Cotterell



Cotterell Connections operates on behalf of Connections Travel and operates in the surrounding area of Cotterell.

Cotterell Connections has active contracts with Connections Premium and Connections Sightseeing and also operates the brand, Park and Ride.

Fleet
See the full fleet list for Cotterell Connections here:

FLEET LIST

About
Cotterell Connections was originally the founding name of the Connections Travel company and was launched in 1970 as a small operator that served few routes throughout Cotterell and the surrounding villages. In 2009, Cotterell Connections expanded and moved into the Bathwick Depot, which is the home of it today and proceeded to unveil their modern generation livery which was used on 120 and 121. In 2014, the company rebranded into a more modern look and developed the first generation of the livery that is the look behind the entire Connections Travel industry and by 2018, the company rebranded into Connections Travel with the addition of Devon Connections, where it proceeded to develop the CTHQ at Jackson Road.

History & Development
Cotterell Connections launched with multiple older vehicles in the 1970s which remain undocumented due to the fact that the company used registration plates instead of fleet numbers to hold their records.

The first version of fleet numbers were developed in 2013 and used on the 'newer' stock that they had which consisted of the Leyland Olympians (100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107) and additional ALX400s (120, 121). Further fleet numbers were added as newer stock was purchased and the original Alexander RLs were scrapped.

The official livery of Cotterell Connections remained only as the classic purple colours and a classic logo until 2009 when the first generation of the official livery was unveiled and given to the newly acquired and renovated ALX400s - 120 and 121.

By 2014, the livery was updated to the classic style of livery we know today but at a very basic point. The liveries were originally unveiled on the Leyland Olympian fleet and then proceeded to be added to the newer ALX400s that were being added to the fleet over time (120-140).

With the new livery also came the first style of route branding which was given to 125 and advertised the Route 9 livery to Hanah Village.

A key point in history also has to be in 2017 when Cotterell Connections launched a financial agreement with Arriva on providing new buses and services for the area. With the agreement, 135 - KU02 YBM was donated to Cotterell Connections and sported the Arriva Mix Livery before it was later scrapped due to fire damage shortly after the Arriva agreement had ceased. The financial agreement also supported the repaint of 130 - WA05 MGX that later became X31 COT, V31 COT and CC 30 that was styled into a Cotterell Intercity livery (which was a previous competitor to Cotterell Connections back in the early 2000s).



Cotterell Connections proceeded to grow and grow along with battling with the nearby competition of Stagecoach who had recently taken over the First Cotterell depot in 2017. In 2017, two new special types of stock was purchased to help commute staff around and provide maintenance support through the new Mercedes Sprinter vans (301, 302 - Which were later rebranded into 350 and 351 with the introduction of new ex-Arriva stock.

In 2018, Arriva permitted the allocation of multiple ex-Arriva Mercede Citaros including an ex-London bendy bus which took the fleet allocation of 301 - BX04 MXY. It is still unknown to this day, why 301 was chosen as the number when the support vans had already taken this allocation. It is believed there was a point in 2018 where both vehicles were used and staff referred them to 301 Bendy or 301 Van. The fleetlist reports that the old 301 - W646 WCA was reallocated to 350 and then proceeded to be scrapped and it was reported that 350 was never even physically seen on the vehicle before it was sent to scrap. The new citaros were a big step for Cotterell and were the first single-deckers that operated out of Cotterell. They proceeded as the strong face of single-deckers for years until Cotterell continued to advance and buy into newer stock. 2018 continued to prove good for Cotterell and they proceeded to secure a contract with the newly established Connections Hybrid by introducing the newest vehicles to the fleet as AH1 and AH2, the first generation of ALX400H as well as securing 560 and 561 as the first Trident3 ALX400s.

By the end of 2018, Cotterell began to grow its single-decker industry and invested into new MAN A21s (220, 221, 222, 223) which enventually ended up phasing out the old Citaros that were either scrapped, sold or sent to Devon Connections. 2019 provided further change as the first ever logo development was trialled for Cotterell on 181 - SF10 CAA which sported the 2019, new year, new us livery along with an attempt at a new generation of logos. 121 - SF53 BXB then carried the 2nd version of trial after discontinuing the route-branded colours that it previously carried. In the end, the 2020 rebranding took on a completely different approach but took the swooping divider that was trailed by 121.



2019 also provided a new investment into ADL stock with new E200MMCs (264, 265, 266, 267, 272, 273) and E400MMCs (530, 531, 532, 533) for Cotterell. These began phasing out the older ALX400 stock that ended up being reallocated to other regions. We also saw the introduction of brand new E40Hs (BH4, BH5, BH6) and the repaint of 506, 509 and 510) into the new pride colours with each bus taking a different colour of the flag. They were introduced in the running for the Pride Fest 2019. The liveries continued to stay and the dates were updated annually until the liveries were finally replaced.

In 2020, the newer livery was unveiled which was given to the majority of the fleet within the first year with many more expecting a repaint soon.

2021 also saw the acquisition of the Stagecoach Cotterell depot and fleet after Stagecoach pulled out of the area. The depot remained inaccessible for some time with some fleet locked from the ability to use. This saw the introduction of four digit fleet numbers (along with the introduction of London Connections a few months previous).

The vehicles acquired were immediately repainted into the new 2021 livery with 1906 - LY52 ZFB being the first, but some are expected to be immediately scrapped due to their unreliability and age. Cotterell had planned to remove the number of ALX400s it had in its fleet, however, the acquisition of Stagecoach Cotterell has given them a lot more to worry about.