Southern Vectis route 2

Southern Vectis route 2 is a bus service operated on the Isle of Wight by Southern Vectis between Newport and Ryde via Merstone, Godshill, Shanklin, Sandown and Brading. The general daytime frequency of the route is every half-hour each direction, although in the evenings and on Sundays fewer buses run. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route.

Route Rouge
The current route 2 was created in the 1985 revision of services, and ran between Sandown and Cowes via Shanklin over the following years, despite several different versions of associated route numbers 2A, 2B and 3. In the early 2000s until April 2006, the route number 2, and its associated 2B number, was used to flag buses providing services on the Route Rouge, a network of bus routes that crossed the Island, broadly from north to south. The network was started in January 2001, although route 2B was not added until November 2003.

The full Route Rouge service 2 ran from Cowes Co-op to Newport Bus Station via Cowes Cemetery, then to Rookley, Godshill, Whiteley Bank and Shanklin along the A3020 road. From there it continued to Sandown mainly on the A3055 road. Buses ran every half-hour during weekdays, but in the evenings and on Sundays this service was reduced to hourly or less.

Service 2B ran in addition to the main route on Sundays and on weekday evenings. It ran from Newport to Robin Hill, Arreton, Winford and Apse Heath, partly along the A3056 road. It then served Shanklin before continuing along the main road to Sandown. For some period buses on route 2B were extended to terminate at Dinosaur Isle. This route did not operate during the same part of the day as route 3B. It was less frequent than service 2. Services 3, 3A and 3B also operated under the Route Rouge branding.

In 2001, route 2 was extended from Sandown to Ryde via Bembridge, St Helens and Nettlestone, to replace route 1 which had been withdrawn between Sandown and Bembridge and was re-routed away from Nettlestone to Tesco. This didn't last long, with route 2 cut back to Sandown again from the next timetable dated 19 May 2002, and being replaced by route 12. Due to the reduction of route 12 over the next few years, from 31 October 2004 service 2 took over limited operations on the route from Sandown to Bembridge via Whitecliff Bay. One bus per hour, weekday daytime only, was extended from Sandown to Bembridge, also serving Bembridge Windmill. In this form, service 2 remained virtually unchanged until 2006.

Current Route
The current route 2 began operation on 1 April 2006 at the start of Southern Vectis' new network change. As such, when it first began operation Newport bus station was in the process of being redeveloped, and so along with most of Southern Vectis' other routes, it operated from Newport's temporary Litten Park bus stands.

Route
The route as it stands today retains most of the pre-2006 route. The section from Cowes to Newport was abandoned, and virtually all services on this corridor are now run by route 1. Services from Newport to Shanklin and Sandown continued with virtually no difference, except that the Route Rouge branding was no longer used. Service 2B was abandoned, partially replaced by the new route 8, and services from Sandown to Bembridge were transferred to the new route 10, although route 8 has now been extended over part of route 10 to Bembridge, with the 10 withdrawn.

In April 2007, most services on route 2 were extended from Sandown to Ryde bus station to complement the existing route 3 buses. On 17 March 2008, most evening services on the route were withdrawn due to a cut in local government subsidy. However, the evening service was later re-introduced after the next timetable change on 31 August 2008. More cuts were made in September 2010 which meant the route once again lost its evening service and ceased to serve Ryde, terminating at Sandown (as it did when the new network began in April 2006, having only been extended from Sandown to Ryde in 2007 as described above.) The Route also was changed to serve Merstone instead of Blackwater and Rookley, The Service 3 was changed to serve Blackwater and Rookley instead of Merstone, thus enabling the Route 3 to serve Rookley when the 2 doesn't run in the evenings. From April, 2011 the extension to Ryde was re-introduced on a trial basis, using the Oakfield High Street route into Ryde.

Services
A half-hourly service is operated in each direction during Monday-Sunday daytimes. Evening services run every hour.