BlueStar serving Lymington

It has been confirmed that BlueStar are to play an active role in providing the 56/56A service between Southampton and Lymington. Buses will be in BlueStar blue livery, although it has been unconfirmed thus far whether they will continue (in part) to operate from Wilts & Dorset's Lymington depot.



Unfortunately, information at the moment is still very much in the rumour stage - therefore anything I write on this blog could turn out to be wrong! What I do know so far is that Wilts & Dorset's Optare Solo 2655 (V655DFX) has turned up at Barton Park depot in BlueStar's dark blue livery, suggesting that the service could be operated by Optare Solos.

Then we have BlueStar saying they won't continue Solo operation on the 56/56A according to Facebook - bringing up the question whether 2655 is one of a number to replace the MPDs on the 10/11 which would push the MPDs onto the 56/56A- maybe introducing new stock (albeit with the same capacity) onto the 56/56A. Then there is a rumour that the 56/56A will interwork with the 10/11, again changing things completely.

Combined with the fact that BlueStar guarentee a 100% low floor service fleet, new buses onto the 56/56A are guarenteed as the Leyland Olympians that regularly work the service at the moment will not continue. In an ironic twist some of them previously operated with BlueStar, such as 707 (F707RDL) as illustrated.

I'll keep you updated with developments as they occur - the 56/56A and the 65 are often routes I've thought may pass to BlueStar as they fit more into their network. Time will tell though, as what we are expecting to be the new BlueStar route 6 becomes reality...

Caption: BlueStar already operate into Lymington in the summer on the New Forest Tour. Here is Volvo B7TL 408 (HF05GGO) pictured at Lymington Pier rail station in summer 2008.

Sleepy January

I find January is always the quietest month for bus enthusiasts. You have the post Christmas and FoKAB hangover, where for the rest of the month, very little seems to happen as we draw closer to the new registration mark in March, and the end of the financial year and budgets are assessed. January is also a quiet month for bus service changes, as most of Hampshire's tenders are done in February. Therefore, January in Hampshire is very much a case of same old, same old...

One of the things that is changing is the shape of FHD's Saturday network. Recent timetable changes have indicated that poorly used Saturday journeys - especially those early in the morning - are being withdrawn, along with some other marginal routes. On a larger scale, the X42 which is the main South Downs College service is cut from Saturdays completely.

With the increased use of cars and Saturday revolving around shops' opening hours, maybe this marks the beginning of Saturday and Sunday services becoming similar - albeit with Saturday receiving more buses running slightly later and earlier. Sunday only operates along the core network - Saturday only seems to bolster this with the addition of a few more areas served, such as Hill Head, Whiteley and Denmead. With ever decreasing buses and increased pressure on bus companies, 2011 will be an interesting year for Saturday bus services, and a usually quiet January may mark the beginning of a regular pattern across bus companies throughout the year.

Another LAE at Weymouth

Weymouth depot have just received another K---LAE registered Olympian that were all new to Cityline in Bristol - this time K629LAE. This has replaced younger Volvo Olympian 34021 (P541HMP) which has moved in the other direction - now in operation from Camborne.

34629 (K629LAE) has entered into service on school services in Weymouth. I managed to photograph her down in Truro last year - photographed on service X18 from Penzance.

First Hants & Dorset have had two sisters of 34629 - K627LAE and K628LAE. The former has been withdrawn and has since departed the fleet, but K628LAE is still in service at Weymouth. Below are photos illustrating each.

34627 (K627LAE) entered service with a simple Park & Ride blind as the dot matrix display had stopped working. She is seen only a few days after arriving in Dorset, back in September 2009.

34628 (K628LAE) originally entered service at Portswood depot in Southampton, but moved to Weymouth replacing 34627. She is pictured here on Weymouth's town bridge on school route 92 on a lovely summer's afternoon last year.

Hoeford depot trip, 2005

Due to other commitments there is going to be a lack of new photographic material on this blog for at least two weeks, so I thought I'd begin the year by revisiting my trip with the Provincial society to Hoeford depot, back in Summer 2005.

We travelled up to Hoeford on CG9607 from the Stokes Bay rally site, meeting EHO228 at the depot. It was a fantastic and sunny Sunday afternoon ramble around Hoeford, which had opened its doors to enthusiasts on designated trips for the first time since People's Provincial days.

I seem to remember we went inside the old sheds first, to see the buses stored inside being worked on. Pictured to the right is former First Hants & Dorset Dart 45300 (JDZ2300) - the original Wright bodied Dart in London. UVG bodied 47307 is to the left, and is still in service today.

Stepping outside, we circled the depot in an anticlockwise direction the majority of the eastern side were Dennis Darts of a variety of types. This photo illustrates 42125 (S625KTP), then with Red Line 1/1A/1C branding, next to 42109 and 45394.

Minibuses were parked at the rear of the depot, facing south. They were double parked in this tight formation, illustrated by this photo by about 5 visible examples (further buses were to the left). Now only four Mercedes-Benz 709D operate from Hoeford - 51710 (N710GRV) - the centre bus here, is now at Hilsea.

We put 42135 (S635XCR) through the bus wash to see it in use - its more or less the same one as used in People's Provincial days. The snow recently has caused water in the bus wash to freeze, causing issues with the appearance of various buses. Hopefully they'll be gleaming again when the temperature rises.

Finally pictured is one of Hoeford's then five Leyland Lynx. This example is 62630 (F630RTC), which was kindly moved into a photographable position for us visitors. 62630 had freshly been repainted in August 2005, and was to see a good few more years service before being withdrawn a few years later.

Thanks for viewing. Any comments/further observations from society members are welcome.

Just to round up 2010...

Just to round up 2010, here is my last photo of the year. It pictures Stagecoach in Winchester's sole unbranded Enviro200 - 36027 (GX07HUU) in the bus station heading for Harestock on route 1. Pictured 28th December, when conditions were so dark, wet and foggy I gave up taking photos very quickly!

I hope everyone at FoKAB today had a great time - I couldn't make it but if you have any photos feel free to leave the hyperlink in my comments section.

Happy New Year!!

I would like to wish all of my visitors a very Happy New Year - all the best for 2011. 2010 has been a very good year for me personally in life and with buses, 2010 being my most productive year for photographs.

This year, due to lifestyle changes, I'm expecting my photography to involve more batch photography and weekend photography. By the end of 2011, I would have liked to:

* complete my photographs of First Hants & Dorsets recently acquired Dennis Dart SLFs, Volvo B7RLEs and Volvo B7TLs

* complete my Unilink photos

* visit Guildford / Crawley / Horsham - filling in a large void of photographs in relatively local, train accessible areas 

* complete a day on the Sandbanks - photographing Wilts & Dorset's Scanias at Swanage, Studland, Sandbanks and the ferry, and a day in the New Forest at Lymington, Ringwood, Lyndhurst and Burley

* Revisit Bath, Brighton, Winchester and Bristol, along with some other areas that feel unfinished following my trips of 2010

* Continue with lots of train trips - definately a HST again, and try getting further north than Reading!

* Ensure the First Hants & Dorset website is update to no longer than two weeks (I may have to be reminded for this one!) and that I post at least three times a week here.

2010 has been a good year, and has laid solid foundations for a great year of busing in 2011. Good luck to all - all the best.

[Just a quick note - December Stats: Visitor Count: 3139 (the best monthly figure so far - thank you for your continued support), Post Count: 14, Most Popular Post: Snow Report 1, Top Referrer: Plymothian Transit (thanks again Graham!), Top Audience Country outside the UK: Holland... Thanks to all!]

Right: Southern Vectis 1108 (HW58ASO) pictured in Arreton earlier on in 2010, heading for Newport on route 8. This is one of my favourite shots of last year.