were cut after the city council was forced to implement spending cuts. One route entirely within the city is provided by Stagecoach in the South Downs. Branded as Hoverbus, it is operated in conjunction with Hovertravel and connects the Southsea Hoverport with Portsmouth Harbour and the railway station at . This was previously run by Tellings-Golden Miller as their only bus service in the city, however on the loss of their National Express contracts to Lucketts Travel their Portsmouth depot was closed in January 2009 and the bus and operation of the route transferred to Stagecoach. An inter-site bus service is operated by the University of Portsmouth to transport staff and students between different parts of the university. In summer 2012, Xelabus introduced an open-top service between The Hard and Eastney, restoring a form of service which had previously been common in the city but had ceased in 2002; however, the service was withdrawn in August 2012. Long-distance services Early years and nationalisation (1920–1987) Services originating outside the city were established in the 1920s by Southdown Motor Services and Hants & Dorset. The first was a joint route between Portsmouth and Southampton, introduced in 1922; this was followed a year later by a route linking the city to Winchester. In 1924 the routes were split at Fareham, with only Southdown continuing to serve Portsmouth. Two smaller operators in the area, Yellow Motor Service and Enterprise, were taken over by Hants & Dorset in 1924, returning their vehicles to Portsmouth. Some Southdown routes did not initially reach Portsmouth city centre, but stopped short in nearby suburbs, an early example being a route between Cosham and Drayton. In 1925, PCT extended one of its routes to cover this section. In response, Southdown extended its route to serve Portsmouth city centre. The routes reverted to their original form in 1927. During the 1930s, Southdown maintained a bus station in Portsmouth. In 1946 the company arranged an agreement with PCT to enable joint running on routes in Portsmouth. Both Southdown and Hants & Dorset became part of the newly formed National Bus Company in 1968. A new route along the coast from Portsmouth to Brighton was introduced by Southdown in 1975. In 1983 Hants & Dorset was split to form four new companies. The eastern end of its former operating area, which included its few services into Portsmouth, were merged with the former Gosport