Ensignbus buys Bath Bus Company
By Martin Cole
Sightseeing tours set for major fleet upgrade
Sightseeing tours in Bath are set for a major fleet upgrade following the acquisition of Bath Bus Company by Ensignbus last week.
The company operates sightseeing tours under the City Sightseeing franchise. Martin Curtis is to remain with the company as managing director and all members of staff have been retained. The full complement numbers around 60 – including all the part-time drivers. In addition to open toppers, Bath Bus also operates local contractied services for Bath & North Somerset County Council and some for South Gloucestershire County Council, with three Olympians, seven darts and five minibuses. It has an operating base between Bath and Bristol.
Mr Curtis said: “The sale was due to our need to present a more substantial profile. We were one of the first City Sightseeing franchisees and we have always worked very closely with them. We couldn’t have achieved all this without them – so the sale was really a logical step. There are four operators in Bath running sightseeing tours and City Sightseeing is carrying the bulk of the passengers already. This raises the bar a little and issues a challenge to our competitors.
City Sightseeing managing director Steve Newman
said the move gave strength and commitment to its plans for services in Bath.
“The introduction of a new bus that is a real head turner, environmentally
friendly and raises the profile of our tours shows we mean business.
“The fleet age profile is to be reduced considerably and the current fleet
of nice open toppers will be replaced by Northern Counties-bodied Olympians.
They are a mixture of single and double-door vehicles recently replaced by new
vehicle deliveries to London Central and General. Each of these is being upgraded
with exhaust after-treatment and will comply with Euro 2 requirements.
A major uplift in profile is also on the cards
with the introduction of England’s first purpose-built open-topper –
an Ayats-bodied Volvo B7. The new bus, one of four in this initial batch, made
its first tour of the city on April 9.
“I think this gets the point over and it certainly throws down the gauntlet
to competitors. This is the future of sightseeing and we are determined it will
lose its 30-year-old vehicle image – particularly in Bath where large
numbers of typical tour buses have been a source of annoyance to residents,”
, said Mr Curtis.
The inaugural trip, starting from opposite Bath Bus Station, was exclusively for the National Trust. Martin Curtis said: “We were contacted some time ago by the Trust asking about running a low-emission tour as an extension to the normal route to provide a link with Prior Park Gardens. This is a popular venue that has no car park and no regular bus service. We informed them of our plans to upgrade the fleet and reduce emissions and an alliance was formed.
It has become a very popular attraction
since the link was introduced and the trust is delighted by the increase in
visitors.”
The new bus measures 10.9m and has seats for 79 passengers, 55 upstairs and
24 below.
Mr Newman said: “On successful services there is no reason a new vehicle
cannot be justified.
“Taken over a long period, the cost of conversion, continually waterproofing
the upper floor, the depreciation and higher maintenance costs don’t work
our much different.
“In key locations, open-top operation earns far more than normal bus services
– so why should the passengers expect vehicles of a lesser standard?”