All aboard that's going
ashore ~ Southampton cruise movements.
Yet
another opportunity to look at the mass movement of passengers through the SOC
area and one which is less obvious. For family reasons, during the summer of
2017 I have spent a great deal of time in Southampton ,
more than at any time since moving away thirty-one years ago. To make the most
of this opportunity I planned, wherever possible, to coordinate these visits
with days when there were major cruise ship movements.
Departing
from bay 1 at Victoria Coach Station on Queen Mary 2 passenger transfer,
Princess Coaches MA17 YJB, Scania K410EB4.
Southampton
is Europe's largest 'turnaround' cruise ship port with 27.7% of the market,
creating 11,000 (2014 figures) jobs in the south east region, with the total
cruise ship industry estimated to be worth £1 billon to the UK economy. The
city is home to the headquarters of Carnival UK , ultimate owners of P&O and
Cunard. In 2016, 462 cruise ships and 1.8m passengers passed through the port.
There is also an increasing market for the city from ships that call in as day
visitors, giving the opportunity for shore excursions to Stonehenge, Salisbury , Winchester etc,
whilst the city appears popular for shopping. The majority of ships whether on
turnaround or visit arrive around 7am and depart between 4pm and 7pm the same
day.
Princess
Coaches' drivers tend to use Mayflower
Park for layovers. Front
coach is DB09 PAB, Scania K340EB4 with Irizar C49Ft body. An unidentified
cruise ship is moored in berth 101.
For
many years the majority of local passenger and crew transfers were operated by
Marchwood Motorways and this continued for quite some period after the Go-Ahead
takeover. Passengers were shuttled between the various berths in both the
eastern and western docks, and Southampton Central railway station, whilst the
crew had a dedicated bus stop in Castle
Way (the flag is still on the pole). This year the
majority of local crew transfers were carried out by Princess Coaches using the
coach bay in Harbour Parade as a terminus. This is also the location used for
passengers making shore visits to the city centre. Various operators appear on
passenger shuttles, by far the most prolific being Morton's of Little London,
Basingstoke, using their fleet of three axial Volvo B9TL with either East Lancs
of Optare Olympus CH61/39F bodies, ideally suited for this type of mass
movement. Solent Coaches of Ringwood do local transfers using a pickup point in
Castle Way
between West Street
and St Michael's Street ,
denoted by an 'A' board placed on the pavement. Solent Coaches regularly use
three axial Neoplans and Volvos with Van Hool bodies, and these can often be
found later in Hill Lane ,
operating King Edward VI school contracts.
Photographed
'resting' in the Herbert
Walker Avenue coach bay, Solent Coaches Volvo B10M-62/Plaxton
C52F body. New in 1997 to Eassons, Southampton. Previous registrations, DAZ5054
and WNR 63.
Other
regular contract services include P&O crew transfers for those staff
joining or leaving the ship in Southampton , and
are operated by City Circle
from Hayes in Middlesex. By far the largest operator into the port in terms of
passenger numbers, vehicle size and fleet utilisation is Eavesway of Wigan. A
familiar sight on the motorways of Britain , with their Van Hool
TD921s, they have cornered the market in scheduled transfer services for all
major cruise lines and ports. On behalf of Carnival Lines they operate four
routes into Southampton: (a) Scotland and the North West, Glasgow, (03.30 departure,
£138 return), via various pickup points, Blackpool, Liverpool, Stoke to
Birmingham (10.15 departure, £75 return); (b) North East and Yorkshire,
Newcastle (05.00 departure, £124 return), via Hull, Leeds, Northampton to
Cherwell Valley Services (11am departure, £68 return); (c) North Wales, Bangor
(05.15 depart, £115 return), via Abergele, to Chester (07.15 depart, £92
return), and finally (d) South Wales, Pont Abraham (07.45 depart, £92 return),
via Cardiff to Swindon (12.00 depart, £72 return). Each service arrives into Southampton between 2.30pm and 3pm.
Resting
between crew transfers in Herbert
Walker Avenue, back to back City Circle coaches - a Neoplan and YT15
AUY, Scania K410EB6 with Irizar i6 C53Ft body.
The
best time to view the comings and goings is between 2pm and 4pm on days when
several ships are in port. This however will require a reasonable amount of
walking and some luck, as four port gates are used, one in, one out for the
eastern dock, one by Mayflower
Park in the western dock
and a second one near the Novotel. The distance between the furthest east and
west is just under a mile. Sun is also a problem at all the gates, so try for
an overcast day and, if you like coaches, you will love Southampton .
Returning
to port from the Harbour Parade terminus, Morton's of Basingstoke Volvo B9TL
with Optare Olympus H61/39F body. New to
Imperial, Southall, London
as YJ11 EMV.
A
regular operator into the port is Crawley Luxury (Brown), West
Sussex. BU14 SZK Mercedes Benz Tourismo. New to Chiltern Travel in
2014, exiting the dock gate onto Platform
Road after dropping off at Queen Mary 2. The Queen
Mary 2 is 149,215 tonnes, has 1253 crew and carries a
maximum of 2695 passengers.
All
hands to the pump on busy days, First Bus Hampshire & Dorset Dennis Trident
with East Lancs H49/30F body. New to First Bristol in 2000. Turning onto Town Quay after
completing a city centre shuttle.
Unusual
performer, Eavesway Travel Van Hool TDX21A CH52/5Ft, in an all over wrap for
Nissan, laying over in Herbert
Walker Avenue.
National
Express Group, Clarkes of London.
Mercedes Benz Tourismo C49Ft, new in 2010. Behind is P&O Azura, 115,055
tonnes with 900 cabins, 1226 crew and able to carry 3597 passengers.
Something
of a rarity in private hire fleets, Acklams, Beverley YX16 NWH, Volvo B11RT
with Plaxton Elite-i CH69/3Ft body turning into Town Quay.
Solent Coaches, Ringwood, 5505 ML, Neoplan
N2216/3SHDL C61Ft. New in 2012 to Bennett, Uxbridge as MJ62 OMT. Entering
Mayflower Roundabout returning excursion passengers to the ship.