Invictaway
Invictaway was an express commuter coach service from Kent to London in the 1980s and 1990s, and was also a holding company for the emerging Arriva group. As a legal entity of the Maidstone & District bus company, after the cessation of the Invictaway coach services, the Invictaway company legal lettering persisted as a holding company for the Arriva subsidiaries in Kent, and some London operations. This company was based in the Armstrong Road M&D depot in Maidstone. This ceased in 1997 when the operations were reconstituted as Arriva London and Arriva Southern Counties.
History
[edit]The Invictaway brand was introduced in the early 1980s for the M&D Maidstone and Medway to London routes numbered in the 9XX range, and the Gatwick service 900, along with a black livery.[1] The Invictaway liveries all included the White horse of Kent, as a visual link to the county of Kent, the operating area of the services.
The black livery was applied to Leyland Leopards[2] and Leyland Atlantean double deckers.[3] A 919 coach route between London and Tenterden using dual purpose Leyland Leopards had existed since 1979, although this was not branded Invictaway.[1]
The Invictaway branding was applied to the exterior and interior of vehicles.[4]
The Invictaway livery's base colour was changed to a green based livery, based on the National Bus Company's coach livery, and the Invictaway names were reduced in size.[5] Later, with the privatisation of the NBC, the Invictaway livery was retained, with the NBC chevrons removed.[6]
In 1992 the green livery was simplified, with the introduction of some double deck coaches, long wheelbase Leyland Olympians with ECW bodywork, with distinctive sloped top front windows.[7] The forward stripes were removed, and the M&D logo sloped along the leading edge.[8] While the coaches wore Invictaway livery, as part of the M&D fleet, they could occasionally be seen on other local services when the need arose, and were also used on tours further afield. Some of the last coaches to wear the M&D Invictaway livery were a batch of J registered Plaxton 321 bodied Leyland Tigers.[9]
In the summer of 1995, the Invictaway services were rebranded into the Green Line network. The Kent version of the Green Line livery initially retained a reference to the Invictaway operation with the inclusion of the white horse. This was applied to two Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied coaches.[10] As an Arriva group sister company, this was also applied to some Kentish Bus coaches for Gravesend Green Line services,[11] and an M&D Duple Laser bodied Leyland Tiger.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Maidstone & District History". www.southbus.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 June 2002.
- ^ Image of a black Invictaway Leyland Leopard[permanent dead link]
- ^ Image of a black Invictaway Leyland Atlantean[permanent dead link]
- ^ Invictaway interior branding on an ECW coach[permanent dead link]
- ^ A Leyland Leopard PSU3B/4R with Duple Dominant II Express body in Invictaway NBC green livery[permanent dead link]
- ^ Image of post BNC Invictaway livery[permanent dead link]
- ^ Image gallery of the Invictaway ECW Olympians[permanent dead link]
- ^ Simplified Invictaway livery on a Duple Caribbean bodied Leyland Tiger[permanent dead link]
- ^ Image gallery of Invictaway Plaxton 321 bodied Leyland Tigers[permanent dead link]
- ^ Image Gallery of the Maidstone Green Line Volvo B10m's[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kent branded Green Line coaches[permanent dead link]
- ^ Duple Laser bodied Kent Green Line coach[permanent dead link]
