Somerset Buses history

Before 2014, First Bus had one entire operation across Somerset known as First Somerset & Avon. Although there was a large number of independent operators First had, and still do, have the manopoly on bus services across the county. Around this time other smaller companies were starting to expand, and Stagecoach were creeping in on First's turf

After 2014, First split their operations in two. The Northern half (also encompassing North Somerset, B&NES and Bristol) was renaimed First West of Engand (also known as First Bristol, Bath & The West) and inherited most of the newer vehicles. The Southern operation was renaimed The Buses of Somerset and was the first First Bus operation to move away from the corporate identity. A lot of the buses Buses of Somerset inherited from the old operation were worn out, so by rebranding bus services in this area a lot of the older buses would look a lot cleaner, although this wouldn't help the reliability. The new Buses of Somerset operation would also become part of a new First South West business incorporating First Devon (until they ceased trading) and First Kernow (soon to rebrand to Cornwall by Kernow)

As part of First's rebrand, the local routes around Taunton were branded as The Buses of Taunton. The routes had also been split with no route operating through the town centre. Quite early on, routes 5 (Town Centre to Calder Crescent) and 9 (Musgrove Park Hospital shuttle) were withdrawn due to low passenger numbers. Route 5 was mostly covered by route 6 and route 9 was covered by an extension of services 21 and 54 from the town centre

When Buses of Somerset was formed, they also won the contract to operate the Taunton Park & Ride. WebberBus had operated it since 2010 ,after Stagecoach and Cooks Coaches, however Somerset Council announced it had been terminated early due to complaints of late and missing buses. Buses of Somerset anitially painted the buses into a white with green stripes livery however they later used a more corporate Park & Ride style livery and logo

In 2016, WebberBus ceased operations after money problems behind the scenes. They operated many rural services (both commercially and contracted) as well as school services. Their sudden departure lead to Buses of Somerset and Somerset Council's in-house fleet having to step in to cover contracted and some commerical work. A lot of the WebberBus' Optare's now resign with Diamond Bus around the Midlands with a lot of their older Dennis Trident deckers now trundling around South Wales with Newport Bus

Around the same time as WebberBus' collapse, the Yeovil operations were transferred from First Hampshire & Dorset (Wessex) to Buses of Somerset. For a long time after this, the route between Yeovil and Bridport (once known as services 40 and 6 and now known as service CR6) was jointly operated by both First operations

Yeovil has always been the odd one out in Somerset. It's more isolated than Taunton and Bridgwater and its the only town where First never had the manopoly. For a long South West Coaches ran the majority of services alongside Go-Ahead's Damory and the small Nippy Bus operator. In many cases, South West Coaches took over rural services First didn't want such as service 52 to Martock

In 2018, Nippy Bus also suffered financial problems and ceased trading. Although their routes ran all the way from Taunton to Yeovil, the majority of them ran around Yeovil and Martock (as they had a depot there) and almost entirely consisted of Optare Solo's and Solo SR's

Around COVID, all types of services in Somerset suffered and were temporarily withdrawn. Around this time, both South West Coaches and Buses of Somerset were bringing in new liveries. By this time, there was only a small number of independent bus operators left including Hatch Green, South West Coaches and FromeBus, with a lot of rural services now operated by the council

After COVID, and as services recovered, a lot of changes happened around the Buses of Somerset network. New routes were brought in and others were uplifted or cut. For example, a new service B2 was brought in around Bridgwater alongside servce B1 between Kings Down and Durleigh. This allowed the Bridgwater network to flourish once again after a number of cuts years ago

However it wasn't all good, services such as the 54 between Taunton and Yeovil went from hourly to two-hourly, which just added insult to indury after cuts years ago ment they lost a half+hourly and Sunday service

Around this time, Buses of Somerset also brought in the Exmoor Coaster, a new open-top service between Minehead and Lynmouth. Before COVID, Quantock Motor Services had operated an open top service 300 along the same route but it had been withdrawn when they scaled back their operations. It would first utilise Scania OmniCity's and Wright Eclipse Gemini's from Cornwall however ADL Enviro400's would later become the backbone of the service

Nowadays, the service is back to number 300 and is operated by Stagecoach South West. Because their depot is in Barnstaple, not Minehead, they cannot operate the hourly service First used to operate. For a brief time, the section of the route between Lynmouth and Ilfracombe was branded as the Exmoor Sunseeker before being incorporated into the Exmoor Coaster (and now 300) service

Around this time, Buses of Somerset inherited a number of old buses from Cornwall by Kernow (First's Cornish operations) after new ADL Enviro400 MMCs were brought in, and the Atlantic Coasters network was revamped

Ex-Atlantic Coasters single deck Wright Solar's were put to work on the 21, and the old turquoise colourscheme was used to rebrand the corridor between Taunton and Burnham-on-Sea, as double decks were used on most long distance routes such as the 30 to Axminster

The network around Yeovil was also strengthened as Dennis Dart MPD's were put to work alongisde ex-Cornwall by Kernow Enviro200s on the 51 and 53 Town Services

In 2023, whilst South West Coaches were also strengthening their fleet, Buses of Somerset retired most of their older Dennis Trident's in favour of Enviro400 bodied Dennis Trident 2's. The first ones to arrive were the 58 plates which arrived from Weston-super-Mare and Bristol - these were knackered and were not refurbished. Although these were gradually repainted into the revised decker livery they annicially entered service in the Excel (North Somersetj livery. The second ones to arrive were the 59 plates - these were more reliable than the 58 plates and had been retrimmed so the seat moquette was First's own rather than Arriva's

Also whilst this was happening, services 29, 75 and 77 were transferred over by First West of England and, after a year, were extended and renumbered

29 = 374 - Taunton to Bristol

75 = 375 - Bridgwater to Bristol

Service 77 was murged with the existing service 376, creating a service between Yeovil and Bristol via Wells. This also meant Yeovil got the first Sunday service in 12 years

Also around this time, more servces were cut. Service 53 in Yeovil and service B2 in Bridgwater was withdrawn, with more non-Buses of Somerset vehicles joining the fleet. At some stage (I can't exactly remember when) a new X28 service was trialled however this was deemed unsuccessful as it also operated throughout the winter, when not many people were travelling to Minehead Butlins

In 2024/2025, Buses of Somerset announced that they would no longer be operating the Taunton Park & Ride and service 99 between Taunton and Chard. Both services were deemed unviable and therefore Somerset Council had to find new operators for the services. Hatch Green Coaches were awarded the contract for service 99 and thus ordered two new ADL Enviro200 MMC's (with the other being for the 52 service they'd also won in Yeovil). Stagecoach won the contract for the Park & Ride in Taunton, and chose to operate double deck Scania's every 20 minutes rather than single decks every 15 minutes. Since Stagecoach's arrival in Taunton the service has become more popular and they now operate two other routes out of the town

In April 2025, a fleet of 12 double deck and 4 single deck Yutong electric buses joined the Buses of Somerset fleet bringing a new age of travel in Somerset. Whilst these are yet to reach Yeovil they have occasionally operated routes 51 and 54. Since their introduction, a fleet of Wright GB Kite Electroliner's have also joined to help on the 28 service between Taunton and Minehead, and new services such as the 25A and 61 have been introduced alongside existing routes

Other operators such as Hatch Green, South West Coaches and Libra Travel have also upgraded their fleet and operated new services. In North Somerset, services are being rebranded as WESTbus - this brand could start to be seen more often as it's also being introduced on cross border services such as the 20 and 376