Taking The Pulse (1)

 Not Hampshire But West Sussex!  : change of plan!

Looks Worrying : Littlehampton, Worthing!

You might call it "South Coast City" stretching almost continuously from Bognor Regis via Littlehampton, Worthing, Shoreham and Brighton. If you add Portsmouth and Chichester in the west ...

... you get the route of one of the area's long standing bus routes. 

Also in the area was a route from Guildford via Midhurst and Chichester to Bognor.

Later, this became route 70 from Guildford to Midhurst and route 60 from Midhurst to Bognor.

More recently, the Chichester to Bognor section has been chopped off and is now route 600.

Service 60 had benefitted from some rather stunning branding ...

... but the image is spoiled when the buses stray onto the 700 ...

... or even the 600.

Such a pity that a good strong brand is spoiled by wrong allocation!

There are now three routes from Chichester numbered as "hundreds". There is the new-ish 600, the long standing 700 (more coming up) and a very new 500.

This bus improvement grant development (currently due to expire this year as it was funded for two years from July 2023) runs via Tangmere and on to Littlehampton.

It is seen here, with limited 500 branding, being seen off by the Great and the Good!

It came with an excellent map ...

... which makes a refreshing change these days.

But we now turn to the 700.

The has been around for ages and ages, but began by being numbered 31, back in the days when numbers as high as 700 were reserved to mega operators like Midland Red. 

The route was Southdown 31 ..

... as exemplified by this fine vehicle seen at the Amberley museum.

More recently, Southdown livery was applied to this celebrattory VR, now showing route 700. 

National bus came and went ...

.... and, under privatisation, the route was joint with Brighton and Hove.

Stagecoach reigned supreme in the privatised era with some stunning route branding ...

... later utterly spoiled by motorway maintenance livery.

A very uninspiring version of Stagecoach standard livery also appeared - equally disappointing.

And now we are threatened with yet another coprorate livery with no place for local identity.

But the once great 700 had already been diluted into three separate 700s

... with colours orange, blue and green.

Sadly, the colours are in a different order on some of the publicity.

Whatever the colours, it appears that he concept of service 700 all the way from Portsmouth to Brighton (albeit split into three) is to be further diluted by a new toute 701.

It's certainly not the same as the above 1993 version! Nor is it the return of the very short term attempt to compete with Stagecoach between Brighton and Eastbourne.

The new 701 is part of a reorganisation of routes in Littlehampton and Worthing.

Is the whole change a service cut in disguise like the recently blogged First Glasgow service 1 group via Dumbarton? If so, who suffers?

fbb will, like Stagecoach, be taking the Pulse from the network.

The old bloke will reveal all, starting with  Wednesday's  posting.

 Extra Variety mini blog : Tues 11 March