behalf of Bournemouth University, having secured a second five year contract to do so during summer 2009. Since 11 January 2010, these routes have been branded as 'The Bus for Bournemouth University' or 'The Bus for BU' with buses appearing in the institution's primary corporate colours of white and pink. From 2004, when the university contract originally transferred to Wilts & Dorset from Yellow Buses, until the end of 2009 services were branded as Unilinx and operated by a mixed fleet including double-deck buses painted in a modified version of the 'more' livery. Unilinx-branded buses were also a common sight on non-Unilinx services, especially on service 152 where ELC Myllennium Vyking buses ran open top throughout the summer.

In 2009, when the university contract was renewed, eight buses of which six are Scania Enviro 400 double decker buses are used on the U1, U2 and U4 routes and a Scania Solar single deck bus for the U3 route were purchased new along with an ex-London articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus was introduced to route U1 on 10 January 2010, primarily running a shuttle service to boost capacity between Talbot Campus and the student residences at Lansdowne. It is believed to be the first such bus in service on the South Coast, and initially had its route number and destination 'blinds' as part of its livery, including a misspelling of 'Cranbourne' [sic] as this bus was used exclusively between Talbot Campus and Cranborne House. For the 2012-2013 academic year, a second articulated bus has been acquired, and the U1, U2 and U4 bus routes can see the articulated buses, the shuttle between Talbot and Lansdowne being re-routed to serve the new Dorchester House halls of residence as well as the other Lansdowne halls. All of the buses apart from the ex-London articulated bus were purchased new and arrived in January 2010 pushing out the Volvo B7TL's, which were then cascaded back into the Wilts & Dorset fleet after being re-painted into the latest livery. Outside of term times, BU-branded buses can often be seen running other More bus routes across the Poole and Bournemouth areas.

Former 'More' & non-'More' routes

  • m5: Poole - Canford Heath - Tollerford Road via Oakdale

From 4 June 2006, m5 was rerouted along Wimborne Road instead of via Park Gates

  • m6: Poole - Canford Heath - Tower Park via Oakdale
  • m7: Poole - Canford Heath - Nuffield Industrial Estate via Oakdale

The m7 was dropped as part of the Poole route restructuring from 4 June 2006. Service on m5 and m6 increased as a result and a while later, lost their more branded and became standard routes.

  • 8: Poole - Upton via Oakdale & Creekmoor
  • 9: Poole - Turlin Moor via Hamworthy
Merged and turned into a circular service (both ways) and joined the 'More' brand on June 3rd 2012. [4]

Wimborne Flyer

The Wimborne Flyer, also known as service 3, replaced the Poole to Wimborne section of service 132 after the major restructuring of Poole services in June 2006. It runs four times an hour Monday to Saturday. The service differs from the old service 132 by taking a direct route between Poole and Broadstone, using a faster route through Merley and extending the service from Wimborne Square to the Leigh Park estate. Local residents criticised the change of route, specifically through Merley where the buses took a narrower but more direct road through the estate. Some criticism has also been aimed at the Citaro buses after a number of accidents, including buses demolishing walls while trying to pass each other on a narrow road [5] and tearing hanging baskets from walls in Wimborne Square while turning.[6] Following numerous complaints, Wilts & Dorset rerouted the service through Merley from 29 October 2006, reverting back to part of the old 132 route through Merley Gardens.[7] From 6 April 2008 two out of the four buses per hour started to run via Corfe Mullen rather than Merley with all services also stopping at Broadstone Broadway. Services to and from Leigh Park only run during the morning and evening peak.

As part of the 2012 June 3rd network changes, the 3 was withdrawn and was merged with Route 4. After many complaints, Route 4X was introduced between Poole & Broadstone/Merley via the old Route 3 during the morning and evening rush-hour towards the end of June 2012 [8]. Towards the end of July 2012 however, it was announced that Route 3 would be re-instated [9][10] and that both routes 3 & 4 would join the more brand.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Changes to More from 9 January 2012
  2. ^ Bournemouth Air Show - The sponsors Accessed August 16, 2008.
  3. ^ http://omnibuses.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-paint.html
  4. ^ http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/archive/2012/05/24/Latest+News+%28be_latest+news%29/9724512.Wilts_and_Dorset_to__enhance__bus_services/
  5. ^ Accident fears after bus smash Bournemouth Daily Echo - 28 September 2006
  6. ^ Outcry after bus collision Bournemouth Daily Echo - 29 June 2006
  7. ^ U-turn on bus route Bournemouth Daily Echo - 2 October 2006
  8. ^ http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9787948.Broadstone_residents_call_for_Route_3_bus_to_be_reintroduced/
  9. ^ http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9839296.Flyer_bus_service_returns/
  10. ^ http://www.morebus.co.uk/article.shtml?articleid=1506
  11. ^ http://www.morebus.co.uk/article.shtml?articleid=1587
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