& dorset wright eclipse gemini bodied volvo b7tl in southampton in september 2008 parent firstgroup founded 1997 1898 as southampton citybus headquarters southampton service area hampshire dorset service type bus services destinations southampton portsmouth fareham gosport weymouth fleet 360 march 2013 website www.firstgroup.com ukbus hampshire www.firstgroup.com ukbus dorset first hampshire & dorset 1 is a bus operator providing services in the counties of hampshire and dorset . it is a subsidiary of firstgroup . contents 1 history 2 depots 3 fleet 4 routes 5 references 6 external links history edit wright handybus bodied dennis dart in southampton in september 2008 in first provincial livery jurassic coast liveried wright eclipse gemini bodied volvo b7tl first hampshire & dorset was created out of various different smaller companies which were merged once firstgroup had acquired them . in october 1995 firstbus purchased the bus services in fareham gosport and portsmouth operated by people s provincial . in april 1996 firstbus purchased services in portsmouth from transit holdings trading as red admiral & blue admiral which in turn had taken over the portsmouth citybus operations under the title of southdown portsmouth . this operation was then put under the control of people s provincial and the whole renamed to first provincial . in 1997 firstbus purchased southampton citybus and after a brief period of using the citybus name the operation was renamed first southampton . in 1999 first southampton merged with first provincial 2 to form first hampshire later being renamed first hampshire & dorset . the company is facing growing competition in southampton from go ahead owned bluestar . in 1999 firstgroup purchased southern national with the dorset operations merged to form first hampshire & dorset in 2003 . depots edit bridport tannery road sub depot of weymouth fareham gosport road hoeford poole outstation of weymouth depot providing vehicles for a school contract for bournemouth grammar schools kingston maurward college dorchester work and x53 short workings and the 387 service . portsmouth hilsea west london road hilsea . due to the depot allocation size ; many buses are also parked overnight in the news centre london road hilsea . southampton empress road which also includes the yellow school bus section weymouth edward street yeovil sub depot of weymouth fleet edit as of march 2013 the fleet consisted of 360 buses . 3 in weymouth first operate a number of wright streetlite buses on routes 1 2 3 4 8 and 10 purchased between 2013 and 2015 . several optare solos purchased in 2014 working primarily on routes 3 4 and 8 . wright eclipse bodied volvo b7rles which started operation in 2006 . a number of alexander alx400s on various routes . a single dennis trident 2 purchased in 2005 branded for route 502 . several wright eclipse gemini bodied volvo b9tls operating mostly on route x53 between poole and exeter bought in 2008 . a single surviving plaxton pointer 2 bodied dennis dart 9.2 sda in operation since 1997 . and six scania n94uds bought in 2004 & 2005 operating on route x51 . first inherited a large number of leyland atlanteans from southampton citybus along with leyland lynxs leyland olympians and gas powered dennis darts . all of these have now been withdrawn from the southampton fleet . an unusual vehicle inherited from the provincial fleet was the first ace cougar one of just two built which has also been withdrawn . 4 first introduced a number of bus types that are also no longer in service in southampton ; these include volvo b7la wright eclipse fusion bendy buses introduced in 2000 but transferred to first glasgow in 2003 after they proved unsuitable for a number of southampton roads 5 former first capital dennis arrows proved unpopular in southampton and moved onto first greater manchester in 2006 . first had operated optare solos on the free city link service between southampton central station west quay shopping centre and town quay these left the southampton fleet when first lost the city link contract to uni link which subsequently became franchised to bluestar in 2008 . routes edit as of april 2016 first dorset operates 12 bus routes in and around the weymouth area service 1 weymouth to portland via wyke regis fortuneswell easton weston and southwell . service 2 weymouth to littlemoor via dorchester road and broadway also two late night services to overcombe corner service 3 weymouth to westham via town bridge asda newstead road hereford road and fiveways . service 4 4a weymouth king s statue to preson via lodmoor county park overcombe corner chalbury corner seven acres road 4 and sutton poyntz 4a service 6 weymouth to portland nsa via fiveways wyke regis walker crescent ferrybridge and portland national sailing academy . service 8 weymouth to chickerell via town bridge asda newstead road westham evenings only fiveways and chickerell east street . service 10 weymouth to poundbury via dorchester road broadway upwey dorchester trinity street and poundbury . service x51 dorchester south station to axminster via poundbury bridport lyme regis and axminster rail station service x53 poole to exeter via wareham wool osmington weymouth abbostbury west bay bridport lyme regis axminster seaton beer and exeter bus station . service 502 summer holiday park service littlesea holiday park to lodmoor county park via weymouth king s statue service 503 summer holiday park service weymouth king s statue to waterside holiday park via bowleaze cove . first dorset also operate school bus services for budmouth technology college and wey valley school . in march 2016 first announced the summer timetable which will bring the new x55 service from weymouth to bovington an extended 4b service serving preston spice ship seaview holiday park osmington and warmwell cross . also the splitting of x53 services into sections x51 52 53 and 54 and the return of the open top bus from weymouth to portland bill . 6 references edit companies house extract company no first hampshire & dorset limited formerly first hampshire limited formerly southampton city transport company limited companies house extract company no 2110585 first provincial buses limited formerly the provincial bus company limited firstgroup fleetlist steve white http www.provincialsociety.org survivors h523ctr.htm archived 1 january 2011 at webcite this is hampshire.net getting the hump bendy buses have trouble over speed bumps archived 9 october 2007 at the wayback machine . dorset and jurassic coaster summer service changes starting on sunday 8 may wessex dorset & south somerset . first uk bus . retrieved 2016 04 22 . external links edit first hampshire first dorest & south somerset flickr gallery showbus gallery v t e firstgroup united kingdom bus companies first aberdeen first berkshire & the thames valley first cymru first essex first glasgow first greater manchester first hampshire & dorset first midlands first leicester 94 % first midland red first potteries first norfolk & suffolk first scotland east first south west the buses of somerset first south yorkshire first west of england first bristol first somerset & avon first west yorkshire first bradford first calderdale & huddersfield first leeds first york first student uk international bus companies america first student united states first student canada first transit greyhound united states boltbus with peter pan bus lines greyhound canada greyhound mexico grey goose bus lines vancouver island coach lines voyageur colonial bus lines ireland aircoach railway companies great western railway heathrow connect with heathrow airport holdings hull trains transpennine express former divisions dsbfirst 25 % danish 30 % swedish first capital connect first chester & the wirral first great eastern first great western link first london first northampton first north western first gbrf first scotrail first transpennine express 55 % greyhound uk new world first bus 26 % future divisions east coast trains v t e bus operators in south east england berkshire arriva shires & essex bath bus company courtney buses first berkshire & the thames valley fleet buzz reading buses stagecoach in hampshire thamesdown transport thames travel the green bus white bus services wilts & dorset buckinghamshire arriva shires & essex carousel buses first berkshire & the thames valley stagecoach east east sussex arriva southern counties bath bus company brighton & hove compass travel cuckmere buses metrobus renown coaches southdown psv stagecoach south east stagecoach in hastings stagecoach in eastbourne the sussex bus hampshire amk group bluestar damory first hampshire & dorset fleet buzz reading buses stagecoach south stagecoach in hampshire stagecoach in hants & surrey stagecoach in portsmouth stagecoach in the south downs uni link wilts & dorset xelabus isle of wight southern vectis island breezers kent arriva southern counties chalkwell coaches the kings ferry metrobus nu venture stagecoach south east stagecoach in east kent sullivan buses southdown psv oxfordshire arriva shires & essex oxford bus company reading buses stagecoach oxfordshire oxford tube thamesdown transport thames travel surrey abellio surrey arriva guildford & west surrey arriva london atbus compass travel countywide travel epsom coaches quality line first berkshire & the thames valley fleet buzz london general metrobus safeguard coaches southdown psv stagecoach south stagecoach in hampshire stagecoach in hants & surrey sullivan buses the green bus transdev london west sussex arriva southern counties arriva guildford & west surrey new enterprise coaches brighton & hove compass travel tellings golden miller minerva accord metrobus southdown psv stagecoach south stagecoach in hampshire stagecoach in hants & surrey the big lemon the sussex bus national megabus national express v t e bus operators in south west england bristol ct plus first bristol first somerset & avon south gloucestershire bus & coach stagecoach west the kings ferry wessex bus cornwall first south west plymouth citybus stagecoach south west devon the buses of somerset plymouth citybus stagecoach south west dorset the buses of somerset first hampshire & dorset yellow buses wilts & dorset gloucestershire first somerset & avon stagecoach west thamesdown transport wessex bus somerset bakers dolphin bath bus company bugler coaches the buses of somerset crosville motor services damory coaches first hampshire & dorset first somerset & avon nippy bus quantock motor services south west coaches stagecoach south west wessex bus wiltshire connect2wiltshire first somerset & avon stagecoach west thamesdown transport wilts & dorset national megabus national express retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title first hampshire % 26 dorset & oldid 730402897 categories first group bus operators in englandtransport in dorsetbus operators in hampshirehidden categories articles with wayback machine linksuse dmy dates from april 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 18 july 2016 at 20 28 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view