Spotted: Kvarner

One more day in Croatia. It's flown by and I really wish I could stay longer. Although I've been keeping up with the local bus scene back home via the usual blogs, I've also managed to do a bit of spotting myself, here on the Adriatic coast.

Autotrans 1261 RI391-OG negotiating the rather
steep approach to the bus stop in Njivice

a similar 1153 RI885-KM was also
 noted on the service to Rijeka

Before departing little old Hempnall last Friday, I had done some research into buses in Croatia and couldn't find any information whatsoever so I wasn't quite sure what would face me upon arrival. It took three days to get here, as my family had decided to spare the expense of flying and to take the car instead; via France, Belgium, Luxembourgh, Germany, Switzerland, Liectenstein, Italy and Slovenia, before arriving in Croatia Sunday night. The first few days flew by without a bus in sight, probably due to the fact I was sunning myself on the beach, basking in temperatures in the low thirties. Wednesday saw cooler temperatures which allowed me to be distracted from the beach and to venture a bit further up the road to find the bus stop. After noting down the times I spent most of the day cycling back and forth between the bus stop and our rented appartment photographing the vehicles as they passed through Njivice on their way to Rijeka, with connections to Zagreb and then even as far south as the Alabnian border. This was the day that I figured buses simply didn't exist in Croatia, as every single service was operated by a step entrance Setra coach. 

Autotrolej 581 RI467-TU shortly after I disebarked

Feeling a bit dissappointed, I managed to persuade my parents to take a short trip to Rijeka the following day, the main city in the Kvarner region. I was hopeful that I may have more luck photographing actual buses rather than coaches; surely a city as big as that can't have all their services operated by step entry vehicles?Turns out, I was half right There were buses in Rijeka, but the age of them really shocked me. It made me realise how lucky we are living in the UK, where more and more companies are becoming step-free. I spent about five minutes outside the bus station, and then wondered up to a brand new shopping centre about thirty minutes walk from the city centre. After getting what I wanted to get, I decided to test out my Croatian and caught a rather old looking MAN SG240 back to the centre. A little bit of research reveals that they were built between 1980 and 1986, but that is all I can find out as the wikipedia page is in German.

Autotrolej 714 RI214-RG, a Mercedes-Benz
O350G Citaro, similar to those operated by
Dereham based company Konectbus.

Feeling a bit homesick, I made my way back to the carpark where I was pleased to sight a familiar looking vehicle approaching. Turns out there are low-floor buses in Croatia! Also noted were a small fleet of light blue liveried buses, and although I managed to catch a bus using Croatian, I couldn't quite understand what the livery said but I'm assuming they are powered by hydrogen or some other form of environmentally friendly fuel. These were all Irisbuses of some sort, but I managed to spot a small version in the same livery, also an Irisbus. Still no idea what fuel it uses though!

210  RI410-UH is a breath of fresh air, thanks
to it's low emissions, and also thanks to
the fact it's not orange.

I will be arriving home Monday evening, and will hopefully be publishing a small selection of  bus photographs taken in each country we passed through on the way to Croatia, and on the way back, where we will also be visiting Austria and the Netherlands.

Harry is on holiday for a while soon after I get back so I will be taking back the reigns to allow him to enjoy his holiday.