Salisbury Reds (bus company)

Salisbury Reds is a bus operator in Salisbury, as well as the surrounding Wiltshire area. It is part of the Go South Coast sector of the Go-Ahead Group. Much of the company's operations formerly came under the Wilts & Dorset brand, though this was phased out from 2012.

History


Salisbury Reds operates bus services in the Salisbury and Amesbury areas formerly operated under the Wilts & Dorset name. It was introduced in 2010, initially on Wilts & Dorset routes in the city of Salisbury. The brand was then extended to cover all routes in Wiltshire.

Four years later, in January 2014, the bus stations at Salisbury and Amesbury were closed to the public and the stops moved to roads outside the stations, with the then Salisbury Reds' operations director Ed Wills saying "We would rather preserve jobs and services than spend a fortune upgrading facilities that are being used by only a small number of our customers".

The company celebrated the centenary of Wilts & Dorset in 2015 by repainting some of its buses into its pre-war and post-war liveries. The operation had a livery redesign in February 2019. This was alongside an order for three new electric buses to be placed on two Salisbury park and ride routes (PR9 and PR15). These buses arrived in February 2020.

In 2024, Salisbury Reds and Wiltshire County Council made a successful bid for 23 new electric buses, as part of the UK government's 'ZEBRA' scheme. This represents an investment of £11.4 million. As part of this, the Salisbury bus depot will be modernised to support these vehicles. This will be completed by February 2026.

Salisbury Reds
Salisbury Reds is the main operating company. It runs roughly 50 public routes, spanning Andover in the east, Shaftesbury in the west and Swindon in the north. It also operates school services.

Salisbury Park and Ride
The Salisbury Park and Ride service began operation in March 2001 to one park and ride site, Beehive, to the north of Salisbury city centre. A second site was opened at Wilton in 2005, and two more followed, taking the total to four. A fifth site was later opened at Petersfinger, to the south-east of the city.

Initially, the routes used Optare Excels in a light green and white livery. In 2005, these were replaced by new Volvo B7RLEs, also in green and white; for a short period in late 2004, the service was operated using 'more' branded B7RLEs.

In February 2011, Wilts & Dorset lost the contract to operate the Salisbury Park and Ride network to independent operator Hatts Travel. In August 2014, due to the collapse of the Hatts group, the park & ride contract was handed back to Salisbury Reds to run for Wiltshire Council.

Activ8
Activ8 is a joint half-hourly service between Salisbury and Andover via Tidworth, operated in partnership with Stagecoach South and supported by Wiltshire and Hampshire County Councils. The brand was launched in February 2007. Salisbury Reds primarily use specially branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs on the route, having previously used Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Scania OmniCitys and Optare Spectras.
 * 8: Salisbury – Boscombe Down – Amesbury – Tidworth – Andover

The Stonehenge Tour
The Stonehenge Tour was rebranded in 2008, linking Salisbury railway station, the city centre, and Stonehenge. A recorded commentary describes the views along the length of the route. The tour was operated by Wilts & Dorset Optare Spectras, but is now run using a combination of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC vehicles, which have been specially painted in a New Stonehenge Tour Livery.