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New Enterprise Coaches

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File:New Enterprise logo.png
A New Enterprise coach, 2054 (M54 AWW), a Scania K113CRB coach with a Van Hool Alizée HE-II body
Another Van Hool, 2831, an Alizée H.

New Enterprise Coaches is an arm of Arriva Southern Counties Ltd, based in Tonbridge, Kent.

History

The company started in 1974 as a small West Kent-based family-run business.

In the early 1980s New Enterprise started running local bus services in the Tonbridge area, mainly competing against Maidstone & District, who eventually bought the company in June 1988. In 1997, British Bus - the company who owned Maidstone and District, was bought by Arriva. Unlike many of Arriva's acquisitions which have adopted a corporate livery of all-over aquamarine with a champagne scoop at the front and yellow coachline along the skirt, New Enterprise retained its all-over white with red and blue ribbon livery on their coaches, and white, blue and red standard livery on their service buses. However, buses are sometimes seen in service in Arriva corporate livery prior to being repainted, or when they are on loan.

Current operations

New Enterprise operates a number of local bus services in the Tonbridge and Sevenoaks areas under contract to Kent County Council from their Tonbridge base. They also operated commuter services 781 and 784 to London from the Maidstone area out of Arriva's Maidstone Depot, which were inherited from Green Line in August 2005. However, from 19 January 2009 this service was withdrawn. An alternative service replaced the 781 and 784 after this date, provided by Chalkwell Coaches of Sittingbourne.

New Enterprise also offer a wide range of daybreaks and holidays from the Tonbridge and Maidstone areas, as well as quality coach hire with a choice of coaches from 49 to 53 seaters to fully air-conditioned coaches.

From 18 March 2008, New Enterprise began to run the new EB3 easyBus service from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria, using a fleet of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter/Optare Soroco. A new outstation at Gatwick was opened for this operation. While the new vehicles are awaited, some older easyBus minibuses were on loan from Arriva Shires & Essex. Route EB3 was replaced by route EB4 (which was introduced in August 2008) from Gatwick Airport to Fulham Broadway in Central West London, with the EB3 eventually stopping on 21 September 2008. From early 2009, the Gatwick base was moved into Tellings-Golden Miller's (also owned by Arriva) Gatwick depot. The operation by New Enterprise was discontinued in late 2009 when Easybus took this and other similar sub-contracted routes 'in-house', from a base in London NW10.

Routes Operated

Route Number From To Notes
7 Tonbridge Hadlow College Days only
200 Hildenborough Hildenborough Station Monday to Friday peak hours
204 Tonbridge Underriver Saturdays only
210 Tonbridge Charcott Saturdays only
211 Tonbridge Castle Tonbridge Cottage Hospital.
522 Seal Tonbridge Schooldays only
532 Kemsing Tonbridge Schooldays only
540 Sundridge Hugh Christie Tech. College Schooldays only
541 Larkfield Hugh Christie Tech. College Schooldays only
542 Leybourne Hugh Christie Tech. College Schooldays only
543 Chipstead Corner Hugh Christie Tech. College Schooldays only
544 Sevenoaks Hugh Cgristie Tech. College Schooldays only
552 Badgers Mount Tonbridge Schooldays only
572 Hildenborough Tonbridge Schooldays only
577 West Malling Tonbridge, Weald of Kent School Schooldays only

Current fleet

Maidstone Arriva Depot

Tonbridge depot

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