Safeguard Coaches
Encyclopedia
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
and coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
operator based in the 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...
town of Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
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
Arriva Guildford and West Surrey
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey is a bus operator based in Guildford, England, part of the Arriva group. The company operates services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division...
, and coach private hire services over a large area.
History
Safeguard was set up in 1924 by Arthur Newman, when he converted an accident damaged lorry to carry passengers, and by 1927 was running bus services to the newly constructed Aldershot Road housing estate. Shortly afterwards, another service to Onslow Village was started.However, the main company in the area Aldershot & District Traction challenged Safeguard with six months of competition. After this, the two companies agreed that Safeguard would run the Woodside and Onslow routes, and both companies the Guildford Park service.
In time, Safeguard extended the Woodside route to Westborough and then to Park Barn, and the Guildford Park service reached Dennisville.
In 1988, Farnham Coaches was purchased, adding a significant number of vehicles to the Safeguard fleet.
In 2000, Safeguard gained the contract for the Guildford Shuttle
Guildford Shuttle
The Guildford Shuttle was a bus service linking together Guildford town centre. Starting in 2000, and running free, it was withdrawn in August 2008 following the withdrawal of its funding...
, a free service connecting various parts of Guildford Town Centre. At first, a Dennis Dart SLF
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....
/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...
Mini Pointer Dart was acquired, but the council wanted to use an Optare Alero
Optare Alero
The Optare Alero was a low-floor integral minibus built by Optare between 2001 and 2008. It was built as an alternative to van-derived buses such as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.Around 300 were built in the first five years of production...
, one of which arrived delayed later. However, this proved too small and so another Mini Pointer Dart was acquired.
More recently, in 2002, Safeguard lost some school bus work and Onslow routes 10/11 to Countryliner
Countryliner Coaches
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...
after ten years. As a result of this, the bus fleet was cut from ten to seven vehicles.
The Guildford Shuttle
Guildford Shuttle
The Guildford Shuttle was a bus service linking together Guildford town centre. Starting in 2000, and running free, it was withdrawn in August 2008 following the withdrawal of its funding...
was withdrawn in August 2008, the council saying it was costing too much to operate. There had been fierce campaigns to keep it going before it stopped and since then, more protests to re-instate it. The local Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
have been behind the campaigns. One 91-year old man stayed on the bus for a whole day non-stop and surveyed users of the service. A decision to replace the service with an advanced booking "dial-a-ride" services have been met with resistance, users claiming it is "inflexible" and that "people don’t know days in advance when they will want to go somewhere and when they want to be picked up". Campaigners also reject the idea that there are commercial bus services that provide a replacement, as around half the route is on roads unserved by other buses. From January 2009, Safeguard reintroduced the service commercially, but it was withdrawn for a final time in May 2010.
Bus routes
Safeguard currently operate three bus routes. Routes 4 and 5 run in opposite directions, linking Park Barn with Guildford town centre, and since July 24, 2010, Safeguard have run Merrow Park and Ride route 300 using Surrey County Council owned buses freed up following the withdrawal of the Ride Pegasus! school bus scheme by Surrey County Council. Previously Safeguard ran Guildford town services 3, 4 and 5 jointly with Arriva, however from 23 May 2010 the two companies agreed that Arriva would wholly run route 3 and Safeguard have complete control over the 4 and 5.| No. | Route | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... , Aldershot Road, Southway, Park Barn Park Barn Estate The Park Barn Estate is a housing estate in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is bordered to the south by the Guildford to Reading railway line, the east by the A3 and Woodbridge Hill, the north by the Aldershot Road and Rydeshill, and the west by Broadstreet Common. The Surrey Advertiser... , Royal Surrey County Hospital Royal Surrey County Hospital The Royal Surrey County Hospital is a 527-bedded District General Hospital, located on the fringe of Guildford, serving a population of 320,000 for general services and 1,200,000 for cancer services... , The Chase, Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... |
|
| 5 | Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... , The Chase, Royal Surrey County Hospital Royal Surrey County Hospital The Royal Surrey County Hospital is a 527-bedded District General Hospital, located on the fringe of Guildford, serving a population of 320,000 for general services and 1,200,000 for cancer services... , Park Barn Park Barn Estate The Park Barn Estate is a housing estate in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is bordered to the south by the Guildford to Reading railway line, the east by the A3 and Woodbridge Hill, the north by the Aldershot Road and Rydeshill, and the west by Broadstreet Common. The Surrey Advertiser... , Southway, Aldershot Road, Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... |
|
| 300 | Merrow 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... park and ride, Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... (runs non-stop via Epsom Road) |
Guildford park and ride |
Coaches
Most coach work is private hire, with a high amount of it coming from local schools. Coaches are also run to the University of SurreyUniversity of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
from various places, including areas as far afield as Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
and Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
.
Farnham Coaches
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in Wrecclesham
Wrecclesham
Wrecclesham is a village on the outskirts of Farnham in Waverley a borough of the county of Surrey, England.Farnham Pottery is located here, as is the Wrecclesham recreation ground which caters for the local cricket, football, rugby and tennis clubs and it is where Jonny Wilkinson and Graham Thorpe...
, near Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
. The company originally traded under the name "Petrich Ltd" but carried the "Farnham Coaches" fleet name. This operation was purchased by Safeguard in 1988, bringing six coaches into the fleet, most of which were Setra
Setra
Setra is a Neu-Ulm, Germany-based manufacturer of commercial buses and touring coaches, and recently a subsidiary of Daimler AG.The name "Setra" comes from "Selbsttragend"...
s. The depot was not included in the sale, and Safeguard moved the operation to a yard off the A287 Odiham Road, north of Farnham. After some years, the purple and white livery has now been phased out in favour of Safeguard's cream and red, and the Setra fleet decreased.
See also
- Countryliner CoachesCountryliner CoachesCountryliner 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...
- Stagecoach SouthStagecoach SouthStagecoach South is an operating division of the Stagecoach UK Bus. The headquarters of the division are situated in Chichester, England.It is branded as three sub-divisions; namely, Stagecoach in Hampshire, Stagecoach Hants & Surrey, and Stagecoach in the South Downs. The legal titles are;...
- List of bus operators of the United Kingdom