Southern Vectis route 2

Southern Vectis route 2 is a bus service operated on the Isle of Wight by Southern Vectis between Newport, Sandown Bay and Ryde. It also runs via Rookley, Godshill and Brading. The general daytime frequency of the route is every half-hour each direction, although in the evenings and on Sundays fewer buses run. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route.

History

Route Rouge

Until April 2006Southern Vectis' "Getting Around the Isle of Wight" timetable booklet until Summer 2005] Southern Vectis' "Bus Times" timetable booklet for Winter 2005–6] , the route number 2, and its associated 2B number, was used to flag buses providing services on the "Route Rouge", a network of bus routes that crossed the island, broadly from north to south. The network was started in January 2001,cite web|url= http://www.svoc.co.uk/timet.html|title= Southern Vectis Omnibus Company|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 5 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 24|year= 2001|month= February
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20010224073946/www.svoc.co.uk/timet.html|archivedate= 24 February 2001] although route 2B was not added until November 2003.cite web|url= http://www.svoc.co.uk/timet.html|title= Southern Vectis Omnibus Company|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 7 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 22|year= 2003|month= November
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20050205013206/svoc.co.uk/timet.html|archivedate= 22 November 2003]

The full "Route Rouge" service 2 ran from Cowes Co-op to Newport bus station via Cowes Cemetery, then to Rookley, Godshill, Whiteley Bank and Shanklin along the A3020 road. From there it continued to Sandown mainly on the A3055 road. Buses ran every half-hour during weekdays, but in the evenings and on Sundays this service reduced to hourly or less.

Service 2B ran in addition to the main route on Sundays and on weekday evenings. It ran from Newport to Robin Hill, Arreton, Winford and Apse Heath, partly along the A3056 road. It then before served Shanklin before continuing along the main road to Sandown. For some periodspecify buses on route 2B were extended to terminate at Dinosaur Isle. This route did not operate during the same part of the day as route 3B. It was less frequent than service 2. Services 3, 3A and 3B also operated under the "Route Rouge" branding.

From November 2003, service 2 took over operations on the route from Sandown to Bembridge via Whitecliff Bay which had formerly been run as part of the Number One. One bus per hour, weekday daytime only, was extended from Sandown to Bembridge, also serving Bembridge Windmill. In this form, service 2 remained virtually unchanged until 2006.

Current Route

The current route 2 began operation on 1 April 2006 at the start of Southern Vectis' new network change. As such, when it first began operation Newport bus station was in the process of being redeveloped, and so along with most of Southern Vectis' other routes, it operated from Newport's temporary Litten Park bus stands.

Route

The route as it stands today retains most of the pre-2006 route. The section from Cowes to Newport was abandoned, and virtually all services on this corridor are now run by route 1. Services from Newport to Shanklin and Sandown continued with virtually no difference, except that the "Route Rouge" branding was no longer used. Service 2B was abandoned, partially replaced by the new route 8, and services from Sandown to Bembridge were transferred to the new route 10.

In April 2007, most services on route 2 were extended from Sandown to Ryde bus station to complement the existing route 3 buses. On 17 March 2008, most evening services on the route were withdrawn due to a cut in local government subsidy.cite web|url= http://islandbuses.info/pdfs/times170308.pdf|title= Southern Vectis Bus Times for March 2008|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 7 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 17|year= 2008|month= March] [cite web|url= http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/WEEKEND_AND_NIGHT_BUSES_UNDER_THREAT.aspx|title= Isle of Wight County Press - "Weekend and night buses under threat|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 7 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 25|year= 2008|month= January] [cite web|url= http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/BUS_SERVICES_UNDER_THREAT.aspx|title= Isle of Wight County Press - "Bus services under threat|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 7 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 1|year= 2008|month= February] [cite web|url= http://www.iwcp.co.uk/News/BUSES_SLASHED_AMID_SUBSIDIES_ROW.aspx|title= Isle of Wight County Press - "Buses slashed amid subsidies row"|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 7 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 8|year= 2008|month= February] However, this evening service is due to be re-introduced after the next timetable change on 31 August 2008.cite web|url= http://www.islandbuses.info/news.shtml|title= Southern Vectis Bus Times for August 2008|accessdate= |accessdaymonth= 15 August
accessmonthday= |accessyear= 2008|date= 31|year= 2008|month= August]

Services

A half-hourly service is operated in each direction during Monday-Saturday daytimes. The evening service, as of March 2008, has been almost completely withdrawn. Sunday services run only once per hour, but the last bus is later on Sundays, perhaps because services also start later.

ee also

* List of Southern Vectis bus routes
* Transportation on the Isle of Wight

Footnotes and References

External links

* [http://www.islandbuses.info Southern Vectis Official Website]
* [http://www.islandbuses.info/routelist.shtml Southern Vectis route list]
* [http://www.islandbuses.info/r2.shtml Southern Vectis route 2]