Deregistering what was registered . . .

Dorset is turning out to be interesting these days.  Damory (Go Ahead) may have very much upset the county council by deregistering the several routes that they registered commercially a few months ago at the time of the county retendering exercise. These were routes that were deliberately registered apparently to block out Yellow Buses who had won those particular routes originally. The routes involved being 103 Bovington to Dorchester; 347 / 387 Poole to Dorchester; and 1, 2, 3, 4 Dorchester Town. Damory have also deregistered 7 Dorchester - Herrison Hospital, but this has always been commercially operated. 
An intriguing possibility mooted is that the county themselves mighty divert one of the two electric buses on order for their new 6 route from Dorchester to Poundbury and operate the 7 to Herrison directly themselves. 
All these changes happen from 18th February and it might well be poetic justice if Yellow Buses now regained the routes they had originally won. One thing for sure it is going to cost the county council a great deal of the money they thought they had saved by their new pan-global method of tendering!.

Around Casterbridge Town

So for once the driver's rumours have been shown to be correct, and their prophesy has come to pass.  The business of Coach House Travel of Dorchester (home of Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge) has been sold to Damory Coaches, the rapidly expanding Go Ahead subsidiary company which has recently gained a considerable percentage of the tendered bus and school work across Dorset.  This will mark the end of thirty years of independently operated town services in Dorchester, from Interbus through Bere Regis to Cawlett to Coach House.  Also transferring to Damory will be the long established Herrison Hospital bus route with its intriguing history: a route that has been commercially operated since Coach House Travel acquired it from the health authority in the mid-1990s.  Interestingly Damory are to operate the town services commercially - rather than under subsidy - when they take over in October.  Perhaps the real value of Les Watt's business to Go Ahead is for parking space rather than for the bus routes per se  (-: