1.
First West Yorkshire
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First West Yorkshire is a bus operator in West Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, to comply with the Transport Act 1985, in 1986 the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executives bus operations were transferred to a separate legal entity and rebranded as Yorkshire Rider. In October 1988 Yorkshire Rider was sold in a management buyout, in August 1989 West Yorkshire Road Car Co was purchased from AJS Holdings with services in Bradford, Leeds and Otley. In April 1994 Yorkshire Rider was sold to Badgerline who in June 1995 merged with GRT Group to form FirstBus, during the early 2000s, several were merged. In July 2005, First Leeds took over Morley based Black Prince Buses, on 18 May 2008 First Leeds Kirkstall Road depot was closed after 111 years of public use and operations moved to a new complex in Hunslet. During 2009, the management of the three First companies in West Yorkshire plus First York were centralised, the companies also runs services in North Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. In the last few years, First has introduced Overground services on services with a frequent daytime service, the Overground is now a prominent fixture on all First bus companies in the UK and is based on the London Underground network with each service having its own colour line. On 3 January 2007, a new concept of transport was introduced to Leeds. It is the scheme to be introduced by FirstGroup after the first scheme in York. However the scheme in York faced many troubles including underpowering of the engine, however the engine problems have been rectified and Customer Service Hosts have been employed who will issue tickets to passengers. Also unlike York where the 4 service was converted to ftr vehicle operation within a day, First decided to drip feed the ftr vehicles onto the service so passengers could get used to it and also minimise all other troubles that occurred in York. The ftr are based on Wright StreetCar body which is on a Volvo B7LA chassis, the livery is designed by Ray Stennings Best Impressions design agency. The Bradford FreeCityBus has since transferred to Ladies Only Travel. From 29 October 2006, buses running between Huddersfield and Holmfirth were re-branded as part of the HolmfirthCONNECTION and this was a service that was run in partnership with First Calderdale & Huddersfield and First TransPennine Express. Buses 309-316 had their timetables changed and their terminus in Huddersfield moved from the bus station to the railway station, the timetable changed to co-ordinate with the trains and included the introduction of a couple of late night journeys between Huddersfield and Holmfirth running after midnight. These service are currently the 314 and X10, passengers are able to buy tickets on the bus as normal when travelling between the Holme Valley and Huddersfield but were also able to buy tickets on the bus for their train journey as well. The tickets can be bought to be used on the day or for a week, the weekly ticket provides unlimited travel for that week on First buses in the Calderdale and Kirklees areas and on the trains from Huddersfield to Leeds, Dewsbury or Manchester. This offer is that travel is restricted to First TransPennine Express services and is not valid on any Northern Rail train running along the same routes
2.
Volvo Buses
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Volvo Buses is a subsidiary and a business area of the Swedish vehicle maker Volvo, which became an independent division in 1968. It is the worlds largest bus manufacturer, with a range of heavy buses for passenger transportation. The product range includes complete buses and coaches as well as combined with a comprehensive range of services. The bus operation has a presence, with production in Europe, North and South America. In India it set up its production facility in Bangalore, former production facility was located in Irvine, Scotland. Codes in parentheses are VIN codes for the chassis models, b9M – low-budget version of the B10M 1988–1991 B10C – special Australian coach version of the B10M 1978-1991, B10R 1978-1987. B6F/B6FA198. -198. 8-litre engine 2011-, B11R –10, KG, Heilbronn, Germany Prevost Coaches, Quebec, Canada, now known as Prevost Car Merkavim, Israel, jointly owned by Volvo Bus Corporation & Mayer Cars & Trucks Ltd
3.
Engine
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An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy. Heat engines burn a fuel to heat, which is then used to create a force. Electric motors convert electrical energy into motion, pneumatic motors use compressed air. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use energy to create forces. The word engine derives from Old French engin, from the Latin ingenium–the root of the word ingenious. Pre-industrial weapons of war, such as catapults, trebuchets and battering rams, were called siege engines, the word gin, as in cotton gin, is short for engine. Most mechanical devices invented during the revolution were described as engines—the steam engine being a notable example. However, the steam engines, such as those by Thomas Savery, were not mechanical engines. In this manner, an engine in its original form was merely a water pump. Devices converting heat energy into motion are commonly referred to simply as engines, examples of engines which exert a torque include the familiar automobile gasoline and diesel engines, as well as turboshafts. Examples of engines which produce thrust include turbofans and rockets, the term motor derives from the Latin verb moto which means to set in motion, or maintain motion. Thus a motor is a device that imparts motion, motor and engine later came to be used largely interchangeably in casual discourse. However, technically, the two words have different meanings, however, rocketry uses the term rocket motor, even though they consume fuel. A heat engine may also serve as a prime mover—a component that transforms the flow or changes in pressure of a fluid into mechanical energy. An automobile powered by a combustion engine may make use of various motors and pumps. Another way of looking at it is that a motor receives power from an external source, simple machines, such as the club and oar, are prehistoric. More complex engines using human power, animal power, water power, wind power and these were used in cranes and aboard ships in Ancient Greece, as well as in mines, water pumps and siege engines in Ancient Rome. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius, Frontinus and Pliny the Elder, treat these engines as commonplace, by the 1st century AD, cattle and horses were used in mills, driving machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times
4.
Transmission (mechanics)
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A transmission is a machine in a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Often the term refers simply to the gearbox that uses gears and gear trains to provide speed. In British English, the term refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft, differential. In American English, however, the term more specifically to the gearbox alone. The most common use is in vehicles, where the transmission adapts the output of the internal combustion engine to the drive wheels. Such engines need to operate at a high rotational speed, which is inappropriate for starting, stopping. The transmission reduces the engine speed to the slower wheel speed. Transmissions are also used on bicycles, fixed machines. Often, a transmission has multiple gear ratios with the ability to switch between them as speed varies and this switching may be done manually or automatically. Directional control may also be provided, single-ratio transmissions also exist, which simply change the speed and torque of motor output. The output of the transmission is transmitted via the driveshaft to one or more differentials, while a differential may also provide gear reduction, its primary purpose is to permit the wheels at either end of an axle to rotate at different speeds as it changes the direction of rotation. Conventional gear/belt transmissions are not the mechanism for speed/torque adaptation. Alternative mechanisms include torque converters and power transformation, automatic transmissions use a valve body to shift gears using fluid pressures in conjunction with an ecm. Early transmissions included the right-angle drives and other gearing in windmills, horse-powered devices, and steam engines, in support of pumping, milling, most modern gearboxes are used to increase torque while reducing the speed of a prime mover output shaft. This means that the shaft of a gearbox rotates at a slower rate than the input shaft. A gearbox can be set up to do the opposite and provide an increase in speed with a reduction of torque. Some of the simplest gearboxes merely change the rotational direction of power transmission. Many typical automobile transmissions include the ability to select one of several gear ratios, in this case, most of the gear ratios are used to slow down the output speed of the engine and increase torque
5.
Volvo Olympian
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The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engined 2-axle and 3-axle double decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo at its Irvine, Scotland factory. The first was built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, the early Volvo Olympians were offered with Cummins L10 or Volvo TD102KF engine, coupled to Voith DIWA or ZF Ecomat gearbox. From late 1996, only the Volvo D10A-245 Euro II engine with electronic control was offered. It was available with Alexander R-type, Northern Counties Palatine and East Lancs E Type/Pyoneer bodywork, the Volvo Olympian is likely to be built as either closed top or open top. The Volvo Olympian remained as popular as the Leyland Olympian in the United Kingdom, large number of Olympians were exported to Hong Kong and Singapore, most of them being air-conditioned. The buses were popular in the United Kingdom, most of the UK versions had two rather than three axles. London United, Metroline, Stagecoach London, London Central, London General, Capital Citybus, MTL London, Harris Bus, because of a low-floor rule that had to be complied with by 2006, these buses were not in service for long. Only two buses from London United survived for rail replacement services, many other operators outside London do receive Volvo Olympians. Dublin Bus had continued their orders with the RA batch being ordered first,150 buses in 1994, in January 1997, Dublin Bus ordered further 315 Volvo Olympians, which is RV. During the period, new liveries had been introduced, of which it is CitySwift, all buses were withdrawn in 2011. Kowloon Motor Bus had ordered 531 Volvo Olympian 11m,338 Volvo Olympian 12m and 30 Volvo Olympian non-aircon buses between 1994 and 1999, long Win sold 10 12-metre Volvo Olympians to KMB in 1999. Due to the modernisation of the fleet, all Volvo Olympians have been withdrawn, Citybus had ordered 10 Volvo Olympian 10. 4m,2 Volvo Olympian 12m,310 Volvo Olympian 12m and 142 Volvo Olympian 11m between 1994 and 1998. Due to the modernisation of the fleet, most of the buses were either withdrawn, china Motor Bus ordered 64 Volvo Olympians between 1996 and 1998. 62 were sold to New World First Bus in 1998 and 5 of them were converted to open-top for Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus, New World First Bus received 2 12-metre Volvo Olympians from HACTL in 1999 and 10 from Citybus in 2014. All buses were withdrawn as they aged 16 –17 years, Singapore Bus Services had ordered 100 Volvo Olympian 2-Axles and 201 Volvo Olympian 3-Axles in 1993. The Volvo Olympian 3-Axles has been delivered between June 1994 and June 1995 and these buses were extended to 2 years in 2011, and some to 6 months/permanent 1 year extension in 2013 -2014. About 7 buses were retired before June 2013,29 buses were extended to 1 year to facilitate retirement of Volvo Olympian 3-Axle as well as to facilitate deployment of Volvo B9TLs on Jurong Industrial services after all the buses were retired. It thus followed by 200 Volvo Olympian 3-Axles again in 1995, in July 2004, only 246 and 251 became non air-con until the Volvo Olympians were transferred over in 2009
6.
Volvo B9TL
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The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses since 2002. It superseded the older Volvo B10TL and the Volvo B7TL, and was superseded by the Volvo B5TL in Europe, production of the 3-axle B9TL is currently built, the 2-axle version has ceased production in 2013/2014 and was superseded by the Volvo B5TL. The B9TL chassis shared the design of the B7TL. The key difference from both its predecessor, the B10TL Super Olympian and B7TL, is the new 9. 3-litre engine originally designed by Renault Trucks, the radiator is located at the rear offside, similar the smaller B7TL. The front module design is shared with other low-floor bus chassis built by Volvo, the B9TL was initially offered in three-axle format, and the two-axle variant was added in 2006 to replace the B7TL. The driveline comprises a Volvo D9A Euro III engine, which was replaced by the Volvo D9B Euro IV/V/EEV engine. Volvo also offer the Voith four-speed gearbox as an option, the front wheels of three-axle B9TL are usually supplied by ALCOA of the USA, but some buses have all their wheels supplied by ALCOA. A Volvo B9TL prototype was delivered to Hong Kong in July 2003 for Kowloon Motor Bus as a demonstrator for the Eco-Driveline concept, however, the Volgren CR223LD body had a width of only 2500mm instead of the usual 2550mm. After months of testing, the bus was registered as LJ7006 and it was put into service in April 2004. As a result of tests, Volvo Buses and ZF adopted the Eco-Driveline system as the primary driveline option on the B9TL. Later it was confirmed that AVD1 would leave Hong Kong after its evaluation, the bus was de-licensed on 15 December 2004 and left Hong Kong at noon on 21 December 2004. In August 2005, AVD1 was shipped back to Hong Kong after its D9A engine was replaced by a D9B unit, pre-October 2005, the bus was kept by Volvo in the Hong Kong United Dockyard. Later in 2005, the bus was transferred to KMB for installation of service equipment, the bus was re-licensed as MF5119 in February 2006, and re-entered service on 24 May 2006. The bus is one of the first two to meet the Euro IV emissions standards in Hong Kong, in early 2004, a Volvo B9TL prototype with a facelifted version of the TransBus Enviro500 body arrived in Hong Kong. It had a different front and rear design, and its rear route box was moved beneath the upper deck rear window. After TransBus International was renamed Alexander Dennis in May 2004, it became the only TransBus Enviro-series bus with a non-Dennis chassis, later in the same year, a Wright-bodied B9TL prototype was also delivered. The rear design of its Wright body was different from that of the Wright-bodied Volvo Super Olympian, on 12 January 2005, the TransBus Enviro 500-bodied B9TL was finally licensed as LU3721 with fleet number AVBE1, and the Wright-bodied B9TL was registered as LU3739 with fleet number AVBW1. Both of them entered service on the night of 8 February 2005, in early 2005 Kowloon Motor Bus ordered 25 B9TL chassis with Wrightbus bodywork, which entered service in 2005/2006
7.
Low-floor bus
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A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. Buses with partial low floor may also refer as low-entry bus in some locations, Low floor refers to a bus deck that is accessible from sidewalk with only a single step within a small height difference, caused solely by the difference between the bus deck and sidewalk. This is to distinguished from high-floor, a bus deck design that requires climbing one step or more steps to access the interior floor that is placed at a higher height. Being low-floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly and people with disabilities, in North America, both types are commonly called low-floor, as the majority of the vehicle has a low floor, without steps at the doors. Some manufacturers use the initials LF or L in their model designations for fully low-floor models, in some countries, LE, short for Low Entry, is used by some manufacturers in their model designations for low-entry buses. Some full low-floor buses also have a rear axle, while the rear axle is not an issue on a low-entry bus. Many low-floor buses, including the Irisbus Citelis, has the engine in a cabinet at the rear of the bus. Van Hool have a series of side-engine mid-drive buses that puts the engine off to one side of the cabin longitudinally between the first and the axle, to maximize usable cabin space. The same concept was also utilized by Volvo on their B9S articulated chassis, for smaller buses, such as midibuses, the low-floor capability is achieved by placing the front wheels ahead of the entrance. Accessibility was previously achieved in paratransit type applications, which use small vehicles with the fitment of special lifts, the inception of small low-floor buses has allowed the development of several accessible demand-responsive transport schemes using standard off-the-shelf buses. A disadvantage of the low floor is accommodating the buss own wheels, with the low floor, the wheels protrude into the passenger cabin, and need to be contained in wheel pockets of waist height, and this occupies space which would otherwise be used for seating. Seating layout for a low-floor bus therefore requires careful design, Low-floor buses usually include an area without seating next to at least one of the doors, where wheelchairs, walkers, perambulators, and where allowed even bicycles, can be parked. This is sometimes not the purpose of this area, though. Despite the space existing, operators may also insist that one or two wheelchairs or pushchairs can be accommodated unfolded, due to space/safety concerns. Depending on how close to the curb the bus is parked and wheelchair design, many vehicles are also equipped with wheel-chair lifts, or ramps which, when combined with a low floor, can provide a nearly level entry. An interesting implementation of the low floor design exists in Australia and these buses combine a smaller low floor area with a small underfloor bin for some luggage. Whilst these buses do not provide an amount of luggage space. These buses also lack the ability to have a center door, many bus rapid transit systems employ a level boarding by using high-floor buses stopping at station style bus stops
8.
Double-decker bus
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A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-decker buses are used for transport in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and many former European possessions. Early double-deckers put the driver in a separate cab, passenger access was via an open platform at the rear, and a bus conductor would collect fares. Modern double-deckers have an entrance door at the front, and the driver takes fares, thus halving the number of bus workers aboard. The rear open platform, popular with passengers, was abandoned for safety reasons, double-deckers are primarily for commuter transport but open-top models are used as sight-seeing buses for tourists. William Gladstone, speaking of Londons double-deck horse drawn omnibuses, once observed. the best way to see London is from the top of a bus, cities listed here have double-decker buses as part of their regular mass transit fleet. Cities with only tourist and sightseeing buses are excluded. Double-decker coaches in the UK have traditionally been 12.0 metres in length, articulated double-deckers are also allowed at a maximum length of 18.75 metres. In 1941, Miss Phyllis Thompson became the first woman licensed to drive a vehicle in the United Kingdom. She drove for the bus company Messrs, felix Motors Ltd, then at Hatfield near Doncaster. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. The majority of buses in London are double-deckers, a particularly iconic example was the AEC Routemaster bus, which had been a staple of the public transport network in London for nearly half a century following its introduction in 1956. Because of cited difficulties accommodating disabled passengers, the last remaining Routemasters in use finally retired from service in 2005. In 2007, a hybrid-powered double-decker entered service on London Buses route 141, by late 2008, more hybrid double-deckers from three manufacturers entered service in London. A New Routemaster was developed that year, and entered service on 20 February 2012, in October 2015, London added five all-electric double-decker buses - the worlds first - made by Chinese firm BYD. Bus Vannin operate several double-deckers on routes all across the island, in the Republic of Ireland, nearly all of buses operated in and around Greater Dublin by Dublin Bus are double-deckers. There are 936 double-decker buses in the fleet of 942. The Bus Éireann company also utilises double-decker buses on some of its short-haul routes, double-deckers are also common on some of the companys suburban routes in Cork city
9.
Volvo Super Olympian
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The Volvo Super Olympian was a low-floor double-decker bus manufactured by Volvo. It replaced the 3-axle version of Volvo Olympian, the chassis had the designated manufacturer code B10TL. The Volvo Super Olympian was unveiled in 1998, with one chassis being sent to Hong Kong for a show held by International Union of Public Transport in the same year. The chassis was later returned to the United Kingdom, the Super Olympian chassis was based on the Volvo Olympian. The front radiator was moved behind the front axle on the 12 metre version, in order to lower the chassis further, the assisted steering function of the middle axle was cancelled. The suspension system has also been modified so that it is electronically controlled instead of moving passively. One special feature is that after turning, the unit does not return to normal, remaining tilted to either the left or right. An option for 11.3 metre length of Super Olympian was also available, the Super Olympian was powered by the Volvo D10A285, with a maximum power of 285 hp. Its somewhat insufficient engine power has earned some mildly derisive nicknames in Hong Kong, the most common are 豬, 扒 and 豬扒. Initially, the Super Olympian chassis were built in Volvos factory in Irvine, after the closure of the factory in mid-2000, production was moved to Wrocław, Poland. Kowloon Motor Bus ordered the first batch of 61 Alexander ALX500 bodied B10TL Super Olympians with ZF 4HP590 transmission, all except the prototype 3ASV3 had narrow 2+2 seats on the upper deck. A further 80 Super Olympians entered service in 2000/01 and these buses have electronic route displays and ZF 5HP590 transmission. 3ASV78 was the 3, 000th Alexander bodied bus supplied to KMB, the last 351 Super Olympians, including 21 which were fitted with Australian Volgren CR223LD bodywork, entered service in 2001/02. All of these buses had their chassis built in Poland and their D10A285 engines were built to meet Euro III emission standards and had aluminium alloy front wheels supplied by Alcoa. 3ASV297 was coated with metallic paint, which shows different colours. Kowloon Motor Bus was the buyer of 10.6 metre Super Olympians. The first 4910. 6m Alexander ALX500 bodied Super Olympians were introduced in 2001 and they are equipped with D10A285 Euro II engines and had Alcoa front wheels. ASV50, which was put into service in 2002, is a prototype short-wheelbase Super Olympian and it is equipped with a Euro III D10A285 engine and ZF 4HP590 transmission rather than the previous 5HP590 as fitted to older ASVs
10.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
11.
Volvo B7L
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It was used as both a single-decker bus and a double-decker bus chassis largely in Continental Europe. The B7L was also available as an integrally-constructed Volvo bus - the Volvo 5000, as with the B10L, B7L was also available in its articulated form named the B7LA. Outside Continental Europe, the B7L was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2000 and it could be fitted with Wright Eclipse body, but proved unpopular due to the arrangement of engine and radiator limiting seating capacity, with FirstGroup being the only major customer. Volvo responded by introducing the B7RLE for the UK market, in Ireland, Bus Éireann purchased 25 B7Ls between 2001 &2003. The double-decker version of B7L was also sold in UK, used as bus or sightseeing bus. Volvo B7L and B7LA-based buses are used in Greece, in Athens, Volvo B7LAs constructed by Saracakis have been used since 1999, when Volvo B7L and B7LAs constructed by ELBO were introduced by OASTH, the local bus operator. In 2005, Wrightbus unveiled the Wright StreetCar which is an articulated bus built with modified B7LA chassis. The chassis has a front overhang, the drivers cab relocated to above the front axle. The Volvo B7L was superseded by the Volvo B9L in 2006, ftr - a trial scheme using Wright StreetCars List of buses
12.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
13.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
14.
Irvine, North Ayrshire
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Irvine is an ancient settlement, in medieval times a royal burgh, and now a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The 2011 Census recorded the population at 33,698 inhabitants. Irvine was the site of Scotlands 12th century Military Capital and former headquarters of the Lord High Constable of Scotland and it also served as the Capital of Cunninghame and was, at the time of David I, Robert II and Robert III one of the earliest capitals of Scotland. The town was once a haunt of Robert Burns, after two streets in the town are named, Burns Street and Burns Crescent. He is known to have worked in a mill on the Glasgow Vennel. Despite being classed as a new town, Irvine has had a history stretching back many centuries and was classed as a Royal Burgh. There are also conflicting rumours that Mary, Queen of Scots stayed briefly at Seagate Castle, to this day there is still a yearly festival, called Marymass, held in the town. Irvine is the birthplace of the present First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon as well as the former First Minister of Scotland, the current Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop was also born in Irvine. Its twin town is Saint-Amand-les-Eaux in northern France just outside Lille, part of modern Irvine contains the oldest continually inhabited village in Europe. Dreghorn, formerly a village, appears to contain archaeological remains dating back to the first incursions of humanity into Scotland. Numerous ancient sites pepper the region, iron Age Hill forts are abundant. The Grannie Stane is visible when the water is low, the medieval parish of Irvine was one of the most important regions in Scotland. Originally the site of the Military Headquarters of the Lord High Constable of Scotland and one of the earliest Scottish Capitals, King John I of Scotland inherited the lordship of Irvine sometime in the mid-13th century. Robert the Bruce, in an attempt to seize Johns lands, from Bruce it passed to his grandson Robert the Steward, future King Robert II of Scotland. Bourtreehill, the only major Estate in the parish, was possessed by all three kings and possibly the Constables of Scotland before them. In December 2010, the writer A. J. Morton stated that Irvine was a Lost Medieval Capital and a likely candidate in the debate about the Stone of Destiny and its location before it was moved to Scone. Morton write, We cant be certain that Evonium actually existed, so we cant properly identify the Stones western home, what is certain is that the Irvine district was enormously important in the middle ages. The most intriguing evidence concerns Irvine’s links with early monarchs and officers of post-Norman Scotland, the loch was natural, sitting in a hollow created by glaciation
15.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
16.
ZF Friedrichshafen
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ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg. Specialising in engineering, it is known for its design, research and development. It is a supplier of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles. It is also involved in rail, marine, defence and aviation industries, ZF has 230 production locations in 40 countries with approximately 138,000 employees. The company was founded in 1915 in Friedrichshafen, Germany by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, to produce gears for Zeppelins, Zeppelin was unable to otherwise obtain gears for his airships. The German Zahnradfabrik translates to gear factory in English, by 1919, ZF had moved into the automobile market, a move consolidated by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Some of the most important milestones that followed,1920, Patent application submitted for the Soden pre-selector transmission,1929, A thriving auto industry warrants the series production of the innovative helical ZF Aphon transmission for cars and commercial vehicles. 1932, Launch of steering systems production under license,1944, On 3 August, the Zahnradfabrik was bombed by the Fifteenth Air Force as a secondary target. As early as 20 September 1942, Albert Speer had warned Hitler of how important the Friedrichshafen tank engine production,1953, Market launch of the first fully synchronised transmission for commercial vehicles worldwide. 1961, Development of an automatic transmission for passenger cars. With series production beginning in 1969, and later proving highly popular, the 1960s sees ZF supplying transmissions to major German automakers as well as Peugeot and Alfa Romeo. 1977, Start of volume production for automatic transmissions for commercial vehicles, worldwide subsidiaries and factories were opened in the 1970s, and the company moved into India and South Korea. 1980s, ZF started operating in Asia in the mid 80s 1984, Majority shareholding gained in Lemförder Metallwaren AG,1986, Start of USA transmission production in Gainesville, Georgia, for pickup trucks. ZF became a supplier to Ford in the 1980s. 1991, The 5HP18 was the first 5-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars, introduced in 1991 on the BMW E36 320i/325i and E345 Series 1994, Development of an automatic transmission system for heavy commercial vehicles. The company expanded into China in the 1990s,1999, World premiere for the first automatic 6-speed transmission. Series production begins in 2001, with the BMW7 Series as the first client, today, ZF produces around one million six-speed automatic transmissions annually. 2001, Acquisition of Mannesmann Sachs AG,2001, Active Roll Stabilization premiere on BMW7 Series 2002, Presentation of the worlds first 4-point link – a newly developed chassis module for trucks and buses
17.
Voith
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The Voith Corporate Group is led by the Voith GmbH headquarters in Heidenheim, located in the German State of Baden-Württemberg. The Voith GmbH has around 39,302 employees worldwide, with 14,434 working in Germany, for the 2013/14 business year, the consolidated group had revenues of €5.34 billion, profits of €41 million and a new order volume of €5.58 billion. The Voith GmbH began as a small workshop in the former Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1825, Johann Matthäus Voith took over this workshop from his father Johannes, which employed five craftsmen, the same site used by the original workshop is now the home of the Voith GmbH Headquarters. In the mid-19th century, Johann Matthäus Voith began developing machinery for spinning mills, in 1848, he began working with the Heidenheim paper producer Heinrich Voelter, with the common goal of mass-producing paper. At that time, series production of paper had failed due to the lack of rag-fiber which was used as the raw material, wood however, being a plentiful renewable resource, was seen as an alternative. The very first patent for producing paper from wood pulp was awarded to Heinrich Voelter, Johann Matthäus Voith studied that patent, and then dramatically improved Keller’s design. As a result, the first Raffineur was born in 1859 – a machine that significantly refined raw wood pulp, in 1867, Johann Matthäus Voith transferred control of the company to his son Friedrich, which had 30 employees. In that same year, Friedrich Voith officially registered the company in the local trading register for the first time under the name, in 1869, Voith received his first patent for a wood grinder. In 1881, Voith delivered the first complete paper-making machine to Raithelhuber, Bezner & Cie in Gemmrigheim, Voiths invention had opened an entirely new market, and a surge in new orders helped his company to rapidly expand. By the mid-1890s, Voith machines were available for stage of the paper-making process. During the same timeframe, Voith began working on turbines, by 1879, the first Voith turbine regulator had been built, based on the designs from Adolf Pfarr, and it proved to be a decisive step for the generation of electricity through the force of water. By 1890, Voith had even begun deliveries of a high-pressure open-jet turbine, and in the same year, Friedrich Voith was named by King Karl I of Württemberg to join his council of commercial advisors in recognition of his successful business achievements. At the companys 25th anniversary in 1892,330 people were employed by Voith, the first Voith subsidiary, located in St. In 1911, Voith built the fastest and widest machine of its time for reel-fed printing papers, at its plant in St. Pölten, Austria. Shortly thereafter in 1913, Friedrich Voith died, and left behind a company with 3,000 employees, after World War I, the three brothers decided to expand the company and to concentrate on drive technologies. By 1922, Voith had begun building transmission gear assemblies, based on its fluid-dynamics know-how gained from previous turbine projects and this turned out to be yet another breakthrough, which was achieved with the aid of Hermann Föttinger, and his research on hydrodynamic energy transfers. In that same year, the first Kaplan turbine was produced by Voith, by 1929, the first Voith hydrodynamic couplings based on the Föttinger Principle were in use at the Herdecke pumped-storage hydropower station
18.
Alexander ALX400
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The Alexander ALX400 is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders. Released in 1997, it replaced the aging Alexander R-series bodies and was fitted to chassis, including the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF/VDL DB250LF. It proved a big success with national operators, huge numbers serve London, from its introduction until 2006, it had been the favoured 2-axle double-decker bus model for the Stagecoach Group. The ALX400 was also a big hit with Dublin Bus of Ireland,648 of them were fitted on Volvo B7TL chassis, AV 1-448 were Volvo B7TL chassis, and AX 449-648 were on B7TL MKII chassis. During 2003 an order was placed for 10 TransBus Trident/ALX400 versions known as DT 1-10 to compare against the AV class with a view to splitting future orders. Most of these featured 76 seat single door bodies although there were various seating capacities for on a minority used. Summerhill based AV 116-130 were built with dual door bodies for use on the Airlink services, various seating configurations were available, with Transport for London specification models fitted with a central exit door. There are typically 45 seats on the deck, and between 17 and 22 seats on the lower deck. Longer models for use elsewhere have up to 47 seats on the upper deck, Stagecoach subsidiaries outside London have ALX400s on long-wheelbase Dennis Trident chassis, fitted with 51 seats upstairs and 28 downstairs. In late 2005 Alexander Dennis launched the Enviro400 model, intended as a replacement for the ALX400, but in 2006, new ALX400s were still entering service with Stagecoach and Arriva. Production of the ALX400 bodywork ceased after the delivery of these 100 ALX400-bodied Volvo B7TL in late 2006, list of buses ALX400 flickr gallery
19.
Plaxton President
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The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was unveiled in 1997 and built between 1999 and 2005, when it became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name, strangely never got branded as the Alexander Dennis President after ADL bought Transbus. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and it can be built as either a closed top bus or an open-top bus. The body was designed to compete with the Alexander ALX400 body, from the side, it can be easily recognised by the different depths of windows on the lower deck, however, this is less apparent with newer bonded-glazed models. Seating varied according to the chassis and specification, TfL models were typically built with 41 seats upstairs, and 23 downstairs, with a centre exit door. Early TfL versions also had the moved to the centre of the bus. Outside London the Presidents are less common, however some operators have built up numbers of them. Lothian Buses were the largest operator of Presidents outside London with approximately 200 purchased from June 1999 to June 2004, apart from seven examples on Volvo B7TL chassis Lothians examples are all Dennis Tridents including some high capacity 11m examples. Since 2010 Lothian began withdrawing their earliest model Presidents from frontline service, some have received an open top conversion for Lothians sightseeing subsidiaries and others have been sold on for further service with various other bus operators. Go-Ahead Group companies outside London also have Presidents in substantial numbers, brighton & Hove have the largest allocation with 36 on Dennis Trident 2 chassis purchased in March/April 2001. This was followed by Go North East who took 15 in November 2001 again on Dennis Trident chassis although 8 of these transferred to Go-Aheads Oxford Bus Company subsidiary in 2006. Finally Southern Vectis purchased 7 Presidents on Volvo B7TL chassis in September/October 2002, Stagecoach took over 40 low-height Presidents on Dennis Trident 2 chassis in the early/mid 2000s. These were originally allocated to the Cambus, Manchester and Oxfordshire subsidiaries - although theyve since been transferred to other subsidiaries within Stagecoach and they were originally intended to have had Alexander ALX400 bodies - Stagecoachs standard double deck body, but were switched to Presidents due to quicker build times. East Yorkshire Motor Services are another fairly major President fleet with 36 examples on Volvo B7TL chassis,30 of these were for the main East Yorkshire fleet with the other 6 for their Finglands subsidiary in Manchester. The Mayflower Group, the parent company of TransBus International, went into administration in March 2004 and it was bought out in May 2004 by a consortium including Brian Souter, the owner of the Stagecoach Group and was renamed Alexander Dennis. A programme of restructuring began within Alexander Dennis which, at the time, saw the Plaxton coach division divested, in turn a decision was taken to close the former Northern Counties plant in Wigan and phase out the President in favour of the Falkirk-built ALX400. The Enviro400 has elements of the ALX400 and President in its design, list of buses Media related to Plaxton President at Wikimedia Commons
20.
East Lancs Vyking
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This article is about the East Lancs Vyking, the East Lancs bus body on the Volvo B7TL. For the similar bodies on the Dennis Trident 2 and DAF DB250, see East Lancs Lolyne, the East Lancs Vyking is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the version of the Spryte. It continued the line of misspelt names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Volvo B7TL chassis, the East Lancs Vyking lasted through the Myllennium with the new name East Lancs Myllennium Vyking. The name Vyking was derived from the chassis being built by a company from Sweden
21.
East Lancs Myllennium Vyking
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The East Lancs Myllennium Vyking is a type of double-decker bus body built on the Volvo B7TL chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The Myllennium Vyking can be built as either a closed top bus or an open-top bus, the Myllennium Vyking superseded the East Lancs Vyking. The Vyking was also the East Lancs body for the Volvo B7TL and this is what gave the Vyking its new name the Myllennium Vyking. The structure of the Vyking was built using the Alusuisse System M5438 system, glazing was with laminated glass, and gasket glazing came with the bus as standard - with bonded glazing available - and had hopper opening windows. The heating was thermostatically controlled and windows and air vents provided ventilation, the seating was trimmed in customers required moquette. The floor had a 12mm Xyligen Basileum treated Finnish Birch combi plywood floor on the lower deck, electrical features were the fluorescent light on the bus ceilings, and twin circular halogen headlights. Destination displays only came as manual as standard, doors were air operated and were made of toughened glass, a simple drivers compartment was designed, to make the drivers job easier. Two pack acrylic paint was available for the exterior, East Lancs Vyking East Lancs Myllennium East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander List of buses Volvo Bus UK website
22.
Wright Eclipse Gemini
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The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body built by Wrightbus since 2001, based in the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013, additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer. Since 2008, the body has also been available on Volvo B5LH hybrid chassis, Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied buses have been mass-introduced into London since 2001, where they replaced types such as the AEC Routemaster and Leyland Titan. It is also popular with FirstGroup, with over 1,000 buses being put into service with the group, dublin Bus and Bus Éireann have also acquired a large number of Volvo B9TLs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork. The Eclipse Gemini was launched in 2001, initially on Volvo B7TL chassis, as a double decker version of the existing Wright Eclipse body. In London, as with most buses, Eclipse Geminis often have two doors for loading, one at the front and one in the centre, elsewhere. Also on London examples, the staircase is situated across from the entrance, while on single door variants. The staircase itself differs from other modern buses as rather than simply having a banister, all Eclipse Geminis are fitted with LED rear lights. Although London and Lothian models retain power blinds, most Eclipse Geminis are fitted with LED destination screens, the interior of the Eclipse Gemini features curves similar to its exterior, and continues the modern feel. In 2006, the Volvo B7TL chassis was replaced by the new Volvo B9TL, at the same time, other external modifications include the relocation of the rear number plate from its integrated position with the upper rear window to a more conventional siting at the bottom of the bus. The Eclipse Gemini was also available on the hybrid Volvo B5LH chassis in 2008. The first six hybrid Eclipse Geminis were delivered to Arriva London in 2008, the bodywork was modified to fit the Super Olympian chassis, with the most noticeable difference being the tri-axle layout. The last Volvo Super Olympian to roll off the line received Wright Explorer bodywork. Subsequently, the Super Olympian was replaced by a variant of the Volvo B9TL. Wrightbus offered similar tri-axle bodywork, which was unnamed and had slightly different rear styling, after the introduction of Euro IV-engined Volvo B9TL, this bodywork became known as the Eclipse Gemini tri-axle, but no bodywork carrying this name were known to have been built. The second generation Wright Eclipse Gemini, known as the Eclipse Gemini 2, was launched in 2008 on Volvo B9TL, the Eclipse Gemini 2 features front and rear ends facelifted to match the Eclipse 2 single-decker, as part of Wrightbus new design philosophy. A low-height version was introduced in 2012, like the Explorer, the Eclipse Gemini 2 has been sold in Hong Kong, including a tri-axle variant that replaced the Explorer. Kowloon Motor Bus and Citybus of Hong Kong and SBS Transit of Singapore have taken delivery of a number of Eclipse Gemini 2s
23.
FirstGroup
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FirstGroup is a British transport group, registered and operating in the United Kingdom. The company also operates services in Ireland, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, FirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators. In September 1986 the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout, as Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales. In January 1989 Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in Aberdeen owned by Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its general manager Moir Lockhead. As GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland, in April 1995 FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters, at the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses,4,000 of which came from Badgerline. Badgerlines Trevor Smallwood became chairman of FirstBus, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman, FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies formerly owned by English, Welsh and Scottish nationalised operators. FirstBus went on to larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North in Manchester and Strathclyde Buses in Glasgow in 1996, Mainline in South Yorkshire and CentreWest in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus in London in 1998. The company was renamed FirstGroup in December 1997 after the company moved into railways in February 1996 with the privatisation of British Rail, through a 24. In March 1998 FirstGroup purchased the 75. 5% shares in Great Western Holdings it did not already own and rebranded the franchises First Great Western and First North Western. In September 1998 FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by China Motor Bus, FirstGroup had a 26% shareholding in the joint venture. In May 2000 FirstGroup sold its shares to joint venture partner New World Development, in September 1999 FirstGroup purchased Ryder Public Transport Services, a provider of school bus transportation in the United States. In May 2000 FirstGroup began operating the London Tramlink concession under contract to Transport for London, in August 2003 FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned Anglia Railways and GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in Hull Trains. Having not been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, this gave FirstGroup another chance to bid, however it was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to National Express from April 2004 including the services operated by First Great Eastern. In November 2003 FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator Aircoach, in February 2004 FirstGroups joint venture with Keolis commenced operating the First TransPennine Express rail franchise, FirstGroup having a 55% shareholding. In April 2004 FirstGroup commenced operating the First Great Western Link franchise, in December 2004 the remainder of First North Western passed to Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express
24.
Arriva UK Bus
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Arriva UK Bus is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, based in Sunderland, Arriva UK Bus operates 5,900 buses in London, the North East, North West and South East of England, Yorkshire, The Midlands and Wales. Arrivas bus network in the UK originates from its acquisition of Grey-Green in 1980 and it has the following operating units, Arriva Buses Wales – separated from Arriva North West & Wales in January 2009 Arriva London – consisting of Arriva London North and Arriva London South. Arriva London buses operating services for Transport for London are painted red, Yorkshire Tiger buses are painted in an orange livery and Tiger Blue blue. New Enterprise Coaches retains its white and red livery. in some regions
25.
National Express West Midlands
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National Express West Midlands is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton. It is a subsidiary of the National Express Group, on 26 October 1986 as part of the deregulation of bus services, West Midlands Travel was formed. In April 1995 the company merged with National Express, and in September 1996 rebranded as Travel West Midlands, in November 2002 the Coventry services were rebranded Travel Coventry. The former Travel Your Bus and Travel Merry Hill subsidiaries have been merged into the main fleet, in February 2008 as part of a rebranding of all National Express subsidiaries, it was renamed National Express West Midlands. The Coventry service was rebranded as National Express Coventry, the current red and white is the sixth livery to be used by the company. A seventh livery of crimson and maroon is being introduced from 2015 starting with Birmingham routes 9 and 50. Previously garages in Stourbridge, Dudley, Merry Hill, Harts Hill, Sutton Coldfield, Hockley, Cotteridge, Selly Oak, Wolverhampton, Washwood Heath and Quinton have been operated. The Dudley garage closed on 28 August 1993 to make way for the Dudley Southern By-Pass and was replaced, along with the former Travel Merry Hill depot, in July 2010, Lea Hall depot closed. National Express West Midlands aimed for the fleet to be low floor by March 2010. This was achieved in July 2010, with the withdrawal of the final MCW Metrobus in operation at Acocks Green garage, a two-tier flat fare structure is in operation within the West Midlands county boundary, there is a standard single fare for any distance and a cheaper short-hop fare. Cash fares can be bought from the driver on the bus, child fares are available at half the adult cost. Graduated fares apply on some services outside the West Midlands, Daysaver tickets can also be purchased from the driver, which allows unlimited travel on all NXWM services for the whole day. Selected services have special daily and weekly return tickets available, various pass type tickets are sold in advance, for varying periods from 1 day to 1 year, covering different parts of operating area. The all-day Daysaver ticket, also available on-bus, includes NXWM routes running outside the West Midlands county and services operated by sister company, National Express Coventry. Following successful trials in Yardley Wood of the new Smart system for Concessionary Travel Pass holders, on-bus ticketing systems and point of sale units are supplied by Parkeon. Routes of significance include,11 which forms the Birmingham Outer Circle is a circular,27 mile bus route in Birmingham. It mainly follows the outer ring road, the A4040. Operating as routes 11A and 11C, it held the title of longest urban bus route in Europe between 1926 and 2013 before being beaten by route 360 in neighbouring Coventry, Route 11 regained this title in July 2016 following the withdrawal of the 360 service
26.
Translink (Northern Ireland)
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Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink, Translink provides services all over Northern Ireland and also to Dublin, in a partnership deal with its counterpart in the Republic of Ireland. It also provides bus services in many towns and cities all over Northern Ireland including Bangor, Derry, Ballymena, Omagh, Craigavon. The Metro service operates throughout Belfast, right out to the suburbs, nITHCo was established in 1967 to take over the railway and bus services of the Ulster Transport Authority, namely Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus. In 1996 the Translink organization was created to integrate the services of the Ulster Transport Authority as well as Citybus Limited, Citybus is now known as Metro. Northern Ireland Railways, formerly and briefly called Ulster Transport Railways, is responsible for running the network in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland railway network is currently 330.58 km, the main passenger line operates from Portadown to Bangor. Also operated are services to Larne and Portrush, which is a branch off the Belfast-Derry railway line, by 2015 Translink hope to have a service operating from Belfast International Airport to Belfast city centre. Translink are in talks with the airport about reopening the Lisburn-Antrim railway line, the Lisburn-Antrim passes Belfast International Airport and could be used to provide services to it. Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the bus services in Northern Ireland, Ulsterbus is charged with transporting over 65,000 children per day to school. There are also a number of cross channel services to Great Britain, Ulsterbus operate Day Tours to other parts of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland mainly shopping and to some tourist attractions. The Translink Metro service operates bus services within the Greater Belfast Area, Metro operates 12 bus corridors in Belfast, plus a number of additional routes. The service began as the Belfast Corporation Transport Department, in 1973, these services were transferred to the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company as Citybus Limited, becoming part of the Translink integrated network in 1995. In 2004, Translink/NITHC announced that Citybus would be completely rebranded & reorganised into 12 QBCs, Citybus was re-branded as Metro on 7 February 2005.2. They also operate 100 single deckers in the fleet,30 - Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Mk.233 - Scania L94UB/Wrightbus Solar, Metro also have a group of ten exUlsterbus Goldliner coaches for use on private hire. These are Volvo B10M/Plaxton Excaliburs, new in 1999 & painted in a pink livery. Total -275 Ulsterbus Foyle is a division of Translink that operates bus services in Derry, the new service was opened in September 2006 following an update of the citys bus routes and replacing some of the older buses. Ulsterbus Foyle is similar to Metro that operates buses in Belfast and these services were the first to carrying letters within their service number
27.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
28.
Go-Ahead London
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Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the Go-Ahead Group. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and it is the largest bus operator in London, operating a total of 115 bus routes under contract to Transport for London. The Go-Ahead Group is a transport group based in Newcastle. It first became involved in London bus operations in September 1994, in May 1996, it added another former London Buses subsidiary, London General, which had been sold in 1994 to a management buy out. These two companies developed in much the same way, both establishing a livery of red with a charcoal skirt and yellow relief band, and splitting orders for new buses. Further expansion did not occur until September 2006, when Docklands Buses was purchased, on 29 June 2007, the Go-Ahead purchased Blue Triangle. With these purchases, Go-Ahead surpassed Arriva London to become the largest operator of buses in London, a corporate image for Go-Aheads London bus services started to appear in August 2008, when a new Go-Ahead London logo was unveiled. In 2009, Transport for London invited bids for the sale of their own bus operations which ran under the East Thames Buses brand, Go-Ahead London were selected as the preferred bidder and assumed full responsibility for 10 routes and two depots in October 2009. The East Thames brand was replaced with the Go-Ahead London brand, the East Thames operations were initially absorbed under the London General arm of Go-Aheads London business. However, after some route movements and allocation changes some of the now run under the London Central. On 30 March 2012, Go-Ahead purchased Northumberland Park Garage from First London with all routes brought under the London General wing, Services are now operated under an expanded London General licence, however the Metrobus trading name is retained. London Generals licence was formally increased by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency on 25 April 2014, the current subsidiaries of Go-Ahead London are, in order of acquisition, London Central London General Metrobus Docklands Buses Blue Triangle Go-Ahead London website
29.
London Central
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London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London, London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units. In September 1994 it was sold to the Go-Ahead Group, in August 2008, Go-Aheads London bus operations all adopted the Go-Ahead London trading name, although the individual company names are still applied beneath the logo. London Central operates four bus garages, as at May 2015, Bexleyheath garage operated routes 89,132,401,422,486,625,658,661,669, B11, B16, N21 and N89. Built as a depot by the London Passenger Transport Board. The depot is a large and imposing building, slightly set back from the road to enable parking on the forecourt. Bexleyheath closed in 1986, with work transferred to Catford, Plumstead, the move to set up the new company to tender for routes backfired, and in the next round of tendering only route B16 was awarded to Bexleybus, whilst London Central won nine. London Central took control of Bexleyheath garage and routes in 1990, lately the garage has had a good utilisation figure, up to 139 in 2001 which necessitated parking in the rear yard and the forecourt. In January 2007, the received its first Alexander Dennis Enviro400s for use on route 486. As at May 2015, New Cross garage operated routes 21,36,108,129,171,225,286,321,436, N21 and N171. Said to be the largest of Londons bus garages with space for over 300 buses, New Cross garage was originally a tram depot, in 1952 with the trams withdrawn, the depot was converted into a bus garage. The garage has never been close to its capacity due to the close proximity of other garages. The garage allocation has fluctuated over the years, from 191 in 1966 to 132 in 2001, the garage also houses some of the private hire fleet which is painted in the style of the former London General company. In 2003 the garage began operating Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses on route 436. In January 2005 route 36 ceased to be operated by AEC Routemasters with one man operated double deckers taking over. As at May 2016, Camberwell garage operated routes 12,35,40,42,45,68,185,355,360,468, N68, P5 and X68. On 30 April 2016, Camberwell garage will commence operating routes 35 and 40 with route 345 to pass to Abellio London on the same date. Although built in 1914, Camberwell garage was not used as a bus garage until 1919 as it had requisitioned for the war effort
30.
London General
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London General is a bus company operating services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates most buses under contract to Transport for London, the company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal operator of buses in London between 1855 and 1933. The modern-day London General commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units and its original logo being an omnibus in reflection of the names history. In 1994 the company was sold in a management buyout, before being sold to the Go-Ahead Group in May 1996, the company moved its offices to an address in Merton, adjacent to the Merton bus garage. In August 2008, Go-Aheads London bus operations all adopted the Go-Ahead London trading name, in October 2009, Go-Ahead completed the purchase of East Thames Buses from Transport for London and incorporated it into London General. In March 2012, First Londons Northumberland Park garage was purchased, on 1 April 2014, the London operations of Metrobus depots in Croydon and Orpington were integrated into London General. On 25 April 2014, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency formally increased London Generals licence to accommodate the Metrobus buses, however, as at September 2014, the buses continued to carry Metrobus branding. London General operates 11 bus garages, as at May 2015, Sutton garage operate routes 80,93,151,154,164,213 and N155. Coulsdon College also have a service contracted out for a service from West Croydon to the College. Opened by the London General Omnibus Company in January 1924 at cost of £30,000, during its early years, less than half of the garage was put to use, holding only 40 buses by 1926. This would change somewhat by the extension of the Underground to Morden, between 1945 and 1953, it had an allocation of exactly 100 Utility Daimlers numbered from D182 - D281. By 1952, the garage had 128 buses allocated, achieved mainly by parking buses in surrounding streets, however, this would soon fall again, to 100 in 1966,82 in 1976 and 62 in 1987. The garage passed to the reborn London General bus company in the run-up to privatisation in 1985, Sutton Garage also partly took control of route 200 at a yard in Colliers Wood in 1989, after Cityrama withdrew from their contract. Sutton was responsible for providing drivers for the service, whilst Merton garage were contracted to do the maintenance, by 1994, the garage allocation had grown to 85 buses and again to 92 in 2001, including 10 buses subcontracted to Surrey County Council. Sutton also helped when Carshalton garage closed in 1964, as at July 2016, Putney garage operate routes 14,22,74,337,424,430, N22 and N74. With its ancestry going back to the horse bus days of the 1880s, the garage is well hidden in a side road with a modest frontage, yet it has an allocation of 112. It has been modernised twice, firstly in 1935 and then again in 1985, the garage was well known for being allocated the pre-war RTs in 1940 which displaced the STLs. During the war the garage was underutilised and was used to store de-licensed buses, renamed Putney in 1963 after the closure of Putney Bridge garage it started to receive both short and long wheelbase AEC Routemasters for its central London routes
31.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
32.
Dublin Bus
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Dublin Bus is a bus operator providing services in Dublin. It is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann, Dublin Bus was established on 2 February 1987 when it was split out from the Córas Iompair Éireann. Dublin Bus operates a network of 110 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin. The company carries around 325,000 people each day, the main radial routes are focused upon Dublins sixteen Quality Bus Corridors which provide buses with daytime access to the city centre. Express buses operate on routes, but have a limited number of stops. These services run Monday to Friday at peak times and do not operate on public holidays, due to cutbacks necessitated by the economic downturn in Ireland, the midweek schedule was scrapped causing consternation with commuters. Special fares apply on Nitelink buses, Dublin Bus also runs a Ghost Bus Tour through some of the supposedly haunted places in the city including St Kevins Church and St Audoens Church. The tour usually runs in the time and includes two stops where passengers leave the bus behind and visit locations where ghosts have allegedly been seen. In April 2010, Dublin Bus announced it would be simplifying many of its routes around the city in order to better efficiency. This programme is called Network Direct, however, as part of these measures, the company also announced that 150 jobs would be lost. In 2016, the company carried 125 million passengers, which is a reduction of 14% compared to 2005 numbers, uniquely for a capital citys primary transit network, no full system-wide street map is available online. Dublin Bus cites high licensing fees from state owned company, Ordnance Survey Ireland. However, the latest edition, published June 2011 omits these for the first time, Dublin Bus fares are generally calculated on a stage system based on distance travelled. There are several different levels of fares, which apply on most services, certain routes use a different fare system. Dublin Bus operate an exact fare policy, passengers place the exact fare in coins in the fare box before the ticket is issued. In the case of payment, a change ticket is issued which can be exchanged at the companys head office on OConnell Street. Routes 747 and 757, the routes to and from Dublin Airport have a minimum fare of €6, banknotes are accepted. Leap card, a smartcard which can be used for pay as you go travel in the Dublin area
33.
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
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Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Falkirk. The company was formed in 1947 to continue the activities of W. Alexander & Sons when their bus service operation was nationalised. After several mergers and changes of ownership it now part of Alexander Dennis. In 1913, Walter Alexander founded Alexanders Motor Service to expand upon the Falkirk & District Tramways Companys route into previously unserved Grangemouth, in 1924, believing in the future of the omnibus, Alexander established W. Alexander & Sons Limited, to run and manufacture them. In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the Scottish Motor Traction Company, Walter Alexander decided to sell his business to the SMT group in 1929, and through this action, received access to a vast supply of resources and services. The coachbuilding business continued to flourish and expansion was rapid, in 1969, the company bought out Potters, a bodybuilder in Northern Ireland, and set up a subsidiary Walter Alexander & Co Limited, and within six years started selling buses to the Far East. In 1981 the company was awarded the Queens Award for Export, by 1983, the company was the largest supplier of double-deck bus bodies in the world, and a year later it won a British Rail contract to construct 25 Class 143 carriages. In 1987, Walter Alexander became a listed company, having previously been a private firm run by the Alexander family. In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International and it is now part of Alexander Dennis. Walter Alexander built many different types of bodywork over 50 years, with the most famous being the Y-Type single decker
34.
Alexander Dennis
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Alexander Dennis is a British bus building company based in Scotland. In early 2016, Alexander Dennis had a 44% market share in the United Kingdom, as at April 2014, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag collectively held a 55% shareholding. Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus International on 1 January 2001, TransBus International produced a range of both bus and coach chassis and bodies as well as fire engines. Included among its range of chassis were the Dennis Dart, one of the all-time best-selling buses in the UK, TransBus also produced export variants for service in Hong Kong, New York City and other locations. The Dennis Trident is the most common bus model in service in London, on 31 March 2004, TransBus International was put into administration. On 17 May 2004, the Plaxton coach business was sold in a management buyout, TransBus had been in the process of eradicating the traditional company names from the vehicles. On 21 May 2004, the part of TransBus was bought by a consortium of merchant bank Noble Grossart and businessmen David Murray. The new company was named Alexander Dennis, the sale did not include the former Alexander Belfast plant, which closed. On 26 January 2005, Alexander Dennis Wigan plant closed, after completing outstanding orders of its President body, Alexander Dennis secured a number of major orders from UK operators. In 2006 the company unveiled two new models, the Enviro400 double-decker and Enviro200 Dart midibus, in May 2007, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton, thus reuniting the two former TransBus businesses. In May 2012, New Flyer Industries and Alexander Dennis announced a new joint-venture to design, New Flyer will handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis will handle the engineering and testing. On 7 June 2012, Alexander Dennis acquired Australian bodybuilder Custom Coaches, however, in May 2014, Custom Coaches was placed into administration. In August 2014, Custom Coaches was sold to its former management, the bodywork on a majority of the chassis are built by a neighbouring company, John Dennis Coachbuilders Limited
35.
Johannesburg
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Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and is one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africas three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade. In 2011, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 4,434,827, in the same year, the population of Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area was 7,860,781. Some view the surrounding the city of Johannesburg yet more broadly than the metropolitan area, adding Ekurhuleni, West Rand and Lenasia. The land area of the city is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2. The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm, the city is commonly interpreted as the modern day El Dorado due to the extremely large gold deposit found along the Witwatersrand. The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city, in ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants. A separate city from the late 1970s until the 1990s, Soweto is now part of Johannesburg, Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been separated as a residential area for blacks, who were not permitted to live in Johannesburg proper. Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking South Africans of Indian descent, controversy surrounds the origin of the name. There were quite a number of people with the name Johannes who were involved in the history of the city. Among them are the principal clerk attached to the office of the surveyor-general Johannes Rissik, Christiaan Johannes Joubert, another was Stephanus Johannes Paulus Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic 1883-1900. Johannes Meyer, the first government official in the area is another possibility, precise records for the choice of name were lost. Rissik and Joubert were members of a delegation sent to England to attain mining rights for the area. Joubert had a park in the city named after him and Rissik Street is today a street where the historically important and dilapidated Post Office, since burnt out. The region surrounding Johannesburg was originally inhabited by San people, the Sotho–Tswana practised farming and extensively mined and smelted metals that were available in the area. The most prominent site within Johannesburg is Melville Koppies, which contains an iron smelting furnace, the main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes that triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the start of Johannesburg in 1886. The discovery of gold rapidly attracted people to the area, making necessary a name, Johannes Meyer, the first government official in the area is another possibility
36.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
37.
Marcopolo S.A.
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Marcopolo S. A. is a Brazilian bus and coach manufacturer founded on August 6,1949, in the southern Brazilian city of Caxias do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul. The company manufactures the bodies for a range of coaches, e. g. microbus, intercity. Marcopolo produces over half of the bus made in Brazil. Currently Marcopolo has four plants in Brazil and plants in Argentina, Australia, Colombia, India, Mexico, recently it announced a joint-venture with Tata Motors to enter the Indian market. Marcopolo closed its plant in Portugal in September 2009, Marcopolo was founded as Nicola & Cia Ltd, a company then having 8 partners and 15 employees. In 1953, Marcopolo starts the production of the first steel structures, Marcopolo Ciferal - was focused on urban operations, defunct brand. Volare - dedicated to the development, production and commercialization of the V5, V6, V8, W8, neobus Tata Marcopolo Bus SUPERPOLO S. A. Moneo - the financial service unit of Marcopolo. Volgren - is an Australian bodywork company owned by Marcopolo
38.
Stagecoach in Lincolnshire
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Stagecoach Lincolnshire is a bus company, formerly known as Lincolnshire RoadCar, which runs services throughout Lincolnshire. Stagecoach in Lincolnshire is the name of the Lincolnshire RoadCar Company Limited, which is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group. The Lincolnshire Road Car Company was formed in 1928, under the 1968 Transport Act it became part of the National Bus Company. Lincolnshire RoadCar ran services from throughout the county of Lincolnshire including some services over the county boundaries to such towns as Newark-on-Trent, many rural services ran from Lincoln St. Marks Bus Station to the villages surrounding the city. Although these services ran within the city boundary, passengers were not allowed to use them for internal journeys within the city, Bus services within the city of Lincoln were provided by Lincoln City Transport. Lincolnshire RoadCar/Yorkshire Traction took over Lincoln City Transport in 1993, five pedestrians were killed and six more injured, two critically, in the accident. RoadCar became a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group in December 2005, the company now trades as Stagecoach in Lincolnshire. The new vehicles temporarily featured RoadCar logos in the front and side windows, the existing fleet then had their RoadCar logos removed. At the beginning of August 2006, Stagecoach caused considerable controversy with their decision to make changes to the bus network in Lincoln. Some services were withdrawn without replacement while others benefited from frequency increases, following a local media campaign, the company agreed to make some changes to return services to those areas which had lost them. At the same time, the also lost a majority of its service work in Nottinghamshire to Veolia Transports subsidiary Dunn-Line. In Autumn 2007 Stagecoach announced the withdrawal of services in Louth, Lincoln. The threatened services survived after successful negotiations with the district councils over subsidies, in August 2008, the companys depot in Louth was closed, with some routes being taken over by Skegness and Grimsby depots and a number of contracted routes surrendered. The company opened their new depot in Skegness in September 2009. It is located on Burgh Roada and cost £2.2 million, generally, routes in the Lincoln area are provided using low-floor vehicles, though some Volvo Olympian step-entrance buses remain in use. Route 2 in Lincolnshire carries Your Route 2 The City branding, linking Branston, the Scunthorpe town services are branded as the Scunthorpe Shuttle and a number of Optare Solo midi-buses wear this branding on standard Stagecoach livery. This branding was used by RoadCar, on their standard urban SuperBuzz livery
39.
Ingoldmells
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Ingoldmells is a coastal village, civil parish and resort in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A52, and 3 miles north from the resort of Skegness, Ingoldmells is known as a holiday destination, with sites containing large numbers of caravans. The first Butlins holiday camp was located in the village, the parish church is a Grade I listed building dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul and dating from 1200. The chancel was demolished in 1706, and the church was restored in 1858 and 1892, the west tower dates from the 14th century, and the benches and font are 15th century. A war memorial in the churchyard is a Grade II listed former churchyard cross and sundial dating from 1600, during the Second World War, RAF Ingoldmells was a Chain Home Low radar station, providing low-altitude short-range warning, with a rotating antenna. RAF Stenigot on the Lincolnshire Wolds provided longer-range warning for the area, RAF Skendleby was the other Chain Home Low station in Lincolnshire near Skendleby, Spilsby. On 11 April 2004, a bus operated by Lincolnshire RoadCar collided with a number of pedestrians outside the main entrance to Fantasy Island amusement park on Sea Lane in Ingoldmells. Five pedestrians were killed and six injured, two critically, in the accident. Ingoldmells is a village next to the sea, and in terms of a village is relatively large. Most housing is found in the west of the village in large council complexes, close by to the west is the village of Addlethorpe. The village primary school is on Simpson Court, there are fish and chip shops and bars near the beach. An electoral ward in the name exists. This ward includes Addlethorpe with a population taken at the 2011 census of 2,392. Ingoldmells has the largest containment of caravans in Europe, Ingoldale Park is situated on Beach Estate. It is one of the oldest caravan parks in Ingoldmells, Beach Estate originally comprised the farm land of Home Farm and The Drain 4 acres. On the death in 1866 of the first owner, Nathanial Cartwright, it passed through his family until his brother, Edward Hudson Cartwright, sold it to a Mr Flint who owned adjoining land. Subsequently Flint sold part of his farm to a Mr Newton and sons to build a housing estate of about 20 bungalows. There were 6 roads on the first set of plans, including St Johns Drive, Cherrytree Avenue, Newton Drive, Lime Grove and Marine Drive were never constructed
40.
Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards, Englands shortest county boundary, the county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters. The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is composed of the county of Lincolnshire. Therefore, part of the county is in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The county is the second-largest of the English ceremonial counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in land use, the county is fifth largest of the two-tier counties, as the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are not included. The county can be broken down into a number of geographical sub-regions including, Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the county was called Lindsey, and it is recorded as such in the 11th-century Domesday Book. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and these survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire. A local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the south of the Humber was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire. These two areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police and are in the Yorkshire. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Holland, South Kesteven and they are part of the East Midlands region. Lincolnshire is home to Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton and he attended The Kings School, Grantham and its library has preserved his signature, applied to a window sill when he was a teenager. Lincolnshire is an area, growing large amounts of wheat, barley, sugar beet. In South Lincolnshire, where the soil is rich in nutrients, some of the most common crops include potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers. Most such companies are long gone, and Lincolnshire is no longer an engineering centre, however, as a result of the current economic climate some food production facilities have closed down, this has caused some reduction in the levels of migrant workers. The large number of people from Portugal is still obvious in the town of Boston. A coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents currently controls Lincolnshire County Council, the Conservative Party comfortably controlled the County Council following the 2009 local elections, in which they increased their majority to 43 seats. The Labour Party lost a total of 15 seats including 7 in Lincoln, the Lincolnshire Independents gained a total of four seats, although one of their number moved to the Conservative group during 2010, increasing the number of Conservative seats to 61
41.
Arriva Southern Counties
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Arriva Southern Counties is a bus operator in Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent and Essex in England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva, in November 1986 the National Bus Company sold Maidstone & District in a management buyout to Einkorn Limited. In 1990 British Bus purchased the Cranleigh, Guildford and Woking based operations of Alder Valley followed in 1993 by Colchester Borough Transport, in April 1995 Einkorn was sold to British Bus, which had purchased Kentish Bus in July 1994 and Londonlinks in 1988. In August 1995 Einkorn was renamed Invictaway, Invictaway was previously the name of the Maidstone & District commuter services to London, which were renamed Green Line at the same time. In July 1996 British Bus was taken over by the Cowie Group, Invictaway was renamed Arriva Southern Counties in April 1998, and Arriva transferred London & Country to it. The Croydon & North Surrey subsidiary was largely transferred to Arriva London, in October 2009 the Horsham depot and routes were sold to Metrobus with 19 buses. The coach subsidiary, New Enterprise Coaches of Tonbridge, inherited from Maidstone & District continues to trade under its own brand, in March 2015, Network Colchester and Network Harlow operations were taken over from Tellings Golden Miller, who at the time was an Arriva subsidiary. Both operation companies were rebranded Arriva Colchester and Harlow respectively, the Medway Towns network was upgraded in a £10 million investment marketed as Operation Overdrive. Arriva also operates Maidstone park & ride under contract to Maidstone Borough Council, the buses are painted yellow with a green stripe swooping down from the top of the back of the bus to the bottom of the front. The fleet comprises two Wright Cadet bodied DAF SB120s and nine Wright Commander bodied DAF SB200s, in September 2007 the Coombe Quarry Park & Ride site was closed due to apparent budget difficulties. As a result, some of the buses were absorbed into the main fleet, Arriva also operates two Sapphire routes in Kent, The buses serve route 101 from Gillingham to Maidstone via Chatham and routes 480 and 490 from Valley Drive to Dartford. The fleet comprises Alexander Dennis Enviro400s and Wright StreetLites, the buses are painted in a two tone blue livery. Arriva Southern Counties operate the Fastrack busway scheme in the Thames Gateway area of Kent on behalf of the Kent County Council and Prologis. This network currently consists of two routes, Route A runs between Dartford and the Bluewater Shopping Centre, while Route B runs from Temple Hill to Gravesend via Dartford. Since November 2007, Route B has connected with the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International railway station, on 11 February 2008, Arriva started a new m-tickets scheme, where passengers are able to pay for bus tickets using their mobile phones. The main corporate Arriva livery is aquamarine for the body, with a cream swoop at the front, there are many variations of the livery, such as, Interurban livery – Aquamarine, with dark blue band to skirt level and cream cow-horns. London livery - The original London livery was red, with champagne cow-horns as in the livery, orange Arriva circles logo. The new London livery is red, with the thin yellow line at skirt level
42.
Southern Vectis
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Southern Vectis is the dominant bus operator on the Isle of Wight. Formed in 1921 and later owned by the Southern Railway, it was nationalised in 1948, privatised in 1987, it became a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group in July 2005. In the 1980s it engaged in some aggressive tactics to try and this attracted the attention of the Office of Fair Trading. The origins of Southern Vectis began with a company called Dodson & Campbell, in 1923, this was renamed the Vectis Bus Company, based in Cowes and with a distinctive livery of saxe blue and red, and VECTIS fleet name. It had an association with London bus body builder Christopher Dodson, therefore, in 1929 the business was bought by the Southern Railway and incorporated as The Southern Vectis Omnibus Company Limited. In 1948, the Southern Railway was nationalised, and as a result and this led to Southern Vectis becoming part of the National Bus Company in 1969. In 1986 as a consequence of the Transport Act 1985 the business was sold in a management buy out, deregulation meant that other companies could register and run bus routes against previously nationalised bus companies. The taxis both served as a new venture for the company, and a way to take on one of its then new competitors, Gange Taxis & Minicoaches, on their home turf. Taxibus services were pioneered by Southern Vectis on the island. However, Southern Vectis had relinquished its involvement in all together by 1989. The company made news in 2003 with the launch of a pink punishment school bus nicknamed The Pink Peril designed to take badly-behaved students to. The vehicle was the oldest in the fleet, an Iveco minibus fleet number 283, the scheme initially proved a success but was later scrapped. In July 2005 Southern Vectis was sold to the Go-Ahead Group and this sale included both Southern Vectis and Hampshire subsidiary Solent Blue Line. Southern Vectis along with mainland companies Bluestar and Wilts & Dorset, is part of Go South Coast, one of the first changes under the new ownership was an amended network in April 2006, using Newport as its hub, with most other routes linking to it. This was one of the largest increases in the UK and has continued since, in October 2009, Southern Vectis launched a website promoting its own car scrappage scheme, offering Island residents who agreed to scrap their cars a season ticket of up to 12 months. Southern Vectis announced five vehicles had been scrapped within the first fortnight, so far, the scheme has seen 75 vehicles scrapped including a horsebox, with a claimed carbon saving of 145 tonnes per annum. In 1994, Southern Vectis became a shareholder in the Polish bus company Kaliskie Line Autobus, in September 2010, this holding was sold to the majority shareholder, the City of Kalisz. Southern Vectis was the National Bus Company subsidiary on the Isle of Wight before its break-up and it began, and remains, the dominant operator on the island, with token competition
43.
Cowes
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Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, the two towns are linked by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry. The population was 9,663 in the 2001 census, which doubles during the regatta in early August, the population at the 2011 census was 10,405. Charles Godfrey Lelands 19th century verses describe the towns poetically as The two great Cowes that in loud thunder roar/This on the eastern, that the western shore, Cowes has been seen as a home for international yacht racing since the founding of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1815. It gives its name to the worlds oldest regular regatta, Cowes Week, much of the towns architecture is still heavily influenced by the style of ornate building that Prince Albert popularised. The name Westcowe was attested in 1413 as the name of one of two sandbanks, on side of the River Medina estuary, so-called after a supposed likeness to cows. The name was transferred to fortifications built during the reign of Henry VIII on the east and west banks of the river to dispel a French invasion. They subsequently gave their names to the towns of Cowes and East Cowes, the towns name has been subject to dispute in the past, sometimes being called Cowes, and then West Cowes. For example, a milestone from the 17th century exists, calling the town Cowes, in 1895 West Cowes Urban District Council applied for permission to change the name of the town to Cowes officially, and this was granted on 21 August 1895. In earlier centuries the two settlements were much smaller and known as East and West Shamblord or Shamelhorde, the East being the more significant settlement, the Isle of Wight was a target of attempted French invasions, and there were notable incursions. Henrician Castles were built in both settlements in the sixteenth century, the west fort in Cowes still survives to this day, albeit without the original Tudor towers, as Cowes Castle. The fort built in East Cowes is believed to have similar but was abandoned c1546. However, seafaring for recreation and sport remained the exception rather than the rule until much later and it was not until the reign of keen sailor George IV that the stage was set for the heyday of Cowes as The Yachting Capital of the World. In 1826 the Royal Yacht Squadron organised a regatta for the first time. This became known as Cowes Regatta and it grew into a four-day event that always ended with a fireworks display. The opium clippers Nina, Eamont and Wild Dayrell were built in Cowes, in Cowes the 18th-century house of Westbourne was home to a collector of customs whose son, born there in 1795, lived to become Dr Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School. Northwood House was the home of the Ward family and it was donated under trust to the town in 1929, the grounds becoming Northwood Park. William George Ward was a friend of the poet Tennyson
44.
Isle of Wight
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The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I
45.
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
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The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle double-decker bus built by Alexander Dennis since 2005 in Guildford, England. The second generation Enviro400 MMC was launched in 2014 followed by the Enviro400H City for the London market in 2015, all variants of the Enviro400 are also offered as a diesel-electric hybrid bus, known as the Enviro400H. The Enviro400 is available both as a bus and as a standalone bodywork and chassis. Sometimes the Enviro400 can be made as a closed top bus or an open-top double-decker bus. The Enviro400 was originally launched as an integral product, soon after launch, the Enviro400 chassis became available with East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne and Optare Olympus bodywork. As well as a bus, the Enviro400 body was available on Scania N-series chassis. The vast majority of N-series Enviro400s built were of the N230UD variant, additionally, two N-series Enviro400s were built on the more powerful N280UD variant of the chassis - CY12EMS and CX14EMS, both for Express Motors of Porthmadog. As well as the Scania N-series, a single Enviro400 was constructed on Volvo B7TL chassis before this chassis was succeeded by the Volvo B9TL, the facelift coincided with the introduction of a Euro 5 compliant drivetrain for the Enviro400. On 1 May 2014, the second-generation Enviro400 was announced by Alexander Dennis, with including a complete body redesign. Amongst the first operators to order Enviro400 MMC were Go-Ahead, Stagecoach, the Enviro400 MMC is also available on Scania N-series chassis, as with the previous model, although the N230UD chassis variant has now been phased out in favour of the N250UD. Stagecoach became the first customer to operate the Enviro400 MMC on N250UD chassis in 2016, an overhauled version of the Enviro400 MMC, named the Enviro400H City, was unveiled at Bus and Coach Expo in October 2015. It is aimed at the London market, and has styling cues from the New Routemaster, Arriva London were the first to operator to operate the Enviro400H City, on route 78. The Enviro400H City is only sold as a hybrid and is mainly offered in the London market. Globally, more than 8,500 integral Enviro400s have been sold as of January 2016, London operator Metroline was the first company to order the Enviro400, with the first of 28 entering service in January 2006. Both prototypes were exhibited at Coach & Bus Live 2005 in the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK, the Enviro400 had sold well in London with a number of operators, such as Travel London and London General, operating these buses. It is also popular with Stagecoach, who placed its first order of 130 low-height models in February 2006, on 13 October 2006, Solent Blue Line received a Volvo B7TL/Enviro400 meeting the Euro III emission standard, with the interior in Wilts & Dorset livery. This remains a one-off as all subsequent Enviro400s on Volvo chassis were built on the B9TL chassis, an Arriva demonstrator was shown at Euro Bus Expo in 2006 to the latter standard. East Yorkshire Motor Services took delivery of 5 Enviro400-bodied Volvo B9TL in December 2007, Stagecoach announced on 28 February 2007 that it had ordered 25 Enviro400s with Scania N230UD chassis, which were subsequently delivered in early 2008
46.
Bluestar (bus company)
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Solent Blue Line Ltd, which trades primarily under the name Bluestar, is a bus operator providing services in south Hampshire. It is a subsidiary of the Go South Coast sector of the Go-Ahead Group, Solent Blue Line was formed by Southern Vectis in May 1987 to compete with Southampton Citybus on some of its major routes with some Bristol VRTs. This expanded the fleet from 16 to 115 buses, New buses began to be purchased with Leyland Olympians for the Southampton to Winchester service and minibuses for the Eastleigh to Winchester service. Some services were operated under franchise by Brijan Tours and Marchwood Motorways, in October 2006 Solent Blue Line purchased Marchwood Motorways After the withdrawal of the Red Rocket brand on 25 February 2008, most of the companys services began to run under the Bluestar brand. The fleet has undergone several updates, including the introduction of a smartcard system called the key, the introduction of free Wi-Fi internet to all buses. As a result, a number of sub brands are used for the bus services, Bluestar was originally launched in 2004 running the main routes with destinations outside of Southampton. However, since 2008 the service has become the brand for the company. The vast majority of services terminate in Southampton, with the exceptions of the 18 route, which passes through the city. In addition to routes, there are several other local routes that use the Bluestar brand. The Nightstar services used to run on Friday and Saturday nights and were aimed at people who had an out in Southampton. All services began at Leisure World, Southampton and made their way past other large clubs before completing its route and these routes generally followed those of their daytime number counterparts with additional stops to take into account destinations served by other routes. In January 2013, all but the Unilink U1N ceased to run due to funding cuts. Originally, The two buses used on the service were inherited from Enterprise, and were repainted in a new blue livery with the interiors rebranded. The Uni-link service is provided by Bluestar, on behalf of the University of Southampton, the company commenced operating the ten-year contract in September 2008. The fleet consists of 28 buses, of which 22 are Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses delivered in September 2013, the New Forest Tour is a circular open-top bus service running around the New Forest, between Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst, Lymington, Beaulieu and Exbury. It commenced in 2004, using distinctively branded yellow and orange Bristol VRs, the service was reversed in 2005, to run in the opposite direction. For the 2006 season, two low-floor East Lancs Myllennium bodied Volvo B7TLs from Wilts & Dorset were used, retaining the Wilts & Dorset livery but with New Forest Tour vinyls added. In 2007 the buses passed to Solent Blue Line and were repainted in a new green and orange livery, again, this is similar to the Southern Vectis livery which that company uses on their open-top buses
