Salisbury bus station

Salisbury bus station
The bus station in 2009
Location Endless Street, Salisbury
Wiltshire
Bus stands 5 (A-E)
Bus operators Salisbury Reds
History
Opened 1939
Closed January 2014

Salisbury bus station was a bus station in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The station had five stands underneath a red brick building which was built in 1939 as the headquarters of the Wilts & Dorset bus company.[1] It was closed in 2014 on the grounds of high maintenance costs.

Services

The only operator at the station was the Salisbury Reds brand of Wilts & Dorset, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. The station was mainly a hub for local services, including Salisbury's park and ride scheme serving five sites around the city, with the Petersfinger site being opened most recently in 2010.[2] Longer distance services, known as 'X' services, ran between the city and other surrounding areas, such as Southampton (X7), Pewsey (X4) and Bournemouth (X3).[3][4] National Express coach services have always called at the Millstream Coach Park in the northwest of the city centre.

Closure

Salisbury bus station closed on 5 January 2014 due to high operating costs and the fact that only a third of Salisbury Reds' services called there.[1] The site was later developed into retirement homes that opened in February 2018, with the apartments being branded as 'Sarum Lodge'.[5]

Despite the fact the facility was described as outdated and underused by Salisbury Reds, the station's closure, which was announced in November 2012,[6] was unpopular with Salisbury residents as it provided a focal point for services.[1] A spokesperson from Salisbury Reds also said that the station was originally opened for the much larger Wilts and Dorset bus company and the present company didn't need all of the space available. Even though the main reason for closing the station was to cut the costs of maintaining the ageing building, Salisbury Reds had been awarded £400,000 in March that year to improve the station and its services.[7] The station was replaced by five bus stops in the city centre and was closed at the same time as Amesbury bus station.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bus station closes after 75 years". BBC News: Wiltshire. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Park and ride losing £1million". Salisbury Journal.
  3. ↑ "New bus timetable as Salisbury Reds takes over park and ride in the city". Salisbury Journal.
  4. ↑ "Salisbury Reds Timetables". www.salisburyreds.co.uk.
  5. ↑ Riddle, Joe (8 February 2018). "Retirement complex opens on former bus station site". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Salisbury and Amesbury bus stations to close". BBC News: Wiltshire. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "City gets cash to improve buses". BBC News: Wiltshire. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

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