Post by wirewiper on Feb 23, 2020 18:42:55 GMT
There's an interesting article on the "Devon Live" local news website, which gives a brief outline of how the bus routes of South Devon got their numbers, how they changed over time, and how this is still influencing Stagecoach South West's route numbering policy today.
The article explains why Exeter's city routes were (and still are) lettered, why Devon General routes were all renumbered in the mid 1970s - and why there is no route 33!
www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/truth-behind-how-devons-buses-3858631
The lettering of Exeter's city routes dates back to tram days. In the later years of operation Exeter Corporation started to give its tram routes letters to identify them. This tradition was continued when the trams were replaced by buses between 1928 and 1931, to avoid confusion with Devon General's country bus routes which already carried numbers - at that time the 2 operated to Teignmouth, the 3 to Tiverton and the 4 to Ottery St Mary.
After the Second World War Exeter Corporation and Devon General came to an agreement for joint operation of certain services in an area radiating up to ten miles from Exeter City Centre, this led to route numbers appearing on the Corporation's buses on routes out to places like Crediton, Cullompton and Heath Cross whilst letters appeared on Devon General's buses operating on City services.
In April 1970 Exeter Corporation sold its operations to Devon General, by this time part of the National Bus Company which had been created in January 1969 when the Government consolidated its directly-owned bus operations. The following year Devon General was in turn absorbed by its neighbour Western National, although retaining its own identity. Increasing centralisation and consolidation led to Western National renumbering all the Devon General routes in May 1975, with services in the Exeter area gaining numbers in the 300s and services around Torbay and South Devon being numbered into the 100s. Some of the renumberings had an element of common sense - for example, the Exeter-Sidmouth route 9 became the 339 - but some appeared rather random, such as the 27 to Cullompton becoming the 374. There are still traces of this renumbering today. as a number of Country Bus Devon routes radiating out from Exeter still carry numbers in the 300s (e.g. 359 to Moretonhampstead).
Western National was split into four in 1983 as a prelude to privatisation, and it was the introduction of minibuses in Exeter and Torbay in the mid-t-late 1980s that saw further changes. In the Exeter area, most route numbers were simplified by dropping the initial 3, so the 357 to Exmouth became the 57 and the 356 to Woodbury became the 56 - both numbers are still in use today.
In recent years Stagecoach South West has been bringing back the old Devon General numbers. On Exeter city services it has tried where possible to keep letters consistent with the destinations served, e.g. A for Alphington, B for (Marsh) Barton although this route now runs on to Exminster following the growth of housing development in the area. The D still runs to Digby, the E to Exwick, the H to the Hospital (Royal Devon & Exeter), the P to Pennsylvania, and even the recent changes to route J making it a circular service allowed the use of the letter I (for IKEA) on anticlockwise journeys. Route F is now further subdivided into F1 and F2 as housing development has caused the route to have two separate branches in the Beacon Hill area; and the forthcoming split of the currently-interworked E and F1/F2 at Exeter City Centre in May will see the Exwick loop operated as E1/E2. On the "country" routes, Stagecoach South West has more recently introduced a policy of bringing back the old Devon General route numbers where this can be done sensibly; the 2 once again operates to Teignmouth (and now on to Newton Abbot), the 4 to Ottery and Axminster, the 5 to Crediton, the 6 to Okehampton and beyond, the 9 to Sidmouth; and from May the 55 to Tiverton will become the 3 once again.
The article also shows how thought goes into the numbering of new routes. The open-top service 122 was numbered so as it shadows parts of routes 12 and 22, whilst the Dawlish open-top route 222 introduced last year supports parts of routes 2 and 22. When the 32 and 34 services in Torquay were combined into a circular it was decided to give the route a new number (35) to draw attention to the change, as well as A and C suffixes to indicate in which direction each bus was travelling. Why not 33? Apparently the number has been used several times in the Torquay area and for some reason the routes have never been successful, so it appears that Stagecoach South West has become a little superstitious about using it!
The article explains why Exeter's city routes were (and still are) lettered, why Devon General routes were all renumbered in the mid 1970s - and why there is no route 33!
www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/truth-behind-how-devons-buses-3858631
The lettering of Exeter's city routes dates back to tram days. In the later years of operation Exeter Corporation started to give its tram routes letters to identify them. This tradition was continued when the trams were replaced by buses between 1928 and 1931, to avoid confusion with Devon General's country bus routes which already carried numbers - at that time the 2 operated to Teignmouth, the 3 to Tiverton and the 4 to Ottery St Mary.
After the Second World War Exeter Corporation and Devon General came to an agreement for joint operation of certain services in an area radiating up to ten miles from Exeter City Centre, this led to route numbers appearing on the Corporation's buses on routes out to places like Crediton, Cullompton and Heath Cross whilst letters appeared on Devon General's buses operating on City services.
In April 1970 Exeter Corporation sold its operations to Devon General, by this time part of the National Bus Company which had been created in January 1969 when the Government consolidated its directly-owned bus operations. The following year Devon General was in turn absorbed by its neighbour Western National, although retaining its own identity. Increasing centralisation and consolidation led to Western National renumbering all the Devon General routes in May 1975, with services in the Exeter area gaining numbers in the 300s and services around Torbay and South Devon being numbered into the 100s. Some of the renumberings had an element of common sense - for example, the Exeter-Sidmouth route 9 became the 339 - but some appeared rather random, such as the 27 to Cullompton becoming the 374. There are still traces of this renumbering today. as a number of Country Bus Devon routes radiating out from Exeter still carry numbers in the 300s (e.g. 359 to Moretonhampstead).
Western National was split into four in 1983 as a prelude to privatisation, and it was the introduction of minibuses in Exeter and Torbay in the mid-t-late 1980s that saw further changes. In the Exeter area, most route numbers were simplified by dropping the initial 3, so the 357 to Exmouth became the 57 and the 356 to Woodbury became the 56 - both numbers are still in use today.
In recent years Stagecoach South West has been bringing back the old Devon General numbers. On Exeter city services it has tried where possible to keep letters consistent with the destinations served, e.g. A for Alphington, B for (Marsh) Barton although this route now runs on to Exminster following the growth of housing development in the area. The D still runs to Digby, the E to Exwick, the H to the Hospital (Royal Devon & Exeter), the P to Pennsylvania, and even the recent changes to route J making it a circular service allowed the use of the letter I (for IKEA) on anticlockwise journeys. Route F is now further subdivided into F1 and F2 as housing development has caused the route to have two separate branches in the Beacon Hill area; and the forthcoming split of the currently-interworked E and F1/F2 at Exeter City Centre in May will see the Exwick loop operated as E1/E2. On the "country" routes, Stagecoach South West has more recently introduced a policy of bringing back the old Devon General route numbers where this can be done sensibly; the 2 once again operates to Teignmouth (and now on to Newton Abbot), the 4 to Ottery and Axminster, the 5 to Crediton, the 6 to Okehampton and beyond, the 9 to Sidmouth; and from May the 55 to Tiverton will become the 3 once again.
The article also shows how thought goes into the numbering of new routes. The open-top service 122 was numbered so as it shadows parts of routes 12 and 22, whilst the Dawlish open-top route 222 introduced last year supports parts of routes 2 and 22. When the 32 and 34 services in Torquay were combined into a circular it was decided to give the route a new number (35) to draw attention to the change, as well as A and C suffixes to indicate in which direction each bus was travelling. Why not 33? Apparently the number has been used several times in the Torquay area and for some reason the routes have never been successful, so it appears that Stagecoach South West has become a little superstitious about using it!