Newbury Buses Vodafone Services

www.buszone.co.uk
Since the late 1990s Newbury Buses have operated a small network of services on behalf of Vodafone for Vodafone employees. This page is intended to chronicle as much of their history as can be pieced together, and give a brief summary of the current operations.

The current network is as follows:

Service Destination Date From Usual Vehicle Type
V1 HQ Express Rail Link (HQ - (Town Centre) - Rail Station) 11-02-2008 Wright Solar
V2 Business Flyer (HQ - Newbury Business Park - Horizon West) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V3 HQ Lunchtime Shuttle (HQ - Town Centre) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V4 NBP & HZW Lunchtime Shuttle (Newbury Business Park - Horizon West - Town Centre) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V5 NBP & HZW Rail Link (Newbury Business Park - Horizon West - Town Centre - Rail Station) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V6 HQ Rail Link (HQ - Rail Station) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V7 North Newbury Commuter Service (Speen - Shaw - Newbury Business Park) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V8 South Newbury Commuter Service (Penwood - Woolton - Wash Common - HQ - NBK - HZW) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V9 Greenham Commuter Service (Greenham - HZW - NBK - HQ) 31-03-2008 OmniCity
V10 Thatcham Commuter Service (Thatcham - NBK - HQ) 31-03-2008 OmniCity

Former services include:

Service Destination Dates Usual Vehicle Type
ANT Newbury Anticlockwise Shuttle (Business Services) early-1999 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
BLS Business Park Lunchtime Special: Newbury - Newbury Business Park (Business Services) 25-02-2007 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity
CLK Newbury Clockwise Shuttle (Business Services) early-1999 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
CPC Newbury - Castle Park (Pear Tree Lane near Turnpike estate) ?? to 27-02-2004 Solo
HUG Newbury - Stockcross - Kintbury - Hungerford 06-08-2001 to 26-09-2005 Solo 120/121
HQL Newbury - Vodafone HQ Shuttle via Parkway and Post Office 03-04-2006 to 25-02-2007 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
HWL Newbury - Newbury Business Park via Horizon West, Parkway, Post Office 03-04-2006 to 25-02-2007 Enviro 300
LUN Newbury Lunchtime Shuttle early-1999 to 03-04-2006 Excel
NBF Newbury Business Park Flyer: Vodafone HQ - Newbury Business Park (Business Services) 25-02-2007 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity
P&R Newbury Park and Ride 24-07-2000 to 15-08-2003? Solo
RSL Rail Station - Vodafone HQ (plus Parkway, Post Office, Cheap Street in afternoon) (Commuter Services) 03-04-2006 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
SN1 Newbury - Wash Common (Commuter Services) (Vodafone HQ - Penwood via Woolton Hill) 04-2000 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Solo)
SN2 Newbury - Greenham (Commuter Services) 04-2000 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Solo)
SH1 Newbury - Vodafone HQ circular via Newbury Business Park, Horizon West (Business Services) 03-04-2006 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
SH2 Newbury - Vodafone HQ circular via Newbury Business Park, Horizon West (Business Services) 03-04-2006 OmniCity (Enviro 300)
TH1 Newbury - North Thatcham 27-09-1999 to 26-09-2005 Excel 941
TH2 Newbury - South Thatcham 27-09-1999 to 26-09-2005 Excel 942
TH3 Newbury - Thatcham - Colthrop (Panasonic) 06-08-2001 to 26-09-2005? Solo 120/121
TH Newbury - Thatcham (Commuter Services) 26-09-2005 to 28-03-2008 OmniCity (Excel)
600 Arlington Business Park - Theale Station - Theale High Street - Calcot ? to 21-12-2007 Reading Solo

Some of the significant dates in the Vodafone network history are as follows:

Early 1999
Optare MetroRiders 1-3 leased from Optare to operate new routes CLK, ANT, LUN temporarily whilst Solos 109-11 are being built
802 also allocated to Vodafone fleet
27th September 1999
Optare Excels 941/2 added to fleet to operate routes TH1, TH2 and replace 802
29th January 2000
Optare Solos 109-11 replace 1-3 on CLK, ANT, LUN. 1-3 purchased for Newbury town fleet and renumbered 630-2.
April 2000
Routes SN1 and SN2 added and Solos 116/7 added to the fleet.
24th July 2000
Route P&R from a car park next to Newbury depot added and Solo 119 added to the fleet.
6th August 2001
Routes HUG to Hungerford and TH3 to Cold Ash added, both additionally open to the general public on a trial basis. LUN converted to Excel operation (vehicles from the town fleet were used for a period prior to this).
1st October 2001
Route details removed from the destination displays, vehicles simply showing "Vodafone Business Services" or "Vodafone Commuter Services" and the route number. (The 600 has always shown 600 Contract without any mention of Vodafone.) TH3 and HUG converted to Vodafone staff only like the rest of the routes.
12th August 2002
Lunchtime trips to Castle Park introduced, initially operated by Weavaway
August 2002
941/2 used on service 102 whilst large vehicles were unable to access newly opened roads on the HQ site, MetroRiders 631/2 were used in their place
14th April 2003
Four new Enviro 300s added to operate CLK, ANT and displace Solos 111/116/117/119 into the Newbury town fleet
15th August 2003
Park & Ride site next to Newbury depot closed for redevelopment
27th February 2004
Vodafone move out of Pear Tree House at the Castle Park site, so route CPC is withdrawn and 110 is transferred to the town fleet (replacing 119 which is returned to the leasing company)
15th September 2004
Pointer Dart demonstrator SN04 EGD used on loan to cover for 973
24th December 2004
Demonstrator SK52 USS used on loan, later to become Reading's 974
26th September 2005
Route changes including the amalgamation of the two Thatcham routes TH1/2, and the withdrawal of the Hungerford commuter routes. Hungerford passengers instead catch the train to Newbury and then the Rail Station - HQ shuttle. Excel 941 returned to leasing company and Solo 109 transferred to the Newbury town fleet.
3rd April 2006
Lunchtime services HQL Newbury - HQ and HWL Newbury - Horizon West introduced replacing LUN. RSL, SH1/2 introduced replacing ANT/CLK during the day, making ANT/CLK commuter services only. Enviros operate ANT, CLK, RSL, SH1, SH2, HQL and HWL.
23rd October 2006
Scania OmniCity single deckers 6-12 replace 120/1, 942, 970-3 following a week with 961-4 on loan in place of 970-3.
26th February 2007
Daytime services NBF (Newbury Business Park Flyer) HQ - Business Park and BLS (Business Park Lunchtime Special) Newbury - Business Park introduced and ANT and CLK restored to all day operation replacing HQL, HWL, SH1, SH2. RSL reduced to a commuter service only. Colour coding added to destination displays; CLK - Red, RSL - Purple, ANT - Blue, NBF - Pink, BLS - Grey.
21st December 2007
Office in the Arlington business park closed, and Theale shuttle service withdrawn. Historically, any minibus from the Reading fleet was been used on the 600, but since the withdrawal of the last Optare MetroRiders and Autobus Nouvelle 201 in early 2006, Optare Solos became standard.
11th February 2008
Route V1 introduced, pending a full network revamp temporarily using Newbury Optare Solos.
31st March 2008
ANT, BLS, CLK, NBF, RSL, SN1, SN2, TH replaced by V2-V10 requiring two additional single deckers. 1023/4 from Reading temporarily used pending the arrival of 51-52. Mercedes mini coach on order for route V1 with Newbury Optare Solo allocated in interim.
January 2009
Scania / Wright Solar 1037 purchased for route V1 in place of Mercedes mini coach.

 
If you think that there is anything that has been missed, please feel free to email. All contributions for the site are welcome.