The Dart SLFs allocated to Hoeford, which were previously used on the Gosport-Fareham connection routes, have now been freed to operate across the network. This has meant that I've managed to get my first shots of any of 42126-42 (S626-34KTP, S635-42XCR) east of Portsmouth...
First up, here is 42130 (S630KTP) operating route 57 to Portsmouth. It is pictured outside Highbury Buildings in Cosham on Saturday morning.
These Darts sometimes sneaked into Portsmouth when branded, but now are used anywhere on the network. With the arrival of 12 brand new Volvo B7RLEs in the near future, these Dart SLFs will be cascaded onto other services replacing 12 step entry Darts.
I've never seen 42141 (S641XCR) on the 1, 1A or 1C set of routes before - here she is going through Cosham heading for Southsea and Portsmouth city centre. I still do find it strange seeing these Darts without branding. The branding was first applied in 2003.
However, these Darts still do form the backbone on routes 82, 83, 85 and 86 as the replacements have not arrived yet - nor has the BRT link opened yet. Here is 42138 (S638XCR) heading for Gosport on a route it knows very well - pictured leaving Fareham bus station on Saturday morning.
I hope these photos are of interest - certainly some new views of this familiar batch of Darts.
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