Ready For The Off

Three of  the four open toppers pictured inside First’s Caister Road depot this morning ready to go on the 1C service.

Further news from the depot is that two Volvo B9s are currently off the road - 37566 AU58 ECE with a  gearbox problem and 36287 LX59 DBY with electrical issues.

My thanks to Steve N for the information and photo.

Late News: 37069 will not now be available due to electrical issue.

Roy

Open Toppers Start Tomorrow

Just a quick heads up to let you know that four open toppers will be out on the road for the first day of the Coastal Clipper 1C services tomorrow.

They are expected to be 37066 CRZ 366, 37068 CRZ 599, 37069 CRZ 622 and 37533 CRZ 166 which have been especially hand washed for their duties. The timetable can be found here. Let’s hope the weather keeps fine and the rain stays away.

My thanks to Steve N for the information and photos.

Roy

Evening Tour

A quick tour around the Great Yarmouth area earlier this evening which involved five coaches at Beach Coach Station and two on Marine Parade



Two Mercedes-Benz Tourismos at the former were from the Alfa Holidays fleet - A155 BV25 LZK (pictured) and 120 BV20 HND.



Also present was Shearings.com branded VDL Futura FHD2 T321 BBC operated by Bluebird Coaches of Weymouth.



Next to that was Taylor's Coach Travel's Scania K410CB6 / Irizar i6s K7 TCT based in Yeovil. A notice in the windscreen suggested it was on tour of the 'Little Trains of Norfolk and the Mississippi Paddle Steamer'



At the northern end of the site was Simonds Volvo B12B TCF 496. It is assumed it was waiting time to operate a contract working.



I continued via First Great Yarmouth's Caister Road depot which had nine buses at the front and another two in the layby awaiting attention. Five of the red fronted Volvo B9s appeared to have already been prepared for their next duties.



Two Caledonian Travel coaches were observed on my journey home with Mercedes-Benz Tourismo NH18 CGH and ex Parks of Hamilton's Volvo 9700 bodied Volvo B11R LSK 615 noted on Marine Parade.

Roy

Norwich Today

A couple of photos provided by Dan High illustrating some of the bus activity at Norwich's Castle Meadow earlier today.



Konectbus ADL Enviro400 603 SN10 CFG was seen on the 10 from Wroxham to Norwich Fast service.



An interesting working was the unusual use of First Wright StreetLite 47473 SN14 EAG on the Park & Ride PR1 between Norwich Airport and Thickthorn. It is normally worked by a Wright StreetDeck Electroliner.

My thanks to Dan for the use of his photos.

Roy

Another Last Journey

A tow truck visited First Great Yarmouth's Caister Road depot this morning to take away another bus on its final journey. Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL 37136 SN57 HCU was being collected by PVS Barnsley Limited.



The green fronted decker moved from First Essex to First Eastern Counties in October 2025 and was subsequently observed in use in Norwich. However, in February this year it arrived at Caister Road to donate its gearbox to similar Coastal Clipper branded 37572 AU58 ECW with the former earmarked for scrapping.



My thanks to Steve N for the information and photos.

Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 29th April 2026

Today's East of England Traffic Commissioner’s Notices and Proceedings Report includes changes to services in the local area which may be of interest.

Our Hire Limited, operating as Our Bus, cancelled its 32 service between Corbett Avenue in Sprowston and St. Stephen's Street in Norwich effective 13th April 2026. A new 32 route has replaced it running from Keswick Hall Road to Carrow Park in Norwich commencing on the same date.

First Eastern Counties is to reintroduce its 1C Hemsby Beach to Great Yarmouth's Britannia Pier service from 2nd May 2026 with an amended timetable.

The full report can be viewed here soon on the Government’s website.

Roy

Konectbus To Become Central Connect

Recently announced on social media is that, in the coming months, Konectbus is to be rebranded as Central Connect. The operator confirms services will continue as normal but with a new identity. One change will see the Dereham to Norwich service 8 receive two relatively new buses complete with the new Central Connect livery.

This morning Dan High witnessed Konectbus ADL Enviro400 607 SN61 CZX passing Central Connect ADL Enviro200 MMC 346 SW16 BUS on Norwich's Castle Meadow. Both were on Park & Ride duties.

My thanks to Dan for the photo

Roy