Quality Line

Quality Line is a bus company based in Epsom; owned by RATP Group. Quality Line operates bus services throughout the South West London and Surrey area, with many under contract to Transport for London.

East Lancs Esteem at the Longcross bus rally in April 2007
ParentRATP Group
Founded1986
Spun off from Epsom Coaches
HeadquartersEpsom
Service areaSouth West London
Surrey
Service typeBus services
Routes10
DestinationsEpsom
Ewell
Morden
Sutton
Hook
Fleet66
Websitewww.ratpdevlondon.co.uk

History

In 1986 Epsom Coaches took advantage of the deregulation of the bus industry, and initially began operating hopper type services around the Epsom area.[1]

In 1997, Epsom Buses expanded into the London Bus market initially winning the tenders for routes S1 and 413 which were operated with Optare MetroRiders later being replaced by Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts.[1][2] Other London tenders were successfully tendered for including route 293.

In 2003, Epsom Coaches rebranded its bus division as Quality Line and repainted its vehicles from their traditional cream and brown into all over red to comply with Transport for London contractual requirements.

From July 2006 with the introduction of routes E15 and E16, Quality Line began to return to operating outside London with buses in their traditional cream and brown livery, however since the displacement of Alexander bodied Dennis Darts from route S1, buses outside London have been appearing in red once again. In late 2012 out of London buses were starting to appear in all over cream with burgundy flashes.

Until May 2007 the whole fleet consisted of only single decker buses. Since June 2007 Quality Line have operated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-deck vehicles on routes 406 and 418.[3] A number of single decker Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts were delivered at the same time.

On 20 April 2012 Epsom Coaches was taken over by the RATP Group.[1][4]

On 12 October 2012, Quality Line took over the commercial operation of Surrey County Council route 479 from Countryliner, who had gone into administration earlier in the week. On 15 October a service registration by Sunray Travel was accepted by the Traffic Commissioner, while Quality Line's was not, so it ceased operating the route on 16 October 2012.[5]

In June 2017 as part of a restructure of RATP's operations, Epsom Coaches ceased trading while the remaining operations continued under the Quality Line brand. It was brought under the same management as RATP's other London operations, London United and London Sovereign.[6][7]

On 1 September 2018, Quality Line recommenced operating route 293.

On 24 November 2018, route 411 was transferred from this garage to London United's Fulwell (FW) garage.

On 25 January 2020, route K5 was transferred to London United’s Tolworth (TV) garage.

On 6 April 2020, routes E9 and E10 were transferred to Metrobus, and routes E5, E16 and 408 were transferred to Falcon Buses.[8][9]

On 24 April 2020, routes 465, 406 and 418 were transferred to London United's Tolworth (TV) garage.[10][11][12]

Garage

Quality Line operates from a garage in Epsom.

Epsom (EB)
Alexander Dennis Enviro400 on route 418 at Kingston in December 2008

As of April 2020, Epsom garage operated NHS staff shuttle H1 and London routes 293, 404, 413, 463, 467, 470, 633, S1 and S3.[13]

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References
  1. History Archived 7 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Epsom Coaches
  2. Hymans, Michael (2016). British Coaching. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445661803.
  3. Wharmby, Matthew (2016). The London Enviro400. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. pp. 72–76. ISBN 9781473862319.
  4. RATP buys Epsom Coaches Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 20 April 2012
  5. Notices and Proceedings The Traffic Commissioner for the South Eastern and Metropolitan Area 26 October 2012
  6. The end of Epsom Coaches operation Coach & Bus Week 5 April 2017
  7. Epsom Coaches to close in three months time Route One 5 April 2017
  8. "E9 and E10 : Metrobus". www.metrobus.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. "6th April 2020 - 'Epsom's New Premiere Bus Company | Falcon Bus". www.falconbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. "London Bus Route 465". www.londonbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  11. "London Bus Route 406". www.londonbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  12. "London Bus Route 418". www.londonbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  13. Carr, Ken (May 2015). The London Bus Guide (5 ed.). Boreham: Visions International Entertainment. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-9931735-3-0.

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