Xelabus Limited
[Companies House extract company no 7338043](_blank)
Xelabus Limited is an independent bus and coach operator, based in
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. It primarily operates public bus services within the
Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
and
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
area, with some services branching off into
Hedge End and
Bishop's Waltham and a separate division which runs contracted services in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
. All their operations come under their parent, Xelagroup Ltd.
History
Xelabus was founded in November 2010 by Gareth Blair, after finishing a CPC course with the
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...
. The name is a portmanteau of his son's name spelt backwards with the word bus.
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.
[Zealous foe Xela ''Route One'' issue 1333 13 April 2018 pages 16-25]
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
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
and
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
supermarkets in the region.
[Free bus service launched for Eastleigh](_blank)
'' Southern Daily Echo'' 17 November 2010[The Xelabus Experience '' Buses'' issue 757 April 2018 pages 30-34] Since then, nine more routes have commenced including an Open Top Bus "Sea the city" in Portsmouth in 2011.
[More Xelabus Routes](_blank)
Xelabus Website 6 June 2011 Some services have been more successful than others, with one service to
Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
competing with
Bluestar being withdrawn in less than 12 months.
In September 2012, Xelabus began a two-year contract to operate services to
Totton College
Totton College is a further education college located in Totton, Hampshire, providing courses for mainly 16- to 19-year-olds as well as adult education courses. These include BTECs, NVQs, GCSEs and Access courses. Courses are also available to ...
.
[Xelabus & Totton College Partnership](_blank)
Xelabus 28 April 2012
On 12 May 2014, Xelabus took over route 67
Winchester to
Petersfield via
West Meon from
Velvet
Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
under contract to
Hampshire County Council.
[Bus service 67 – Frequently Asked Questions](_blank)
Velvet In June the same year, it took over the
Barton Peveril College routes from Velvet.
[Barton Peveril College buses: Upcoming changes](_blank)
Velvet 13 May 2014 Between January and August 2015, Xelabus acquired the routes and school services of Velvet and Brijan Tours when both of them went into administration.
On 4 November 2019, Xelabus introduced contactless payments across their vehicles.
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. A month later, the company was awarded the contract to run to the Chilworth Science Park by the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
. 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.
Xelabus saw two purchases of local coach companies within 2022,
Seaview Services of
Sandown in May, and Yellow Coaches of
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
in August. These were purchased under the Xelagroup parent company.
The latter of the two was awarded an emergency tender by the
BCP council
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...
after it's purchase to cover for routes 18, 33 and 36; this emergency tender is due to end on 3 February 2023 where Yellow Coaches will no longer be expected to continue running the routes.
In August 2022, five public services within Hampshire were cut from the network due to rising costs and low patronage. One of these routes was covered by another operator, Southampton Mini Link, for two months before it ceased operations.
File:Xelabus R711YWC.jpg, Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart in March 2011
File:Xelabus 502 F635 LMJ.JPG, Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
bodied Leyland Olympian in June 2011
File:Xelabus T134 AUA - 24329122572.jpg, Plaxton President
The Plaxton President was a Low-floor bus, low floor double-decker bus coachwork, body built at Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company, Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production ...
bodied DAF DB250
The VDL DB250 (originally the DAF DB250) was a twin-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach.
DB250
The DAF DB250 was launched in October 1991 and originally only available with Optare Spectra bodywork with 260 built, mai ...
in June 2016
Coach operations
Coach and on hire operations recently began in May 2022 under the brand name Xelacoach. Also within the same month,
Seaview Services was purchased and incorporated into the company. This has grown the bus fleet by around eight and given them access to operations on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
.
With the collapse of
Yellow Buses in Bournemouth, the Yellow Coaches subsidiary was purchased by the company on 5 August 2022, joining their private hire and school shuttle operations.
Services
In Hampshire, Xelabus operates 9 public routes, where the majority terminate in Southampton with the exception of hoppa bus routes and the X4. Xelabus also runs several contracted routes to local schools and colleges in Southampton and Eastleigh.
In Dorset, Xelabus operates 3 public routes and several school routes contracted by the
BCP Council
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...
under their subsidiary, Yellow Coaches based in Bournemouth. These routes previously were contracted to
Yellow Buses, and were covered by
Wilts & Dorset for two weeks as the former fell into administration.
Fleet
Xelabus initially operated a fleet of seven vehicles which had grown to around 40 vehicles in October 2019.
In 2017, Xelabus ordered several 8.9m ADL Enviro 200s from Mistral Bus and Coach sales, an investment of over £0.5 million. A year later, they took delivery of three Wright Gemini Volvo B5LHs for the Itchen College contracted routes in April 2018.
In 2022, another order was placed for two second hand Mercedes-Benz Tourismos for the coach operations of the company. Also that year, Xelabus took delivery of a pair of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double-deck buses.
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. Firefighters arrived at the scene and were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby two-storey building. Hampshire police investigators believed it may have been a deliberate attack on the company.
On 16 November 2019, a bus on a service collided with an 88-year-old man in Hedge End. The man was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he died from his injuries.
On 1 July 2021, a not in service bus caught fire on Southampton road in Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
. There was no one on board, except the driver and no one was injured.
References
External links
Main Company website
Yellow Coaches website
{{Bus services in South West England
Bus operators in Hampshire
Bus operators in Dorset
Coach operators in England
Transport companies established in 2010
2010 establishments in England