Tracing Coastliner bus service history as Stagecoach takes the route in a new direction

Changes that took place on Sunday, April 6, mean the Coastliner 700 service between Littlehampton and Worthing has been replaced by the new routes 11 and Coastliner 701.

In Worthing, the Coastliner 700 from Brighton now follows a new route to Tesco in Durrington and the Coastliner 701 follows the old Pulse route to Lancing, via Worthing Hospital.

Paul said: "Stagecoach has cut the 700 between Brighton and Littlehampton into short routes and has made it very unattractive to make long journeys along the south coast.

"It will be no longer possible to travel on one bus between Littlehampton and Brighton. These changes hope to overcome the unreliable service on this section of route due to worsening traffic congestion and delays at railway crossings.

"This major change to this well-known bus service has occurred a few months after the 50th annivesary – January 26 saw 50 years of the Coastliner' 700. It was started by Southdown as a daily, hourly, limited-stop bus service linking Brighton and Portsmouth via the towns along the south coast."

The coastal bus service between Brighton and Portsmouth dates back much further, however, as Paul explains.

"On October 18, 1919, Southdown started a new bus service, number 31. The service provided two return weekday journeys between Portsmouth and Worthing, via Chichester, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.

"A few months later, it was extended from Worthing to Brighton. The frequency gradually increased, so by 1926 it ran every 30 minutes between Southsea / Portsmouth and Brighton, with a journey time of five hours end to end.

"At its peak in the late 1950s / early 1960s, the frequency throughout the year was every 15 minutes. The 31 became one of the most frequent and longest local bus services in the country.

"On April 25, 1971, the service was split to improve reliability. The route was split at Bognor Regis to run as a connecting service, eastwards as the 31 to Brighton, via Sea Road, Littlehampton, and Rustington, and westwards as the 131 to Southsea. Both routes continued to be run with crew operated PD3 buses and on November 21, 1971, a new 31B variation included Ford instead of Climping Street.

"Four years later, on January 26, 1975, the 31 and 131 routes were replaced by a new limited stop 700 Coastliner service, running hourly between Portsmouth and Brighton, reducing journey times between the main towns.

"The new ‘one person operated’ double-deck Atlantean buses promoting the 700 on their sides were very successful in re-vitalising the route and attracting new passengers."