Xelabus

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XelaBus.svg
XELABUS Eastleigh - Flickr - secret coach park.jpg
Wright Eclipse 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE in 2017
ParentGareth Blair
Founded2010
HeadquartersEastleigh
Service areaSouthampton
Eastleigh
Hampshire
Service typeBus services
Routes15 (July 2020)
Fleet40 (July 2020)
Websitewww.xelabus.info

Xelabus Limited[1] is a small independent bus operator, based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It operates within the Southampton and Eastleigh area, with some services branching off into Hedge End and Bishop's Waltham.

History[]

Alexander bodied Leyland Olympian in June 2011
Plaxton bodied DAF DB250 in June 2016

Xelabus was founded in November 2010 by Gareth Blair, after finishing a CPC course with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Bristol. The name is a portmanteau of his son's name spelt backwards with the word bus.[2] Vehicles are painted in a green livery similar to that of the former Hants & Dorset company that used to run in the region until 1983 when it was dissolved.[3]

A free service in Eastleigh to Chandlers Ford was the first route to be introduced which grew to seven bus routes that mainly served the local Asda and Tesco supermarkets in the region. [4][5] Since then, nine more routes have commenced including an Open Top Bus "Sea the city" in Portsmouth in 2011.[6] Some services have been more successful than others, with one service to Southampton competing with Bluestar being withdrawn in less than 12 months.[3] In September 2012, Xelabus began a two-year contract to operate services to Totton College.[7]

On 12 May 2014, Xelabus took over route 67 Winchester to Petersfield via West Meon from Velvet under contract to Hampshire County Council.[8] Later that same year in June, it took over the Barton Peveril College routes from Velvet.[9] Between January and August 2015, Xelabus acquired the routes and school services off Velvet and Brijan Tours when both of them fell into administration.[2][10][11]

On the 4th of November, 2019, Xelabus introduced contactless payments across their vehicles.[12]

For a short time during the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak, all Xelabus service were suspended in March for three months until June where over time it started to return to a normal frequency.[13][14] A month later, the company was awarded the contract to run to the Chilworth Science Park by the University of Southampton. The route is the only one contracted by the university to not use the uni-link branding and it runs between Southampton and Chilworth via Southampton Airport parkway, using an ADL Enviro200 MMC equipped with WiFi facilities and leather seating.[15]

Services[]

As of July 2020, Xelabus operated 15 routes, where the routes terminate in Eastleigh with the exception of shopper bus routes, X10, X11, X12 and X21.[16] Xelabus also runs several contracted routes to local schools and colleges in Southampton and Eastleigh.

Fleet[]

Xelabus initially operated a fleet of seven vehicles which had grown to around 40 vehicles in October 2019.[4][12]

In 2017, Xelabus ordered several 8.9m ADL Enviro 200s from Mistral Bus and Coach sales, an investment costing over £0.5 million.[17] A year later, they took order of three Wright Gemini Volvo B5LHs for its Itchen College contracted routes in April 2018.[18]

The majority of their fleet consists of Alexander Dennis Enviro200s with a number of Plaxton Presidents, Wright Eclipse Geminis and East Lancs OmniDekkas.[2]

Incidents[]

A fire broke out in the depot during the evening of 13 March 2011. Several vehicles were damaged with three being destroyed in the fire and firefighters arrived to the scene to prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby two-storey building. Investigators were on the scene, with one claiming that it was a deliberate attack on the company.[19][20]

On 16 November 2019, a bus on a service collided with an 88-year old man in Hedge End. The man was later rushed to Southampton General Hospital where he died from his injuries.[21][22]

On 1 July 2021, a not in service bus caught fire on Southampton road in Eastleigh. There was no one on board, except the driver and no one was injured at the time of the incident.[23][24]

References[]

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 7338043 Xelabus Limited
  2. ^ a b c Issue 1583. Bus and Coach Buyer. 18 December 2020. pp. 18–22.
  3. ^ a b Zealous foe Xela Route One issue 1333 13 April 2018 pages 16-25
  4. ^ a b Free bus service launched for Eastleigh Southern Daily Echo 17 November 2010
  5. ^ The Xelabus Experience Buses issue 757 April 2018 pages 30-34
  6. ^ More Xelabus Routes Xelabus Website 6 June 2011
  7. ^ Xelabus & Totton College Partnership Xelabus 28 April 2012
  8. ^ Bus service 67 - Frequently Asked Questions Velvet
  9. ^ Barton Peveril College buses: Upcoming changes Velvet 13 May 2014
  10. ^ Xelabus celebrates fifth anniversary with route acquisition Coach & Bus Week issue 1198 21 July 2015 page 11
  11. ^ Xelabus acquires Brijan Tours’ services Bus & Coach Professional 23 July 2015
  12. ^ a b "Eastleigh bus company turns contactless".
  13. ^ Slominski, Stephen (28 March 2020). "Local bus services to be suspended or reduced". Eastleigh News. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Xelabus". 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. ^ Escape, The. "Driving responsible journeys | Science Park Bus". Science Park. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  16. ^ Timetables Xelabus
  17. ^ "Mistral Bus and Coach Supplies Eight Brand New 8.9m Enviro 200 Buses to Xelabus". Mistral Bus and Coach. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Bus company to launch new green double deckers in Southampton". Daily Echo. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Family bus firm hit in 'arson' attack". Daily Echo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  20. ^ Slominski, Stephen. "Xela Buses in serious fire at Valley Park". Eastleigh News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Man dies after being hit by bus in Hedge End". Daily Echo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Elderly man dies two days after Hedge End bus crash". BBC News. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Eastleigh bus fire: Homes evacuated after double-decker blaze". BBC News. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Live updates on bus fire in Eastleigh - roads closed and rail services disrupted". Daily Echo. Retrieved 2 July 2021.

External links[]

Media related to Xelabus at Wikimedia Commons

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