Mercedes709D and 811D, Reeve Burgess / Plaxton midibusesThis page created 6th January 2006. by Ian Smith. Best on 800*600.SovereignSovereign was the other half of the old London Country North-East, divided up in January 1989. Operations were centred on St.Albans, Hatfield and Stevenage, the last reinforced by the purchase in January 1989 of Jubilee Travel in Stevenage. But the old LT garage at St.Albans was relinquished, buses out-stationed from Hatfield being parked outside overnight. Hatfield was closed in November 1989, with buses shifted to an open premises in Welwyn Garden City. The new livery was cream with blue bands, with a Hertsrider fleetname.
Sovereign 901-917, MB920-923
Jubilee had provided a substantial number of MCW Metroriders with its Stevenage operations,
and in the autumn of 1989 Sovereign set about buying some Mercedes 709Ds
to displace Leyland Nationals from the St.Albans network. Seventeen were ordered,
but two were diverted to sister company County Bus, who added an extra four to the order as well.
So Sovereign received thirteen buses (G901-913 UPP) plus two dual-purpose seated vehicles (G916-7 UPP).
They were initially delivered at Hatfield, but soon moved to premises shared with the council at St.Albans.
They took over operations on routes S2, S4, S5, S6, S7 and S9,
with Sunday operations on S2, 343, 356, 357 and 358, as they were delivered.
Early in 1990 three of the Sovereign buses (912-3 in February, 901 in March) were transferred to County Bus to join their new deliveries, as Sovereign prepared to relinquish most of their Stevenage operations to Luton & District in May. Later in the year two buses (908-9) were moved to the new Sovereign base in Harrow to act as trainers for the new operation in the Harrow area. January 1991 saw the return of the three loaned to County, plus the transfer in of those originally delivered to County (914-6) together with the add-on order for four that had gone to County (MB920-923).
This useful fleet of small buses continued to move around the Sovereign fleet as required,
spending time at North Mymms (the new operating base from November 1991),
the remnant Stevenage operation, with Welwyn-Hatfield line, St.Albans, and occasionally Harrow.
Later, in 1993 and 1996, most of them moved north within the Blazefield Group,
to Harrogate & District and Yorkshire Coastliner.
Mainly they stayed at Harrow for the duration of the contract.
They were given fleetnumbers, corresponding to registration numbers, in June 1993, along with the rest of the Sovereign fleet.
The 709Ds tended to stay with the Harrow operation,
but the larger 811Ds began to move around from spring 1995, (when a new batch arrived)
to wherever there was a need in the Sovereign network.
433-435Three more 811Ds arrived in early 1993, and were promptly painted in the new red and cream livery for the Welwyn-Hatfield Line. K3-5 SBC were numbered as 433-435 in June, in the general fleet numbering. This trio stayed until 2000.990-993These four 709Ds (K390-393 SLB) came on the scene in spring 1993, for Sovereign operations.442-454
Thirteen more 811Ds came in the autumn of 1993 and early 1994, for Sovereign fleet renewal,
and were distributed between operations at North Mymms, Welwyn, St Albans and Stevenage as required.
They mostly stayed with the company until the winter of 2000-2001,
when most were transferred away to other Blazefield companies.
Sovereign Harrow 455-461These seven were renewals for some of the Harrow operation 811Ds. But they did not stay there. Before long they were in use elsewhere in the Sovereign operations.Later liveriesSovereign adopted a livery including fashionable upswept diagonals at the rear, still using blue and cream, in about 1995. Later still repaints received the Yorkshire Coastliner style, found, as the name implies, in other Blazefield companies. This had black skirts, with a deeper blue band above, incorporating a red band.Sovereign closedown
Blazefield began to dispose of its London area operations.
The Harrow operations went to London United along with the rest of Sovereign London (the old BTS),
but by now the Mercedes had been displaced by low-floor Darts (mostly in 1999).
The St.Albans operations went to Centrebus of Leicester,
with a spattering of the younger Mercedes in January 2004,
and the last went to Arriva The Shires from the Hatfield operations in January 2005.
Others had been transferred to Blazefield's operations in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
One of the later buses, now Centrebus 454, still works the 304 to Hitchin in June 2005. The Yorkshire Coastline livery has been modified, with an orange instead of red band, with St.Albans & District fleetnames on orange vinyls.
Centrebus 451 in St.Albans on 15th January 2006.
|
Sovereign's big adventure in the autumn of 1990 was into London tendering in the Harrow area,
where they bought the old Venture base and set up a subsidiary company. They won four routes,
the H11 and H13 to start in December with 709Ds,
and the H10 and H17 to start early in 1991 with longer 811Ds.
Bus Stop
Beavers
County
histories