Coastliner 700

Coastliner 700 Cruise along the coast
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File:Stagecoach ballbus.png
One of the new Coastliner 700 buses at The Hard Interchange, Portsmouth.
Overview
Operator	Stagecoach in the South Downs
Vehicle	Enviro 400, Enviro 200
Livery	Stagecoach livery with Coastliner logos and other images to be explained in the article
Status	Open
Night-time	N700
Route
Locale	Portsmouth
Landmarks served	Brighton Pavillion, Chichester Cathedral
Start	Brighton
Via	Worthing, Littlehampton, Arundel, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Havant, Portsmouth
End	Southsea
Length	6.24 miles (10.04 km)
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	10 mins
Weekend frequency	30 mins
Journey time	2 hours 20 mins
Operates	0505 - 0415
Route map Map ← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

Coastliner 700 is a popular bus service operated in West Sussex by Stagecoach in the South Downs between Brighton and Southsea. The route travels via Worthing, Littlehampton, Arundel, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Havant, and Portsmouth; it also has its own livery. The general daytime frequency of the routes is every ten minutes, and the route is a popular tourist lifeline in the summer as it travels between major tourist destinations on the south coast. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route, although there are also single deckers. The route has its own website, coastliner700.co.uk .

Route info

The service operates every 10 mins approx. up and down the south coast, stopping at several landmarks, among which are Brighton Pavilion and Chichester Cathedral. The Worthing Birdman competition at Worthing pier also attracts lots in the summer, as the route travels right along the road next to the promenade where it is held and takes people back to their various hotels and caravan sites, of which there are many in that region.

File:Old coastliner 700.jpg

The service has had its own livery from the beginning; 40 years ago it was simply a coloured strip along the side of the green Southdown bus; now it is the regular Stagecoach livery, blue, white, orange and red, with the route description on the side, and different buses having livery related to a certain town along the route, and slogans such as 'We took the Coastliner 700 to fun and fashion' and suchlike.

History

It started over 40 years ago, and the route is operated from 3 Stagecoach depots, Worthing, Chichester and Portsmouth, and normally run with branded Enviro 400s and 200s.

In Brighton, the bus is often though of as a bit of a 'foreigner' or visitor to the rest of the buses in Brighton with their cream and red livery. It is the only bus in the UK that stays quite so close to the shoreline throughout the whole route; for the majority of it the bus is on the very front, so that one could look out and watch the boats on the sea or the beach.

Services

The bus stop flags at Cambridge Junction, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The bus is every 10 minutes along the coast at peak, on evenings and weekends it is 30 minutes frequency. There is also a nightbus, N700, not included in the below table.

Summary of last and first times (weekday)(correct to August 2011)

Departure point ↓	First buses (towards Brighton)	Last buses (towards Brighton)	First buses (towards Southsea)	Last buses (towards Southsea)
Southsea	0711	2131	-	-
Portsmouth	0657	2141	0703	2122
Havant	0638	2211	0636	2056
Chichester	0555	2243	0636	2057
Bognor Regis	0616	2306	0610	2103
Arundel	0637	1838	-	-
Littlehampton	0641	2233	0545	2041
Worthing	0540	2245	0505	2347
Hove	0605	2312	0637	2317
Brighton	-	-	0625	2300

Gallery

Here are some pictures of the Coastliner 700 (click to enlarge):

• 
  An Enviro 400 branded for the service pictured at The Square in Emsworth, West Sussex.
• 
  Stagecoach in the South Downs 27511 (GX06 DZF), an Alexander Dennis Enviro300 in Queen Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire on route 700. It is unusual to see this type of bus on the Coastliner 700 service, which is normally operated by branded double-decker buses.
• 
  A Dennis Trident/Alexander Dennis ALX400. It is seen standing on Marine Parade, Worthing, West Sussex, England.
• An old Southdown bus for the 700, note the first dedicated route livery is just a stripe across the middle, instead of an all-bus paint job.
  An old Southdown bus for the 700, note the first dedicated route livery is just a stripe across the middle, instead of an all-bus paint job.

See also

• List of bus routes in West Sussex
• Stagecoach in the South Downs

External links

• Coastliner 700 Website
• Coastliner Map
• Coastliner Timetable
• Stagecoach South