An Open-top Bus Bonanza (Part 1: Southsea Coaster)

Monday 28th August 2023

As the summer season draws to a close here’s the first of three consecutive daily blogs featuring open top bus rides I enjoyed taking last week including three brand new operations for 2023.

First up …. the Southsea Coaster operated by First Bus. Building on last year’s foray along the seafront, route 50 links Portsmouth Hard Interchange (aka Portsmouth Harbour) with Southsea’s Clarence Pier…

… and South Parade Pier.

The route has been expanded this year to include a dog leg into Old Portsmouth …

… but the end-to-end journey time can still be easily accomplished in under half an hour making for an hourly frequency with one bus operating the service between 09:00 and 18:00.

As you can see, the bus displays Southsea Coaster branding to the same house style as First’s extensive open top services in Cornwall and features on the generic Adventures by Bus website where bizarrely you can book a ticket in advance but I can’t believe anyone does. Why would you? It might start raining.

A day ticket costs £5 with a reduction to £4 for children and concessionary passholders (no free travel). Up to five travelling together pay £12 which must be particularly attractive to families.

The rather formulaic Adventures By Bus website includes comprehensive information about the route, even including where to park if arriving by car to have a bus ride.

There’s also a section advising which day each month (19th June, 17th July, 14th August, 11th September) the open top bus will be substituted by a closed top, presumably when the bus is having a four weekly safety service, which will avoid disappointment, but I doubt many passengers will spot that.

Maybe it would have been helpful to include that detail in the attractive leaflet promoting the service?

It’s a very pleasant unhurried ride from Portsmouth Hard first to the historic Old Town ….

… and cathedral then to Clarence Pier before taking the seafront road alongside Southsea Common past the D-Day Story exhibition to South Parade Pier.

My journeys at lunchtime last Wednesday saw around 15-20 passengers travelling along the route which seemed quite reasonable. The potential market is huge with hundreds ambling along the seafront in the sunshine and there were preparations underway for a music festival on the Common over the Bank Holiday weekend which will no doubt attract thousands more.

Bus stop plates along the route were displaying a Southsea Coaster logo …

… and timetable cases had details of the service …

… as well as a poster promoting the service in some shelters.

The terminus at South Parade Pier is around a lovely floral island just west of the Pier where other First Bus and Stagecoach routes pass by and terminate.

This is the third summer Portsmouth and Southsea have seen an open-top bus back along the seafront. Aldermaston Coach Lines tried it out as a new venture in 2021 with First Bus following that venture up with its own recreation of route 50 last summer for the first time.

It’s good to see the route back again this summer and I hope numbers travelling have been encouraging. It makes me wonder whether doubling the frequency to half-hourly would more than double the number of passengers travelling, making for an even more attractive leisure proposition, but that may be a bit too risky bearing in mind the uncertainty of the weather.

There is another open-top option for holiday makers along Southsea seafront and that’s the hourly service between 11:30 and 15:30 that runs occasionally with a preserved 1956 Portsmouth Corporation PD2 with Metro-Cammell body, converted to open top in 1971. The route leaves from the D-Day Story and lasts about 35 minutes and is free of charge but donations to fund restoration of vehicles are welcomed. The website states “services are planned to run on 20th August and 17th September” but whenever I’ve visited the city the service has been running as it was last Wednesday, 23rd August. Maybe it was on a Priavte Hire.

The Southsea Coaster is a lovely leisurely unhurried ride and continues until 30th September.

It’s well worth a ride.

Roger French

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS and Su DRT extras and for this week only …. An Open-top Bus Blog Bonanza on MTW.