Pink Line StreetDecks: Why are they so pale?

The initial buzz about the first two of FirstNorwich's new StreetDecks arriving yesterday should've died down by now, and so with thanks to one of my contacts at the company I can explain why the shade of pink they've chosen is the one that has been chosen.

35199 SK16GVY in Northern Ireland a few weeks ago © Phill McAlinney

It's simple really. They are in fact painted in 'Breast Cancer Pink', which is part of First's efforts to raise awareness of the issue. There was even a consultation with the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital about what colour should be chosen when the Network was revamped back in 2012 and seeing as it's the hospital route, what better colour than one that represents a disease which the NHS are spending a lot of their time trying to conquer. It wasn't just the hospital that took part in the consultation, the University of East Anglia also chose the colour for their route; blue. I was one of the few that quite liked the shade, and now I know what it represents I think I like it even more.

The rest of the buses will follow suit and will hit the road after they've had a new Norwich Network branding applied. This new look will raise the profile of the company even further. There will also be a launch at the N&N soon to celebrate the success of the Pink Line and the investment in the nine new vehicles.

For those who missed it, 35193 SK16GVR and 35194 SK16GVT arrived at Roundtree Way depot yesterday afternoon.

OurBus in Norwich

As reported last week, Our Bus took over two of Sanders' routes on Tuesday; the 32 and the 157. The 32 operates between Sprowston and Norwich once a day whilst the 157 operates to and from Bishopgate once a day. The routes are interworked and therefore the same vehicle operates both services each day. After having a look at the new timetables, which can be viewed here, I positioned myself at Bishopgate wondering what vehicle would turn up. I am quite unfamiliar with the OurBus fleet however I was aware of a green Optare Solo and a red ALX300 so I was quite keen to find out which one would turn up. 

It was the green one! YE52FHC is an M920 model which was new to East Lothian Council and is seen above coming into Bishopgate before picking up the passengers on Cotman Fields, and to the right a couple of hours later on the return leg. I also attempted to photograph it on the 32 but not knowing the route very well I miscalculated and the bus turned off before it reached me!

Thanks to the driver for the thumbs up and friendly smile!

End of an Era

39480 on Rudolph's Routemaster in December last year

Yesterday, East Norfolk Bus Blog reported the sale of both of First's heritage Routemasters. The vehicles, 39480 JJD480D and 39623 NML623E, have been very popular to photograph and ride amongst local enthusiasts and the public alike. They were regulars on Great Yarmouth's summer only service 3 between the rail station and Hemsby in the past, whilst they also operated any special services between Norwich and the Norfolk Showground. More recently, both vehicles were used on Rudolphs Routemaster, a free bus which asked for donations for the East Anglian Childrens Hospice. 

They earned most of their living on private hire work including school proms and weddings, but they're last public trip out as far as I'm aware was back in February when both buses helped ferry City College students to and from the Norfolk Showground to sit their mock exams.

Des Speed at the wheel of 39480 working the Coastmaster service 5 in Beeston Regis back in 2006 © Russell Young

39623 seen at Hemsby in July 2013

FirstNorwich StreetDecks Registrations Revealed!

Thanks to one of my contributors for bringing my attention to the fantastic buslistsontheweb.co.uk website which has recently published information regarding the nine new StreetDecks which are expected to be delivered next month. The buses will have H45/28F seating and are registered as follows:

© Phill McAlinney

35193 SK16GVR

35194 SK16GVT

35195 SK16GVU

35196 SK16GVV

35197 SK16GVW

35198 SK16GVX

35199 SK16GVY

35200 SK16GVZ

35201 SK16GWA

Easter Service Revisions

Yesterday I wrote a short post about one of the services which is changing hands this weekend and today I will breeze over the other changes which are set to take place.

Sanders Coaches

Both services 157 (Bishopgate Circular) and 32 (Sprowston to Norwich) will be operated by Our Bus from Tuesday 29th.

New service 15 between North Walsham, Wroxham and Norwich commences on Tuesday 29th.

Anglianbus

Service 60J (Lowestoft to James Paget Hospital) to be renumbered 108 and will be operated by

Suffolk Norse from Tuesday 29th.

Schooldays only Service 68 (Rackheath to Great Yarmouth Colleges) to be operated by Ambassador Travel after the holiday from 11th April.

Konectbus

Service 53 (Wroxham to Queen's Hills via Norwich) to be extended to Hoveton and Horning on an hourly basis, and to include Kestrel Avenue on the Queen's Hills side of the route from the 11th April.

Lynx

New service 36 (Kings Lynn to Hunstanton) offers a faster option to their 35 service, reaching Hunstanton in just thirty-five minutes.

I have amended the gallery section to coincide with these changes, removing and adding route numbers and creating groups on flickr. Also, now inlcudes groups for Lynx's services 35 and 36!

Last Day of Sanders 157

Today marked the last day of Sanders Coaches operating Norwich's 157 service; the Bishopgate Circular as the route passes to Our Bus after the Easter break. Originally, it was operated by Anglianbus as the 005, before renumbering as the 57 in September 2013. Sanders then took over the route and added a number 1 at the beginning of the number which Our Bus will keep.

I was in Norwich today so decided to photograph the last working which arrives in Bishopgate at 1230. The lucky vehicle was 312 T367JWA, a Scania L94UB Wright Axcess-Floline and is seen here overtaking a cyclist outside the Adam and Eve, which is "probably Norwich's oldest public house."

BorderBus Demo Pics

As promised, I ventured out with my camera today to spot BorderBus' demo Enviro200MMC. Armed with information from Andrew Pursey about which diagram it would be working I headed for Loddon to photograph the 1210 Norwich to Southwold service. I made it in good time, and positioned myself on the bypass due to the fact that the 146 doesn't go into the village itself. With the sun shining I was confident of getting a good shot or two. That was when the traffic came. And then the sun went in. I will not publish the photograph that came of it but I will say it was probably the worst bus photo I've ever taken and resulted in me cursing a lot and kicking my own car in frustration.

So not wanting to have wasted my day or my petrol, I decided to head to Beccles to wait for the bus to come back on the 1445 Southwold to Norwich service as Beccles has a lot more buses than Loddon! After spotting a couple of BorderBus' other vehicles and a selection from First and Anglian, finally the time came and right on cue YX65RKK pulled into the bus station. I quickly photographed it and then jumped in my car to drive down to Gillingham Dam in an attempt to get a better backdrop. 

Having read my post, I recommend you go over to Steve's Bus & Train Page where Steve has published an excellent 'exclusive' report about the Enviro200MMC with some even more 'exclusive' photos on his blog which can be seen by clicking the link above. He also reports another standard Enviro200 has been acquired on a permanent basis and will be registered BB60BUS (YX11CSZ).

BorderBus Trial Enviro200MMC

Andrew Pursey got in contact with me this afternoon with details of a demo-bus which is on loan to the Beccles-based company this week. The vehicle in question is registered YX65RKK; an Alexander Dennis Enviro200MMC which is expected to work the following diagram tomorrow.

0933 Beccles to Southwold

1035 Southwold to Norwich

1210 Norwich to Southwold

1445 Southwold to Norwich

1620 Norwich to Southwold

The bus features leather seats, coloured interior lighting and a white destination display, all adding to a very modern, clean and crisp look. Andrew has kindly supplied some images which are published below, but check back tomorrow for some photos of the it in service.

© Andrew Pursey

© Andrew Pursey

© Andrew Pursey

© Andrew Pursey

Berkhof Repainted

Thanks to a regular contributor for making me aware that one of Sanders' new Berkhof vehicles would be operating from Carrow Road to West Brom today for the Canaries latest match in the battle to avoid relegation. Thanks to him, I managed to photograph 806 YJ12CHK resplendent in her new colours on Riverside this morning alongside the usual crop of vehicles used which I've described in past posts. She has been given the name "Jasmine".

Also yet unreported on this blog is the arrival of another two VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar 2. One is ex-Fishwicks which is numbered 400 and registered YJ64FWF whilst the other came from Arriva and is 408 YJ60GDX. They are the eighth and ninth of the type to enter the fleet.

I'd also like to apologise for the recent lack of posts. As well as it being a quiet week in the area, I've also been away in Yorkshire so I hope to write a number of short reports about my trip in the coming weeks when nothing is happening here!

Club Canary: Swansea City

In the second 'episode' of this series we focus on Norwich's trip to Swansea on Saturday. The club had put on a special promotion for the match to encourage fans to make the 650 mile round trip to South Wales. Not only were tickets for the game only £10, but coach travel to and from the ground was free. This caused the fixture to be very popular and in total I counted twenty-five coaches full of Canary faithful.

Fifteen coaches were provided directly from the Sanders fleet, three from Simonds of Botesdale, whilst Freestones provided two. Eastons, Reynold's of Caister and Dereham Coachways all sent one vehicle whilst a coach from Applegates and one from Coach Options Ltd were both hired privately.

As I had a ticket to the match, the photos this week were taken at Corley Services just outside Coventry. I was on the second coach to arrive which meant I was able to photograph pretty much every single vehicle in the convoy.

The first photograph shown is of Sander's latest repaint; 805 YVJ677. The VDL Bova Futura was previously registered BT08LCT and was new to Leon's Coach Travel, before passing to Weardale Travel. It was acquired by Sanders in December 2015 and made it's 'debut' transporting Norwich fans to Manchester United's Old Trafford on the 19th of that month.

The second picture depicts Simonds' newest vehicle. BF65HVP is a tri-axle version of the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo. It is seen pulling into the coach park next to some small amounts of snow on the grass to the left. 

Finally, we have one of Dereham Coachways' Volvo B12B VanHool T9 Alizees. YJ55EZE was bought new by the company in October 2005 and has seen constant use ever since.

The team travelled by plane on Friday but used King's Ferry YJ15ETR to get to the ground from their hotel as usual. For those who are interested, Norwich lost 1-0.

To see all the photos from the day, please see my flickr, and I'll leave you a list of vehicles used.

Fleet Update: Anglianbus

In the latest official fleet list provided by the company, it is apparent that the last 2005 registered Scania OmniCity has been withdrawn, leaving just one of the type in service; 462 YN03WRJ. The bus in question is 460 YN05HFF which joins her three sisters in the withdrawn section at the back of the depot. Also withdrawn is Optare Solo 907 YT51EBF. The bus has recently seen local fame after being snapped battling flood waters and was featured in Newspapers and on local TV, aswell as the World's Best Selling Buses Magazine. These latest withdrawals brings the fleet size down to just 42.

My report on yesterday's coach operating to take Norwich fans to Swansea will now be published Monday morning, not this evening as previously thought.

Sanders Spotted!

Sanders look set to have two more VDL SB200 Wright
Pulsars like the one above in the fleet iminently.

A regular contributor of mine has emailed me a sighting of two more Wright Pulsars in Sanders' livery heading east on the A47 near King's Lynn today. He managed to identify one as YJ60GDX.

Grahame Bessey informs me that the vehicle used to be operated by Manchester Airport and was acquired via the Arriva dealer. It has most recently been on loan from there with Arriva Midlands.

Fleet Update: Simonds

Thanks to Simonds I can bring you the latest fleet movement from the company. They have acquired Lynx's Optare Tempo 7 YJ58CEY on loan, which is a 34 seat X1060 version which is currently in an allover blue livery. It is expected to return to Lynx at some point in April.

To the left is a photograph of said bus taken at Lynx's premesis back in December last year.

Fleet Update: Sanders Coaches

Sanders Coaches announced on Twitter last night about a new arrival to the bus fleet. An Optare M880SL Solo has been acquired and is already in their fleet livery. MX09AOU is an 8.8 meter slimline version and will be numbered 203 in the fleet. Thanks to Sanders for the use of their picture.

Rare Spots: February '16

On the second addition of the series this year, we'll start with Konectbus 901 VX51RJZ. As you are aware, the bus is currently on loan to sister company Anglianbus. In my last post, I wrote about how it had been kept to the less frequent and far flung routes to keep it out the public eye as the bus isn't yellow. February was a completely different story! 901 was noted on the 87 on Wednesday 3rd, and has been spotted regularly on the 85, 86 and 84. 

Elsewhere at Go-Ahead, double deckers are becoming a regular occurance on the 53 between Wroxham and Costessey, with the fleet of regular liveried Enviro400s appearing alongside some of the old Express branded vehicles. At Sanders, a photograph posted on Flickr which was taken yesterday has made it to this post. Southlancs photographed 904 SGF965, new to Parks of Hamilton as LSK496 and later registered SF06WEC, working Sanders route 6 in Great Yarmouth which operates between North Walsham and the seaside town. The 6A which is displayed then operates from North Walsham to Cromer.

Over at First, the only sighting I'll report is one which caused quite a stir on social media at the time. Yellow Line branded President 32106 LT02ZCV was sighted on Pink Line service 12 on Tuesday the 9th. The bus was the first double decker to receive the yellow version of the colour branded livery, and is now joined by two other Volvo B7TLs.

If you see any rare workings or have any photos you'd like to feature on the blog, please contact me by email at zak.nbp@gmail.com.

Also, the fleet lists have now been updated and are so on the 1st of each month. Click the Fleet Lists tab to head over!