Southern England Bus Scene

Sunday Lost Scenes - 4th March

2012-03-04T12:03:00.000Z

This week's Sunday Lost Scene remembers an old favourite in Winchester...

Solent Blue Line 699 - A699DDL - Winchester (bus station) - 25th February 2006

This week there will be quite a few postings regarding different areas of First and possibly Stagecoach, so I thought this week's Sunday Lost Scenes would be for another local company. This is Solent Blue Line's Leyland Olympian 699, arriving in Winchester on BlueStar 1. For such an elderly bus, 699 was surprisingly treated to new colours in 2005.

Fast forward from 2006 by just four years and brand new state of the art Scania Omnicity double deckers were operating this route. Quite a transformation for one of the south's key services. 699 is long gone from Solent Blue Line now, and there are no longer any step entry buses in everyday service for the company now.

What type of photographer are you?

2012-02-29T11:00:00.000Z

I really enjoy this time of the year as each day, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting that little bit higher in the sky. Photography conditions are improving, which makes me want to get out more!

In the sun, photography conditions can be difficult - but you can also get some of your best ever photos due to the light. This leads me onto a question which I will attempt to answer for myself, but it is just one to consider when out and about. Would you consider yourself to be:

(a) a bus enthusiast who takes photos, or

(b) a photographer who takes transport related images.

(A) would be a bus enthusiast looking for as many sightings as possible, especially those rarer ones of a bus off route or similar. Regardless of the angle against the sun, the photo would be taken, as it would be more important to record the event than worry about the sun.

(B) would be a bus enthusiast who would get into a sun-friendly position, and not move, aiming to take the best photos of any bus that turned up. The focus would be on the angle of the sun, and this would involve ignoring even a rarely allocated bus if the sun angle was not suitable.

Now I reckon I am, unfortunately, more of a B than an A. I tend to get in a sun friendly position and will seldom take photos of buses heading the other way against the sun. For example, at South Parade Pier on Saturday, I stood on the promenade and took shots with the sun against my back. I ignored every bus heading the other way as the sun wasn't right. Luckily there were no rare allocations!

Can the two be combined? Probably, as it is important to get a balance. If I've never been to a location before I try not to worry about the sun until I get "settled". In my view, if you can get perfect sun you should try, although don't pull your hair out trying to do so.

Bright cloudy conditions - now there's an easy day's photography :-)

Sunday Lost Scenes - 26th February

2012-02-27T11:00:00.000Z

This week's Sunday Lost Scenes comes from Portswood in May 2008...

Accord Southern 18 - HX51LPZ - Portswood (St Denys Road) - 13th May 2008

Accord Southern took over from First Hampshire on the Unilink contract in 2001, and in turn were replaced by Solent Blue Line in 2008. Accord operated a varied fleet of buses on the Unilink routes, which included Darts, Omnicitys, Enviros, Volvo B10Bs, Omnidekkas and many more different types of buses. The most common type of bus were a fleet of locally bodied Caetano bodied Dart SLFs, new in 2001, which provided the core allocation on routes U2, U6 and U9.

Here is fleet number 18 heading for Townhill Park on a middle of the day U9. Since Solent Blue Line have taken over, the U9 has been cut back to peak only buses, which means this particular shot is now impossible. You can still get one U9 heading down St Denys Rd - this bus tends to be in the hands of a double decker now though.

Eclipse Update

2012-02-26T11:10:00.000Z

More details are becoming clear about Eclipse - the new Fareham-Gosport bus way. As we pass the 56-day notification requirement to change, introduce or cancel routes, the routes are now known. First Hants & Dorset have said they will confirm the routes very soon, both on the unofficial FHD enthusiasts forum and their facebook page.

All information is from recent VOSA releases, with some guesses and estimates thrown in. Therefore, the details of the information are not confirmed, but just what I see as likely.

There will to be two Eclipse premier routes - the E1 and the E2. These routes will operate daily. These routes appear to be roughly Fareham bus station - Fareham rail station - BRT - then one to Bridgemary, Elson and Gosport, and the other to Ann's Hill and Gosport. It has not been confirmed which one is which yet or the frequencies of the routes. The 82 and 86 have been cut altogether - which further backs this point that the E1 and E2 will become a new version of these old routes.

The third primary route to operate on BRT will be the a version of route 88. As posted here, the council documents claimed the peak service via Rowner and Stokes Bay would operate via BRT. This route appears to be newly numbered the X88, as the VOSA registration is for the 88/X88. There has not been an X88 previous to now.

VOSA confirm the 83 and the 85 remain. The 83 sees a change though - it will operate half-hourly during the Mon-Sat daytime, and be extended from Fareham bus station beyond to the rail station and West End. VOSA confirms the 83 is replacing the 31 town service circular route, as the 31 is cancelled.

Furthermore, the 85 will operate at every 20 minutes Mon-Sat and half-hourly on Sundays. VOSA has confirmed this alteration. We do not have the details of (a) the route, although I presume it will be along the A32, or (b) the bus type - Eclipse Volvos or First Darts.

No news on how the changes affect the 33, 36 or 87 yet, but these routes could easily not change at all. I'll bring you the official press release from First as an when it happens. Before I end, I just want to emphasise that, unless I've stated the information is from VOSA, I have filled in the gaps by estimating, so to speak.

We will be having a late running Sunday's Lost Scenes this week.

First Devon & Cornwall Cornish wins

2012-02-23T11:00:00.001Z

First Devon & Cornwall have won 12 contracts from Western Greyhound in Cornwall. This blog entry just details the routes won. It marks an exciting time for First Devon & Cornwall and a sad time for Western Greyhound - First need an extra 20 buses in to the area, where Western Greyhound will be given the opportunity to move on some of their Mercedes-Benz Varios without buying more buses.

* 500 - Truro to Helford Passage via Falmouth and Maenporth

A variation of the old Falmouth Explorer open top service, before it was made the 400 by First Devon & Cornwall (FDC). Western Greyhound (WGH) later won the contract, but First are claiming the service back.

* 511 - Penzance to Treneere via Manor Way

A Penzance service won by WGH a few years ago off of FDC when they ran it as the 11 - no doubt it will return to become service 11 from April 1st.

* 516 - Penzance to St Ives via Nancledra

Another route won by WGH off of FDC a few years ago - now returning to FDC. No doubt they won't be using these Mercedes-Benz 811Ds on the route this time :-)

* 534 - Redruth to Helston via Four Lanes

FDC winning Sunday services.

* 535 - Helston to Falmouth via Mawnan Smith, Constantine and Gweek

Originally bought into First with the takeover of Truronian, they then lost the contract only to win it back from 1st April.

* 537 - Helston to Lizard via Mullion

* 540 - Camborne to Truro via Illogan and Redruth

Another route returning to First Devon & Cornwall from 1st April.

* 542 - Camborne to Redruth via Pool

* 543 - Camborne to Truro via Illogan and Redruth

* 576 - Plymouth to Bude via Callington and Launceston

See the last Sunday's Lost Scenes for details.

* 582 - Helston to Truro via Rame Cross

FDC winning the Sunday and evening contracts from WGH to incorporate them into the existing route.

I hope this is of interest - I really just wanted to document this all in one place. Further changes are taking place - for example the Bude 128 is leaving FDC and moving to Stagecoach South, and the Bude 518/519 is moving to Jacketts. All change in Cornwall!

Lymington rail link

2012-02-21T11:00:00.000Z

The line between Lymington Town and Lymington Pier is being redeveloped at the moment, which means the usual weekday Class 158 or weekend Class 450 is curtailed at Lymington Town. The remaining journey is completed by one of Stagecoach South's South West Trains livered Volvo Olympians, and I was lucky enough to capture one in action last week...

16502 - NDZ3020 (previously R502UWL) - Lymington Town rail station - 15th February

Former Manchester based 16502 was my Olympian last week - pictured here reversing into the "bay" where the bus and train swap passengers. 158882 is in the background. Train and bus meet at Lymington Town at every 20 past and every 50 past (I think they arrive at 21' past to leave 4 minutes later) giving a rare photo opportunity. The LED also displays "South West Trains Lymington", although unfortunately it did not come out on this photo.

You will be able to get this photo opportunity until 29th March - I may return one day to get further shots.

Sunday (not so!) Lost Scenes - 19th February

2012-02-19T17:58:00.000Z

Today's Sunday Lost Scenes is a scene that will soon repeat itself...

First Devon & Cornwall 48273 - YG02DLV - Bude strand - 7th April 2008

Back in 2009, First Devon & Cornwall lost the contract linking Callington with Launceston and Bude. Operated by First Devon & Cornwall as the 76/76A, Western Greyhound took over the route as the 576, with First curtailing their operation at Callington (except peak workings to Launceston).

The situation is about to reverse. Western Greyhound has now lost the contract - one of 12 contracts across Cornwall that FDC have won. First Devon & Cornwall will operate the 76 all the way to Bude again, with Western Greyhound operating their 576 from Launceston to Plymouth, but at an improved and competitive hourly frequency. One peak journey each way will still also go to Bude.

So this Sunday Lost Scenes - of a Plymouth B6 in Bude - will very soon be repeated. Many thanks to a commenter on this post which tipped me off - this has now been confirmed. Interesting times ahead from April 1st.

Connection Darts freed into Portsmouth

2012-02-14T11:00:00.001Z

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.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 11th February

2012-02-12T11:00:00.000Z

My Sunday Lost Scenes today comes from April 2003...

16291 - R291HCD - Portsmouth (The Hard) - April 2003

The 69 once was part of a large number of cross-Hampshire routes operated by Stagecoach Hampshire. The 69 operated from Southsea all the way to Winchester, via The Hard, Portsmouth city centre, M275 / M27, Fareham, Wickham, Bishop's Waltham, Fair Oak and Twyford). Unfortunately in 2005/6ish, due to EU driving regulations, the Fareham-Southsea section was cut. This meant Portsmouth no longer had two Stagecoach companies operating in Portsmouth, and took away some of the variety.

The 69 was operated by a variety of Volvo Olympians and Volvo B10M single deckers during this period, with the odd Dart thrown in now and then. Here is a typical scene from The Hard back in 2003, with 16291 on the 69 in Portsmouth.

Truronian in Fareham

2012-02-11T16:00:00.000Z

Truronian's 20557 (TT05TRU) was a special visitor in to Fareham this morning...

Now I am reliably informed this is a Volvo B12B / Plaxton Panther, although as regular blog viewers will know, I am not too good at coaches. I am not sure why it is in Fareham - either a Truronian tour, or replacement for Greyhound. Certainly not rail replacement as all services were operating as usual today, and RR services don't often go into Fareham bus station anyway.

Certainly added interest alongside the usual - however the Barbie will be disturbed in the near future with the arrival of Eclipse. The bus station as it is now will be changed soon for ever.

Eclipse

2012-02-09T11:00:00.001Z

It is nearly time for Eclipse to be launched, and First Hampshire & Dorset's second bus priority corridor to be launched. Eclipse is the redeveloped Fareham-Gosport connection link, using some of the former railway between Fareham and Gosport. 14 brand new Volvo B7RLEs have been purchased for the route, and the first one is ready. See the First Hants & Dorset facebook site for photos.

It has been reported that the start date will be Monday 23rd April. Branded as "Eclipse - Above and Beyond" this new bus priority corridor is far more impressive and expensive than the last corridor on the A3 (Portsmouth - Clanfield), and should mean traffic congestion around Gosport on the A32 is alleviated. Maybe, passenger numbers will rise so high more buses will have to be purchased!

Buses have wi-fi, wood effect flooring, leather seats, GPS, real time updates, luggage space and more - all the features you would expect across any of the more inner city high profile bus corridors.

It looks like there are three main routes.

BRT1 - Fareham Bus Station - Fareham Rail Station - Bridgemary - Brockhurst - Elson - Forton - Stoke Rd - Gosport.

--- loosely a combination of routes 83 and 86 today, with added timing points.

BRT2 - Fareham Bus Station - Fareham Rail Station - Bridgemary - Brockhurst - Ann's Hill - Stoke Rd - Gosport

--- loosely a combination of routes 82 and 85 today, with added timing points.

BRT 3 - Fareham Bus Station - Fareham Rail Station OR the A32 - Bridgemary - Rowner - Privett - Stokes Bay - Alverstoke - Stoke Rd - Gosport --- loosely route 88 today.

There are several points of interest which will be revealed over the next few months -

1. What route renumbering will take place?

2. What will happen to the likes of route 33, 36 and 87 which still use the A32 but then head off to Newgate Lane? Will they use BRT to Palmerston Drive?

3. There still will be a service along the A32 to Gosport. Will this simply be the off peak BRT3 route, or will the 87 be increased in frequency? Will a brand new route appear?

4. What will the routes do to serve Gregson Avenue and Nobes Avenue in Bridgemary? It looks like BRT1 will be the only main BRT route to pass through Bridgemary.

5. Frequencies - what will they be? Routes 85/86 at present take about an hour (49 mins trip, with 10 turn-a-round time). Trips should be quicker on BRT - say 50 minutes - so a frequency of every 10 mins on BRT 1 and 2, with every 20 or 30 minutes on BRT 3? The service is already every 5 mins across the 82, 83, 85 and 86 in the weekdays and this probably won't be allowed to drop.

6. Which Darts will subsequently be withdrawn from Hoeford?

Ah well, all interesting and will be revealed in a few weeks. There is already a section for "Timetables" on the Eclipse website, but no link yet.

Update from Portsmouth Hard

2012-02-07T11:00:00.000Z

Portsmouth's Hard has always been one of my favourite places to photograph. Firstly, when I was younger, it was down to the fact buses stood still and were parked on bays. However, nowadays it is due to the fact that the sun is excellent throughout the day, and you had a good number of services passing through. Today's post just illustrates some of my shots from a half hour visit on Saturday morning.

First up, here is one of the former Tridents used at Chichester for route 60. Venturing across the south coast on route 700, 18310 (KX05TWG) arrives at The Hard in splendid February sunshine. It was new to Stagecoach Manchester.

You can go pretty much anywhere in the Stagecoach empire and see this combination - a Dart SLF with Pointer 2 bodywork. Here is 34411 (GX53MWA) arriving on route 20 from Havant. 34411 was new to Winchester depot.

First this time - I first captured 41636 (R636VLX) on camera at Heathrow Airport in October 2003 - a few years later it turned up at First Hants & Dorset! It is pictured heading for Hilsea on route 6A.

First Hants & Dorset is one of the few places where you can still find quite a few Mercedes-Benz Varios in service. All the Hampshire ones are allocated to Hilsea depot, and here is former Midland Red 52513 (S533RWP) arriving at The Hard on a 14.

First Hants & Dorset are one of only 3 places in the First empire to use this combination - Scania Omnicity single decks. Here is 65019 (YN54NZT) pictured on First in Portsmouth's premier route - the 17 / 18 circular.

Finally, to commemorate Charles Dickens' birthday, First have named 5 Volvo B7RLEs after his books. 69392 (HY09AOR) is Oliver Twist, and is pictured here on the Saturday only Park & Ride contract.

Thanks for viewing.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 5th February

2012-02-05T11:13:00.000Z

A very recent Sunday Lost Scenes today...

Thompson's 024 - WFX257S - Ringwood (Meeting House Lane) - 6th April 2010

For a few years, Thompson's Coaches operated a Tuesday and Saturday only route 238 between Salisbury and Bournemouth, via Christchurch, Ringwood and Fordingbridge. They used heritage buses such as Leyland Nationals and Leyland Olympians, and aimed to capitalise on extra traffic caused by Salisbury's market, or those wishing to travel in heritage style rather than on Wilts & Dorset's brand new Scania Omnicitys.

Former People's Provincial WFX257S was one of the Leyland Nationals used. Acquired out of preservation, the Thompson's logo was simply added and she was pressed into service, earning her keep for even more years. Sadly, the service was not financially successful, and was dropped shortly in 2010. Good news is that WFX257S has now passed back into preservation, and is being lovingly looked after by one of the FHD forum members. It is great to know this bus is still around, reminding us of her past.

Still Going Strong!

2012-01-26T11:00:00.002Z

It was announced on the First Hants & Dorset forum last week that the three remaining former People's Provincial Dennis Darts may not see past April, with Volvo B7RLEs for the new Eclipse routes imminent.

Purchased in 1995 as the last batch of new buses to People's Provincial, 7 locally bodied UVG Urban Star bodied Darts entered service in Provincial green and cream. Taken over by First, these quickly were repainted into red and cream and have formed the backbone of many services ever since. Three remain in service from the initial batch - one is 47302 (N602EBP), pictured here on route 88 in Gosport bus station.

The Provincial Society organised a running day last month to celebrate the final three - here is 47304 (N604EBP) on that day, pictured on route 33 heading for Hill Head. No doubt intentional, the Darts operated routes 33, 34 and 36 - three routes that have changed very little since those Provincial days.

The final one in service still is 47307 (N607EBP) - numerically the last. She is pictured in Stubbington earlier this year on route 33 on a very sunny morning. It will be sad to see these go - especially as it has been suggested they are on their last legs, and thus any preservation attempts would be expensive.

First to go was N605EBP - the only one never to receive First's Barbie national livery (it was scrapped in Barbie 2). This one went in October 2009, followed next by N601EBP. This one was delivered with a calculator style number display and internal LED display - the one one to receive these features. I believe it was the regular rally bus in it's initial years. The next to go was N603EBP - followed in 2011 by N606EBP. Catch the remaining three while you can! Your most reliable routes are anything around Fareham - particularly the 33, 34, 35, 36, 57, 87/87A and 88.

Isle of Wight artics

2012-01-24T11:00:00.002Z

Go South Coast have received a number of Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses from London Central, following their withdrawal in London. Although their specific use has not yet been identified, they have joined the coach fleet - now located at various places on the Isle of Wight.

At least 4 are now located at Ryde depot - as is illustrated in this photo to the left. Fleet number 2903 (BX54UDG) is pictured on the left of the screen, with sister 2910 (BX54UDY) on the right. They have joined a rather large fleet of ex-Go Ahead London Volvo Olympians and Volvo B7TLs which can be found on the island. We expect these bendies to form the main capacity of several of the island's high profile events this year, such as the Isle of Wight festival, although nothing has been confirmed yet.

Go Ahead London's Isle of Wight outstation - in view are 1x Volvo Olympian, 4x Mercedes-Benz Citaro artics, and at least 10x Volvo B7TLs.

Just another note - all the Optare Tempos on the island have now moved on with most now in service from Wilts & Dorset's Poole depot. I aim to go to Poole over the next month and will post photos when I have them.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 22nd January

2012-01-22T18:48:00.000Z

This week's Sunday lost scene comes from Ryde...

Southern Vectis 247 - P247VDL - Ryde bus station - Summer 2002

10 years ago this summer, Iveco TurboDailys with 2+1 coach seating were the regular buses on route 4, connecting Ryde with East Cowes. The service back then was operated by a variety of Ivecos brand new to Southern Vectis, some ex-Stagecoach Devon examples, along with two former Solent Blue Line buses. PVR was 2, and the route was operated at every 30 minutes.

Fast forward to nearly 10 years in the future, and we now have Optare Solos on the route. You will note that this particular Solo is less than a year younger than the Iveco that was replaced back in 2005. 2621 (R621NFX) is pictured on the now hourly route 4 yesterday.

However, I must qualify some information with this post. The decrease in route 4 from two to one bus per hour, has been met with an increase to 6 buses per hour from Ryde to Newport. Furthermore, the Solo gives extra seating capacity plus low floor capability. Moreover, the Ivecos were directly replaced by MPDs - a significant upgrade to the route. Many of these are now found at Salisbury, unfortunately - where this particular Solo was operating in 2005. Finally, as often commented on Omnibuses, the Solo has only just been withdrawn from production - therefore 61 plated Solos can look identical to R plated Solos, and serve the customer no less well.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 15th January

2012-01-15T11:00:00.000Z

Today's Sunday Lost Scenes is a sight recently departed from Basingstoke...

Newbury Buses 501 - RX07RKV - Basingstoke (rail station) - 15th March 2010

The Link - also known as route 32 - operates between Newbury and Basingstoke, connecting the two towns at a frequency of every hour. It uses two buses, with an extra in the peaks. Until last autumn, the route had been a joint initiative from Stagecoach and Newbury Buses, with Stagecoach using one of two former Manchester Tridents, and Newbury Buses using this. 501 (RX07RKV) - a MAN 18.240 with East Lancs bodywork, which was brand new as a unique example initially to Reading Buses.

Last Autumn, Newbury Buses gave up their share in the route, as the the company pulled out of Newbury, concentrating on Reading (as part of the larger, parent Reading Buses company). Stagecoach now usually use two Tridents, which means a little piece of hourly variety has been lost in Basingstoke, unfortunately.

Farnborough trip

2012-01-10T11:00:00.000Z

On Saturday, I visited Farnborough for the first time as I opened my photo account for 2012. Farnborough is served mainly by Stagecoach South (the Aldershot arm), Countryliner, and the former independent Countywide Travel, recently taken over by Stagecoach bus still running in their own guise.

The main route in Farnborough is Stagecoach Gold 1. The route operates between Camberley (Old Dean) and Aldershot at every 10 minutes, using a mixture of gold livered, leather-seated MAN 18.240/Enviro300s and Enviro300 integrals. Here is MAN 22745 (GX58MVJ) pictured outside Farnborough main rail station.

Two Enviro300 integrals entered service on route 1 in 2011, when the frequency was increased. This also marked a slight rebrand from Goldline to Stagecoach Gold. 27756 (GX11AKZ) is pictured outside Farnborough main railway station.

The secondary route that Stagecoach operate is route 2, connecting Camberley and Aldershot along different roads. This service operates every 30 minutes and tends to use Dart SLF/Pointer 2s - such as 35152 (GX56KWG), as pictured here.

Stagecoach also operate a town service - the Yo-Yo. It operates at every 10 minutes, using three Optare Solos. Some are branded, such as 47243 (GX55DXM) pictured here.

Some non-branded Optare Solos are also found out on the Yo-Yo. Here is 47312 (GX06DYP), pictured in Farnborough town centre. The January shadows were long on Saturday, but they didn't hamper photographs too much depending on where you went.

There are some Countryliner services - all of which seem to use Dennis Dart MPDs. This is DP1 (RL51CXB), pictured on route 11 outside of Farnborough railway station. As discussed, Countywide Travel (Fleet Buzz) also serve Farnborough but I posted those photos on Saturday.

I will return in a few months - (a) to see if Countywide Travel have changed at all and (b) to finally photograph in Aldershot.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 8th January

2012-01-08T11:00:00.001Z

This Sunday's lost scenes is from Weymouth in June 2004...

First Hants & Dorset 42827 - T827AFX - Weymouth King's Statue - 1st June 2004

My shot this week illustrates a lost livery and a lost style of branding. Weymouth depot repainted their T reg Dennis Dart SLFs in 2002-3 into Barbie 2 livery. Barbie 2 was applied to vehicles that either were step entry, or didn't have the First corporate interior. In actual fact, some buses were wrongly painted into Barbie 2, or wrongly not painted into Barbie 2. One incident to illustrate this was when Hoeford depot received Dart SLF/Marshalls P136NLW and P137NLW in 2003 - one came in Barbie 2 and one came in low floor fleet livery, despite them being identical vehicles.

42827 is actually painted correctly, due to the lack of a corporate interior. Dart SLF/Pointer 2s were rarely painted into Barbie 2 because the majority were new to First, rather than the preceding independent company. T826-9AFX were acquired by Southern National - not First - hence this rare occurance.

I actually thought this livery quite suited these Darts and, as I only managed to capture two on camera, it was a sad day when they were repainted out of the livery. They still regularly find themselves on route 2, and are still at Weymouth for the majority of their time.

Stagecoach Countywide Travel

2012-01-07T17:35:00.000Z

Towards the end of 2011, Stagecoach bought the Fleet based company of Countywide Travel. Countywide Travel operate a number of routes around northern Hampshire and Berkshire, including services to Reading. It brings Stagecoach into new areas, as well as complementing their services around Farnborough and Aldershot.

Countywide Travel buses have all remained in yellow so far and there are no public plans to repaint them into corporate Stagecoach colours. However, newly introduced in 2012 are the buses wearing their Stagecoach fleet

numbers. This is Solo MX08UZM, numbered 52 by Countywide and 47738 by Stagecoach. It is pictured outside Farnborough rail station earlier today on Saturday only service 73M.

On a Saturday, Farnborough only sees one regular Countywide Travel service - the 73M. It is operated by two buses, and the second today was MX08UZL, numbered 53 by Countywide Travel and 47739 under Stagecoach. It is again seen at Farnborough rail station.

Over the coming months we await the developments with interest - when will the first bus wearing corporate colours see service on a Countywide route?

Cut of the 347 / 348

2012-01-05T19:44:00.002Z

Hands up if you saw that coming? Yes, probably lots of you, but strongly rumoured by sources (and the Dorset bus blog, which is usually reliable so it is probably true), is the cut of the commercially operated Damory Coaches 347/348 service between Poole and Dorchester.

The 347/387 is a rural route connecting the county town of Dorset, Dorchester, with Poole, via villages at Tolpuddle and Puddletown, the military town of Blandford Forum, and various suburbs of Poole. Damory have been operating this very rural route commecially since last summer.

The story behind the 347/387 is that, following retendering, Bournemouth Transport (RATP Yellow Buses) won the route, along with First's 31 from Weymouth to Axminster, Dorchester town services and more. Yellow Buses were expanding west, threatening First and Go South Coast land. First and GSC hit back by registering the 31 (First), 347/387/Dorchester town services (GSC) commercially, although questions were asked back then what motive they had - was it to save Dorset county council money, or protect their empire? In the end, Yellow Buses did not expand into the west (bar a 4d hourly service to Wimborne, previously unserved).

And now this week - it seems as if the route has been deregistered commercially. No confirmation yet. The questions now are:

* were GSC really trying the save Dorset County Council money, running the route commercially, trying to defy all those who said it was not commercial?

* were GSC just trying to protect their empire?

* were GSC always going to deregister the commercial route?

* were GSC just trying to block Yellow Buses' expansion west regardless of actual financial outcome.

Even if the news turns out to be false, all the questions are still valid. I will pass no opinion here as I think, without all the facts, that would not be appropriate. Even if the changes are true, they are both legal and have been beneficial in saving Dorset County Council money. Moreover, GSC have the right to defend their empire.

I hope that the intentions were good and honest, at least in the beginning. However, with the experience of BeepBus! and Velvet of 2008/9, we know such actions haven't always been morally correct...

Sunday Lost Scenes - 1st January

2012-01-01T11:00:00.004Z

How could I start the new year any other way than remembering back to the Friends of King Alfred Buses rally of yesteryear. I write this before the actual day, so am not sure whether I actually made it to 2012's rally, but time will tell! I return to 2004, and the rally where Provincial's A301KJT made it's debut in service...

First up, here is a line up of King Alfred livered buses, photographed in Winchester city centre in the Broadway. I am not an expert on buses pre-1990, so I cannot tell you what they are. We have POU494 leading with a service for Worthy Down.

Here's another King Alfred livered bus - this time HOR592E, a Leyland Atlantean that I believe once saw service with People's Provincial. It is pictured on one of the free tours to Oliver's Battery.

Another Leyland Atlantean, this time Silver Star livered 1013MW, pictured leaving Winchester bus station. Since this photo was taken, the lettering has been removed from the famous arch, although the planned redevelopment has not happened.

Another fantastic bus - this time Eastbourne Corporation livered AHC442 pictured along the Broadway in Winchester city centre. I managed to get to Winchester for 2005 (although I can't find the photos), but haven't been back since...

A Hants & Dorset livered Bristol RE, blinded up for the 47 to Southampton. At this point in time, I believe the 47 to Southampton had not yet become the BlueStar 1, so this photo is accurate. The bus is XLJ726K, and is pictured in Winchester bus station.

Sunday buses from Winchester to Hamble! Yes, they really did happen! One of Solent Blue Line's then brand new Transbus MPDs - 577 (SN03ECC) heads along a route which is now the Baby BlueStar E1, Velvet A and Brijan 15... the bus is now with Wilts & Dorset.

And finally, here is First Provincial livered 401 (A301KJT) making her operational debut at a rally. 401 had recently been taken out of service by First Hampshire, and was purchased fresh from service. She is blinded for the 67, which I assume headed in the direction of Alresford and Petersfield.

I wish all of my readers a very prosperous new year, and if you attended Winchester 2012, I hope you had a fantastic day.

Basingstoke's new Enviros

2011-12-29T11:00:00.001Z

Stagecoach South have received some new Enviro200 single deckers for Basingstoke and Aldershot town services. There are 13 in total, with 5 going to Aldershot and 8 going to Basingstoke. Fleet numbers and registrations are:

Aldershot: 36431 - 36436 (GX61AYJ / L / M / N / O)

Basingstoke: 36437 - 36443 (GX61AYP / S / T / U / V / W / Y / Z)

Yesterday I managed to get to Basingstoke, and took some photos of the new Enviros.

36437 (GX61AYS) was numerically the first one that I managed to photograph. They have been purchased to upgrade route 3, a cross town service that runs every 10 minutes on Mondays - Saturdays.

Two of the new Enviros pass Basingstoke railway station every 10 minutes, and this location is where my photos are from. Here is 36439 (GX61AYU) having just loaded passengers on now heading for South Ham.

At least one Enviro is branded for Jazz 3 - the route they are to be allocated to. Here is 36440 (GX61AYV) loading passengers outside Basingstoke rail station and about to head for the bus station and East Popley.

Finally, here is 36443 (GX61AYZ) again standing outside Basingstoke rail station on route 3. I've left myself with two more to photograph which will keep interest in Basingstoke for the next time that I visit.

Will have to try and get Aldershot's 5 now!

For photos -
* click here for all of my Basingstoke photos from yesterday
* click here for all of my photos of Basingstoke's Enviros

Plugging...

2011-12-28T15:35:00.000Z

This is a simple post just advertising various forums I am part of that also cover the south coast. We welcome new members, whether you just have a passing interest in the company, or you are a regular spotter / photographer, to management in the companies.

The First Hants & Dorset bus forum - a friendly forum covering all of First Hants & Dorset - from Havant to Yeovil, Portsmouth to Exeter. We cover all the latest sightings, fleet developments and photographs and will be the place to be with upcoming BRT and Weymouth Olympic developments (hopefully!). Also cover other local companies, trains and ships...

Please note, due to spam, please contact me directly either by leaving a comment on this post or on the non-log in area on the forum to join.

The Stagecoach South forum - an ever growing forum focusing on Stagecoach South, with correspondents all over the company reporting on local sightings and movements. We also have a Stagecoach South East section, which we would really like to expand, so can you be that person? We've just had one of our most popular months and hope to keep growing strongly over 2012.

Go South Coast forum - the place to be for news regarding Go South Coast, focusing on BlueStar, Wilts & Dorset, Damory, Southern Vectis and more. Also regular inputs from Bournemouth Transport, Velvet and Stagecoach. Again, you will have to contact one of the mods on the forum to join, due to spam.

And my Southern England Bus Photographs website - I've really pressed on with the updates now and online are First Hampshire/Dorset/Somerset & Avon/Bristol/Cymru/Berkshire & London, with First D&C being finished, along with Stagecoach South/South West/West/South Wales and more, BlueStar, W&D, SVOC, Yellow Buses and many more - lots of photos are now online.

Please contact me for any more information :-)

Thanks all

Remembering Stagecoach on the A

2011-12-27T11:46:00.000Z

As there are not many things happening during this precise week, between Christmas and New Year, I thought I'd remember Stagecoach's 3 and a bit years operating on Sunday's route A, between Eastleigh and Hedge End. This post is also dedicated to the regular driver on the Stagecoach A, who I'm going to leave unnamed at the mo, who helped with many of these photos! Thank you :-)

33027 - NDZ3017 - 21st March 2008
My first picture comes from one of the first weekends' of Stagecoach operation on route A, and shows two views of Dart SLF 33027, firstly in the sun at Mansbridge, followed by another view of the same bus at Hedge End superstores.

The A took Stagecoach into land where they have not served for many a year and, to me at least, seemed quite a strange decision initially. Now it is sad they've disappeared, which mean my local SC services either are at Fareham (69) or Southampton (46).

33028 - NDZ3018 - 27th September 2009

Darts and Enviro200s were the main buses on the A - particularly 33027 and 33028, unbranded former Winchester Park & Ride buses. Here is 33028 at a very sunny Hedge End superstores in September 2009, heading back for Eastleigh.

18527 - GX06DYC - 2nd April 2010

Double deckers did not regularly feature on the A, although on Bank Holidays Stagecoach did tend to use the buses in case of extra high loads. Furthermore, on days where the Rose Bowl cricket ground had England matches, double decks were used. Here is 18527 freshly repainted and transferred to Winchester, following the delivery of new Scanias for Coastliner700.

18519 - GX06DXT - 20th March 2011

I'm not sure if 20th March did have any particular bank holiday associated with it, or whether this was just a one-off allocation (I can't remember), but here is Rivers branded Trident on route A at Hedge end, making a rare foray south. The Rivers Tridents are usually allocated to routes such as 64/65 to Guildford, or 69 to Fareham. Again, another shot not down to luck but thanks to the Sunday A's regular driver - much appreciated again!

Alas, the days of Stagecoach on the A are over and now First have control of the Sunday contract. With Stagecoach also venturing to Eastleigh on the C and E Sunday contracts during this time, and regularly covering the Rail Replacement services, Stagecoach could be back one day...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T11:00:00.000Z

I would like to wish all of my readers a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and I wish you all the best for the new year.

Thank you all for your kind support this year - whether you are a casual reader, or one of my followers who adds information to the posts through the comments they make. I don't post as often as I would like to, but I have no intention of giving up the blog and hope that 2012 is going to be an even better year.

Kind regards to all,

James

Sunday Lost Scenes - 18th December

2011-12-18T21:22:00.000Z

This week's Sunday lost scene comes from The Hard in 2003...

Dennis Dart 32430 - 404DCD - The Hard, Portsmouth - March 2003

Remember when the 21 was step entry Darts advertising a service to Sainsburys and air conditioning? Replaced in 2003 by the same back of Darts that operate on the 21 today, Farlington depot previously used former Hong-Kong step entry Dart / Pointers, in the old stripes livery.

The buses' last few months in service were just as I started to photograph buses. Indeed, their replacements, the 34445-54 batch of Transbus Dart SLFs, was my first "brand new" batch of buses I'd ever photographed. It was sad to see these ones go, but I'm glad I managed a few photos before they went away for good.

Just to let all viewers know that my Stagecoach South collection on my smugmug site is now nearing completion - feel free to have a look for more trips down memory lane!

Seaton - Bridport 152

2011-12-15T21:20:00.000Z

To continue with the Lyme Regis theme, today's post returns to the summer of 2006. In 2006, Stagecoach Devon ran a competitive service against First's X53 from Seaton to West Bay, via Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Bridport, predominantly using Mercedes-Benz Vario minibuses.

Stagecoach Devon 42102 - R102NTA - Lyme Regis - 27th July 2006

The 152 was an extension to Stagecoach Devon's hourly 52A to Seaton, connecting at Seaton to form a link into Dorset. I believe the service was a commercial venture, using one bus. For-seeing that this service may be a one off, I managed to photograph a working in the summer of 2006 and I've also saved the timetable:

For a full size copy, please email me. The 152 seemed to take good loads during the summer, but without a lot of publicity and against the X53 it was unlikely to take off. However, it was a lovely little venture from an enthusiast point of view - it brought Stagecoach Devon into Dorset, and allowed me to photograph my first ever SCD bus.

Dirty Damory

2011-12-13T22:05:00.001Z

The new order on the Lyme Regis town service are Damory Optare Solos, since the contract was won from First earlier on this year.

Damory 3708 - MX07NSV - Lyme Regis (post office)

The 71 was taken over by First in the summer of 2004, with a slimline Solo that was new as a demonstrator. Branded as connecting the Jurassic Coast, it was part of the big push with the arrival of the X53 Scania Omnidekkas, and the rebrand of the Dart SLFs from Southern National green and cream into First Barbie livery.

Damory took over this year, and I've managed to get to the Dorset town to picture the bus. It was a little disappointing to see in terms of presentation, but in terms of time-keeping it was excellent, and the driver seemed very professional and welcoming to the locals. Damory haven't really upgraded the service - although I suppose the Solo is two years younger, yes.

It seems a shame that First did lose this route as they are so strong in this area of Dorset - at least in terms of fleet presentation, age of bus, and, during the winter at least, time keeping and reliability. They've even outstationed a "thunderbird" bus at Bridport for emergencies. Still, in another world, Yellow Buses Geminis would have been serving Lyme Regis once an hour on the 31... An excellent service from First for what it is worth though.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 11th December

2011-12-11T11:00:00.002Z

My Sunday Lost Scenes from this week is a memory from Lyme Regis...

First Hants & Dorset 817 - S817KPR - Lyme Regis - 2nd August 2003

In 1997-8, Southern National replaced the Bristol VRs on the Weymouth - Taunton route 31 with Dennis Dart SLFs. It was also split into two, and shared between Weymouth and Taunton depots - with Taunton operating Taunton-Axminster as route 30, and Weymouth operating Axminster-Weymouth as route 31. S817-23KPR took over the reigns.

My scene this week comes from Lyme Regis in 2003, with 817 (S817KPR) wearing it's original livery, with some First changes. 2003 was the last summer that Darts operated this service in green, before they were all given a repaint and rebrand into First livery. I always liked this livery - it fitted the lines of the Dart's body well, and, despite quite a dated livery, always appeared quite modern to me.

The Darts are still all in service from Weymouth and Bridport, but often allocated onto town services. However, last year, I did catch S817KPR slipping back onto the 31, which brought back a few memories :-) It has also gained an LED display, and has seen it's second repaint since green and cream - she does look very smart but it isn't as appealing as Southern National colours. Pictured at Axminster rail station.

Bude - Plymouth since 2004

2011-12-06T18:49:00.001Z

The route connecting the north Cornish town of Bude to the Devonian city of Plymouth is a route that I am very familiar with, having been the first ever First Devon & Cornwall route that I photographed. It has change a lot since my first photo back on 2nd August 2004...

August 2004
First Devon & Cornwall used branded Dennis Javelins on the then X8 back in 2004. There were 5 Javelins if I remember correctly, which wore branding for both the X8 to Plymouth from Bude, and the X9 to Exeter. They were part of First's Excel branding associated with cross-county routes of the time. Pictured first is 21098 (R298AYB), arriving in Bude on the mid-afternoon X8.

August 2005
Even in 2004, former First Glasgow and First York Volvo B10Ms were creeping onto the X8 and X9, and here is former Glasgow 66584 (F384FYS) arriving in a very wet Bude in summer 2005. The X8 and X9 were the last routes where these fine buses saw regular service, with the last being withdrawn in 2006 (I think).

August 2006
After the B10Ms were withdrawn, the X8 became a bit of a free-for-all. The mid-afternoon Plymouth arrival was also always operated by Plymouth depot so anything could turn up. Here is Leyland Olympian 34753 (A753VAF) - I can remember many a long sunny afternoon longing for one of these beasts to turn up! The X8 at this point had a PVR of 3, with Bude operating one (usually a coach), and Plymouth operating 2 (usually anything) - and there was a regular Saturday morning departure that was always a double decker.

August 2007
In 2007, the X8 was taken out of the no defunct Excel brand and placed as a normal extension of route 76 to Callington, numbered the 76A. Furthermore, all operations were covered by Plymouth depot - hence the appearance of former National Express Volvo Olympian 34198 (UKT552).

April 2008
Within less than a year, the rather random allocation on the 76/76A calmed down, and Volvo B6BLEs became the regular bus type due to the tachographs that were fitted to these buses. These were new in 2002, diverted from York to initally operate the Corlink route 55 from St Austell to Padstow. Here is 48273 (YG02DLV) pulling up to the stand ready to depart for Plymouth. I say these were the regular allocations... the next departure (2 hours later) was a Vario...

August 2010
I returned in 2010 to find a new operator on the route. Western Greyhound had taken over, with super long Solos now operating Bude to Plymouth as the 576. The departure times were relatively the same. The First 76 was cut back to Callington, although a few peak journeys still make it to Launceston. Plymouth depot now no longer operate into Bude, and since the changes, a lot of the variety has disappeared too.

Well, the route has also changed since 2010. Western Greyhound now operate two Mercedes-Benz Citaro single deckers out of Bude depot, and at least one of these can usually be found on the 576 (the other one is usually on the 599 to Exeter). Whenever I return to Bude, I hope to be able to update this post with a Citaro heading for Plymouth.

Many thanks for viewing.

Sunday Lost Scenes - 4th December

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000Z

My Sunday Lost Scenes from this week is a scene from earlier this year...

Shamrock were an operator in Dorset earlier this year, which operated a moderately-sized fleet mainly on contract services - be it tendered service work, school services, shopping contracts and more. Unfortunately, they went into administration earlier this year and had to cease trading, meaning their assets were sold on. Therefore, many bus operators have bought ex-Shamrock stock.

This photo comes from Poole on 19th March this year, with Shamrock Dart 213 (P262NRH) entering the bus station on a 32 from Merley. I quite liked Shamrock - I'm not usually the biggest fan of independents (don't know why) but something about the orange took my interest and I photographed ever bus I could. It is a shame they no longer operate, but here is my lost scene from which to remember the company.

The Hoeford Leyland Olympian Heyday

2011-12-03T11:00:00.000Z

My first post for a while reminisces back to 2006, when Hoeford depot operated no less than 5 Leyland Olympians. They were all second hand and had seen a lot of service elsewhere in First, but were proper buses and popular among enthusiasts at least. It also marked a turn away from the previous Hoeford policy of only needing one double decker - for years VR LWU471V had been the only double decker, and now that had been replaced and 5 deckers were in service...

The first to arrive was former PMT 30056 (A157UDM), arriving in 2005 and working alongside another former PMT DOG - MTU124Y, which was quickly withdrawn. This marked a time where First in the Potteries were jettisoning some of their elderly Olympians to work out their final years in the south - First Devon and Cornwall also received a number. 30056 is seen reversing off of a stand in Fareham bus station, working the West End circular to the college. Pictured on a sunny 25th August 2006.

Two former Western National Olympians were operated by Hoeford. These were A756VAF and A757VAF, which had originally passed from First Badgerline to First Southampton's Portswood depot, before moving to Hoeford late in 2005. 34756 (A756VAF) is pictured in an autumnal Gosport bus station out of service and broken (hence the lean on the bus). It was later repaired and saw service until the Volvo Olympians took over in 2007.

The other in service at Hoeford was 34757 (A757VAF), which I remember catching on route 80 back in the summer in 2006. It was a fantastic bus - so fantastic that it's roof lives on as part of the roof on Weymouth's N528LHG, an open top Olympian that argued with a bridge in Southampton, and lost. 34757 is seen on premier route 86, in Gosport bus station on 23rd September 2006.

Two Olympians acquired late in the day proved to be some of the best. First up is former First Eastern National 34810 (C410HJN), which was replicated as a model by Exclusive First Editions, actually on route 34 with this blind set. I often wonder whether this photo provided the inspiration :-) ... pictured in Fareham bus station on 26th July 2006.

Finally, a second example acquired from First Eastern National was 34814 (C414HJN), which was the last Olympian in this series of photos withdrawn from service. 34814 is pictured on the wall in Fareham bus station. This, along with 34810, was transferred to Weymouth when the Volvo Olympians arrived in Hoeford, although 34814 was only withdrawn in the last couple of years. It was also treated to a repaint into the modern First colours.

Hoeford now operates 8 Olympians on last count -

* former Stagecoach London examples P542/3HMP

* former Stagecoach Cambus examples P536 / 540 / 559 / 560 / 571 / 572 / 578EFL

... which is the highest number of double deckers at Hoeford since First took over.

Thanks for viewing - sorry about the lack of blog entries recently, life has been very hectic!

Sunday Lost Scenes - 13th November

2011-11-13T13:20:00.000Z

I've decided to put the date at the top of my "Sunday Lost Scenes" posts as I'm quite likely to lose count soon. Today's entry comes from the North Devon town of Lynton back in 2004...

First Somerset & Dorset 46731 - P631CGM - Lynton - 2nd August 2004

For many a long year, the north Devon arm of First Devon & Cornwall (First Red Bus) combined with Taunton's First Somerset & Avon depot to operate route 300. Route 300 was a Taunton or Minehead to Ilfracombe or Barnstaple service, operated by both companies crossing the Somerset and Devon border. It usually saw Dennis Darts - such as 46731 - which was a shame as this could have been marketed as a profitable summer long term route with the right buses.

Later on in 2004 First gave up the route, and it is now operated by two different operators that meet in Lynton. Filers operates Ilfracombe - Lynton section of the route, with Quantook operating the Lynton - Minehead section, using a rather lovely open top Scania Omnidekka. First no longer serve Lynton or Lynmouth, having given up the 309 / 310 at the same time, which means this picture is truly a lost scene.

Portswood Update

2011-11-12T16:01:00.001Z

I paused in Portswood today for the first time in a good few months to survey the local bus scene. I'm very familiar with the bus scene in Portswood, having got to know it very well for the last 4 years.

Firstly, the buses on route 3 seem to have grown! Route 3 has been a haunt for the Dart SLFs for years now, but today 4 Volvo B7RLEs were out on the route, with 1 B10BLE and 1 Dart. Here is former West Yorkshire and Devon & Cornwall Volvo B7RLE 69245 (YJ07WFM), loading passengers in St Denys Road.

Further changes from First see the 7 (Southampton - Bassett Green) lose one bus an hour to become every 30 minutes. First's route into northern Southampton has really suffered as the Unilink network has grown so strongly. The U1 was at full standing capacity on numerous workings today, which was a Saturday.

Staying with First's route 7, and the ex-London B7TLs seen have taken over from the ex-London Olympians. I didn't manage any photos but 32259 (I think) was out on the route today.

Furthermore, BlueStar's route 14 (Bitterne - Southampton via Mansbridge & Bassett Green) has been cut back to become the P1, connecting Southampton with Bassett Green at an hourly frequency. BlueStar's Solo 2603 (R603NFX) was doing the honours today.

Not any drastic changes but certainly different from the place I knew so well just a year ago!

Sunday Lost Scenes #8

2011-10-30T12:00:00.000Z

This Sunday lost scenes is from Helston back in August 2005...

Truronian T32JCV is now in service with First Hants & Dorset at Hoeford depot, as First's 42232. First took over Truronian a few years ago, and inherited the fleet, predominantly consisting of Darts, Solos and a few old Olympians, alongside the coaching business. Two Darts now operate from Hoeford depot in Hampshire - T32JCV and sister T34JCV. Both have been repainted to First livery and also now have LED displays. The Truronian livery no longer exists, so I was very lucky to photograph this bus back six years ago.

Provincial's long lost Volvos

2011-10-28T12:00:00.001+01:00

One of the good things about visiting Weston-super-Mare is that I get to catch up with the former First Provincial Volvo B10BLEs now in service from the depot.

My first few photos come from the W---EOW batch of Volvo B10BLEs new to Hilsea depot in 2000. The Volvo B10BLEs were bought to upgrade routes 40 and 41 (then Southsea - Wecock and Clanfield respectively), and were branded for the Overground network in 2003. 66172 (W372EOW) was one of a number of Volvo B10BLEs that received purple and green branding for Zip route 41, which then operated between The Hard and Clanfield. 66172 is pictured here arriving in Weston-super-Mare on route X25.

The Volvo B10BLEs were withdrawn late in 2004 when new Scania Omnicity single deckers arrived in the fleet, and most moved elsewhere. 5 moved to First Somerset & Avon, three initially for route 28 (Minehead to Taunton) where they were fitted with extra luggage racks. These can be seen here in the offside of 66173 (W373EOW), a Volvo B10BLE that also once wore Zip41 branding.

Two Volvos went straight to Bath, for use on the X4/X5 between Bath, Warminster, Trowbridge and Salisbury. 66174 (W374EOW) was one of these buses, and is pictured here in Weston on the premier town service - route 7.

In 2009, a further 5 Volvo B10BLEs joined First Somerset & Avon from Hampshire. These were transferred following deliveries of new Volvo B7RLEs - again to route 40/41 - which saw the Scanias that replaced the W***EOW Volvos cascaded to Hoeford. 66160 (S360XCR) was one of the buses cascaded to Somerset, and is pictured at Weston-super-Mare rail station yesterday, loading passengers for the 126 to Wells.

First Bristol initially received a number of Volvo B10BLEs from Hampshire, such as 66159 (S359XCR). She is pictured in Bristol city centre in May 2010 on city service 6.

How nice when things go round in circles? 66163 (S363XCR) was transferred to Taunton, to bolster the number of full size single deck buses for the 28. It still wears the livery it was delivered in, back in 2008. 66163 also has remnants of Green Line 40 branding on top of the windows, which can still be seen if you inspect closely. It pictured departing for Minehead last April.

Ex-Provincial Volvo B10BLEs can also be found in service in Manchester (5 ex-Sheffield buses that were once branded for the 17/18 in Portsmouth) and First Eastern Counties (more W reg Volvos once used on the 31 in Dorset). Maybe I'll be able to catch up with them one day.

First sight of a Reading Omnidekka

2011-10-27T16:36:00.000+01:00

Solent Blue Line are receiving 14 five-year-old Scania Omnidekkas from Reading Buses at present. The majority are going into a purple livery branded "Simply Go", which see Go South Coast taking over the services for Alton College. However, three will go in to service branded for the BlueStar network, and the first one ready was out today...

In a dark, damp Fair Oak, Scania Omnidekka 1013 (YN06JWG) arrived this afternoon on route 2 from Southampton. It is the first Omnidekka out in service and looks very impressive. She does not yet have the stars on the rear - time will tell whether these will be applied to what has not become BlueStar's second youngest double decker. Incidentally, BlueStar's first and third youngest deckers - Enviro400 858 and fellow Omnidekka 1035 - were also out in use on route 2 today.

This was formerly Reading Buses 823, and although I didn't manage to capture it in service then, I do have sisters 819, 820 and 824 - Solent Blue Line now also own 820. Here is Reading Buses 824 (YN06JWP) pictured in the same livery that 823 arrived in a couple of months ago.

Hopefully I'll be able to capture the Alton ones over the coming days - news from GSC forum is that one of the Omnidekkas will have to work the Sunday BlueStar 5 due to a low bridge - whether this will happen or not has not yet been confirmed.

Route 126 Weston - Wells

2011-10-26T21:55:00.001+01:00

One of an ever decreasing number of routes to remained unchanged since the takeover of big national companies is the 126, connecting Weston-super-Mare with Wells in Somerset hourly. The route is operated by First Somerset and Avon - previously Badgerline.

The 126 is the route that I consider to by "my" Somerset route. When I was younger, I stayed in Cheddar for a few days. The 126 was the main route that served Cheddar, back then using Leyland Lynx buses. Pictured around May 2003, here are firstly 1645 (H645YHT) and secondly 1610 (F610RTC), both pictured in Cheddar village. As illustrated, First Badgerline decided to brand these buses for the 126 in 2003, and the branding is new in these two images. Back then the depot was "Weston and Wells", and the depot allocation code was WM - as illustrated by both buses' fleet numbers.

Today was the first time I have photographed route 126 since May 2003. Today, the usual allocation are Volvo B10BLEs - usually a mix of former Provincial buses - so therefore buses I know well and another reason I can associate myself with the route. Pictured to the right is former Hilsea and Hoeford based Volvo B10BLE 66160 (S360XCR), a bus that I last photographed at Southsea's South Parade Pier in 2008.

Between the Lynxes and the Volvos, Dennis Darts and Dennis Lances ran the 126, so 46603 (L503VHU)'s appearance on the route today is a helpful "transition" image. An appearance of a Dart on the 126 is rare these days, especially as only two step entry single deck buses are now in service from Weston-super-Mare's allocation.

I had a great day in Weston today taking photos - I'll post some more to the blog over the coming days. For late October, the sun didn't play me up half as bad as I had expected.

First day of the BlueStar 5

2011-10-24T20:03:00.000+01:00

BlueStar 5 took off today, replacing the existing Wilts & Dorset service connecting Romsey and Eastleigh. We predicted that the service would be operated by Dennis Tridents from Eastleigh depot, and we were half right...

On the first ever BlueStar 5 was Volvo B7TL 787 (HX51ZRK) standing here looking very smart in Romsey bus station. These vehicles certainly are impressive in appearance, and it felt the service had received a definite upgrade over the existing Volvo Olympians used on the 65, although the coach seats of those Olympians are very nice. There was no timetable up in the stand, and the bus stop still advertised route 65 but I've been informed the taxi office were giving out timetable booklets.

Dennis Trident 779 (T749JPO) was also out on route 5 today on the second working. These Tridents have all recently been repainted into the darker blue livery, and all except 772 have recieved dot matrix or hanover displays. Tridents are notoriously hard to find to photograph - used on the odd route 2, 3 or 18, but mainly on Barton Peveril routes - so it is good we can now add the 5 to this list.

All round an good service - the BlueStar 5 was the only route running to time today, and when the bus stop information is updated we'll see a fantastically presented route.

Sunday Lost Scenes #7

2011-10-16T12:00:00.004+01:00

A scene only lost very recently today...

First Hants & Dorset have lost the contract to operate a route between Hamble and Hedge End, with the service passing to Brijan tomorrow. Yesterday was the last day of the route 26 extension to Hamble, which saw 4 Solos brought in from First Devon & Cornwall to reflect the improvements to the service. 53013 (W813PAF) is one of those Solos, which is pictured standing in Hamble on one of the last 26s yesterday.

Brijan are taking over the route, and operating it as a loop from Hedge End. It will depart Hedge End, travel to Hamble via Lowford, then onto Butlocks Heath, Netley and then returning to Hedge End via Lowford.

The route change sees First Hants & Dorset's Hoeford depot lose Hamble from the network. It has only been part of the network for a very short amount of of time - Hamble was last operated to from Hoeford in People's Provincial days. There is also no longer a direct link by bus from Hamble - Fareham, but one would think this hasn't inconvenienced too many passengers as the route needs to be tendered. Maybe a direct route - such as route 57 extending from Warsash via Sarisbury Green, Lowford, and down to Hamble, would be the most likely profitable route.

It will be interesting to see what Brijan use on the route tomorrow!

BlueStar changes

2011-10-11T12:00:00.000+01:00

It has been on the cards ever since Go South Coast took over Solent Blue Line, but from 23rd October, BlueStar will take over the Eastleigh - Romsey route from Wilts & Dorset. The old route 65 will now become the newest BlueStar route - BlueStar 5 - and continue to operate in a similar way to the 65 does at the moment.

Here's is a jpeg of the BlueStar route 5 timetable taken off of the website - and as can be seen the service remains largely similar to now-a-days, albeit the timings are altered and the route will now be run from Eastleigh. I am expecting Dennis Tridents in the weekday - especially when Barton Peveril college is open - as BlueStar have to honour their low floor guarantee. However, in the holidays Solos or Darts may take over - we will have to wait and see. Nothing has been confirmed by the company yet.

This will mean an end to one of the most reliable routes to find an ex-Southern Vectis Olympian on though, which will be a shame. Presumably the Olympians will move back to Salisbury, concentrate on the 183/184 and cascade some of the older Olympians to Damory, or the coach fleet or similar. Olympians such as 752 (R752GDL) will venture into Hampshire less and less.

This will also mean an end to Wilts & Dorset buses in service in Eastleigh bus station - although an early morning college service from Romsey - West Wellow and back is to be operated by Wilts & Dorset on route 5.

What will be interesting is the Saturday route 34 connections. The timetable says there is a "direct service" - whether this means buses meeting in Romsey bus station guaranteeing a connection, or BlueStar bus heading off up into Wiltshire on route 34, remains to be confirmed.

Other changes - my old favourite BlueStar 6 - the 56/56A until earlier this year - is being cut to hourly Lymington - Rushington, then half hourly onwards. Maybe this route will be one of the growing trend of routes that has its frequency re-doubled during the summer months - having seen the loads in January earlier this year on the 56/56A, I can completely understand GSC's decision... The 10/11 is being cut to half hourly Southampton - Totton, with only hourly alternating extensions to Cadnam... and the Sunday 8 is being cut... the E1 is being cut back to Eastleigh - Boyatt Wood half hourly and only hourly onto Winchester... the F dropped altogether... the 14 cut back to Bassett Green and renumbered the P1 - presumably for Portswood 1. Maybe the service would be used better if they livered up a Solo in Unilink livery and operated it as the U4 or something and ran it via the Unilink interchange... I don't know. That's why I'm not a bus company manager!

With these times in recession and winter drawing in, I can only hope spring breathes new life into bus services across the region.

Ryde Depot

2011-10-10T12:00:00.000+01:00

Southern Vectis have not used Ryde bus depot for operational services for a while now, but it is still used as a centre for the coach fleet and still stores a large number of buses on the island. For the first time in a couple of years, I nipped down to the depot to take a few photos of what was there on Saturday. All views were taken from the public footpath.

First thing of note, is that Ryde depot has become London General's Isle of Wight outstation! A large number of the PVLs are stored here - some still have the boards for the Isle of Wight festival. In view in these two pictures are the following: W905WGH, W508WGH, Y704TGH, X572EGK, X573EGK plus another 5 examples at least. Marc M-H has said that 2 of them will become Southern Vectis fleet vehicles in the future to increase capacity on route 9 (Ryde - Newport) - these will of course fit in very well along Southern Vectis' native Volvo B7TLs with Plaxton bodywork, that arrived new in 2002.

Here is an overview of Ryde depot showing most of the buses and coaches stored. Southern Vectis allocate most of their Solos to school work - so therefore they are part of the coach fleet. This is why green livered Solo 2615 (R615NFX) is at Ryde depot.

Finally I thought I would post a close up of one of the coach liveries - here is 598 (VUV246) in Fountain Coaches livery parked out of service. I hope these photos have been of interest - thanks for viewing.

Sunday Lost Scenes #6

2011-10-09T11:25:00.000+01:00

This week's Sunday Lost Scene comes from Winchester bus station, taken on Sunday 30th May 2004.

Solent Blue Line 578 - SN03ECD - Winchester bus station

Several things have changed from this view, which means that you cannot recreate the view any longer:

* firstly, the Winchester bus station sign has been taken down, leaving only the red area and a slightly less-faded are where Winchester bus station can still be seen.

* Solent Blue Line MPD 578 is now with Wilts & Dorset.

* Solent Blue Line (BlueStar) no longer operate with this livery.

* Route 47 is now BlueStar 1 - it was rebranded later on this year (2004).

* The Dart in the rear is now withdrawn/moved on - Stagecoach operate the X66 with fleet livered Dart SLFs now as the 66.

In similar news, BlueStar at Eastleigh (Solent Blue Line) are soon to be taking over route 65 from Wilts & Dorset - Eastleigh to Romsey - as their new BlueStar 5 in a change that has been on the cards for a while. The route will also change over to Eastleigh depot and interwork with the E to Winchester. I reckon the route may be Trident operated to cope with Barton Peveril college demands, although as it is interworked with the E we may see Solos or Darts. Certainly will be interesting! I'll post a link to the timetable as soon as it is up and running on the BlueStar website.

A little bit of Wales....

2011-10-08T17:14:00.001+01:00

... on the Isle of Wight. Southern Vectis are temporarily operating a small number of former Veolia Cymru Optare Tempos. Purchased back in August, the eventual purpose for these Tempos is not know although they were initially earmarked for Damory. A number have been pushed into service with Southern Vectis, allowing some Scania Omnidekkas to temporarily move over to Salisbury to help with school routes.

My first photo is of Go South Coast's new 2507 (YJ56WVT). As you can see, they retain full Veolia route 600 branding advertising the Cardiff - Pontypridd route. Although they have received some criticism from enthusiasts for this, I am actually with Southern Vectis for leaving the branding on, as the vehicles do look a lot smarter. Also with Southern Vectis now the only bus operator on the island (bar the Ventnor town service), it is fairly obvious who operates these buses. However, I do wonder how many "single to Cardiff please!" jokes the drivers get a day though...

The Tempos are mainly found on routes 5 (Newport - East Cowes) and 9 (Newport - Ryde), and three were out and about on the 9 today. 2508 (YJ56WVU) is pictured earlier today in the October sunshine as it departs Ryde for Newport.

My final view from today is of Optare Tempo 2509 (YJ56WVV), heading out from Union Street and heading for the bus station. It will be sad from an enthusiast's point of view when these move on - I do like a bit of variety! It will also be interesting to see where these end up across the Go South Coast empire...

First in Bath

2011-10-07T19:31:00.000+01:00

The bus scene in Bath has changed a bit since my last visit two years ago - the city now has former Sheffield Super Pointer Darts, fewer step entry buses, and new Volvo B7RLEs with Eclipse 2 bodywork arriving every hour on the 173 from Wells. Here are some photos from First.

Bath operate a number of Volvo B7TLs that were new to Bristol in 2003 - these buses look fantastic in the Autumn sunshine, as 32282 (WR03YZP) arrives on route 319.

Bath operate Volvo B7TLs with Wright Eclipse bodywork on the Park and Ride routes, wearing this blue, white and green livery. 32687 (WX56HKC) is pictured in Bath city centre on route 41.

This is certainly a well travelled Dart - 40160 (P139NLW) was new to London, which was then transferred to PMT (where it was renumbered), and then transferred to Wales before Bath. 40160 would be numbered 41139 in the correct sequence, but was numbered before any common sense and order was found!

One of a number of former Sheffield Dennis Dart SPDs that now operate around the city, here is 40517 (S512UAK) heading over Broad Quay. I have found that these Darts are primarily allocated to route 14.

6 Volvo B6BLEs new to York are operated in the city, and usually allocated on the country routes. However, last Saturday 40593 (YG02DHY) was pictured operating "Bright Orange" University route 18 - seen passing Bath bus station.

A number of shorter Darts are operated on city services that require reduced capacity - here is 42552 (WX05UAJ), pictured on route 13. It still carries part of the "Get Around Bath" branding that it wore when the Bath network was revitalised in 2005.

The number of step entry buses are ever dwindling in Bath. Dennis Dart 46240 (N240KAE) is one of the few buses in service in the city that was actually new to Badgerline. I don't expect to see this vehicle in service the next time I visit - the clock must be ticking.

The second step entry bus I saw in service on Saturday was former Midland Red Vario 52554 (S554RWP), out and about on route 1. It is pictured heading past Bath bus station.

Finally for today, here is Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse 2 69436 (WX59BYN), one of a number of buses introduced late in 2009 for the Bath - Wells and Bristol - Wells - Yeovil/Bridgwater routes. They still look fantastic two years later.

Many thanks for viewing - all comments welcome.

Wessex Connect in Bath

2011-10-05T23:03:00.004+01:00

I visited Bath last Saturday, and managed to get nearly 100 photos of the bus operations in one of my favourite cities for the first time in a couple of years. I'll post the First photos later - but today here are Wessex Connect.

The parent company of Wessex Connect is Rotala, and they are slowly beginning to build a significant presence in Bath, competing with First on the 5, 10 and 18, and taking over their own routes. The youngest bus in Bath and leading the fight is Optare Solo SR YJ61CHF, pictured here heading past Bath bus station. This is dedicated to the 20A/20C circular routes that were taken over from First in 2009, and directly replaces Vario minibuses. I believe there are two, although a Dart was on the other working when I visited.

Some Wessex Connect white and blue is still about in Bath - here is Dennis Dart SLF 877 (T875HGT) heading for the Grand Parade on route 10, one of the routes that Wessex Connect competes with First with.

Wessex Connect are slowly starting to build a very smart fleet of buses in "Royal Bath" royal blue livery, and I have to say this shade of blue is excellent and one of my favourites. It largely appears on a fleet of MPDs that operate around the city - here illustrated first is 1654 (V654HEC) pictured passing Bath cathedral on the 20C, with sister vehicle 1657 (V657HEC) pictured again at Grand Parade, this time terminating on route 5.

Wessex Connect also operate a fleet of very smart full size single decks (Volvo B7RLEs and others) on Uni route U18 - I didn't manage to capture any of these in a great photo during my visit, so I will not post any of these. Instead, here is another Dart - this time 2501 (MW52PZP), heading along St James Parade.

Thanks for viewing - First to come very soon.

Sunday Lost Scenes #5

2011-10-02T22:36:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts recently - as warned, a new job and new career has significantly limited my bus time! However, with the weather so excellent today, I decided to go out and about. Today's lost scene is not technically a lost scene yet, but soon will be...

Stagecoach South (Winchester) Dennis Dart SLF 33026 - XSU682 - Wickham Square

Due to Hampshire County Council funding cuts, the Sunday 69 from Fareham - Winchester is being cut later this month. Route 69 on a Sunday is operated by a single deck bus, rather than Rivers branded Tridents as it is Monday - Friday. 33026 is one of the former Winchester Park & Ride Darts, and I haven't caught it on camera since it was in that livery so all round today was good! Wickham is one of several villages that will now not see any bus service on Sunday. You've got a couple more Sundays by my reckoning to recreate this picture if interested.

Sunday Lost Scenes #4

2011-09-18T11:45:00.000+01:00

With Southern Vectis taking over Wightbus' services and many of their vehicles at the moment, I thought the following photo would be very apt for this week's lost scenes.

Wightbus HW54DBZ stood alongside Southern Vectis 710 (TIL6710)

Newport (old) bus station, 7th April 2005

HW54DBZ is now with Southern Vectis as 3328, and as far as I am aware is one of the few remaining in Wightbus livery with the fleetnames taken off. Southern Vectis TIL6710 is now on the mainland and was transferred over to Wilts & Dorset first in the SV green livery - I was lucky enough to capture it in service in Romsey in 2008.

I'm not sure why but a part of me always expected the "54" registered Darts of Wightbus to end up at SV. They arrived during the same registration period as Southern Vectis' 14 MPDs, which may have had something to do with my thinking. Of course it is only due to the recession/government cuts etc. that they have ended up with SV, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Sunday Lost Scenes #3

2011-09-11T11:58:00.001+01:00

The old Hoverbus!

Hellyers of Portsmouth operated Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 R146COR for many years on the Hoverbus service from 1997. The service connected Clarence Pier's Hovercraft terminal with Portsmouth city centre. I couldn't find any reference of the bus on flickr or on google, so if it does exist and you know where, please feel free to comment and let me know! R146COR is pictured at Clarence Pier on 23rd May 2005.

The bus was replaced with LK55KZZ when Tellings Golden Millar took over the contract in 2005 (one of their brief forays into Portsmouth), with Stagecoach taking over the service and the bus a few years later. This is it's first livery, but it has recently been rebranded and I look forward to photographing it in the next few weeks.

Dorset Schools

2011-09-10T12:09:00.001+01:00

Just a quick blog entry to state a couple of my thoughts on the issues with Dorset schools at the moment. As you may or may not be aware, Damory (Go South Coast) have won the majority of school contracts, leaving First only with commercial journeys and subcontracting out a few school journeys to independents. The price of school bus fees has also been increased by over £100, and families are feeling the crunch.

* The council price increases are expected in this climate. I think some sort of increase should have been expected. However, an extra £150 to fork out (fees have gone from £250 to £400) - and just this is just for one child - would be too much for most families to pay out. I think a gradual increase would have been kinder on families. For a family with four children, that is £1600 for school bus fees - increased by £600.

* One operator providing all the council's services is not something I'm against and makes a lot of sense. Go Ahead's mistakes seem to only be a few teething issues, and probably will have already been ironed out.

* First are one of the unfortunate losers in this. They are also, for some passengers, the only people they can rely on. With commercial service passenger levels soaring around school opening/closing periods, First will potentially lose other passengers on journeys with lots of school children. We all have heard people in the bus station moaning about a lot of children on the bus, or saying "we'll go back earlier to dodge the school kids". A short term boom in child annual passes may be offset by longer damage to these individual journeys around school times.

* This is also an opportunity to First. I have no idea of the finances, but if they can register a reliable, cheaper, commercial alternate to the council's services - maybe for the next academic year, or next academic term - they may win back a lot of the passengers. Things could get "sticky" next summer if First choose to do this as if a commercial service is run alongside a tendered service, the tendered service must be withdrawn.

* In the short term, First need to introduce as many double deckers on these school journeys as possible. Duplicates may not be a financially-viable alternative to a problem they haven't caused - but as much capacity as possible needs to be brought in at as cheaper price as possible. An efficient First response will be very good PR, who appear to be fairly popular in the local press for struggling against the Weymouth roadworks for over a year.

* First have returned to Bournemouth with commercial school route 54. A sign of things to come or a one-off?

Interesting times ahead. Off topic, reliable sources claim Stagecoach's route 5 - Swindon - Salisbury - is a commercial competitive service to Go South Coast in the north.

Sunday Lost Scenes #2

2011-09-04T16:11:00.001+01:00

My Sunday Lost Scene today is a view of Bude outstation in North Cornwall, photographed on 30th July 2006.

Bude was once a large First Western National/First Devon & Cornwall operating centre. Pre-2002, First Western National operated into Bude on the 122/124 from Boscastle, Tintagel and Newquay, the X3 and X4 from Truro, the X76 from Plymouth, and more. The network was then cut back a lot - Western Greyhound took over the 122/124 and more - but the allocation for Bude was still quite substantial in 2006. Routes operated from the depot were:

Bude town service 128 - which is still operated by FDC.
X9 Bude - Exeter, using three Volvo B7R coaches rather than the Enviro400s of today.
85 to Holsworthy and Barnstaple, now operated by Stagecoach
285 to Holsworthy, now withdrawn and covered by First's X9, some WGH services and a dial-a-ride service
319 to Hartland - now covered by WGH's service.
one bus was used on the X8 Bude - Plymouth - PVR was 3 at this point - the other two buses were supplied by Plymouth.

Pictured from left to right:

20412 - S312SCV
20145 - S315SRL
42434 - P434ORL
42430 - P430ORL
52566 - S866NOD
20352 - WA05UNE
52531 - S531RWP
47111 - P411MLA
42783 - S683SNG - now with First Hants & Dorset at Hoeford.
20108 - N608APU
46230 - N22BLU

None of the above buses are in service with First Devon & Cornwall today on route work. Coaches 20108 and 20412 are still in service with the company, as is 20145 but it is withdrawn with accident damage.

Romsey Update

2011-09-03T16:52:00.003+01:00

Here is a quick update from Romsey - my local Wilts & Dorset outstation, with frequent BlueStar and Stagecoach services also...

First up, here is BlueStar's regular offering on route 4. Any 6 of the 10 "06" registered Citaros (441-50) can usually be found on route 4, which interworks with route 12 in Southampton. Sometimes you get the odd ex-Southern Vectis Citaro on the route and occasionally even a DAF SB120/Optare Spectra that has escaped from the Southampton - Lymington route for today. Alas, yesterday was normal operation - here is 443 (HX06EZC).

The most significant change since my last visit is that the Optare Deltas are more or less gone! Romsey was the final operational centre for the last 3 Deltas, which were usually found on the Salisbury - Romsey - Eastleigh routes. Replaced by Volvo B10Bs of the same age, here is former Solent Blue Line 526 (L526YDL).

Salisbury's northern Solos are increasingly escaping south into Hampshire - 2707 (YJ06FYD) is one of a number of Solos acquired by Wilts & Dorset from the Meteor P&R contracts at Southampton Airport, that are usually found on the routes north of Salisbury.

I don't think any buses remaining in service carry the Wilts & Dorset deregulation (stripes) livery. It has been reported that the final step entry Spectra - 3127 - has received the livery, and the final Delta - 3503 - has been placed into reserve/withdrawn at Salisbury. All of the remaining low floor Spectras have now received the livery - here is 3182 (HJ52VFY) looking fantastic as it gleams in the September sunshine. Following the changes in Salisbury earlier this year to create the X5 (Salisbury - Swindon), low floor Spectra sightings in Romsey have been rarer so I was quite lucky to capture 3182 yesterday.

One of Wilts & Dorset's native Solos tends to escape to Romsey per day - yesterday was the turn of 2653 (V652DFX). It tends to operate morning circular routes before heading back to Salisbury on an afternoon route 34, which it is doing when pictured.

Moving onto Stagecoach, and here is recently acquired Dennis Dart SPD 33306 (AE51VFV). 4 Darts of different sizes have been acquired from Cavalier, and Winchester's three will move to Swindon shortly according to sources on GSC forum.

Finally, Winchester's only unbranded Enviro200 - 36027 (GX07HUU) - seems to be the regular bus on the Romsey town circulars, or at least whenever I visit the town it does. As far as I understand, a route 66 from Winchester arrives, does 2 hours worth of circuits on the Romsey town route 32s and 33s, before heading back to Winchester on the 66. This was the case a few years ago - I'm not sure if this still applies.

Romsey also still is one of the mainland homes of the former Southern Vectis Wilts & Dorset Olympians - I saw 725 and 749 yesterday but unfortunately they were camera shy, and both photos came out poorly. Ah well...

Finally, click here to read my report from Romsey of 11 months ago.

Thanks again.

6289

2011-09-01T19:54:00.000+01:00

Just a very quick thank you for your continuing support - last month was the best month for audience views in it's history, with 6289 throughout August. The Weymouth posts were particularly popular, as was my older story about Wilts & Dorset's X5. News just in is that Stagecoach Swindon & District have registered a route 5 between Swindon and Salisbury - we are not sure yet what the actual details of the route are - as an enthusiast, I naturally hope for some competition and a new operator regularly working into Salisbury. Will have to wait and see on that one.

Anyway, back to the stats - Plymothian Transit (2640 - highest overall) and Omnibuses (283 - highest last month) are still my top referrers - thank you to both blog owners for your support.

Looking ahead, the post count will be down but I will make sure it doesn't tail off like it did in early summer. I will probably post twice a week plus my Sunday scene - I will try to do more but we'll have to see.

Thanks again,
James

Pure Speculation...

2011-08-31T23:34:00.004+01:00

Every enthusiast likes a bit of speculation, deep down. What might happen? What could happen? What could happen if that happens? Speculation is the annoying grey area between what you know is going to happen, and how you are going to get there.

For example, 14 single deck buses are entering service at some point for the Fareham - Gosport Bus Rapid Transit link, but the date for BRT has been delayed time and time again... when will these buses arrive? Will they operate on the old routes because BRT won't be open in time? What will happen to the Darts presently on the Fareham - Gosport routes? What will these buses replace and where? Pictured above is one of the Dennis Dart SLFs likely to be replaced at the end of the year / start of next year... will it be replaced? Will it stay at Hoeford? What will 42126 (S626KTP) replace in turn?

Now, bus companies usually find a lot of speculation unhelpful. As I have never worked for a bus company, I can't comment on this specifically or from personal experience, although I can imagine that if speculation gets out to the wider travelling public, unwanted rumours may start, which could jeopardise operations. It is refreshing to see that both of the main local companies around my way, First and Go South Coast, are excellent at quashing rubbish immediately. Of course, where events will make be clear in the near future, company managers also probably enjoy a chuckle at some of the speculative scenarios suggested!

I can write from a website creator's point of view. When trying to update the fleetlists on the First Hants & Dorset website, our forum has an excellent team of reliable contributors which makes my job easy. However, when new buses are due - especially when the fleet numbers and registrations are given - it makes the consequential questions incredibly hard to avoid. I've had three colour system news pages before on "what is confirmed", "what is probably following" and "what could happen". Plans change even within the company at the last minute.

For example, take this view from Portswood depot on 1st May 2009. Following the arrival of Hilsea's Volvo B7RLEs, a number subsequent FHD-internal transfers meant that 9 Volvo B10BLEs were to be cascaded to Sheffield. 66151 (S351NPO) is pictured here along with 66196 awaiting transfer up north. This fell through at the last minute, and now have seen two happy more years' service at Hoeford, and are still there today. The transfers weren't speculation - they were the plan - but it shows how pointless speculation can be, if even confirmed transfers can fall through at the last minute.

So what is speculation for? Well, personally, I believe it is a side effect of our enthusiasm and excitement over something new happening. It isn't helpful to ourselves, let alone the companies, travelling public or other enthusiasts. Take the Go Ahead Tempos that have appeared on the Isle of Wight. Are they for MOT before repaint, or are they for route/type testing, or ready for school contracts from September? I don't know the answer, but it could be one of those three. On the other hand, I could equally be quite off the mark.

Speculation is a natural response to fill a void of information, and although one can keep a check on it, I don't think you can quite ever completely never speculate...

Sunday Lost Scenes #1

2011-08-29T23:17:00.000+01:00

Quite a lot of blogs have special Sunday photo - Plymothian Transit has Sunday Best, PTOPA has Snap on Sunday - so I thought, what the hell, why not. Regulars to this blog will know that posts tend to come in batches, so I can't promise one will come every Sunday, but I'm sure I can manage a simple image each week. Eagle eyed viewers will also note today is Monday, not Sunday :-)

My post on Sunday will be a lost scene - either a bus, location or something similar that can no longer be replicated. I'll also post the image at full file size for maximum viewing pleasure.

Entry one: "Citaros at Ryde" - Southern Vectis 456 (left), 453 (far) and 479 (near) in Ryde bus station on route 9. 2nd October 2009.

When I took this photo, I simply thought "oh look, that's a lot of Citaros!" I didn't realise in less than a year, all of the Citaros would have moved on to new fleets and this view would be consigned to the past. I miss the Citaros from the island although reverting the 9 to double deck has to be one of the best decisions made in terms of capacity. However, there are a lot of elderly passengers on the service - hence why the Citaros were bought in the first place. It is a shame they haven't tried former Go Ahead London Citaro-artics to compensate for this... (tongue in cheek of course!)

Another view from the past will come next Sunday, thanks for viewing today.

New Look for Oxford's Park and Ride

2011-08-25T11:05:00.002+01:00

The Oxford Bus Company have recently invested in 18 Enviro400 Hybrid double deckers to replace the fleet of Dennis Trident double deckers on Oxford's Park and Ride network.

Here is 301 - interestingly registered HY11BRD (Oxford do love their personalised registrations...!). I personally prefer this new livery - the greens are smarter shades and the buses just ooze quality. We all know that the waves at the bottom of the bus work well - for example Southern Vectis and Brighton and Hove use them and both liveries look excellent. This is livery in the same mould and certainly works in my opinion.

This is the livery being replaced - Trident 114 (T114DBW) illustrates lighter shades of green used. The new shades of green are more stylish in my opinion and definately reflect the upgrade and investment in the Park and Ride services. The existing Tridents seem to be being retained by OBC - used on a variety of service work and Brookes Bus contracts.

Of the 17 Enviro400Hs now in service, I managed to capture all but three on camera. Here is 302 (HB11OXF) outside Christ Church in Oxford city centre. 302-17 have the "regular" personalised registrations - all ending with OXF.

The rest of this blog is really just illustrating further examples of the fleet in and around Oxford city centre on Park and Ride routes. Here is 309 (HJ11OXF) at the top of New Road, approaching the bus only stretch of road in Oxford city centre.

A nearside view of E400H 316 (HS11OXF) as it heads onto New Road from the direction of the coach station. All of these photos were taken last Friday on 19th August.

A particular favourite location of mine in Oxford is the Magdelin St area, where from 1.30ish, the sun is perfect for buses arriving in the city centre. As well as the P&R routes, you have Gold Stagecoach E400s, the Stagecoach United Counties coach on the X5 from Cambridge, the joint Stagecoach/OBC 2/2A/2B and more. Here is 303 (HC11OXF) at about 1430.

Finally, here is E400H 315 (HR11OXF) at the stop near Oxford rail station. The rail station is a great place to take photos (apart from taxis and delivery vans) - there is a bus station at the rail station itself, and then a precinct area just across the road which has even more services, plus those which terminate at the rail station. Oxford certainly keeps you interested for a good 5 hours +, and if anyone hasn't been in a while, I would advise you to go back - you won't be disappointed (although the variety in both Stagecoach Oxford and OBC fleets is down on any previous year...). You must like Enviro400s though, with 3 operators operating the type, in 7 different liveries, they are the most common double deck in Oxford.

Go Ahead's Latest Addition

2011-08-22T11:07:00.000+01:00

Go Ahead have purchased new and expanded a number of their existing companies in the recent years. Their most recent acquisition is Thames Travel, an operator which operates the key Oxford - Reading and Oxford - Didcot services, the Wokingham town services, and last year took over nearly all of the Bracknell tendered town services.

The company use a largely young fleet of low floor single deckers with five double deckers. The double decks are 3 Scania Omncities along with unique Scania Omnidekka 154, as illustrated below, and a hybrid Enviro400. A variety of single decks are used, such as Scania Omnitowns, Enviro 200s, Optare Solos or MAN/MCV Evolutions, such as these illustrated in Oxford. Pictured are 857 (AE57LYP) and 1057 (AE57LYD), operating the two Oxford "super express" services. They are pictured standing along St Aldate's in Oxford city centre. Both buses, and indeed all that I saw on Friday, carried the Go Ahead logo in the window.

I've only mananged to capture on double deck so far - this one is 154 (OU54PGZ) pictured at Reading rail station prior to Go Ahead takeover. As can be seen, the livery has been retained so far by Go Ahead - maybe in the next year or so a Ray Stenning inspired livery could be introduced - certainly the colours and Stenning's style could be easily adapted.

Another one of Thames Travel's numerous Evolutions - this one is 1157 (AE57LYR). I haven't quite got my head around the fleetnumbers yet - Thames Travel tend to have a digit or two, and then the number in the registration. Hence, this bus is the 11th numbered bus with a 57 registration - 1157. Pictured at Reading rail station with a service for Wokingham.

This now means that Thames Travel are working alongside the Oxford Bus Company (OBC) in Oxford, both under Go Ahead ownership. It will be interesting to see if long distance OBC routes (such as the X2 to Didcot) become branded as Thames Travel, or of course nothing could happen. Go Ahead have pledged to maintain Thames Travel as a separate company from OBC, which makes sense due to the wide geographical spread of Thames Travel's network. Pictured above-right is Evolution 205 (AE05EUZ) on an X39 for Reading.

I will certainly have to get to Wokingham and Bracknell soon to photograph Thames Travel's operations there - I've always enjoyed photographing this operator and hopefully I will be able to bring you more photos of their operation in the future.

Island Changes

2011-08-18T11:05:00.005+01:00

Southern Vectis will take over routes from the former Wightbus network from 5th September, which will see SV take on a lot of routes they previously have operated in some form.

Routes picked up from Wightbus are the 22 (Lake - Shanklin), 24 (Yaverland - Lake & Sandown), 32 (Cowes - Gurnard circular), 33 (Ryde - Newport via Havenstreet), 34 (Wootton - Havenstreet circular), 35 (Newbridge - Newport) and 39 (Newport - Pan Estate circular). Most routes will only operate Monday to Friday, although some such as route 35 will only operate on specific days.

Southern Vectis have operated some of these routes in the past although a couple are new to me such as this form of the 24 and 34. The routes are being taken over as a cost-cutting measure for Isle of Wight council, although I don't know the specific details of the deal. Pictured to above is MPD 304 (HW54BTY) pictured leaving Ryde for Newport on the old route 33, photographed on 22nd July 2006.

Southern Vectis have also bought Wightbus' fleet of low floor Darts following service changes, such as HW54DBZ. The initial plan from SV is to use two of these on route 6, and the rest on SEN school services. Further Solos have also been acquired from Wilts & Dorset, bringing the latest total to 7 as far as I know (8 if you count R601NFX which is being used for spares).

Which brings me nicely onto my next image - Solo 2631 (S631JRU). Following changes to improve route 8's reliability, route 37 (Ryde - Haylands & Binstead circular) is to be operated as a stand alone route using a Solo, which will bring the type's regular use on service routes to Ryde for the first time.

New photography opportunities to come very soon on the island, then.

Guildford

2011-08-17T13:04:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, I visited Guildford for the first time. By train it is about 45minutes south west of London, and the principal operator is Arriva Southern Counties. There is also a significant Stagecoach presence operating key Guildford - Alton, Aldershot and Haslemere routes, and the local independent, Safeguard, also has a key role in the city.

The most common bus in Guildford is the Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer that are operated by Arriva. They operate the majority of the town routes, alongside a smaller fleet of DAF SB120/Wright Cadets. The majority wear fleet livery - either the old version, as illustrated here by 3028 (N228TPK), although repaints into the new livery are common too. Also, some have branding, as illustrated to the left by 3097 (R297CMV) to show the frequency of the University - city centre services.

Two MPDs are operated at Guildford - one is 1606 (GN04UCW). Having never taken photos of Arriva in such a large concentration before, it was interesting to see that the MPDs are numbered with the minibuses in the '1' series, rather series for midibuses, as First and Stagecoach do.

Cadets form an important part of Guildford's city bus network - here is 3938 (GK52VYC) heading the buses out of service, standing on the wall in the bus station. Incidentally, buses are only supposed to remain there for 45 minutes - 3938 was there for my entire visit...

Arriva use a number of Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urbans on the two Park and Ride contacts they operate - here is 3735 (GN54MYU) unloading passengers in Guildford city centre.

Arriva Southern Counties have just received 4 former MK Metro Solos for city work in an attempt to remove the last Varios from service. The only one I saw out and about was 1509 (T407ENV), pictured here reversing off the stand on route 17.

Finally from Arriva, here is Volvo Olympian 5925 (M925PKN), which I am reliably informed tends to stay on school services, so I am even more chuffed I managed to photograph it yesterday. Pictured departing Guildford on route 53.

Abellio Surrey operate once an hour into Guildford on route 515 from Kingston using these Mini-Pointer Darts - this one is 8094 (KV03ZFX), which was new to Tellings Golden Millar.

Stagecoach operate into Guildford every 15minutes on route 20 from Aldershot. Route 20 is operated as "the Kite" and uses a fleet of 5 MAN 14.240/Enviro200 - this one is 39653 (GX08HBP).

Countryliner also operate a number of services into Guildford, mainly using a mixture of Darts, Olympians and Evolutions. Here is MAN/MCV Evolution MRM4 (AE56MDJ) about to load passengers for Epsom on route 479.

The main independent in Guildford is Safeguard, which operate mainly a fleet of low floor saloons on city services and Park & Ride route 300. My first image illustrates Optare Tempo YJ06FXM departing the bus station on circular service route 4. I think the Safeguard livery suits the Tempo very well. My second image illustrates Optare Versa YJ60LRO taking the place of a P&R branded Dart on route 300. These are very smart buses and, again, I feel that Safeguard's livery suits the lines of this bus very well. From the outside, the whole fleet looked very well presented and certainly gave the impression of a quality operator.

Many thanks for viewing.

Provincial Connections

2011-08-15T13:01:00.002+01:00

Direct links to Provincial are rare these days, but today when out photographing I found two in one place. I quickly stopped in Drayton, just east of Cosham on the road to Havant.

Firstly of note, are that all of the eastbound bus stops still have the old Red on Cream Provincial branding. These are long gone generally - I think First started replacing these in 1999. These are very rare - there is an old Provincial sign in Bridgemary and remnants of a sign in Gosport bus station, along with a couple of these old bus stops dotted around the network. This is the highest concentration I have found of these old displays. I reckon this was put up pre-1996, because the old route 65 was advertised on this bus stop in years gone by. Route 65 was a route acquired with the Red / Blue Admiral operations and was unregistered by First around 1996/1997, so therefore the bus stop originates from before this time. Photograph taken today, 15th August 2011, at Drayton (New Inn).

In one of those strange events, the next bus along on the 63 was UVG Urban Star bodied Dart 47307 (N607EBP) - part of the last batch of new buses to People's Provincial and one of the last 4 People's Provincial buses in service anywhere. It has been changed significantly since 1995 - new repaint, repainted interior, new seat cushions, LED display, loss of indicators next to the destination blind, but at least the bus remains! The last 4 Darts aren't expected to be around for much longer, so grab them while you can.

Welsh Connections

2011-08-13T13:12:00.001+01:00

During my recent trip to Wales, I found many connections with home, such as old local buses operating in new areas, or buses from the same batch as what we have locally. This post documents some familiar buses I found while up in Wales.

I'll start MOD571P - Weymouth's old VR that has moved on to Wales for yet another year's worth of service. The load leaving the bus station around lunchtime was fully loaded, so hopefully MOD may be back next year too! She looks very smart and seemed to be performing well.

The Greyhound division of First now operate the "Shuttle" 100 between Swansea and Cardiff - here 23318 (YN55PXJ) or "Mandy" arrives in Swansea bus station. This coach was originally used on the Southampton and Portsmouth to London Greyhound routes.

The batch of N---LHG Olympians new to London Central seem to have been dispersed everywhere - in Southampton, examples entered service with both First Hants & Dorset and Solent Blue Line. Here is N548LHG in service on the Cardiff sightseeing tour. First Hants & Dorset still operate N528LHG at Weymouth as an open topper as well. N548LHG is pictured at Cardiff's Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

Swansea is the new capital of Marshall bodied Dart SLFs - all of which are second hand and previously with London. 41167 (R167TLM) is sister vehicle to both R165/6TLM in service at Hilsea depot at First Hampshire, and were at First Berkshire together after leaving London before moving on.

This little Mercedes-Benz 709D is registered YIL3167 - but is actually L899VHT, new to Bristol Cityline. This is a rare bus - a bus that left First to see further service in the UK with another company. Certainly good to see it out and about - and still retaining fully functioning dot-matrix number displays. Pictured in St Davids - operating the Sunday only 411 St Davids - Haverfordwest with Summerdale Coaches - Richards do the weekday/Saturday service.

Finally for today, here is former Stagecoach East Kent Mercedes-Benz 709D N952NAP, which is now in service with Silcox Coaches in Pembrokeshire. There are still some of her sister buses in service with Stagecoach (for example, at Andover). She is pictured in Saundersfoot, near Tenby.

Many thanks for viewing.

For those interested my photos from Pembrokeshire, click on the links below:
Western Pembrokeshire - Haverfordwest, Broad Haven & Little Haven
Southern Pembrokshire - Tenby, Pembroke & Saundersfoot
Northern Pembrokeshire - Fishguard, Newport, St Davids & Strumble Head

Weymouth Round Up

2011-08-12T11:15:00.006+01:00

My final post from Weymouth - this is a round up of the other services in the town with a heavy bias towards First, as South West Coaches haven't really changed since my last visit nearly a year ago.

First up, Weymouth operate 3 former Bristol Cityline K---LAE Leyland Olympians. 34623 (K623LAE) is pictured in the first image, operating one of the summer only X53 shorts to Seaton. This batch of Olympians seems to be common on these X53 extras. Pictured in the second image is 34628 (K628LAE), arriving on town service route 2 along Weymouth esplanade. Weymouth depot also operate K629LAE, and have operated K627LAE in the past before it was scrapped. These Olympians are very smart and hopefully will go on for a few years yet, as their sisters are dwindling in numbers in Devon & Cornwall. Incidentally, for those unaware, K621LAE has been restored in preservation to Cityline livery and it looks fantastic.

Another acquisition from First Devon & Cornwall is Dennis Dart SLF 42452 (R452CCV). 42452 is the only one of it's type in service in Weymouth, and is pictured here on route 4 in Weymouth.

Since my last visit, the summer only 503 to Waterside Holiday park has been upgraded using Dennis Dart SLFs - but this time not in an allover dedicated livery. Here 42827 (T827AFX) departs on the 503 for Waterside. Sister 42828 was also operating this service on Wednesday.

A very rare sight in Weymouth these days is a step entry single decker. 46311 (L311RTP) was new to Southampton Citybus and recently transferred down the coast from Hoeford depot. Here she is departing from Weymouth Debenhams on route 8.

Even rarer these days is a Mercedes-Benz Vario in service. Former Cymru and Glasgow 52486 (R486EDW) departs on route 6 from Debenhams, which is usually operated by a Dennis Dart (not that the loadings, on this evidence, required a Dart).

Weymouth is one of only 2 places in First where you can find Scania Omnidekkas in service (the other is Edinburgh). They are usually allocated to route 31 these days (Weymouth - Axminster), but on Wednesday two found their way on to their old haunt of route X53 (Poole to Exeter). Firstly illustrated, 36006 (YN05HGA) is the only one in First livery, and is used as the spare bus, directed to wherever it is needed across the 1, 31, X43 or X53 network.

Secondly illustrated is Omnidekka 36004 (YN04GNZ), fully branded for route 31 but operating route X53 on Wednesday. 36004 was the first ever bus I photographed on the X53 when new back in 2004.

Weymouth operate former Yeovil buses from time to time. I managed to catch up with Dennis Dart SLF 46263 (P263PAE) on Wednesday, which had just come off of route 1.

Dorset County Council operate two Optare Versas on the new Weymouth Park & Ride route, serving the length of Weymouth esplanade. Here YJ60KFX is pictured at Weymouth's King's Statue.

Finally for today, Damory have recently won the tender for route 253. Route 253 is a morning journey from Beaminster to Weymouth, via Bridport and West Bay, along with a return trip leaving in the early afternoon. Here Damory DAF 508 (V710LWT) is pictured on stand loading up passengers.

Many thanks for viewing - that's all from Weymouth for now.

Southern Vectis Olys in Weymouth

2011-08-11T13:00:00.000+01:00

The ex-Southern Vectis Leyland and Volvo Olympians allocated to Wilts & Dorset's Salisbury depot tend to be the main allocation on routes 183 / 184 Salisbury - Weymouth, and have been for the past 2 years or so. This is a photographic blog entry illustrating the different examples I've been lucky enough to capture on camera in Weymouth on these services.

Leyland Olympian 725 - TIL6725

departing for Blandford & Salisbury

4th September 2009

Volvo Olympian 751 - M751HDL

on stand out of service having arrived from Salisbury.

2nd September 2010

Volvo Olympian 752 - R752GDL

arriving back on stand ready to load passengers on the 183 for Blandford

2nd September 2010

Volvo Olympian 754 - R754GDL

moving back onto stand ready to load up passengers for the 183. Next stop Dorchester!

5th March 2010

Volvo Olympian 756 - R756GDL

the 183 now unloads on a stand just down the esplanade from King's Statue - 756 moves towards the departure stand in this photo

10th August 2011

Volvo Olympian 757 - R757GDL

my final capture today - 757 heads for First's Weymouth depot out of service, having just arrived from Salisbury

10th August 2011

Many thanks for viewing.

The X43 is back!

2011-08-10T23:06:00.001+01:00

Last year, First Hants & Dorset, Wilts & Dorset and Dorset County Council reintroduced the link between Swanage and Weymouth, but introducing route X43. Route X43 was a summer holidays only service, which connected the two seaside towns via Corfe Castle, Wool, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, amongst other places.

The route was joint operated by both First Hants & Dorset and Wilts & Dorset, using some of their respective finest double deckers. Here Scania Omnidekka 36006 (YN05HGA) loads passengers for Swanage, pictured at Weymouth's King's Statue last summer.

This year it is all different. First have introduced a commercial X43 service, running three times a day from Weymouth to Monkey World, serving Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. I managed to photograph former First Provincial Volvo B10BLE 66156 (S356XCR) on this slightly shortened route. Loadings from Weymouth on the midday departure were decent enough - approximately 10-15 passengers boarded this service, which ultimately won't carry those who go for the whole day out. I would expect the peak departures to be busier, although I have no evidence to back this up.

Go South Coast have won the tendered route from Swanage to Weymouth, again at four departures a day. Wilts & Dorset operate two of these departures from either end, with a bus based from Swanage depot (outstationed for the service from Poole). For today, it was DAF SB250/Optare Spectra 3183 (HJ52VFZ).

New for this year is the introduction of Damory to the route. Damory are working in partnership with their fellow Go South Coast company to operate the journeys operated by First, last year. This brings Damory buses into service work in Weymouth for the first time*. Identical to the bus above, here DAF SB250 3171 (Y171FEL) arrives in Weymouth on Damory's turn of the X43. Incidentally, 3171 doesn't actually have Weymouth or Wool on the blind, so has to use pieces of paper. None of Damory's Spectras have LED displays yet.

The X43 certainly adds to the Weymouth bus scene this year, and brings a rare piece of variety to the town. The Go South Coast X43 operates daily, but the First X43 only Mon-Fri. For those interested in photographing the buses, the same bus operates the First X43 all day (barring breakdowns), and Wilts do the 0930 + 1430 ex Swanage, and the 1205 and 1705 ex-Weymouth, with Damory doing the 1230 + 1730 ex Swanage, and the 1005 and 1505 ex-Weymouth.

Thank you for reading.

* Damory have also recently won the 253 Beaminster - Weymouth contract for one journey a day Monday-Friday. Former Marchwood + BlueStar DAF V710LWT seems to be the main bus used on this service.

Stokes Bay 2011

2011-08-08T13:32:00.002+01:00

Good afternoon everyone - I'm back with a post after a month's absence. Sorry for the lack of posts; I've been away for two of the weeks and other commitments also. Over the coming weeks the blog will hopefully be quite active - from September posts could reduce again but I'll keep it going and see how we go!

Yesterday was the ninth rally at Stokes Bay, Gosport, organised by the Provincial Society. Over 70 buses attended, and although it was quieter than it has been in the past, in this economic climate I believe it was a great success. Thank you to all bus owners who brought their bus along - especially in these tough times your efforts are greatly appreciated.

As always, the rally was greatly supported by First Hants & Dorset and Brijan Tours, who brought many of their own buses along and always play a massive role in making the rally a success. Since they've arrived in Hampshire, First usually bring one of the EFL Olympians along- yesterday was the turn of 34072 (P572EFL). 34072 is the only Olympian in service with FHD to have a white and pink grill - the others have a more traditional black grill on the Northern Counties Palatine bodywork. Brijan also brought along their fair share of double deckers - here are two of them - Metrobus SUI7653 and Leyland Olympian XLZ3105. The Olympian, new as C82CHM, in particular looked very smart. The Metrobus has recently received a new registration - previously UVY412 and new as F764EKM to East Kent.

Preserved Provincial buses always feature high up on the agenda at Stokes Bay and yesterday was no exception. Leyland National 76 (WFX257S) and Bristol RE 12 (ECG112K) are pictured here in service on the day. 76 is just going out for the cavalcade, where 12 is loading passengers at the rally bus stop. Both are wonderfully preserved vehicles and reflect two liveries of years gone by that are very fond with local enthusiasts.

Hants & Dorset Leyland National GLJ681N arrives at the rally sight looking fantastic in the morning sunshine. The weather, if a little windy, was very good and the rain stayed away.

Former Bournemouth Transport and Wilts & Dorset Fleetline OUC45R arrives at the rally site. At present it belongs to Emsworth & District in a semi-preserved state - as can be seen by the wedding bow it is used for special occasions.

There were a large number of preserved Southdown vehicles that attended the rally, which was great to see. Here is Bristol VR UUF116J heading out for the cavalcade in the early afternoon.

Finally, here is a company from a bit further afield. Trent Buses GNU568N is rather new to the rally scene in this livery and it does look excellent. She is heading out for the cavalcade around Gosport.

Once again, I would like to end by saying a massive thank you to all bus owners who brought their bus along yesterday. These events could not be successful without you. Thank you very much.

P.S. The blog layout editor seems to have had a bit of a mind of its own today - I do apologise - hopefully this will be sorted by blogger soon!

First in Cornwall Improvements

2011-07-03T13:56:00.002+01:00

First Devon & Cornwall are making some changes to a couple of their core Cornish routes for the summer holidays, from 27th July.

From 27th July, the 88 (Falmouth - Truro, operating at every 15 minutes) has one of it's journeys extended to Newquay as the 88A. From this date, the 89 and 90 (Truro - Newquay) are cut, meaning an end to this famous service. First Devon & Cornwall even purchased 3 brand new Tridents for the 89/90 back in 2005 (now transferred on to Plymouth).

Illustrated to the left are firstly Volvo Olympian 34200 (VOO273) on route 90 in Truro last summer, followed by Corlink livered Volvo B6BLE 48273 (YG02DLV), pictured in Falmouth on route 88 back in 2005.

This now has resulted in a rather confusing organisation of services. Each hour, from Falmouth:

07' departure route 88 to Truro bus station

22' departure route 88 to Tresliske hospital

37' departure route 88A to Newquay

52' departure route 88 to Tresliske hospital

At least the Truro - Falmouth section is constant!

The 88A does not alternate between Porth and Trenance Gardens as the 89/90 does at present - I'm not sure what the impact on local passengers this will have as I am not local myself - nonetheless some are not going to be happy. The new 88A goes via Trenance Gardens each way, leaving the residents of Porth to Western Greyhound's 556 and summer 505. The 88A does, however, have the same times approximately as the 89/90 throughout the hour (for example, the 88A, 89 and 90 all arrive in Newquay at 33 mins past the hour, so not a huge change here). The service is branded as a "refresher", and will provide opportunities for passengers to travel from Newquay to Falmouth without changing buses for the first time since the 89/90 were cut back to Truro. (Of course, there is a once-a-day WGH 590 if you fancy it also).

A definate improvement to the First Devon & Cornwall network is the doubling in frequency of route 14. Route 14 operates from Truro to St Ives, via Redruth and Camborne mainly mainly former Manchester Volvo B7RLEs, such as 69229 (MX56AEW) as illustrated right. It is one of First Devon & Cornwall's remaining premier routes in Cornwall. The 14 goes to every half-hour for at least the summer holidays, which should add more interest for enthusiasts and provide more opportunities for the travelling public. I hope the service improvements are popular.

New Darts at FHD

2011-07-01T21:51:00.001+01:00

Darts may not be everybody's cup of tea, but with First Hants & Dorset, enthusiasts have to get used to them. 4 second hand Marshall bodied Dart SLFs have just entered service at Hilsea, with a further 6 Pointer 2 bodied Dart SLFs entering service at Hoeford.

The Marshall bodied Dart SLFs have all been acquired from First Cymru, although only 41147 has seen service in Wales. Two MPD-length Darts have been acquired - one is 41346 (V346DLH), and is pictured here looking very smart in Tipner earlier this afternoon. Sister 41348 has also joined the fleet.

Another former London and Cymru Dart is DML41387 (X387HLR) - the DML retained in its fleet number either as (a) an oversight, or (b) to differentiate its length to those at Hilsea depot who were unfamiliar with the four transfers in. 41387 is pictured at Southsea's South Parade Pier earlier today on route 6A, a regular haunt of this type of bus since February 2004, when they took over from Iveco minibuses.

Two former Truronian Dart SLFs have been acquired from First in Devon & Cornwall for Hoeford depot. One is 42234 (T34JCV), and is pictured earlier today in Palmerston Road, Southsea, heading for Paulsgrove on route 1C. These Darts are 10m length and have a flat roof, meaning they are easily identifiable by enthusiasts when out photographing. I haven't seen 42232 yet, but it is out and about in service and other enthusiasts have caught it on camera already.

First Hants & Dorset have also acquired some more former Hong Kong Dennis Darts for Hoeford. One example is 42773 (S673SNG), which would probably win the award for the smartest bus at Hoeford at present. I was lucky enough to capture it in Stubbington on Tuesday, where it is pictured heading for Southampton on route 72.

Variety at FHD may be limited, but there is certainly a variety of Dart about. At Hoeford you can find the following:

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - native R---YCR / S---KTP / S---XCR Dart

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - second hand former First Bristol T728REU

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - second hand former Southampton R415WPX

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - T32/4JCV, ex-Truronian

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - 40956/7/9/61 (ex-Edinburgh & Hong Kong)

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - 42754/9/73/80/3 (ex-Eastern Counties & Hong Kong)

* Dart SLF/Pointer 2 - 40824/5/6 - former Glasgow examples

* Dart SLF/Pointer 1 - 42407 - P407MLA (new to London)

* Dart / UVG - 4 examples new to People's Provincial

* Dart / Pointer - a variety of 9m and 9.8m examples formerly with Southampton

* Dart / NC Paladin 40262 new to Manchester

* Dart / Alexander 40623 new to Leeds

And in the past we've had Wright Handybus bodied Darts, Marshall bodied Dart SLFs at Hoeford and more.... certainly a variety of Darts, even if the fleet isn't very different.

Ugobus to Fareham now!

2011-06-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

Following an increase in PVR in Southampton and subsequent fleet transfers, First Hants & Dorset's Hoeford depot now operate 9 former Hong Kong Dennis Dart SLFs. All 9 have been transferred up from First Devon & Corrnwall - specifically from Plymouth - previously operating on the Ugobus network. Now the former Ugobus fleet operate from every Hampshire depot - Volvo B7RLEs in Southampton, Solos from Hoeford, and Darts from Hoeford and Hilsea.

5 have been transferred directly to Hoeford from First Devon & Cornwall. One example is 42773 (S673SNG), which is pictured on route 72 heading for Southampton looking spotless. This bus' appearance is a credit to First. Former Edinburgh based 40961, plus former First Eastern Counties based 42754, 42757, and 42780 were transferred directly to Hoeford along with 42773.

4 have arrived at Hoeford, having already operated for FHD previously at Hilsea depot. One example is 40957 (S372SUX), pictured in Stubbington heading for Gosport on route 87A. The other three are 40956, 40959 and 42759.

These 9 Dart SLFs have been joined at Hoeford by former Truronian T32JCV and T34JCV, which seem to spend all of their time on the 17, 18 and X42. Not sure why, or whether this is actually the case - these routes are simply what the buses are operating whenever I see them!

All photos taken yesterday in Stubbington.

BlueStar 554 escapes!

2011-06-29T15:13:00.000+01:00

BlueStar's DAF or VDL SB120s tend to stick around route 18 (Millbrook - Thornhill), which is BlueStar's most frequent route, operating 8 buses an hour. This route competes against key First routes 17/17A (also at 8 buses an hour) between Southampton and Millbrook, and route 11 (at 6 an hour) between Southampton and Bitterne.

However, today, 554 (YG52CEN) was off route, exploring the delights of Portswood, Eastleigh and Fair Oak on route 2. 554 is pictured here in Sandy Lane, Fair Oak, the northern terminus of route 2. Route 2 operates at every 20 minutes and largely sees Volvo B7TLs. However, with a number off road at the moment for a number of reasons, 554 was drafted in. Despite being single deck, around Eastleigh it seemed to cope well with capacity, although the load out of Southampton may not have been the same.

BlueStar have recently acquired a further 4 DAF/VDL SB120s from Go North East, and are in the process of rebranding and refurbishing their existing DAF fleet into the darker blue and stars livery.

The Needles Tour

2011-06-22T16:01:00.000+01:00

On 6th June, I visited West Wight for the first time in over five years, as I wanted to get some of those famous Needles Tour shots for myself! Advertised as one of the most spectacular bus rides in Britain, the Needles Tour is operated by Southern Vectis' two remaining K reg Olympians - K742ODL and K743ODL - at a frequency of every 30 mins.

The Needles Tour travels out on the bus only road/footpath down to the Needles Battery from Alum Bay. On a gloriously sunny day, such as the 6th June, fantastic photos were on offer, such as this view of 643 (K743ODL).

642 (K742ODL) is pictured here heading for The Needles, at present in Alum Bay. These Olympians are the only motorised vehicles allowed along the road to The Needles. There is a new feeder service - route 21 - which brings the buses from Newport to Yarmouth to begin operation of the tour each morning.

Southern Vectis operated 9 Leyland Olympians with K-registrations from new. The other 7 are now with Wilts & Dorset across the solent - a number are allocated at Lymington depot. Therefore, you can photograph these two in Yarmouth, travel across on the ferry, and then photograph more of the same batch! 643 is pictured in this view.

For an individual traveller, I thought Southern Vectis offered great value. For my £5 day rider (half price due to student discount), I sampled:

* Scania 1143 from Ryde esplanade to Ryde St Johns Church

* Scania 1146 from Ryde esplanade to Newport bus station

* Scania 1142 from Newport bus station to Alum Bay

* Volvo Olympian 643 from Alum Bay to Yarmouth

* Scania 1117 from Yarmouth to Newport

* Scania 1145 from Newport to Ryde

Excellent value! Thank you Southern Vectis.

Not back for the summer...

2011-06-21T14:19:00.000+01:00

First Devon & Cornwall have expanded some routes for the summer (route 3's frequency in Ilfracombe, route X81 to Dartmouth) and introduced some new routes for the summer (such as Open Top route 8 in Croyde). However, one of last year's introductions is not returning for the summer...

Route 397 was introduced last summer by First Devon & Cornwall operating between Truro and Padstow. It marked FDC's first service return to Padstow since they withdraw the 55 (replaced by Western Greyhound's 555) - although they do still operate the summer P&R and college services into Padstow.

When they introduced the route, I had to foresight to save the PDF leaflet as I thought the service may only last one year. Advertised as the direct service between Truro and Padstow, the route operated Monday - Friday four times a day in each direction. The usual bus to operate the route were second hand Volvo Olympians, such as former London and Bristol 34041 (P241UCW), illustrated outside Padstow's former rail station. A family ticket return was only £10, which I feel was good value. Unfortunately for First, the route did not attract enough custom, or else it would have returned for this year.

FHD re-shuffles

2011-06-06T23:46:00.000+01:00

This is more of a news-y post, just to consolidate all the info of what is going on in First Hants & Dorset at the moment:

Hoeford:

IN: Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 42232 (T32JCV), 42234 (T34JCV) and 42780 (S680SNG), all ex- First Devon & Cornwall. Into service is Dart SLF 42773 (S773SNG). 42232 and 42234 were new to Truronian, whereas 42780 is a former Hong Kong Dart.
PENDING IN: 42778 (S678SNG) ex- Hilsea - to be transferred to Hoeford but going via Southampton.
OUT: 40842 (R642DUS) to Southampton, 40827 (R647DUS) has been reported to have gone too.

Hilsea:

IN: Dart SLF/Marshall Capital 41147 (P247OEW), 41346 (V346DLH), 41348 (V348DLH) and 41387 (X387HLR), all ex- First Cymru and new to First London. 41348 and 41348 are MPD versions - 25 seaters, while 41147 is a 31 seater - 41387 being a 10.2m example and a 33 seater.
IN (loan): 47367 (N467ETR) from Hoeford.
PENDING OUT: 42778 (S678SNG) to Hoeford, along with 2 other examples.

Southampton:

IN: 40822 (R642DUS) confirmed and 40827 (R647DUS) suggested to have returned to Southampton from Hoeford depot. The others in the "DUS" batch are expected to follow in the coming weeks.

In simple terms, Hoeford have gained a further 3 Dennis Dart SLFs from Devon & Cornwall (can't be many left now!), and their first ex-Truronian examples in the form of T32JCV and T34JCV.

Hilsea have received 4 former London & Cymru Dennis Dart SLFs with Marshall bodywork -3 are in service already (41348 isn't yet) - these will displace 4 Darts to Hoeford - which will transfer the whole of the DUS batch of Darts (former Glasgow R642-7DUS) along with native Southampton bus 41515 (R415WPX).

That's the plan at the mo anyway. Could all change! Photos hopefully to come sooner rather than later - in the meantime I direct you to Matt Forbes' BlueMelon site and my FHD site's forum where you can see photos of most of the the new Darts in service.

Southern Vectis Optare Solos

2011-06-03T21:36:00.001+01:00

I managed to photograph my first Southern Vectis Optare Solo today - former Wilts & Dorset 2632 (S632JRU) which I last photographed in Romsey...

The Solos are a little tricky to find for the non-SV expert enthusiast. You can assume one will be on route 25 (Newport - Folly Inn and East Cowes), and this is where I found 2632 today, arriving in Newport on the midday arrival. Route 25 seemed to be very well used as it left Newport bus station.

I think - like most buses - the Southern Vectis livery suits the Solo extremely well. Five Solos are operated by Southern Vectis - sister 2631 (in green) along with 2618 (W&D red), 2620 (SV green) and 2621 (W&D red). I saw 2620 on a route 7 today surprisingly - when I waited for it to return it had been replaced by an Omnicity, so presumably the bus was a late substitute.

I hope to photograph the other four Solos in due course - but for now I'm glad that I've got one!

Velvet goes 100% low floor

2011-06-02T22:57:00.002+01:00

With the arrival of 3 new Dart SLFs (2 normal length, 1 SPD), and the return to service on existing Dart SLF S162BMR, Velvet now operate a 100% low floor network across all passenger routes, with one spare low floor bus. This means that the Leyland Olympians, like the Volvo Citybuses before them, have largely been consigned to school, college and special event work, and the odd service when there are too many low floor buses off the road. Congratulations to Velvet, for such a young company, for achieving this important milestone.

I've always found the Leyland Olympians awkward to photograph. For about a year, they were the main allocation on route A - but when you know something is definately on the route, you don't often get round to photographing it. Indeed, I've only ever taken one photo of an Olympian on the A.

My first photos of the Olympians came on the ill-fated route B - basically a route to switch drivers and manage breaks on the routes to Ringwood that were in operation back in 2008/very early 2009. Here is J841TSC heading through Velmore en-route for Eastleigh, pictured on Jan 7th, 2009.

After the route changes of January 2009, which saw the 35/300/B cut and the Fair Oak Flyer/500 introduced, the Leyland Olympians were far easier to photograph. The 500 was off-peak work introduced in Jan 09, and the main allocation were the Olympians. I managed to capture all of them running through Portswood - as illustrated by J843TSC in the first photo, and secondly J851TSC in the second photo, going past the now-closed First Portswood bus depot.

As announced on the GSC forum tonight, the main allocations should now be 2 Darts and a DAF on route A, and 2 Darts and a Solo on route C, with another Solo on the S2 in Southampton. The Olympians will only cover service work if 2 (or more) buses are out of action, apart from joint school/college runs.

I hope to bring you photos of the Dart SLFs soon - I know where to find them, so its just a matter of going to get them. Mind you, that didn't really work for my Olympian collection...

(as a footnote, Velvet also operate 2 former Wilts & Dorset DAF SB250/Optare Spectras... I haven't got round to getting them on camera either...)

Waking from the Slumber...

2011-05-29T23:18:00.002+01:00

Firstly, massive apologies to my regular visitors for the lack of posts this month - a lot has happened, which I have, unfortunately, largely missed due to other commitments in my life, coupled with two fairly bad spells of illness. May has not been good for my bus hobby!

For the first time this month, on Saturday I managed to grab some bus photos on my first visit to Shanklin in three years, and it was great to get back out with the camera.

First up, the highlight of my trip. Here is former Wilts & Dorset DAF SB250/Northern Counties Palatine 2 - the bus that toppled over in the Sandbanks a few years ago - now in service on the island and seen on the "Shanklin Steamer". The "Shanklin Steamer" is a tourist route, designed for single deck Volvo B10M 625 once the open top conversion has been completed - operated by 614 (N14WAL) until 625 is ready to enter service. Pictured in Shanklin's Old Village.

Since my last visit, Wightbus' Rail-link route 16 from Shanklin to Ventnor has been lost, replaced by Southern Vectis' service 3. The "Sandown Bay Breezer" also now serves the station - here is 637 (R737XRV) against a backdrop of Shanklin rail station.

I've managed to complete my photos of the former Metrobus Scania Omnidekkas - 1053 (YU52XVN) was the last one I needed to photograph and is pictured here at Landguard Rd- on the former site of Shanklin bus station. 1053 has arrived from Newport on route 2 - heading for Ryde as the 2 has been extended back to the seaside town for the summer season.

Younger Scania Omnicity 1112 (HW58ASZ) heads for Ventnor on route 3. The Co-operative is on the site of the former bus station, which closed before I was born.

Shanklin's Old Village gives the chance for some picturesque photos and really makes up for the rather poor photographic conditions along Landguard Road. Former Metrobus Scania 1055 (YN03DFP) heads for Ryde on route 3.

Finally for this evening, here is Scania 1151 (HW09BCV) again in Shanklin's Old Village, this time heading for Ventnor and Newport on route 3. In the summer (and when it is sunny), I intend to return to get some cracking shots of the green Scanias heading up past the thatched cottages, or the open toppers heading up from Sandown Bay.

All photos can be found at my Smugmug site - click here for a direct link. Over the next week I intend to make postings semi-regular again - there may be another dip in the following two weeks but all posts should recommence at a regular interval from mid-late June. Thanks for viewing :-)

Apologies

2011-05-13T22:38:00.000+01:00

Apologies to all for the lack of posts and photos at the moment, I am quite often working 14-15hour days and haven't had the time to post an update. The blog hasn't finished and there is a chance of a few posts over the weekend - Thanks for viewing as always!! :-)

James

Southampton changes

2011-05-08T13:11:00.000+01:00

First Hampshire, Dorset and South Somerset (ok, I'll stick with FHD) are set to announce their next set of changes to the Southampton network next week. Most routes have changes on, but the biggest change simply from VOSA appears to be the 11 and 12.

The 11A, 11C, 12A and 12C at present connect Southampton City Centre to Sholing, via Woolston and Bitterne. The 11s go via Butts Road in Sholing, white the 12s go via Botley Road. The As go around the circular in an anti-clockwise direction, heading for Woolston first and heading back to the city though Bitterne, while the Cs go first to Bitterne. These routes replaced the existing 5/5A and 7/7A to Sholing in 2008, as the majority of cross-city routes were altered to terminate at the city centre.

VOSA indicates a new 11 and a new 12 have been registered from 12th June. We aren't sure yet of what changes will occur to these routes, so I can only speculate. Possibly the 11 going via Bitterne and doing a circular of Sholing, and the 12 via Woolston and the same? Or a frequency increase to compete with BlueStar 18 - recently increased to 8 buses an hour? We will find out next week, hopefully.

What is known is that service changes in Southampton are seeing potentially 7 more buses arrive in the city. At least one further Hong Kong Dart SLF is arriving from First Hants & Dorset's Plymouth depot, along with at least 2 former Truronian Darts - T32JCV and T34JCV are confirmed. These are very similar to sister 42235 (T35JCV), pictured to the right. 3 buses haven't been confirmed yet, 42235 could potentially move too. Furthermore, it is expected that Weymouth based Volvo B10BLE 66156 (S356XCR) will also move east.

The Dart SLFs haven't been confirmed as for Empress Road - there is some talk from the company that these will move to Hoeford, concentrating that type in the east of the company. This will cause 5 of the ex-Glasgow Darts at Hoeford to move back to Southampton (40822/5-7 were previously allocated to Portswood) and 41515 (R415WPX), which was of course new to Southampton. Interesting times ahead- and that's before any of the network changes are confirmed!