Fleet Update: First

66850 in Poringland about to head back to Norwich

Since our last post, quite a few changes have happened at Eastern Counties. Three Ipswich Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse-Urbans have transferred to Norwich and are in the process of being painted into the Red Line livery. 66850 MX05CHD was the first to transfer but due to a shortage of vehicles she was pressed into use on the Charcoal Line service and is pictured to the right in Poringland complete with her temporary Norwich branding. She is now on loan in Great Yarmouth. This meant that the second bus to arrive 66981 KX05MHK will be the first to receive the treatment. She is currently at Roundtree Way depot having her front painted "red-y" for service. Finally, 66979 KX05MHF will also receive the treatment however she is yet to arrive at the depot. Norwich have also started replacing both the StreetLite and Wright Eclipse-Gemini 2's nearside mirror arms with short versions that do not have an overhang. The aim is to reduce the risk of drivers hitting them against bus stops, trees, and passenger's heads.

60916 basking in the sunshine last week

Also at Norwich, we said goodbye to Wright Eclipse 66338 MV02VCN which has been transferred to Manchester following a short stint on the coast in Great Yarmouth (thanks to Cameron Robinson for spotting that). Meanwhile, 60916 YG02DKU has finally had her heritage Eastern Counties livery applied. She left for Simon Morris for repaint a few months ago but unfortunately got pushed to the back of the queue as Ipswich needed to have their Park & Ride buses painted as a priority. Back now, though, she will be given fleet number VW916 and is pictured here at Roundtree Way upon arrival in Norwich.

At King's Lynn, demonstrator LX17DZB has returned back to Ensignbus and as Steve W pointed out on his blog, it's actually a BCI Excellence, not Enterprise. The latter being the tri-axle version. Every day's a school day! They are expecting an Enterprise as some point in the Autumn to trial though.

LX17DZB outside the Norfolk Showground during it's loan stint with King's Lynn

Great Yarmouth have taken Norwich's 36199 BN12WNZ on loan for the Summer to cope with the increased work load that comes with the territory of running bus services in a popular tourist destination, whilst in Lowestoft, 42908 WX05RVR is being repainted into Olympia livery and will be completed shortly.

67752 in Ipswich last week

Finally, I'm sure you're all aware that First took over the park & ride operations in Ipswich recently. seven of the eight buses have been painted in the new blue livery, with the eighth 67406 SN13CKC still wearing Olympia. The full list of new buses there are as follows:

67406 SN13CKC
67752 SN62APF
67760 SN62AUC
67763 SN62AUK
67773 SN62AXH
67774 SN62AXK
67775 SN62AXO
67776 SN62AXU