Bluestar (bus Company) - History

History

Solent Blue Line logo used between 2003 and 2008.

Solent Blue Line was started by Southern Vectis on 25 May 1987, originally under the legal name Musterphantom Ltd. to expand the company onto the mainland and to compete with Southampton Citybus on some of its major routes. The company acquired the routes in Eastleigh the same year, which had previously been part of the Hants & Dorset bus service. From here the network expanded until in 2003 the network underwent a change, involving a new name and the launch of the Bluestar brand soon after, as a name for their premier services with Bluestar services one and two launching in 2004, the three and four service launching a year later and the waterside services eight and nine having fully launched by 2006.

The company, along with Southern Vectis, was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in 2005 and subsequently the head office functions of the company were consolidated with those of the other Go South Coast companies, Southern Vectis and Wilts & Dorset, in Poole. On 24 October 2006, Solent Blue Line acquired Marchwood Motorways (Southampton) Limited and Marchwood Motorways (Services) Limited (together, "Marchwood Buses") for £3.0m, with the assumption of £1.4m of net debt at completion - Marchwood Motorways had previously provided services to Solent Blue Line under franchise.

After the withdrawal of the Red Rocket brand on 25 February 2008, all of the company's services began to run under the Bluestar brand, with some exceptions. The fleet has recently undergone several updates, including the introduction of a smartcard system called the key, and the introduction of free Wi-Fi internet to all buses.