Sorry for the false start a month ago! This week, we will be looking at some recent old photos from the island, looking at Southern Vectis. They've all been photographed in the last 10 years, and will bring some fond recent memories back for different enthusiasts...
Southern Vectis 100 - HW52EPK - Shanklin - summer 2003
Photographed about within its first year of service, it seems crazy to think that these buses have now been in service on the island for over a decade. It is pictured shimmering in the sun heading for Ventnor and onwards to West Wight. This batch of 7 Volvo B7TLs are still in service on the island, and have never been in public service work on the mainland.
It was expected when the 'Simply Go' contract at Alton College was won by Go Ahead that these buses would transfer to operate it, but in the end Reading Buses had the OmniDekkas available which were both large and new enough to operate the contract.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos James, been a while
ReplyDeleteFeels strange seeing Southern Vectis in blue after my holiday on Green
Matt Kitchin (Manager of Southern Vectis) has revealed this week that the first 3 of this batch of 7 buses are to be converted to open top for the 2014 season - probably a good choice as their length means the maximum possible number of seats upstairs.
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