No. 23 was one of 86 Fords operated by JMT, the main bus operator on the Channel Island of Jersey. Delivered between 1971 and 1986, most were new with a few second-hand examples.
Jersey did not prove a successful hunting ground for the transport pioneers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Operators came and went and it was not until 1923 that Jersey Motor Transport was founded. The company would survive for 80 years before losing the right to operate bus services when the local government handed the rights to operate the local bus network to a French company. The company has continued to provide limited seasonal services and the political arguments surrounding the decision have continued.
This bus is the first example of this chassis/body combination delivered to Jersey Motor Transport Co. Ltd. (all buses in the fleet at that time having synchromesh transmission) and placed in service October 1984, withdrawn following the transfer of the Jersey bus route network to Connex in September 2002 and stored out of use until export to Guernsey for use in connection with the Island Games in June 2003, along with the five remaining survivors of the twelve buses of this type bought new until late 1986 by JMT. As a result 23 was re-registered with a Guernsey registration, replacing the original Jersey mark.
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- Registration
- 47638 (Orig. J43063)
- Chassis type
- Ford R1015
- Chassis number
- BCRSEA40557
- Body type and seating
- Wadham Stringer B45F
- Body number
- 8537/84
- Date new
- October 1984
- Original operator
- Jersey Motor Transport (23)