As mentioned in the People’s Provincial section, FirstBus bought up that Company in 1995. To merge the two separate areas of their newly-acquired ‘empire’ – i.e. Hoeford depot and Hilsea depot, FirstBus painted their vehicles in red and cream, carrying the name ‘First Provincial’.
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| Provincial uniform full length | Provincial uniform logo detail |
Leyland National - MSO 12W First Provincial 412 |
Leyland National - EEL 893V First Provincial 400 |
In April 1999, these two areas were merged with the Southampton area to create a new ‘First Hampshire’ which started to make use of the corporate ‘Barbie’ livery with mostly pink and purple colours – hence the ‘Barbie’ name! Depots were Hoeford, Hilsea and Portswood (Southampton). Portswood depot closed in 2010 after serving Southampton area since the days of the trams. A new depot opened in Empress Road, Southampton on 29 August 2010.
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Dennis Dart - N615 DWY First Hants & Dorset 47015 |
Dennis Dart SLF - S638 XCR First Hants & Dorset 42138 |
Scania - YS03 ZKF First Hants & Dorset 62410 |
In April 2003, for operational and management reasons, the First Hampshire area was merged with the operations in Dorset to become ‘First Hampshire & Dorset’. Depots now included Weymouth and Bridport. Yeovil became part of the cluster at a later date.
On 22 April 2012, new Eclipse services – E1 and E2 - were introduced using 14 bespoke Volvo single decker buses to run on the newly-opened Bus Way between Fareham and Gosport, making use of the former railway track which had been disused for many years. The aim of this Eclipse service is to provide a quick, efficient service on a dedicated Bus Way, giving parts of Gosport a direct link with Fareham railway station and providing a more reliable service because it avoids much of the congested A32 road between the two towns. The Bus Way is called Henry Cort Way with Hutfield Link being the name of the link at Frater. In April 2013, the route of E2 was revised slightly to make use of Forest Way instead of A32 to improve timing reliability.
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| What the Bus Way looked like in 2009 | A preview of new Eclipse buses at Empress Road, Southampton in March 2012 | A preview of new Eclipse buses at Empress Road, Southampton in March 2012 | A preview of new Eclipse buses at Empress Road, Southampton in March 2012 |
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| Eclipse Bus Flag | Eclipse Advert | Eclipse Bus Way in April 2012 |
On 3 June 2013, the former First Hampshire & Dorset operations were joined to First Berkshire to provide a local community link.
Greyhound
In September 2009, First Group launched a new coach service, which was branded as ‘Greyhound’, to provide a regular frequent link between the coastal towns of Southampton and Portsmouth and London. The coaches were refurbished vehicles with leather seats. Wi-fi and a daily newspaper on board. With advanced online booking for £1 each way, the service was in direct competition with the railways. At first, the service seemed to be catering for a new market with direct journeys to central London. However, an announcement came in October 2012 that First Group had ‘pulled the plug’ on its high profile Greyhound UK coach operation between the south coast and London. The original forty daily departures had dwindled to three trips each way by mid-2012 because of falling demand. On 17 November 2012, the final Greyhound services operated. |
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| Greyhound - YN06 CGB | Greyhound - YN55 PXL |
Between 2012 and 2018, the decline in the use of Dennis Darts became obvious, especially in 2017 when most had finished if they weren't DDA compliant. One remained in private use for University contract work in Portsmouth and is now preserved by the Provincial Society. Taking over the dominant role of preferred single deckers, StreetLites became a familiar sight on the local streets in various guises - basic plain livery, "Solent Ranger" and "Star" liveries. At the same time, the use of Volvo single deckers came to an end in this period. New double deckers arrived for the Portsmouth Park & Ride contract in 2014. Their distinctive shades of blue for that service help them to stand out, especially when used in normal service. Replacement MMC Eclipse buses arrived before the end of the five year arrangement - all buses in public service using the whole of the Bus Rapid Transit route must be five years old or younger. All images in this section have been taken by James May.
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Dennis Dart - N467 ETR First Hants & Dorset 46367 |
Wright Streetlite - SN63 KNF First Hants & Dorset 47434 |
Wright Streetlite - SN65 OLK First Hants & Dorset 63306 |
Volvo - S118 JTP First Hants & Dorset 66128 |
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Alexander Dennis - YX66 WBV First Hants & Dorset 67180 |
Alexander Dennis - SN14 TRX First Hants & Dorset 33897 |
