West Sussex may not seem to be a challenging place to operate buses, but as Andy Izatt discovered on a recent day out, it certainly can be
The original concept for this article was to experience service 60 and 1, Stagecoach South’s two South Downs Connections-branded routes from a passenger perspective. In partnership with the South Downs National Park, both have been given a Best Impressions makeover with fresh publicity promoting their leisure possibilities within the Park, dedicated liveries for the buses and upgraded roadside publicity.
However, the day turned into what might be seen as a much more rounded experience of bus travel in what is a beautiful, but in some parts, densely populated and congested area of the country. As always with a CBW Passenger Perspective, we didn’t tell anyone we were travelling that day.
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The day started on a fine summer’s morning outside Chichester cathedral. The first bus was an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400 on half-hourly route 60 to Midhurst, but sadly not one painted in the special South Downs Connections livery. It had started its journey from the bus station adjacent to the railway station at 1013hrs and collected 10 of us outside the cathedral on time at 1018hrs by my watch. There was already one passenger onboard downstairs, unusually sitting in one of the rearward facing seats over the offside wheel arch.
An Enviro400 in the South Downs Connections livery on route 60 bound for the bus station pulled up opposite us just as we were about to leave. As we traversed West Street we passed the ADL Enviro200 that Compass Travel uses on route 99 between Petworth and Chichester – distinctive as it also carries a special livery.
Indicative of how concessionary passes can be used, a couple that joined the bus at the cathedral got off moments later at the next stop outside the Revelation Family Church. It was a pattern I was to see much more of later in the day. The driver wasn’t happy with the pass shown by a girl, one of four boarding, so she had to pay.
We had our first views of the South Downs and the grandstand for Goodwood horse racing that sits on top of them as we left the Chichester city boundary for neighbouring Lavant. It was 1027hrs when we passed the sign in the village marking the start of the National Park. The road twists and turns and is narrow in places, our driver coming to a momentary stop to allow a car to pass the other way. We passed the next Enviro400 on the 60 going south just before we exited the village. It too was in the correct livery and by 1030hrs we were in open countryside.
A nice feature of the 60 is bus stops are clearly marked with South Downs Connections branded flags and these were very evident along the route. We made our way past West Dean College, where impressive scaffolding had been erected to protect the roof during renovation work, and then passed the Weald & Downland Living Museum, a very popular tourist attraction. Next was Singleton, a picturesque village with a very tight bend in the centre, but a car held back to let us negotiate it after we’d dropped four passengers off.
With an open road ahead of him, our driver didn’t hang about as we climbed the Downs, and we were soon passing cottages and houses with yellow-painted window frames – a sign of property owned by the Cowdray Estate. The descent into the pretty village of Cocking, where there was a woman waiting to join us, was quite steep but again afforded great views. The driver waited for the new arrival to sit before pulling away and then built up speed again as we headed through open countryside for Midhurst. The heavily wooded descent into the town is much more gradual than Cocking, but progress was slowed by a cyclist.
Rather than follow the main road to the centre of Midhurst, the 60 diverts off past a house guarded by numerous garden gnomes onto Bourneway and into an extensive, well-kept housing estate where we collected three additional passengers. The estate roads were tight, but other users were courteous, giving our driver room when he needed it.
Despite a slightly misleading ‘dead end’ sign by the turnoff from the main road, we were able to access the adjacent Holmbush Industrial Estate where our driver gingerly negotiated some fearsome traffic calming measures. There was a woman waiting for us outside the Holmbush Convenience Store and we were back onto the main road by 1052hrs.
The mini roundabout that connects Bepton Road with Petersfield Road, West Street and North Street can be very busy and there’s an awkward pinch point on North Street where the road is particularly narrow between buildings that our driver had to negotiate. Then there are two pedestrian crossings that can combine to cause serious congestion, but we were in the town’s small bus station opposite the South Downs National Park Authorities headquarters by 1058hrs, a minute late. Around 10 passengers disembarked and there were 13 waiting for the 1102hrs departure.
On the number 1
My next bus was route 1 to Worthing which uses South Downs Connections-liveried Enviro300s. The next departure was scheduled for 1130hrs on what is an hourly service. The 1043hrs route 60 bus from Chichester should get to Midhurst in time to connect, but on this particular day it didn’t so I was glad I’d caught the earlier bus.
Sitting in the sun at the bus station waiting for the 1 to arrive, there was an opportunity to observe a Stagecoach South Optare Solo departing on the 92 for Petersfield. This was a route previously tendered to Emsworth & District and seeing and hearing the banter between driver and passengers underlined just how important a community link like this is. There was a good load onboard.
It was indeed an Enviro300 in South Downs Connections livery that arrived at 1125hrs. Rather surprising given that we were in June, externally it was quite dirty although there had been quite a bit of rain earlier in the week.
The young driver smiled when I showed him the good value Dayrider Gold ticket I’d bought from one of his pleasant colleagues in Chichester. I and handful of other passengers were in for a treat as this was a former ‘Stagecoach Gold’ bus with a higher standard of seating, and I settled in for the journey ahead. However, after reading his book, the driver left his cab with his cash tray to visit the toilets which serve both the bus station and nearby car park a minute before we were scheduled to leave. Once he was back, a woman passenger joined us who he clearly knew and there was a friendly exchange. He then carried on reading.
It was 1135hrs and still no sign of the 60 from Chichester, so our driver made a start. We dropped a couple of passengers off on the outskirts of Midhurst and neighbouring Easebourne, but he seemed to be in a hurry to make up time. As we sped along the A272 towards Petworth there were some fine views first of the Cowdray ruins to the east of Midhurst and then the South Downs stretched out to the south.
We were through Tillington at 1144hrs and a minute later passed the sign that marked the boundary of the beautiful historic town of Petworth. We’d already been through some tight spots that day, but this was a place in a league of its own. Traffic coming the other way was up on the pavement to give us space and a left bend on Park Road, which is one way, brought us in alarmingly close proximity to the wall surrounding the grounds of Petworth House. Past the parish church of St Mary the Virgin it was our turn to be up on the pavement as we negotiated parked cars. Then it was a sharp left into Angel Street and on to the A283. After picking up another passenger at Sheepdown Drive we were again in open countryside and travelling at speed, enjoying the fine views of the Downs.
At Egdean the driver lowered the bus’ suspension so a woman could disembark at 1153hrs. Signage on the outskirts of pretty Fittleworth rightly warned of oncoming vehicles in the middle of the road. We crossed the River Arun at 1157hrs and passed the sign marking the edge of Pulborough a minute later.
There was one passenger off outside the railway station and it looked as if the three elderly women waiting to board would be joined by four much younger ones, but after a conversation with the driver, they didn’t join us. Once again the main street we were on, Lower Street was narrow although reasonably straight, creating its own challenges for our driver. Picking up a couple of elderly ladies along the way, he made sure that they were sitting before moving off.
We left the A283 for West Chiltington Road at 1205hrs. It’s a narrow lane and this was where we met another correctly-branded Enviro300 bound for Midhurst on the 1. West Chiltington was clearly a very prosperous village with some expensive, large houses and the couple we picked up at 1209hrs were dressed to match. It was another tight squeeze past oncoming cars as we exited the village.
By 1214hrs we were on the bus stand in nearby Storrington, the time we were scheduled to leave. Out came the driver’s book after passengers had departed and boarded and we left five minutes later, the bus grounding momentarily in the process.
Once again we turned off the A283, this time up Thakeham Road out of Storrington, picking up a passenger along the way who asked the driver about timings. A right turn meant we were heading south again past a cement works and rejoined the A283 at Sullington where we turned left and sped towards the busy roundabout with the A24.
It was 1224hrs when we crossed the dual carriageway and there was a large group heading into The Frankland Arms pub in Washington as we passed. Low hanging branches were a challenge for our driver as we negotiated Washington Bostal before joining the A24 dual carriageway for a short distance before turning into Findon.
A beautiful setting again, but for our driver it was all about negotiating more narrow streets, parked cars and oncoming vehicles. It’s also where the next route 1 bus passed us. A young woman joining us outside the Black Horse pub almost forgot to collect her ticket. By 1236hrs we were back on the A24 and passed the boundary sign for Worthing a minute later. Not for long though as we quickly turned off to serve Findon Valley.
We were regularly collecting passengers in ones and twos by this stage with at least one using contactless to pay. Inevitably there was queuing traffic as we crossed the busy roundabout with the A27, the main east west road along the coast, and then it was down to our driver to pick his way past Broadwater Green where cars were again up on the pavement to give us space so he could rejoin the A24 towards Worthing town centre.
We passed a Findon-bound route 1 bus at 1253hrs and crossed the railway near the station a minute later, passengers disembarking near there and outside Worthing Museum & Art Gallery. Our final destination of South Street beckoned and we were on stand at 1257hrs, a minute ahead of schedule by my watch, where the 13 onboard left and our driver handed his vehicle over to a colleague.
A different experience
The days when the Coastliner 700 ran from Brighton to Portsmouth via Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Chichester as one route are long gone. In an effort to maintain schedules it’s divided into sometimes overlapping sections and it seemed to make sense to use it for the return journey to Chichester as an alternative to retracing my steps on the South Downs Connections services. It was to be a memorable experience.
Mondays to Fridays daytime, the Brighton, Shoreham, Worthing, Littlehampton, Wick section runs every 10 minutes using recently-delivered Enviro400 MMCs that should take around 55 minutes to make the journey between Worthing and Littlehampton. It was soon apparent why there had been the investment and frequency. There were around 20 people waiting with me for the 1435hrs departure from Worthing Marine Parade including a wheelchair user. Our driver was an amiable, friendly man who made everyone feel welcome, but it took time for us all to board and we didn’t get away until 1440hrs.
As we progressed along Marine Parade we passed an Enviro200 on route 7. Painted in Stagecoach livery, it’s actually a Compass Travel bus as that operator provides the service under franchise. We continued to collect passengers along the seafront and the lower deck was becoming quite crowded. Our driver had to explain to one mother with a buggy that she would have to wait for the next bus as there was no room. Not surprisingly when he asked, no one was prepared to give up their tip-up seat to make space.
A pattern was quickly becoming apparent. The driver was collecting concessionaires at virtually every stop and they were frequently only travelling one or two stops. As a result progress was slow. The A259 Mill Road became Goring Road and at one stop we collected 12 passengers, all of a certain age. Interestingly the entrance doors were kept shut until those departing were ready to get off. What was also noticeable was the number of cars out on the roads. The traffic was unrelenting.
Ribbon development like this makes it difficult to know where one place finishes and another starts unless you’re local. To me it was just a sea of low rise housing. Quite when we left Goring for Ferring, I’m not quite sure, but what was apparent was the bus was running later and later. We crossed the railway line and turned into Langbury Lane at 1512hrs.
Once on to the A259 Littlehampton Road we diverted into Asda only to rejoin and then join a long queue of cars up to the next roundabout. We turned into Old Worthing Road at 1521hrs. Waiting for a train at the level crossing on the edge of East Preston gave our driver the opportunity to get out of his cab and stretch his legs. We entered Rustington at 1535hrs, the wheelchair user leaving at a stop shortly afterwards. The congestion we encountered at junctions and roundabouts seemed endless and was caused by cars, not commercial traffic. The longest queue of all by far was up to the Body Shop Roundabout where Worthing Road joined the A259 – a holdup of 13 minutes.
We arrived at Littlehampton Anchor Springs, just as the 1612hrs 700 departure for Chichester was pulling off the stand, around an hour and a half after leaving Worthing. As I disembarked, the driver was on the phone to his controller. According to Google, Worthing to Littlehampton is 8.9 miles. It was a journey that I guess could easily have been replicated in suburban London.
The final stretch
The 700 bus that would take me from Littlehampton to Chichester was another Enviro300, appropriately branded for the service. Headway is every 20 minutes on this section of the route and we left Littlehampton Anchor Springs at 1633hrs, a minute late by my watch with 15 passengers on board. Our driver had a courteous comment for everyone.
Traffic was queuing as we rejoined the A259 after passing Littlehampton railway station and we once again crossed the River Arun. Heading for Yapton, we stopped at Horsemere Green Lane for a passenger, the driver waiting until he was sitting before pulling away. Three way traffic lights held us for a minute in Yapton before we turned on to the B2132 towards Middleton-on-Sea. It was an open road now so our driver was able to get up to a reasonable speed although re-joining the A259 took a little doing. There was a queue on to what is a fast stretch of road with plenty of traffic.
Having negotiated the housing estate at Flansham Park where parked cars were an issue, we dropped a passenger outside the health centre at 1703hrs. Different sections of the 700 overlap here and we overtook an Enviro400 bound for Portsmouth in Felpham only to be overtaken ourselves when we stopped to make a pick up. That continued to the centre of Bognor Regis.
We passed the entrance to Butlin’s Bognor Regis Resort at 1708hrs. In the High Street where we encountered a Stagecoach South Optare Solo SR on the Star service to Elmer, there were four passengers off and seven on. We made a 1715hrs departure, 10 minutes late, our driver always saying thank you to those joining or disembarking.
Four more joined us at the stop outside the railway station as we made our way out of town. The shops at North Bersted were a popular destination and four departed there. Then we were in open country with a first sighting of Chichester cathedral in the distance and the Downs were laid out to our right.
At 1731hrs we crossed the Chichester bypass. Passengers joined and left as we neared the centre of the city, the Cattlemarket being particularly popular. As we approached the bus station, the railway level crossing gates in front of us across Basin Road were down so our driver used the forecourt of the adjacent Stagecoach South bus garage to avoid queuing cars and make a 1738hrs arrival, six minutes late. Thirteen passengers departed including me.
I could have stayed on the 700 to reach the cathedral, but elected to finish the day as I’d started, on the 60. The 1743hrs departure is timetabled to take five minutes to make the journey, but it was to take a little longer.
Very unusually a Coastliner 700-branded Enviro400 MMC was the allocated vehicle, but the driver, for whatever reason, was unable to reverse off the stand. The assistance of a fitter and a controller didn’t solve the problem and he and the handful of passengers onboard all transferred to another Enviro400 parked on another stand. The situation was handled with good humour by everyone and we finally left at 1754hrs, picked up four women in South Street and were outside the cathedral again at 1758hrs. The sun was still shining as I left the bus on what had been a memorable day.
How typical my experiences were, I don’t know, but if nothing else it highlighted just how challenging operating buses has become. The respect I’ve always had for Stagecoach South and its staff was only deepened.
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