Safeguard Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Guildford.
History
Safeguard was established in 1924 by Arthur Newman, when he converted an accident damaged lorry to carry passengers, and by 1927 was running bus services to the newly constructed Aldershot Road housing estate. Shortly afterwards, another service to Onslow Village commenced. However, the main company in the area Aldershot & District Traction challenged Safeguard with six months of competition. After this, the two companies agreed that Safeguard would run the Woodside and Onslow routes, and both companies the Guildford Park service. In time, Safeguard extended the Woodside route to Westborough and then to Park Barn, and the Guildford Park service reached Dennisville. In 1988, Farnham Coaches was purchased, adding a significant number of vehicles to the Safeguard fleet. In 2000, Safeguard gained the contract for the Guildford Shuttle, a free service connecting various parts of Guildford Town Centre. At first, a Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart SLF was acquired. This was replaced by an Optare Alero. However, this proved too small and so another Mini Pointer Dart was acquired. More recently, in 2002, Safeguard lost some school bus work and Onslow routes 10/11 to Countryliner after ten years. As a result of this, the bus fleet was cut from ten to seven vehicles. The Guildford Shuttle was withdrawn in August 2008, the council saying it was costing too much to operate. There had been fierce campaigns to keep it going before it stopped and since then, more protests to re-instate it. The local Liberal Democrats have been behind the campaigns. One 91-year-old man stayed on the bus for a whole day non-stop and surveyed users of the service. A decision to replace the service with an advance booking "dial-a-ride" services have been met with resistance, users claiming it is "inflexible" and that "people don't know days in advance when they will want to go somewhere and when they want to be picked up". Campaigners also reject the idea that there are commercial bus services that provide a replacement, as around half the route is on roads unserved by other buses. From January 2009, Safeguard reintroduced the service commercially, but it was withdrawn for a final time in May 2010.
Current services
Bus routes
Safeguard currently operate three circular bus routes, Route 3s which runs to and from Bellfields estate and routes 4 and 5 which run in opposite directions linking Park Barn with Guildford town centre. From 24 July 2010, Safeguard ran Merrow Park and Ride route 300 using Surrey County Council owned buses freed up following the withdrawal of the Ride Pegasus! school bus scheme by Surrey County Council. From September 2013, this service was being run by Stagecoach who won the contract to operate all of the town's Park & Ride network, Monday to Friday. For many years, Safeguard ran Guildford town services 3, 4 and 5 jointly with Arriva, however from 23 May 2010 the two companies agreed that Arriva would wholly run route 3 and Safeguard have complete control over the 4 and 5. As of September 2018 Arriva re-entered Park Barn with the A & B routes running in direct competition with Safeguard sparking a bus war between the two companies with Safeguard retaliating with re-entry to Bellfields.
Coaches
Most coach work is private hire, with a high amount of it coming from local schools. Coaches are also run to the University of Surrey from various places, including areas as far afield as Crawley and Chichester.
Farnham Coaches
Farnham Coaches was started in 1946 by Peter and Richard Parratt, operating from a yard next to the Bear and Ragged Staffpublic house in Wrecclesham, near Farnham. The company originally traded under the name "Petrich Ltd" but carried the "Farnham Coaches" fleet name. This operation was purchased by Safeguard in 1988, bringing six coaches into the fleet, most of which were Setras. The depot was not included in the sale, and Safeguard moved the operation to a yard off the A287 Odiham Road, north of Farnham. After some years, the purple and white livery has now been phased out in favour of Safeguard's cream and red livery. and the Setra fleet decreased.
