This week's Sunday Lost Scenes comes from Plymouth in 2009...
First Devon & Cornwall 33413 (WA56FUE) - Plymouth (Royal Parade) - 11th August 2009
There has been a lot of press about fleet movements with First Devon & Cornwall at the moment. Every movement in or out seems to be given an extensive analysis. There are a number of factors for this - the forthcoming withdrawal from North Devon, the pending announcement of the holder of the Great Western railway franchise, regular route withdrawals combined with recent tender wins. The above shot shows some of the buses to have moved on - the lovely, leather seated Enviro400s bought in for Plymouth's Park and Ride.
These buses have been replaced by brand new Enviro400s of the same built - albeit they've been whisked off to the Olympics for the past month or so. However, where an enthusiast or passenger may like to see the existing buses cascaded on a Devon & Cornwall service, they've moved on. I think these would have been great on the X80 (Plymouth - Torquay), X81 (Torquay - Dartmouth) and 93 (Plymouth - Dartmouth).
While the Devonian residents miss out on improved services, the Weston-super-Mare to Bristol corridor has benefited. Here is a view of 33413 from yesterday, being the first First Bristol, Somerset & Avon bus into the new livery. 33413's sisters have also been painted into a rather eye catching livery for the X1, with only one remaining in Plymouth livery now.
Very good too having photo's taken exactly 3 years apart!
ReplyDeleteThe enthusiast movement have effectively given First a double slagging for this particular transfer, as some of the X1 vehicles replaced were Volvo B9 Wright Gemini's which were rather newer than these Enviro 400s.
In my view you'll never match the X1 from it's early days with prototype Olympian coach ADD 50Y then the Van Hool B10s 2600/1 and the D-GHY Citybuses. I even rode on it once on an RELH/ECW, one of the GHY-K registered batch, which achieved unbelievable speeds on the M5 (which the X1 used to use).
Showing my age again I'm afraid :)
I didn't notice they were taken on the same day three years apart! Excellent, thanks Andy.
ReplyDeleteI think some of those Sanders tri-axle Volvo B9TLs with coach seats and tables wouldn't be to bad on the X1...
Only problem with the Enviro 400s leather seats is they are so slippery,every time the bus brakes you slip forward!
ReplyDeleteThe leather seats on W&D M1/2 B7rles is far more(excuse the pun)comfortable.