Happy 1st Birthday

A year ago today, the Scania N230UD/Enviro400s which operate Coastliner 700 were introduced to active front line service. These impressive double deckers replaced Dennis Tridents example on the 700, which of course operates from Southsea, Clarence Pier, all the way to Brighton.  The new Scanias also introduced a new brand to the route, including bus stops, timetables and a new website for the Coastliner 700 launched on 1st March.

It was a time where I had more free time during my undergrad course at Uni, so I could pop here and there as I wanted really (I greatly miss the freedom now!). I had a lovely morning in the early spring (or is it late winter?) sunshine on 1st March last year - here is one of my all time favourite shots from my collection showing 15589 (GX10HAE) with Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower in the rear.

Unfortunately, the sun along Southsea seafront doesn't lend it to excellent shots out to see until late on a summer's evening, but the inland shots are quite good. Here is 15596 (GX10HBE) heading past Portsmouth's War Memorial column on Clarence Esplanade. In hindsight I would have taken a long shot to get the memorial in, but I was very worried I would miss it due to passing traffic and pedestrians. Maybe one for this summer.

Three of the Scanias were unbranded and '59' registered - used for driver familiarisation in February 2010 by Portsmouth, Chichester and Worthing depots. Here is 15587 (GX59JYU), pictured along Duisburg Road, Southsea, just inland from Clarence Pier and the hovercraft terminal.

The 700 has had an interesting year in 2010. New buses, then new Enviro300 single decks for the short routes, then increased to at least every 15 minutes from Portsmouth all the way to Brighton, then cut back to every 15 minutes from Chichester due to the withdrawal of funding, and updated branding on the front of all of the buses. Here is 15593 (GX10HBB) pictured directly opposite the hovercraft terminal - it now carries branding in the white area at the front where the Stagecoach logo is located - red on blue - which looks a little like the bus has crab claws... (well, in my opinion!).

Thanks for viewing - and I hope the 700 has an interesting 2011 just as it did in 2010. I intend to get to Worthing at some point this year to finish off my photos of the Enviro300s - I'm now only needing 15585, 15588 and 15599 of the Scania/E400s. Visit my photos of the Scanias here, or revisit last March by viewing all of the photos of my trip here.