Fleet Update ~ FirstGreat Yarmouth

Roy on the East Norfolk Bus Blog reports that Enviro400 33423 SN60CAA has been spotted in its new livery at Full Circle today, however First inform me that she won't be back in the town until at least Monday. Click here to go to his small report with a photograph.

Norwich Independents

At Norwich Bus Page, we welcome contributions. These most commonly come in the form of photographs, sightings or other bits and pieces of information. Reader Dave Lawrence has emailed me with a written article which focuses on the independent companies that operate in and around Norwich; so lets forget about First, Anglian and Konect for a while and see what he has to say:

"The amount of independent operators serving Norwich with regular services continues to decline. Besides First providing former Eastern Counties routes, larger local independents Anglian and Konect have been swallowed up by one of the ‘big four’, Go-Ahead. Sanders and Simonds are two of the last remaining larger independents in East Anglia and operate several daily services into Norwich, whilst Norfolk Green has recently been sold to Stagecoach. This leaves literally a handful of traditional operators serving our City. Eagles of Castle Acre visit Norwich once a week on Wednesdays with route 51 from Downham Market and Swaffham, with the service being operated by one of their 11 coaches, between school runs - the operator doesn’t own any service buses. Semmence of Wymondham, owned by Ambassador Travel of Great Yarmouth, run the 10A Mondays to Fridays from East Harling into Norwich twice a day, using either a Volvo coach (to coincide with Norwich City College start/finish times) or a Mercedes-Benz minibus (which are also used on local routes around Wymondham). Semmence also run service 15 from Shipdham on Wednesdays, using a coach. Most vehicles in the Semmence fleet are in a plain white livery.


Semmence & Co. 754 SF53KUV working the 10A to East Harling

 However, we are lucky to still be served by a few well-respected family firms.

Carters of Litcham, established by Gordon and Bessie Carter in 1928, will be a regular sight to visitors of the City on Wednesdays, as their immaculate two-tone green coaches arrive at around 1030, one on route 8 from Litcham, Beetley and Dereham, and the other on route 9 from Tittleshall (home of one of my other favourites, Peelings). You will often find two Mercedes midi-coaches on the two routes, but sometimes a full size Volvo will operate. Carters now run around 11 coaches, mostly on school contracts and private hire work, but provide these Market Day services between school runs (a favourite way of operation for traditional country operators), with three others running to Dereham each week. The company is currently run by father and son team Keith and Graham Carter and still runs from the original premises in Litcham. 

Eastons of Stratton Strawless, established by Alfred Easton in 1953, provide a service into Norwich from Swannington, Reepham and Cawston, Mondays to Saturdays, route 25. A modern Scania OmniLink single decker is used for this (purchased from Beestons and is in a metallic blue livery), supplemented by a Van Hool bodied DAF from the late 1980s (in Eastons old livery of white with orange, red and yellow stripes) at times. The company has moved away from local bus services and school contracts in recent years, to the more lucrative coach holiday market, using a fleet of modern Bova and Volvo coaches in a smart purple livery. Interestingly, a small Albion coach dating from 1952 is available for private hire and is well turned out in a red and cream livery. The company is still owned by the Easton family. However, it has recently been announced that Sanders will commence a new route in February 2014, from Holt to Norwich as the 42, to replace this sole remaining Eastons service. So yet another independent operator will disappear from the local bus scene, but the company will continue to provide luxury coaches for holidays and private hire.

Neaves of Catfield, established by Percy Neave in 1937, currently operate two regular services in Norwich. The 32 operates Mondays to Saturdays between Sprowston, Morrisons Riverside and the City Centre, using an Optare Solo but occasionly a mid-90s Mercedes-Benz minibus. The 36 operates from Happisburgh, Sea Palling, Stalham and Wroxham to Norwich, Mondays to Saturdays, using a Wright Cadet bodied DAF. The current fleet also includes a Mercedes-Benz minicoach and two Plaxton Premiere bodied Volvos on school contracts. The service buses are currently in an overall White livery whilst the coaches are in their former operators colours. An elderly Plaxton Supreme bodied Volvo is stored in the depot. The fleet has slimmed down in the past 15 years through the loss of both stage carriage services and school contracts. I always remember visiting the depot when I was young, to be greeted by a large variety of second hand coaches in their old white, red and grey livery. A few years on, the majority of these were replaced by Leyland National Greenway rebuilds in an overall red livery, which had all left the fleet by the mid-2000s. The late Percy Neave’s daughter Daphne still owns the company."

A big thank you to Dave for taking the time to write and submit this fantastic article. Remember if you have any memories or knowledge of bus services or operators, then don't hesitate to get in contact.

Stagecoach begin to leave their mark

Just over a month since it was announced that Stagecoach had taken over King's Lynn based independant Norfolk Green, the buses have begun to have a small sentence being applied underneath the fleetname which says "Part of the Stagecoach Group". Below is how it looks upon Enviro400 10055 SN13EEB.

Fleet numbers are still to be updated (if they decide to do so) and legal lettering is still to be updated.

Enthusiast Page for Anglianbus

As expected, Anglianbus, the sister company of Konectbus have followed suite in launching a new enthusiasts page on their website. Click the link to keep up to date with their fleet movements, see their fleet list and have a brief lesson in the history of the company.

Accident on Ipswich Road

Just after ten o'clock this morning, admin Marcus stumbled across an accident involving a bus on Ipswich Road on the junction with Lakenham Road in Norwich. The road was closed and buses were delayed due to the diversion. 

Fleet Update ~ Sanders

Last week saw the return of Scania N230UD OmniCity 115 YR10BBO from Full Circle, which was relieved of her Scania Demonstrator livery. She still retains her Scania emblem on the rear panels however but I think this is a smart addition to her Sanders livery and makes her look rather 'executive'.

Thanks to 'return2layerroad' on flickr for the use of the photo.

Fleet Update ~ Norfolk Green

Norfolk Green's second '13 reg Enviro400 has finally been given a name. And following Managing Director Ben Colson's retirement and the takeover by Stagecoach, it is only fitting that the bus be named after him. Thanks to Mark Howarth for use of his photograph.

Fleet Update ~ Konectbus

Konectbus launched a new 'enthusiasts' page on their website today, and the first news to be reported is the the identity of five Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse-Gemini buses, one of which (510) has arrived at Dereham today. The identity of the five are as follows:

510 LB02YWX
511 LB02YWY
512 LB02YXA
513 LB02YXE
514 LB02YXF

Now its probably not just me whose noticed that Konect's other Geminis consist of 500-504 YJ05PXA-E, so that begs the question: What happened to 505-509?

one of the existing Geminis, 504 YJ05PXE, working the 604 to Costessey Park & Ride

Olympian in use by Fire Service

Following on from our report about the withdrawals of Lowestoft's Olympians, I have learnt that Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service have acquired 34156 P656UFB to join their fleet of training vehicles. The fire service set up accident scenes using the various cars and now the bus to train their crew so they can build on experience. 34156 is based at Gorleston fire station.

Gallery Feedback

After spending ages trying to figure out a way to include a gallery of sorts into the blog, I finally went live a few weeks ago with the feature you see today. I set up a small poll on the side of the page to see how many of you liked it, and how many of you did not. The result is as follows:

A good amount of you voted and I thank you for that, however it seems I may have some room for improvement on the feature as more than half you said that you don't like it. Now, as I didn't create a "Room for improvements" option, I am hoping that if I had done so, the majority of "No" votes would have changed. 

This blog is run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts and for that reason, I would like your feedback regarding the Gallery! If you really can't stand the feature, have ideas for it's development or already love it then please get in touch on zak.nbp@gmail.com and let me know. A big thanks to those who took the poll.

New Route for Sanders

Following on from our previous post regarding a fleet update at Sanders, in just three weeks time there will be a new service to replace the current Easton's Holidays 25. The route has been given the number 42 and will run between Norwich and Holt. Sanders have sent us a promotional poster which happens to feature one of my photographs! Thanks to Sanders for the update. 

Fleet Update ~ Sanders

I have been informed that recent acquisition, ex-Beestons decker 115 YR10BBO has departed to Full Circle to be repainted into Sanders' livery. It will be the only N230UD in the fleet and I for one am looking forward to seeing it return into service in their bright orange livery.

115 on her way to Sheringham in October last year

Fleet Update ~ First

As ever, it seems to be rather busy with fleet movements at First at the present. But thanks to my contacts at the company I hope to keep my readers just as up to date as I am!

The first thing to report is that 34109 W436CWX is the only Olympian to remain in service from that batch. More importantly, 34110 W437CWX and 34111 W431CWX are expected to depart Great Yarmouth rather soon to be modified for training uses and to receieve a much needed repaint into a special 'training livery.' I was very interested when I heard about this and my research has coughed up this image of a bus that is used in Leicester under the name of "FirstTraining".

© Paul Turner

First have not yet received the drawings for this special livery and therefore I cannot confirm that this is what they will look like when they return. The others are expected to remain in reserve at Caister Road.

To make way for the Olympians when they return, the training coaches have already begun to be withdrawn. Both 20109 N609APU and 20128 P768XHS will no longer see service in the region which leaves 20122 P732NVG covering both Norwich and Yarmouth. 20515 WV02EUR has also returned from Lowestoft and was back on X1 shorts yesterday.

66168 W368EOW is currently on a month term loan to Essex.

The long awaited return of 33423 SN60CAA is now iminent as she is due an MOT at Caister Road on the 16th of this month.

In Lowestoft, the final ex-X1 Gemini has returned from Full Circle and has since entered service. 37571 AU58ECV completes the batch. The Suffolk town's fleet is now step free as both Olympians have been withdrawn, and they are left with only three Plaxton Pointers as 43461 R461BNG, 43463 R463CAH, 43478 R478CAH and 43487 R687DPW have also been withdrawn.

My thanks to First for the update.

Ambassador Reg's Confirmed

After a request for information regarding the remaining registrations and fleet numbers of Ambassador's new National Express coaches, I'm pleased to say you didn't disappoint! I can now confirm that the company have taken on three brand new Volvo B9R Caetano Levantes. 

210 BF63ZSK

211 BF63ZSL

212 BF63ZSN

Thanks to Martin Mehmet, Joe Wilson, Steven Taylor with a special mention to John Abbott for kind use of his photograph of 211 in Peterborough about to start the 308 service.

New National Express coach for Ambassador Travel

Whilst in Norwich yesterday, I noted and photographed a brand new coach with Ambassador Trave legals applied. The coach in question is registered BF63ZSN and is a Volvo B9R Caetano Levante which has been given fleet number 212.

Ambassador did have only four Levantes, with the last one's fleet number 209, in which case I assume its not just me who is guessing there are at least two more brand new coaches that have arrived at the Yarmouth operator's premesis.

So keep a look out for coaches operating the 491 and if anybody has any more information, please contact me on zak.nbp@gmail.com.

Konectbus take over city routes

Today saw the start of Konectbus' operation of routes 50, 50A and 51; taking over from Anglianbus. Two of the ex-Anglian buses were being used, (951 AU07KMM and 953 YN57HPX) both on the 50 and 50A whilst 900 VX51RHZ and a Tempo were employed on the 51.

To see more photos of the 50 and 50A, click here.

To see photos of the 51, click here.

Fleet Update ~ konect and anglian

Konectbus have confirmed that four of anglian's Slimline Optare Solos are due to arrive at their depot in Dereham today, in preperation for the takeover of services 50, 50A and 51. They are expected to go straight into the garage to remove the anglian fleetnames and will operate from tomorrow in the yellow livery. This transfer means that konect's fleet is now larger than anglian's at a size of 60 to 58.

For reference, the transferred buses are as follows:

950 AU07KMM

951 AU07KMK

952 AO57BDY

953 YN57HPX

 953 operating the 50 last month. Both bus and route will be operated by Konect from tomorrow.

Essex based GoAhead companies Hedingham and Chambers are currently undergoing a fleet number change to fit in with the same system as Konect and Anglian. New websites for the two operators are also being worked on. It is yet unknown when they will go live.

Fleet Update ~ Sanders and Chenery

Nick Farrow got in touch after we released our fleet lists for January with some updates regarding the Sanders fleet. He says:

"AF57WHF was a Dennis Javelin Plaxton Profile and according to a dealers web site is now sold.(www.hillscoachsales.com)

YN07DTY MB Plaxton Cheetah is For sale on Plaxtons web site, so traded in I assume for vehicles below....?

YO02PCU Is a Dennis Javelin Plaxton as is YO52FHB which is also acquired, both ex MOD (Plaxton has a batch for sale)

536FN is re-reg M640RCP & RJI8604 which is a DAF MB230 not Volvo is re-reg L513EHD both For Sale on www.hillscoachsales.com"

Thanks to Nick for getting in contact as upon further research on the sites, I found Chenery had a batch of coaches up for sale. N999RWC is listed although I spotted it today in service on the 490. This is presumably being replaced by the recent addition of ex-National Express owned Caetano Levante FJ60HXS.

Older Setra S215HRs TIA5599 and GEL504Y have also been sold or scrapped whilst the three newest vehicles are also listed for sale on Hills Coach Sales. These are Trafalgar liveried Volvo 9700 SP60ERJ which arrived in the summer along with Insight Vactions branded Neoplans PK62VUV and PK62VUT.

End of Year Review ~ 2013

 End of Year Review ~ 2013

For admin reasons, we have decided to post our End of Year Review as a blog post surplus to the available .pdf file availble through the slideshow on the home page.

Ambassador Travel

2013 has been a rather insignificant year for the company, with the highlight being the decommissioning of 180 FD54DGU from National Express duties, which later received the private registration plate, KIG1890. She has since been given a Sunrise Direct livery.

 Just Go Holidays liveried Sunsundegui 251 FJ06BRF has also been spotted without any branding in Ambassador’s classic plain white paintjob.

 

180 sporting her new Sunrise Direct livery

Other news included sister company Semmence & Co. moving out of their depot on Norwich Road to nearby Ayton Road Industrial Estate, whilst more recently they are thought to be expecting a delivery of three more used coaches to add to their fleet of school buses.

anglianbus

Unlike Ambassador Travel, 2013 has been a very significant year for the company. It started in January when four more MAN EcoCity's arrived for use on the 601 and 588. These four added to the fleet of six that anglian had taken delivery of in December last year. These four raised the total to ten, which left three more to arrive. These were held back from service until March to allow them to be the first '13' reg buses in service in Norfolk and Suffolk. These were brought into service with a new 146 timetable and were promoted to be used on the extra early morning services, after high demand on the route.

110 AU13FBJ awaits passengers in Beccles

 The then only Optare Excel in the fleet (400 X228WRA) received extensive body damage after catching fire on the way back to the depot in January. She still sits at the back of the yard today.

June saw the announcement that long serving managing director Andrew Pursey was retiring, and konectbus boss Julian Patterson was due to take over at the end of the month along with a new operations manager Philip Eden. The first signs of the takeover was the renumbering of anglian's fleet. The new fleet numbers interlinked with those of konectbus, to make it simpler for management to know which buses were where. We then saw a new logo introduced on the official fleet list, and with that came rumours of a new livery. These were originally downplayed but during July, one of three former konectbuses that were originally transferred emerged resplendent in a rather familiar looking livery. Original public opinion of the new livery was negative, with people suggesting that anglian isn't a family-run business anymore and is now too 'konect-like'. Unfortunately, negative comments continued into August, when anglian released information of a new network that would result in all service routes being given a new number. News that the popular 146 between Beccles and Norwich along with the A47 route would be withdrawn was also announced at this time. 

229 X229WRA was the first bus to emerge in the new livery. Seen here exiting the paintshop.

 The 2nd of September saw the first day of operation for the new network with the newly branded "anglianexpress 7" route replacing the A/X47 which skipped Acle in a bid to fight back at First's X1 service. The first day, as expected was rather hectic with quite a few delays but since then the creases have begun to iron out with the public and enthusiasts alike gaining confidence in the new system. 

453 YT11LVE is one of three buses currently branded for the 7

 In preperation for the network, anglian's fleet was significantly reduced in size from ninety-six to around seventy and currently sits at sixty-five. The remaining step entrance vehicles were first to go, followed by the R reg Scanias and the dual door OmniCitys, and ALX400s. Late October saw the oldest Solos withdrawn. All of this pushed the average fleet age up whilst reducing running costs which saw profit begin to rise again.

Some of the many withdrawn buses sit awaiting their fate at the back of anglian's yard in July

More recently it has come to light that konect will take over the 50/50A, and the 51; causing another four buses (slimline Solos) being transferred from anglian. The 7 will run through Acle on its way to Yarmouth before turning into the 61 at a twenty minute frequency. This will see the ‘express’ branding being removed but will give passengers from Southwold, Kessingland and Lowestoft a through service to Norwich at a frequency higher than the X1. The college service 69 (Brundall to Yarmouth and East Norfolk Sixth Form Colleges is also set to be renumbered as 7A, and will be extended to and from Norwich.

konectbus

2013 was one of the first in recent years that no brand new buses arrived. However due to the link with sister company anglian and the introduction of the new network, they saw an influx of ex-anglian vehicles transferred in whilst some of their older buses were transferred out. They took on two more Tempos and three Versas whilst getting rid of four Excels before taking one back. Konect also sent one of their Tridents in exchange for anglian's buses, which still wears her blue livery today!

414 YJ55BLX in service in Dereham, still retaining her yellow colours

Konect also operated the replacement for anglian's 122 and A47; the 52 operated from Cringleford to the City Centre, then on to Brundall and Blofield through to Acle. As of January though, it will no longer serve Acle due to the reinstatement of anglian's 7 service through Acle from Yarmouth to Norwich.

konectbus service 52 in Acle during Autumn

The boys in blue are also set to take on more of anglian's routes next year in the form of the 50/50A and 51. To do this, they will acquire four of anglian's slimline Solos to work the route

FirstEasternCounties

As always, the whole Eastern Counties fleet was updated significantly throughout the year. Great Yarmouth saw all of their Plaxton Pointers withdrawn. These were replaced with four '05 reg Alexander Pointer 2s along with seven ex-Jersey Caetano Slimbuses; the first buses in Yarmouth to wear FirstGroup's new cooperate ‘interurban’ livery. These were followed by the ex-First Manchester B9 Gemini 37562 FJ08FYN which was also in the new livery, after seeing service with Eastern Counties a few years ago in her old one.

43861 EG52FGJ was the first new livery vehicle to operate with Great Yarmouth

The long X1 route between Peterborough and Lowestoft finally received their long awaited Enviro400s in September. To help out the gaps left by repainting of the old fleet, Great Yarmouth was sent another ex-Jersey bus 33423 SN60CAA which was loaned to King's Lynn and is still there today.

Lowestoft's fleet continued to be repainted into 2013, with the remaining ALX400s for use on the X2 being painted and branded for the high profile route. All but one of Yarmouth's Plaxton Pointer 2s were transferred to Lowestoft (the remaining one went to Essex) and saw a lot of work on their town routes. This enabled the older Darts to be withdrawn. Other replacements were four ex-Jersey Caetano Slimbuses, which have seen service on X22, town services and even on the X2. Thanks to the arrival of twenty-two new Enviro400s for the X1, the B9 Geminis previously used on the route were sent to Lowestoft for use on the X2, and Yarmouth for use on the 1, 1A, 8 and X1 shorts. Three of the '05 reg ALX400s were sent to Colchester whilst the other two which were meant for Colchester actually went to Ipswich in exchange for two ex-Park & Ride B7RLEs.

ex-X1 Gemini 37568 AU58ECJ departs Norwich on her second day of service on the X2

Norwich's fleet saw no changes, however repainting was planned to begin in September, with the Purple Line buses thought to be first. It soon became apparent that this wasn't happening and the only glimpse of the new livery was when two of the ex-X1 buses were in service on relief 25s for a few days.  Also worth noting was the removal of all advert wraps from the buses which left the fleet wrap free. This only lasted a month or two with ex ‘Co-op bus’ 66957 WX55TZU now wearing a brand new and improved pink advert for the supermarket.

two ex-X1 buses saw service in Norwich before moving onto their new home in the Potteries

The main reason for the many fleet changes that happened this year was the arrival of twenty-two brand new, state-of-the-art Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. The new buses feature leather seats, wi-fi, air chill and next stop voice announcements accompanied by an information screen. First's new 'express' version of the new livery was also launched alongside the buses. 

X1 spotting in Hopton on the Enviro's first day of service

Norfolk Green

Although Norfolk Green are basically out of our area, they do have a few services that run into and around Norwich; and I felt it relevant to include the recent news that they were bought out by Stagecoach Bus Holdings Ltd in December. The takeover saw no immediate changes apart from the renumbering of the whole fleet on paper, but we are yet to see any physical changes on the buses themselves. It looks like 2014 will be the most significant year in the company’s history, as part of the Stagecoach group.

Sanders Coaches

This year has seen a few new arrivals and a couple of new services for Sanders, the highlight probably being the acquisition of two Volvo B12BT Jonckheere SHVs. Both coaches received Sanders' cherished registrations in the form of RDV903 and OGR647. Other coach acquisitions include a VanHool (WK06AEG) and another Plaxton Panther (YN05HVD) which arrived with at least three more Premieres.

 

901 RDV903 on NCFC duties in London

On the bus front, Sanders have acquired five ex-Reading buses. All five are Wright bodied Solars and mostly work on the 44s and the new service 43 from Norwich to Reepham. They also acquired an ex-demonstrator double decker to replace one of their OmniDekkas that caught fire during the summer; 115 YR10BBO also saw service with Beestons in Suffolk before its move up North. 

Two of the ex-Reading Wright buses Sanders acquiredthis year

Other movements saw three OmniCitys bought in from anglianbus, one of which has still not been painted and saw service in her yellow colours. 313 YN03UVM was then given an allover wrap to hide her incorrect livery advertising the coastal town of Sheringham.

"Postcards from Sheringham"

As well as the new 43 service, Sanders started a relief college service for the 837 from Potter Heigham. The 834 runs a couple of minutes behind the former, to allow the increasing number of students from the area to get to and from college. Unlike the 837, the service is usually operated by a coach.

This brings to a close our end of review for 2013. A busy year to say the least! Joe, Kieran, Sam and I have all enjoyed reporting it all to you and new recruit Marcus looks forward to blogging with myself into the New Year. Bring on 2014!!

Happy New Year

First of all I'd like to wish all our readers are happy and prosporous 2014, I hope you all had fun last night and are still capable of reading the blog this afternoon!  The new, more visual fleet lists are now online, and the operator pages have been updated with photos. A newer logo is also now featured on the blog.

Meanwhile, I was off to Yarmouth on my way to a friends house for a 'gathering' and I decided to divert through Lowestoft to see if I could spot a Suffolk Norse vehicle operating the 107; a route they recently took over from First. It only runs three times a day so my timing had to be perfect. Unfortunatley, I arrived about an hour early after a smooth ride on First's 37565 AU58ECD on the X2, and I was greeted with a site that resulted in me sprinting down the road with bedding in hand to photograph X2 branded Gemini 37567 AU58ECF working the town service 101. I have only ever seen two deckers on the route in the last year, 30887 W742DWX and 32651 AU05MUO before it was repainted. 

About twenty minutes later, my patience was rewarded with the appearance of one of Suffolk Norse's Enviro300s on the 107. Its a nice change for passengers who have been used to the small Darts with only 30 odd seats, whereas these buses are usually used on school services and have 60 seats. This is accomplished by having three seats in one row on the left, and two on the other. I must say the bus did look rather empty with only three passengers on board!

So for me it was a good way to end the year and with Stagecoach's recent appearence in the county and First's repainting scheme starting to accelerate I am hopeful that this year will be even more eventful than last! Keep up the spotting and enjoy 2014!