Southdown PSV Limited, which traded as Southdown Buses, was a medium-sized country bus operator, with 18 routes across

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative who formerly served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The seat covers an affluent area in t ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, 9 of which were school bus routes. Most of their routes were operated on behalf of

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

, other work included railway replacement services for planned engineering work. Southdown Buses operated mainly in

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge District, Tandridge district of Surrey, England. It is at the foot of the North Downs, south-east of Croydon, west of Sevenoaks, and north of East Grinstead. Oxted is a commuter town and Ox ...

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own econ ...

, Redhill,

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. I ...

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...

, and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. Their only operating garage was in Copthorne. On 1 February 2023, Southdown Buses was purchased by the

Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead Group Limited is a Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While the majority of its operations are within Great Britain, it also operates services in Ireland, Australia, Singapo ...

, with the company being brought under the control of

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

and the Southdown Buses identity initially being retained. Southdown Buses ceased operations on 2 September 2023, with services, staff and vehicles transferred to Metrobus.

Fleet

As of June 2023, Southdown Buses operated a fleet of 24 buses. The fleet consisted of a mixture of

Plaxton President The Plaxton President is a Low-floor bus, low floor double-decker bus coachwork, body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company, Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on t ...

bodied

Volvo B7TL The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian (its 3-axle version was replaced by the Volvo Super Olympian). It was built as the British bus operator ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, also marketed as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200, is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014 as the successor to the Alexander Dennis Enviro200, Enviro200 midibus and Alexander Dennis E ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...

bodied

Scania N230UD The Scania N series is a line of low-floor bus chassis with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV or newer engine at the rear, built by Scania since 2006, replacing the Scania N94. It is available as the N UB (N230UB, N270UB, N280UB) two-axl ...

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC (sold as the Alexander Dennis Enviro400) is a low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2014, replacing the Alexander Dennis Enviro400. The Envir ...

bodied Scania N250UD buses. In 2018, Southdown Buses took delivery of two

buses based on the Scania N250UD chassis, having trialled a demonstrator the previous year. In 2021, Southdown took delivery of two

buses.

Dealership

In addition to being a bus operator, Southdown Buses also used to be a new and used bus dealer. In September 2016, the business was split with Southdown Buses' managing director, Steve Swain taking over the dealership and renaming it Chartwell Bus & Coach Sales.Southdown PSV splits
''Bus & Coach Buyer'' 17 August 2016

References

External links

Company website
{{Go-Ahead Group Auto dealerships of the United Kingdom Former bus operators in West Sussex Former bus operators in Surrey Former bus operators in Kent 2002 establishments in England 2023 establishments in England