Countryliner Coaches
Encyclopedia
Countryliner is a large independent
bus and coach operator, based in Merrow, Surrey
, England. It operates in Surrey
, East Sussex
and West Sussex
, running a number of bus and private hire coach services. It also operates into Hampshire
and Kent
.
, Surrey. This later became part of the London General Omnibus Company
, known today as London Transport
.
In 1933, Green Line
operated coaches across the home counties and London. The success of a Guildford to Charing Cross
route led to the opening of the bus depot in Guildford. Buses were suspended from normal operation during World War II , but afterwards, Green Line carried on operating from Reigate. The company was involved in the Festival of Britain
in 1951. 1970 brought nationalisation, and Green Line lost its link to London Transport, to become part of London Country Bus Services Ltd
, which was a subsidiary of the National Bus Company
. In 1987, the south west region of London Country became known as London Country South West
and sold to Drawlane Group, which later became British Bus. These later came under the ownership of Arriva
.
Green Line's private hire department was renamed Countryliner in 1992, and in 1996 London & Country, bought Blue Saloon Coaches of Guildford, a large bus and coach operator in the area. That company was sold off as "Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd" in 1998.
In 2001, the company started bus operations and now operate bus, contract hire and private coach hire. A new livery was adopted with a cream or white body, with a lime green skirt. Originally, buses were cream and coaches white, but most vehicles are now white.
The fleet was renewed between 2001 and 2006, with low-floor Dennis Dart
s making up the bus fleet and a mixture of Mercedes Benz and Volvo making up the coach fleet.
Countryliner Sussex Ltd was formed in 2006 to take over the bus operation of RDH Services of Ditchling Common
, in West Sussex
. It operated in Lewes, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath.
In the same year, Countryliner Buses Ltd was formed, which took over the Hickstead operation of Compass Bus
, also operating in the Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath area, and through to Brighton. At this time, the Countryliner group of companies operated around 80 vehicles through Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex.
February 2007 saw Countryliner make the local news after an 89 year old pensioner who had forgotten her bus pass was not allowed to travel for free.
In 2008, Countryliner took over the operation of the Petersfield Town Services on behalf of Hampshire County Council, thus extending the operating area into the heart of Hampshire. In addition to this, more contracts were awarded to operate between Petersfield and Chichester and Midhurst on behalf of West Sussex County Council.
June 2008 saw "Countryliner Group Ltd" created, to take over full ownership of all Countryliner subsidiaries. Incorporated were Bob Hodgetts, Roger Belcher, James Holmes and Craig White, the former two of which are company directors. However the latter two represent Merchant Corporate Recovery Plc, who paid £200,000 for a 51% stake in Countryliner Group Ltd, and who also provided a working capital facility of £300,000, showing extra cash had to be put into the business. Holmes said "the issues in the business can be clearly defined and the management has the ability to tackle them with our support". Merchant Corporate Recovery valued Countryliner's assets at the time as £1million and said it had made pre-tax profits of £250,000 for the first half of 2009.
Along with five other Surrey companies, December 2008 saw Countryliner make the Skills Pledge, a voluntary public commitment from employers to encourage and support employees of the company to improve their skills and gain qualifications.
In 2009, Countryliner's financial standing was further brought into question. In November, a High Court hearing to wind up three of the Countryliner Group's companies, under the Insolvency Act 1986, was adjourned until January. The affected companies were Countryliner Buses Ltd, Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd and Countryliner Sussex Ltd. With Countryliner operating around 150 vehicles with around 200 staff at the time from five depots in Hampshire, Surrey, West and East Sussex and into Kent, it caused worry among passengers and local authorities. Countryliner ran 23 routes in Surrey and Hampshire at the time, and during the proceedings Surrey County Council - who Countryliner ran a number of services under contract to - said they were "monitoring developments". Countryliner made no comment but to confirm services were operating normally and that a restructuring was underway.
The adjourned hearing took place on January 20 2010. It emerged that the winding up order had been started by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an unpaid debt. At the hearing, the applications were dismissed and Countryliner were awarded costs against HMRC. Director Roger Belcher said "There was an outstanding debt to HMRC and they issued winding-up orders even though our negotiators were speaking to them at the time." The Countryliner Buses company had paid off all its debts and been liquidated, and Countyliner Coach Hire entered into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). These assist troubled but viable businesses to reach an agreement with their creditors.
Roger Belcher showed confidence about the business, saying at the time that "it’s trading healthily" and that there was never a risk that they would have been wound up: "All of our suppliers have been paid on time and all of our staff have been, there’s one creditor and one creditor only." The third winding up order against Countryliner Sussex Ltd was heard on February 17. As per what Roger Belcher expected in January, all debts were paid off in time for the hearing and that case too was thrown out.
A number of changes to the company's Surrey network occurred from August 2010, as part of phase 1 of the Surrey County Council "Bus Review", a review of all of Surrey CC's tendered services, with the aim of reducing the amount of subsidy paid by the council. Routes 73, 81, 462 and 463 were taken on commercially, an unusual move as previously all of Countryliner services in Surrey had some form of Surrey CC support. As part of the changes, routes 71, 72 and 97 were withdrawn, and Countryliner lost the tender for route 437 to Arriva. With this loss of work, Countryliner decided to start half hourly commercial service 464 between Guildford and Cranleigh from the day of the bus review changes, in competition with Arriva Guildford & West Surrey routes 53 and 63. Arriva also increased their services from the same weekend to every 15 minutes, however Countryliner's Neil Hatcher denied reports of a Bus War (where Arriva would react to Countryliner's new service by purposely increasing theirs). Arriva's changes were not from the same day, and neither company would have been aware of the other's intentions at the time the changes were registered with the traffic commissioner. Countryliner offered a more regular service to the Summerlands Estate in Cranleigh, and some buses ran via Guildford railway station towards Guildford unlike any other buses. Lower fares were charged, although Arriva did reduce their fares for their service changes. The service interworked with routes 462/3 to Woking (and from there the 73 to Chobham), with through fares available, although the workings did cause large problems with punctuality until February 2011 revisions. Neil Hatcher said that if the 464 was successful it would consider further expanding its services into Cranleigh's housing areas.
Further financial problems surfaced on 1 March 2011 when Fisher Partners, a business recovery specialist, informed creditors that Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd had failed to keep up its payments to HM Revenue and Customs, against the terms of the creditors voluntary agreement mentioned above, and said that they were to petition a winding up order against Countryliner.
Countryliner faced further problems in 2011, this time regarding maintenance. At a three day public inquiry finishing on 16 March 2011, just two out of five of the company's operator licenses being investigated survived being cut by Traffic Commissioner Philip Brown. The Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd license, with authorisation for 35 vehicles, was revoked from the end of that week, from 23:59 on 18 March, after being found to have poor financial standing and having had several vehicle problems. This license carried around half of the Surrey services and some Sussex ones. The C & S Coach Travel Ltd licence, with authorisation for 33 vehicles, was found to have lost its repute, in particular following the numerous tachograph infringements, and was revoked from 31 July 2011 to allow school contracts to finish at the end of the school year. A condition was attached that no new EU work could be taken on, and director Geoffrey Shaw was banned with immediate effect from holding or obtaining an O-licence for two years. The other director voluntarily resigned. The business will be wound down gradually.
The Countryliner Ltd license, with authorisation for 15 vehicles, and with the other half of the Surrey routes on it, received a formal maintenance warning after a high MOT failure rate and was allowed to continue, again with the condition it must not take on any new EU work. The Countryliner Sussex Ltd license, with authorisation for 17 vehicles, carrying most of the Sussex and Kent routes, was allowed to continue. Again, no new EU work could be taken on, a new transport manager must be submitted by 25 March and finances must be shown. Finally, an application for a new license, Countryside & Suburban Ltd for 104 vehicles, was withdrawn at the inquiry. This was to have been a "catch-all licence" covering all of the Countryliner Group subsidiaries. Together, the O-licence authorisation fell from 140 vehicles to 72.
The final licence held by Countryliner Group, RJB (UK) Ltd, with five O-licences for buses based at Borden, Hampshire, was not part of the inquiry, being in the Western Traffic Area as opposed to the South Eastern and Metropolitan area. To overcome the cut to the licences, several Countryliner stopped operating several routes, and numerous routes changed to different licences. The overcome the immediate cut to the Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd licence, Surrey routes 10/11, 98, 478, 678, 823, and E303 were abandoned, the 10/11, 478 and 678 Surrey CC tenders all being taken on at short notice by Arriva from the next day of operation, similarly the 823 by Safeguard Coaches
and the E303 to Reptons Coaches. Route 98 was withdrawn with no replacement, being a limited commercial service with alternatives routes available. The remaining routes on the license were spread to others, Surrey routes 48, 87, 89 and 479 to Countryliner Ltd and Sussex routes 54, 56, 69, 79, 91, 92, X92 and 93 to Countryliner Sussex Ltd. A planned service increase to the 464, including introduction of variation 474, was cancelled following the decision, as was planned route 78 to run every week from Cranleigh to Chichester Market. Countryliner are to focus on a reduced amount of local bus work, it is intended that by October 2011 all routes will have moved onto the Countryliner Sussex Ltd licence, and by then most of the coach fleet will have been disposed of after the revocation of the C & S Coach Travel Ltd license. The company will have to re-affirm its financial standing every six months from 30 September 2011.
Soon after the decision, Countryliner cancelled the registrations for Surrey routes 81, 462, 463 and 464 which they had taken on commercially following the Surrey CC Bus Review Phase 1, effective from 16 May 2011. The reasoning behind this is unclear. Routes 81, 462 and 463 are being tendered by Surrey County Council from 16 May to 3 September 2011, however route 464 will not be replaced as it is a commercial venture in competition with Arriva. Should Countryliner not bid for or not win the tenders for the 81, 462 or 463, their presence in Surrey will have been almost halved since August 2010.
s with Plaxton Pointer
bodywork, but two new Plaxton Primo
s and 4 MAN
/MCV
Evolution were added to the fleet in 2006. Most recently a new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200
has joined the fleet in early 2009. The coaching base is also here, most of which are Mercedes-Benz
.
s and Dennis Dart
s, as well as small numbers of other vehicle types.
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
bus and coach operator, based in Merrow, Surrey
Merrow, Surrey
The village of Merrow, in Surrey, England, lies on the north-east corner of Guildford. It is about two miles from the town centre, right on the edge of the ridge of hills that forms the North Downs. Although now a relatively anonymous suburb, the village can trace its origins back many hundreds of...
, England. It operates in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
and West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, running a number of bus and private hire coach services. It also operates into Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
History
The history of Countryliner can be traced back to 1911, with the formation of the East Surrey Bus Company, which was based in ReigateReigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
, Surrey. This later became part of the London General Omnibus Company
London General Omnibus Company
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer.- Overview :...
, known today as London Transport
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport was the organisation responsible for the public transport network in Greater London, UK from 1984-2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.The organisation was...
.
In 1933, Green Line
Green Line Coaches
Green Line is a commuter coach brand in the Home Counties of England. It is owned by the Arriva group.Green Line has its origin in the network of coach services established by the London General Omnibus Company in the 1920s and 1930s...
operated coaches across the home counties and London. The success of a Guildford to Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
route led to the opening of the bus depot in Guildford. Buses were suspended from normal operation during World War II , but afterwards, Green Line carried on operating from Reigate. The company was involved in the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
in 1951. 1970 brought nationalisation, and Green Line lost its link to London Transport, to become part of London Country Bus Services Ltd
London Country Bus Services
London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1969 until split up and sold in 1986 under Margaret Thatcher's government's bus deregulation scheme.-Creation:...
, which was a subsidiary of the National Bus Company
National Bus Company
The National Bus Company, or NBC, was the Australian brand for National Express Group's mass transit bus services in Melbourne and Brisbane. Its sister companies were Westbus, Hillsbus, and Glenorie in Sydney, Southern Coast Transit in Perth.-Routes:...
. In 1987, the south west region of London Country became known as London Country South West
London Country South West
London Country South West was a former bus operator which existed between 1986 and 1997. It was formed from a part of London Country Bus Services. The company was privatised in 1988 and sold to Drawlane, who adopted the trading name London & Country...
and sold to Drawlane Group, which later became British Bus. These later came under the ownership of Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
.
Green Line's private hire department was renamed Countryliner in 1992, and in 1996 London & Country, bought Blue Saloon Coaches of Guildford, a large bus and coach operator in the area. That company was sold off as "Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd" in 1998.
In 2001, the company started bus operations and now operate bus, contract hire and private coach hire. A new livery was adopted with a cream or white body, with a lime green skirt. Originally, buses were cream and coaches white, but most vehicles are now white.
The fleet was renewed between 2001 and 2006, with low-floor Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
s making up the bus fleet and a mixture of Mercedes Benz and Volvo making up the coach fleet.
Countryliner Sussex Ltd was formed in 2006 to take over the bus operation of RDH Services of Ditchling Common
Ditchling Common
Ditchling Common once the King's land as part of the Saxon Manor, is now a Country Park north of Ditchling and lies between Haywards Heath and Lewes to the east of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. It covers an area of and can be found at map reference TQ337181...
, in West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. It operated in Lewes, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath.
In the same year, Countryliner Buses Ltd was formed, which took over the Hickstead operation of Compass Bus
Compass Bus
Compass Bus, or Compass Travel, is an independent bus and coach operator based in Durrington, Worthing, West Sussex. They operate over 50 bus services throughout West Sussex and Surrey, linking many places other bus companies do not serve. They operate commercial and contracted routes, including...
, also operating in the Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath area, and through to Brighton. At this time, the Countryliner group of companies operated around 80 vehicles through Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex.
February 2007 saw Countryliner make the local news after an 89 year old pensioner who had forgotten her bus pass was not allowed to travel for free.
In 2008, Countryliner took over the operation of the Petersfield Town Services on behalf of Hampshire County Council, thus extending the operating area into the heart of Hampshire. In addition to this, more contracts were awarded to operate between Petersfield and Chichester and Midhurst on behalf of West Sussex County Council.
June 2008 saw "Countryliner Group Ltd" created, to take over full ownership of all Countryliner subsidiaries. Incorporated were Bob Hodgetts, Roger Belcher, James Holmes and Craig White, the former two of which are company directors. However the latter two represent Merchant Corporate Recovery Plc, who paid £200,000 for a 51% stake in Countryliner Group Ltd, and who also provided a working capital facility of £300,000, showing extra cash had to be put into the business. Holmes said "the issues in the business can be clearly defined and the management has the ability to tackle them with our support". Merchant Corporate Recovery valued Countryliner's assets at the time as £1million and said it had made pre-tax profits of £250,000 for the first half of 2009.
Along with five other Surrey companies, December 2008 saw Countryliner make the Skills Pledge, a voluntary public commitment from employers to encourage and support employees of the company to improve their skills and gain qualifications.
In 2009, Countryliner's financial standing was further brought into question. In November, a High Court hearing to wind up three of the Countryliner Group's companies, under the Insolvency Act 1986, was adjourned until January. The affected companies were Countryliner Buses Ltd, Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd and Countryliner Sussex Ltd. With Countryliner operating around 150 vehicles with around 200 staff at the time from five depots in Hampshire, Surrey, West and East Sussex and into Kent, it caused worry among passengers and local authorities. Countryliner ran 23 routes in Surrey and Hampshire at the time, and during the proceedings Surrey County Council - who Countryliner ran a number of services under contract to - said they were "monitoring developments". Countryliner made no comment but to confirm services were operating normally and that a restructuring was underway.
The adjourned hearing took place on January 20 2010. It emerged that the winding up order had been started by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an unpaid debt. At the hearing, the applications were dismissed and Countryliner were awarded costs against HMRC. Director Roger Belcher said "There was an outstanding debt to HMRC and they issued winding-up orders even though our negotiators were speaking to them at the time." The Countryliner Buses company had paid off all its debts and been liquidated, and Countyliner Coach Hire entered into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). These assist troubled but viable businesses to reach an agreement with their creditors.
Roger Belcher showed confidence about the business, saying at the time that "it’s trading healthily" and that there was never a risk that they would have been wound up: "All of our suppliers have been paid on time and all of our staff have been, there’s one creditor and one creditor only." The third winding up order against Countryliner Sussex Ltd was heard on February 17. As per what Roger Belcher expected in January, all debts were paid off in time for the hearing and that case too was thrown out.
A number of changes to the company's Surrey network occurred from August 2010, as part of phase 1 of the Surrey County Council "Bus Review", a review of all of Surrey CC's tendered services, with the aim of reducing the amount of subsidy paid by the council. Routes 73, 81, 462 and 463 were taken on commercially, an unusual move as previously all of Countryliner services in Surrey had some form of Surrey CC support. As part of the changes, routes 71, 72 and 97 were withdrawn, and Countryliner lost the tender for route 437 to Arriva. With this loss of work, Countryliner decided to start half hourly commercial service 464 between Guildford and Cranleigh from the day of the bus review changes, in competition with Arriva Guildford & West Surrey routes 53 and 63. Arriva also increased their services from the same weekend to every 15 minutes, however Countryliner's Neil Hatcher denied reports of a Bus War (where Arriva would react to Countryliner's new service by purposely increasing theirs). Arriva's changes were not from the same day, and neither company would have been aware of the other's intentions at the time the changes were registered with the traffic commissioner. Countryliner offered a more regular service to the Summerlands Estate in Cranleigh, and some buses ran via Guildford railway station towards Guildford unlike any other buses. Lower fares were charged, although Arriva did reduce their fares for their service changes. The service interworked with routes 462/3 to Woking (and from there the 73 to Chobham), with through fares available, although the workings did cause large problems with punctuality until February 2011 revisions. Neil Hatcher said that if the 464 was successful it would consider further expanding its services into Cranleigh's housing areas.
Further financial problems surfaced on 1 March 2011 when Fisher Partners, a business recovery specialist, informed creditors that Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd had failed to keep up its payments to HM Revenue and Customs, against the terms of the creditors voluntary agreement mentioned above, and said that they were to petition a winding up order against Countryliner.
Countryliner faced further problems in 2011, this time regarding maintenance. At a three day public inquiry finishing on 16 March 2011, just two out of five of the company's operator licenses being investigated survived being cut by Traffic Commissioner Philip Brown. The Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd license, with authorisation for 35 vehicles, was revoked from the end of that week, from 23:59 on 18 March, after being found to have poor financial standing and having had several vehicle problems. This license carried around half of the Surrey services and some Sussex ones. The C & S Coach Travel Ltd licence, with authorisation for 33 vehicles, was found to have lost its repute, in particular following the numerous tachograph infringements, and was revoked from 31 July 2011 to allow school contracts to finish at the end of the school year. A condition was attached that no new EU work could be taken on, and director Geoffrey Shaw was banned with immediate effect from holding or obtaining an O-licence for two years. The other director voluntarily resigned. The business will be wound down gradually.
The Countryliner Ltd license, with authorisation for 15 vehicles, and with the other half of the Surrey routes on it, received a formal maintenance warning after a high MOT failure rate and was allowed to continue, again with the condition it must not take on any new EU work. The Countryliner Sussex Ltd license, with authorisation for 17 vehicles, carrying most of the Sussex and Kent routes, was allowed to continue. Again, no new EU work could be taken on, a new transport manager must be submitted by 25 March and finances must be shown. Finally, an application for a new license, Countryside & Suburban Ltd for 104 vehicles, was withdrawn at the inquiry. This was to have been a "catch-all licence" covering all of the Countryliner Group subsidiaries. Together, the O-licence authorisation fell from 140 vehicles to 72.
The final licence held by Countryliner Group, RJB (UK) Ltd, with five O-licences for buses based at Borden, Hampshire, was not part of the inquiry, being in the Western Traffic Area as opposed to the South Eastern and Metropolitan area. To overcome the cut to the licences, several Countryliner stopped operating several routes, and numerous routes changed to different licences. The overcome the immediate cut to the Countryliner Coach Hire Ltd licence, Surrey routes 10/11, 98, 478, 678, 823, and E303 were abandoned, the 10/11, 478 and 678 Surrey CC tenders all being taken on at short notice by Arriva from the next day of operation, similarly the 823 by Safeguard Coaches
Safeguard Coaches
Safeguard Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in the Surrey town of Guildford, England.Established in 1924, Safeguard currently provide a number of bus services around Guildford, some of which are jointly operated with Arriva Guildford and West Surrey, and coach private hire services over a...
and the E303 to Reptons Coaches. Route 98 was withdrawn with no replacement, being a limited commercial service with alternatives routes available. The remaining routes on the license were spread to others, Surrey routes 48, 87, 89 and 479 to Countryliner Ltd and Sussex routes 54, 56, 69, 79, 91, 92, X92 and 93 to Countryliner Sussex Ltd. A planned service increase to the 464, including introduction of variation 474, was cancelled following the decision, as was planned route 78 to run every week from Cranleigh to Chichester Market. Countryliner are to focus on a reduced amount of local bus work, it is intended that by October 2011 all routes will have moved onto the Countryliner Sussex Ltd licence, and by then most of the coach fleet will have been disposed of after the revocation of the C & S Coach Travel Ltd license. The company will have to re-affirm its financial standing every six months from 30 September 2011.
Soon after the decision, Countryliner cancelled the registrations for Surrey routes 81, 462, 463 and 464 which they had taken on commercially following the Surrey CC Bus Review Phase 1, effective from 16 May 2011. The reasoning behind this is unclear. Routes 81, 462 and 463 are being tendered by Surrey County Council from 16 May to 3 September 2011, however route 464 will not be replaced as it is a commercial venture in competition with Arriva. Should Countryliner not bid for or not win the tenders for the 81, 462 or 463, their presence in Surrey will have been almost halved since August 2010.
Surrey
| Route | From | To | Via | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Farnborough Kingsmead | Paddock Hill Estate | Mytchett, Deepcut, Camberley, Frimley Park Hospital( 3 journeys mon-fri serve frimley village enstead of frimley park hospital) |
Mon-Sat d/time only. |
| 41 | Farnborough Princesssmead | Ash Greyhound | Farnborough Park, North Camp, Ash Vale, Ash Station (outbound only) | Mon-Fri d/time only. |
| 73 | Woking | Chobham Bowling Green Road | Well Lane, Horsell & Mimbridge | Mon-Sat d/time only. |
| 81 | Woking | Barnsbury Estate Acacia Avenue | Mount Hermon Road | D/time only (Sunday service is run by Abellio). |
| 87 | Chobham Delta Road | Collingwood College | West End | 1 journey College days only. |
| 479 | Epsom Clock Tower | Bookham | Ashtead, Leatherhead & Great Bookham | Mon-Sat d/time only. |
| 516 | Chart Downs | Epsom | Dorking, Box Hill, Leatherhead, Woodbridge Tesco | Mon-Sat d/time only. |
Sussex
| Route | From | To | Via | Other Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 134 | Fletching Fletching Fletching is the aerodynamic stabilization of arrows or darts with materials such as feathers, each piece of which is referred to as a fletch. The word is related to the French word flèche, meaning "arrow," via Old French; the ultimate root is Frankish fliukka... |
Brighton Brighton Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... |
Newick, Ditchling | Shopper service. Wednesdays only. |
| 166 | Lewes Lewes Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town... |
Haywards Heath Haywards Heath -Climate:Haywards Heath experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Rail:Haywards Heath railway station is a major station on the Brighton Main Line... /Balcombe Balcombe Balcombe may refer to:* Balcombe, West Sussex, England* Balcombe Street Siege, IRA Incident in London* Graham Balcombe, pioneer cave diver* David Balcombe, cricketer... |
Plumpton, Wivelsfield | 'Rider' service. |
| 196 | Crowborough Crowborough The highest point in the town is 242 metres above sea level. This summit is the highest point of the High Weald and second highest point in East Sussex . Its relative height is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns... |
Heathfield Heathfield There are a number of settlements called Heathfield:in Australia:* Heathfield, South Australiain South Africa*Heathfield, Cape Town is a suburb in Cape Town.in the United Kingdom:* Heathfield, Cambridgeshire, England* Heathfield, Croydon, London... |
High Hurstwood, Buxted, Cross-in-Hand. | Connects with service 197. Shopper service. Mondays (not Public Holidays) only. |
| 197 | Heathfield Heathfield There are a number of settlements called Heathfield:in Australia:* Heathfield, South Australiain South Africa*Heathfield, Cape Town is a suburb in Cape Town.in the United Kingdom:* Heathfield, Cambridgeshire, England* Heathfield, Croydon, London... |
Eastbourne Eastbourne Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head... |
Horam, Hellingly, Horsham, Polegate, Willingdon, Eastbourne District General Hospital. | Connects with service 196. Shopper service. Mondays (not Public Holidays) only. |
| 245 | Uckfield Uckfield -Development:The local Tesco has proposed the redevelopment of the central town area as has the town council. The Hub has recently been completed, having been acquired for an unknown figure, presumed to be about half a million pounds... Bus Station |
Uckfield Uckfield -Development:The local Tesco has proposed the redevelopment of the central town area as has the town council. The Hub has recently been completed, having been acquired for an unknown figure, presumed to be about half a million pounds... Bus Station |
Uckfield Hospital. | Uckfield Town service. 'Rider' service. |
| 824 | Beddingham Beddingham Glynde and Beddingham is a civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex.-Governance:On a local level, Glynde and Beddingham is governed by Glynde and Beddingham Parish Council. Council meetings are held every two months in the Beddingham Reading Room. Their responsibilities include footpaths,... |
Burgess Hill Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a civil parish and a town primarily located in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park... |
Lewes, Plumpton, Ditchling, Hassocks | 'Rider' service. |
Fleet
Surrey
The fleet mainly comprises new and second-hand Dennis DartDennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
s with Plaxton Pointer
Plaxton Pointer
The Plaxton Pointer is a successful single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Plaxton and latterly built by Alexander Dennis.With the launch of the Dennis Dart in 1989, Plaxton's subsidiary Reeve Burgess made the Pointer body on the short 8.5 m...
bodywork, but two new Plaxton Primo
Plaxton Primo
The Plaxton Primo is a type of small low-floor bus based on the Enterprise Bus Plasma. It was launched by Plaxton in 2005.It is the result of close co-operation between Enterprise Bus Ltd and Plaxton. The fully welded stainless steel integral chassis final assembly is supplied in right hand drive...
s and 4 MAN
MAN AG
MAN SE , formerly MAN AG, is a mechanical engineering company and parent company of the MAN Group. MAN SE is based in Munich, in the German State of Bavaria. Its primary output is for the automotive industry, particularly heavy trucks...
/MCV
MCV Bus and Coach
MCV Bus and Coach is a British manufacturer of bus bodies founded in late 2002 after buying the assets of defunct bus builder Marshall Bus who closed down in the summer of that year...
Evolution were added to the fleet in 2006. Most recently a new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200
Alexander Dennis Enviro 200
The TransBus Enviro200 is a midibus designed by TransBus International for the UK market, intended as the successor of the Dennis Dart SLF.-Design:...
has joined the fleet in early 2009. The coaching base is also here, most of which are Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
.
Sussex
This fleet is more varied as it was taken over from RDH Services. It contains Optare SoloOptare Solo
The Optare Solo is a low-floor midibus manufactured by Optare in Leeds, UK since 1997. The name "Solo" is a play on the low-floor status of the bus, the manufacturer believing its vehicle having an entrance that is "so low" from the floor, namely 200 mm with kneeling suspension.The innovative...
s and Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
s, as well as small numbers of other vehicle types.