Portsmouth's Limited Stop Era

Whether the Byng's application to run peak hour express coaches from the Waterlooville area to Portsmouth in 1970 was a wakeup call for Southdown and City of Portsmouth Passenger Transport Department (CPPTD) we will never know. But in 1974 the 150 operated by CPPTD, during the peak hours on Monday to Friday between Leigh Park and Portsmouth and the daily 740 Southdown service between Wecock Farm and Portsmouth were the start of the era. Less than two years later in 1976 virtually all London Road services were converted to limited stop. The new joint with Hants & Dorset service X71 between Southsea and Southampton also commenced at the same time. With falling passenger numbers and increased costs, limited stop services were watered down in 1981, but sadly ten years later it all came to an end.