Local historian Chris Harris writes;
The bus company Wilts & Dorset Motor Services Limited was first registered on 4 January 1915. The first registered office for the Company was 46 High Street, Amesbury and the first route ran between Amesbury and Salisbury. This first route was very quickly extended to take in Bulford and Larkhill, and the registered office was moved to 2 St Thomas Square, Salisbury in February 1917.
Meanwhile, a company called Bournemouth & District Motor services was first registered on 17 March 1916; by 1920 this undertaking’s operations had spread to include Southampton and Poole and its title was officially changed to Hants & Dorset Motor Services Limited on 27 July that year.
Great expansion
The 1920s were a period of great expansion for both Wilts & Dorset and Hants & Dorset; so much so that the Southern Railway bought interests in both companies in 1930.
It was in 1931 that Hants & Dorset opened an imposing two level bus and coach station in Exeter Road, Bournemouth, while Wilts & Dorset opened the present Salisbury bus station in Endless Street in August 1939. By early 1939 it was clear that war was very likely and this led to an urgent (and huge) expansion of the military installations around Salisbury. Buses were needed to carry construction workers to the sites; one of the largest projects was at Blandford Camp and needed no less than 119 buses each day – needless to say second hand vehicles were brought into the fleet from all over the country to meet these requirements.
Hants & Dorset and Wilts & Dorset became state owned in 1948, and in 1965 the management of the two companies was merged; with the 1968 Transport Act they became part of the National Bus Company. In 1972 the Wilts & Dorset name disappeared; all operations traded as Hants & Dorset until 1983 when the Company was broken up for the privatisation of the National Bus Company. The reborn Wilts & Dorset Bus Company has its head office in Poole and was bought by its local management team in June 1987.
Many improvements
Wilts & Dorset became part of the Go-Ahead Group in August 2003. Distinct from the other large transport plcs., Go-Ahead takes a devolved approach. Local identities are retained and enhanced, while local managers have the autonomy to develop appropriate transport solutions for the varied markets within their area. The benefits of this approach are well illustrated by the many improvements that Wilts & Dorset has introduced under Go-Ahead ownership.
The ‘more’ network was inaugurated in Bournemouth and Poole in December 2004. At introduction the slogan was ‘looks like a bus…works like a dream’; ‘more’ is about better public transport right across the board. It is about the bus itself – much more comfortable and pleasant to travel in, and about how the service is delivered – relevant to today’s travel needs and easy to use and understand. The popularity of the ‘more’ routes is underlined by the fact that figures show the passenger usage of the m1(Poole – Bournemouth – Castlepoint) and m2 (Poole – Bournemouth – Boscombe) routes has grown by 100% between December 2004 and summer 2010.
Back in 1998 new buses used on the local routes made Salisbury the first place in England to enjoy a city-wide network of low-floor easy access bus services. Buses of the same style as the ‘more’ vehicles were introduced on the main Bemerton Heath – City Centre – District Hospital route early in 2006 branded as Pulseline; in March 2010 the Salisbury City network was relaunched with a bright new identity as ‘Salisbury reds’.
All bus services on the Isle of Purbeck became easy access in the summer of 2009 with the introduction of a brand new fleet of buses at Swanage Depot for routes 40 (Swanage – Wareham – Poole) and 50 (Swanage – Sandbanks Ferry – Bournemouth). Branded as Purbeck Breezers and carrying a distinctive and eye-catching livery, these buses have been especially well received by customers.
Easy access buses are now to be found on the vast majority of Wilts & Dorset routes; the step entrance bus will soon be a thing of the past. And throughout the network we have introduced a stylish new corporate identity, with timetables and other information in clear, easy to use formats.
