Southdown PSV

Southdown PSV Limited,^[1] which traded as Southdown Buses, was a medium-sized country bus operator, with 18 routes across East Surrey, West Sussex, South London and Kent, 9 of which were school bus routes. Most of their routes were operated on behalf of Surrey County Council, other work included railway replacement services for planned engineering work.

Not to be confused with Southdown Motor Services.

Southdown Buses

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart in Godstone in July 2023
Founded	April 2002; 22 years ago (April 2002)
Ceased operation	2 September 2023; 17 months ago (2 September 2023)
Headquarters	Copthorne
Service area	West Sussex East Surrey Kent South London
Service type	Bus services
Routes	18 (9 of which were school routes)
Hubs	Oxted, East Grinstead, Caterham & Westerham
Fleet	24 (June 2023)
Chief executive	Stephen Wallis
Website	http://www.southdown.net

Plaxton President bodied DAF DB250 at Brighton station in 2008

Southdown Buses operated mainly in Oxted, Horley, Redhill, Westerham, Lingfield, Caterham, and East Grinstead.^[2] Their only operating garage was in Copthorne.

On 1 February 2023, Southdown Buses was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group, with the company being brought under the control of Brighton & Hove and the Southdown Buses identity initially being retained.^[3] Southdown Buses ceased operations on 2 September 2023, with services, staff and vehicles transferred to Metrobus.^[4]

Fleet

As of June 2023, Southdown Buses operated a fleet of 24 buses. The fleet consisted of a mixture of Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL, Alexander Dennis Enviro200, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC bodied Scania N250UD buses.^[5]

In 2018, Southdown Buses took delivery of two Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses based on the Scania N250UD chassis, having trialled a demonstrator the previous year.^[6] In 2021, Southdown took delivery of two Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC buses.^[7][8]

Dealership

In addition to being a bus operator, Southdown Buses also used to be a new and used bus dealer. In September 2016, the business was split with Southdown Buses' managing director, Steve Swain taking over the dealership and renaming it Chartwell Bus & Coach Sales.^{[9][10][11][12]}

References

1. Companies House extract company no 4416005 Southdown PSV Limited
2. Timetables Archived 5 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Southdown Buses
3. "Southdown to join Brighton and Hove Buses owner Go Ahead". The Argus. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
4. "Southdown is joining the Metrobus family". Southdown Buses. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
5. "Southdown Buses Fleet List". Southdown Buses. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
6. Laura Cork (27 April 2018). "Southdown Buses expands fleet with Scania-ADL double-deckers". Transport Engineer. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
7. "Southdown takes delivery of two new ADL Enviro200 buses". Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
8. "Southdown Buses takes delivery of two brand new ADL Enviro200 buses". Alexander Dennis. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
9. Bus Sales Southdown PSV Archived 22 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
10. Home Archived 12 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Chartwell Bus & Coach Sales
11. Southdown's dealership becomes Chartwell Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Route One 17 August 2016
12. Southdown PSV splits Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Buyer 17 August 2016

External links

• Company website