Marchwood Motorways

Marchwood Motorways

Irizar PB bodied Scania K340EB in Southampton in March 2009 in Go South Coast coach livery
Parent Go South Coast (part of the Go-Ahead Group)
Founded 1940s
Defunct circa 2010
Headquarters Totton
Service area Hampshire
Pembrokeshire
Service type Bus & coach services
Fleet 51 (October 2006)
Website www.marchwoodcoaches.co.uk (archive)
Van Hool Alizee bodied DAF coach in the previous Marchwood Motorways livery in August 2008

Marchwood Motorways[1] was a bus and coach operator based in Totton, Hampshire. Formed as an independent in the 1940s, it was a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group from 2006 to the end of operations. Its operations were subsumed by those of Bluestar, but its licence remains legally separate and is still used for some vehicles.

History

Marchwood Motorways was formed in the 1940s.[2] In the 1960s, Marchwood Motorways established a subsidiary in Haverfordwest to operate services during the construction of the Pembroke Refinery, requiring 60 coaches, at its peak. In the 1970s, Marchwood purchased the business of Bill Colins of Roch, including a service from Haverfordwest to St Davids. This was sold, in 1982, to Richards Bros.[3]

In July 2006, a major fire at the company's depot, caused by arson, destroyed three buses and offices, causing an estimated £250,000 of damage.[4]

In October 2006, Marchwood Motorways was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group with 51 buses and coaches.[5][6] The company became part of Solent Blue Line.

Marchwood had an unusual, but long standing arrangement, to run buses under franchise to Solent Blue Line on Southampton routes 18 and 19. Most of the buses were DAFs including 11 Wright Cadet bodied SB120s.[6]

In December 2008, the company took part in an Asda scheme to fill a coach with Christmas presents for charity. It was hoped that customers would fill the coach with up to 2,000 gifts.[7]

It continued to operate as a separate brand, until at least 2009, but has since fallen out of use, with its operations integrated into Bluestar and Tourist Group although, as at October 2013, some buses continued to operate under the Marchwood Motorways licence.

Incidents

October 2006 saw an attack on one of the company's vehicles, a stone being thrown at a school coach nearly injuring pupils.[8]

Along with Solent Blue Line, in May 2008, the company was found to have been running services to lower than expected reliability levels, and faced a fine from the Traffic Commissioner.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 1622531 Marchwood Motorways (Southampton) Limited
  2. ↑ Home Marchwood Coaches
  3. ↑ History Richards Bros
  4. ↑ "Coach firm fire started by arsonist". Southern Daily Echo. 29 July 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  5. ↑ Acquisition of Marchwood Buses Go-Ahead Group 24 October 2006
  6. 1 2 "Go-Ahead purchases Marchwood Motorways". Bus and Coach News. Plum Publishing. 26 October 2006.
  7. ↑ "Help provides a coachload of gifts". Southern Daily Echo. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  8. ↑ "Pupils endangered as stone breaks school bus window". Southern Daily Echo. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  9. ↑ "Bus companies face hefty fines". Southern Daily Echo. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
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