When we heard from Aidan George’s mother Liz that the 5 year old bus fanatic from Portswood in Southampton was allegedly one of our biggest fans, we invited him for a behind-the-scenes VIP tour of Bluestar HQ!

Aidan was welcomed by our Operations Manager Alex Hornby who conducted a tour of the depot where the fleet of 80 single and double deck buses for both the Bluestar and Uni-link networks are washed, cleaned and maintained.

As well as a full insight to all the goings on at the ever-bustling Bluestar HQ, he also got to look at the huge bus and coach paint and refurbishment facility Hants & Dorset Trim, which is also part of the Go-Ahead Group and based next door in Eastleigh's Barton Park industrial estate.

During his visit, our new fleet of double deck buses were being prepared for service on Bluestar 1, and Aidan therefore became one of the very first people to sit in the driving seat of the new vehicles.

Liz George says that as a regular bus user between Southampton, Winchester and Portswood, Aidan has shown a remarkable ability to memorise timetables and information regarding the buses used.

Alex Hornby, who presented Aidan with a limited edition model Bluestar bus as a souvenir of his VIP visit, commented, “we were all really impressed with Aidan’s knowledge of our network and our vehicles and hope that he continues to enjoy travelling on our network for many years to come!”