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 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

Sunny Skegness

Regular Contributor Toby Cullum made the trip up to Lincolnshire today and photographed some of the very colourful fleet of Stagecoach East Midlands Open Toppers at work in Skegness. With the Yarmouth Open Top fleet about to hit the road for the summer season once again its always nice to see these vehicles in action.

 First up is " Sweetie The Seasider" DAZ5455, which is 12026 in the fleet, Formerly MX60BVB.

 The next one is "Rocky The Seasider" TIL7901, which is 12029, Formerly MX10MVT.

 "Sunny The Seasider" is up next, S815BWC which is 12034, Formerly MX10MVZ.

 12047 BLZ1423 (ex.MX60BVO) is named "Candy The Seasider"

 

Final shot is closed top "Milly The Seasider", 12030 PSU764 (ex. MX10MVU). This is one of two non open tops with Seasider branding.

In all there are currently12 vehicles in the Seasider fleet at Skegness.

Many Thanks to Toby for letting us share his photos.

Grahame.

Great Yarmouth Electroliners Latest

Registration details of the 10  Wright bodied Streetdeck Electoliners due for Caister Road have been published online and they are as follows.

The batch will be numbered 36689 - 36698.

36689    BF26ZVA

36690    BF26ZVB

36691    BF26ZVC

36692    BF26ZVD

36693    BF26ZVE

36694    BF26ZVG

36695    BF26ZVH

36696    BF26ZVJ

36697    BF26ZVK

36698    BF26ZVL

36692 has been noted on test runs at the factory, the front end being updated to the ones in use at Norwich.

Grahame. 

On Their Way

Two First Eastern Counties partial open top buses made their return to First Great Yarmouth earlier today having been stored in the Norwich area.

Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL 37069 CRZ 622 is pictured at Castle Meadow with another, 37066 CRZ 366, waiting for traffic to clear as Prince of Wales Road was closed due to a road traffic accident. The latter went back to Norwich so that 37533 CRZ 166 could be returned to Great Yarmouth.

My thanks to Michael for the photo.

Roy

Norwich Saloons

Chosen from todays observations from Dan High is this photo showing the contrast between these two saloons pictured on Norwich's Castle Meadow earlier.



Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 69551 BF12 KWN heads for Long Stratton on the 36 passing Wright GB Kite Electroliner 63644 BK24 ADF picking up passengers for the 23A to Longwater Retail Park.



Another single decker, Wright StreetLite 63168 SN64 CJU, catches the sun on the 21 to the Norfolk & Norfolk University Hospital; the route is usually the preserve of Wright StreetDeck Electroliners.

My thanks to Dan for the photos.

Roy

First Great Yarmouth Latest

Around a week ago First Eastern Counties Wright StreetLite 47655 SN15 AEV was towed from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth's Caister Road premises for engine replacement. It has since been towed from there to an undisclosed site where the work will now be undertaken.



However, Coastlink ADL Enviro400 33803 YX63 LJF is still awaiting gearbox replacement while Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL 37532 MXZ 3342 has just passed its MOT.

My thanks to Steven N for the information and photo.

Roy

Clipper Returns

There has been a couple of developments at First Great Yarmouth’s Caister Road depot with the first being the return of partial open top Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 37068 CRZ 599 from storage ready for the commencement of Coastal Clipper 1C services from 2nd May. You may also notice in the background of the photo the preparations taking place to receive the Electroliners due later this year.

Wright StreetDeck 35287 SL67 VXR has returned to First Norwich off loan and has been replaced by similar 35286 SL67 VXP.

My thanks to Steve N for the information and photo

Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 22nd April 2026

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

Simonds of Botesdale introduced a new 482 service between Diss Bus Station and Bridge Street, Framlingham from 13th April 2026

First Eastern Counties is to amend the route and timetable of its 99 / 998 services between Lowestoft Bus Station and Pier Avenue in Southwold from 24th May 2026.
The operator has also amended the timetables of its 40/ 40A / X41/ 41A / 41 Halesworth/Bungay to Norwich services from 2nd November 2025.
Also noted was the start of the 100 Norwich Sightseeing service from 23rd May 2026 with a revised timetable.

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

Roy

Norwich Monday

A couple of photos from Dan High's sightings in Norwich's Castle Meadow earlier today. The first is of Our Bus Mercedes-Benz Sprinter BP14 FKE passing First Eastern Counties StreetDeck Electroliner 36568 BK73 AHZ. Affectionately known as Bruno, the former was arriving from Heartsease on the 32 route.



First Eastern Counties Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 36180 BD11 CDZ was operating on Blue Line service 25 throughout the day.



My thanks to Dan for the photos

Roy

Local Sightings

With it being a pleasant mild April day with the sun shining, I thought it would be good to exercise with a walk along Great Yarmouth's Seafront.



As we neared the Britannia Pier, I noticed Setra 416GT-HD EU14 GXR owned by Barking, Ipswich-based C & J Coaches was parked up. It was still in the previous owner's colours of Lodges Coaches and the reason for its presence was that Great Yarmouth Football Club were playing Ipswich Wanderers at the nearby Wellesley football ground.



I looked in at the Coach Station on Nelson Road North and found two coaches present. The first seen was KM Travel's VDL Bova 893 KM.



The other vehicle was Millennium Travel's Mercedes-Benz Tourismo G19 MTL on charter to Alfa Holidays.

Roy

Early Start For Lochs & Glens

Lochs and Glens Holidays offer a number of tours to Scotland from the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft area throughout the year. They regularly require an early start on a feeder coach to join up with the main tour.

Just to give you an idea of the early timings for the feeder coach, regular contributor Tim Miller provided a lift for his friend to join the service at Lowestoft at 04:30 this morning! (That's really early!!) The coach involved was Volvo B11RT Jonckheere JSV N23 MKT from Mil-Ken Travel of Littleport, Ely.

My thanks to Tim for the photo.

Roy

Norwich Sightings

A couple of photos from Dan High's sightings on Norwich's Castle Meadow earlier today. The first shows Completely Coach Travel's Irizar i6s M28 CCT passing First Eastern Counties Wright StreetDeck New Power 71023 XIG 1723.



The second features First Great Yarmouth's Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 36215 BJ12 VWX in its Coastal Reds livery on a working from the seaside to the city on the 7 route.



Again my thanks to Dan for the photos.

Roy

Another Dolphin Acquistion

Dolphin Travel has added another vehicle to its fleet in the form of AFSC Limited's (operating as Marett's Chariots) BMC 220 YK55 AUA.

After being purchased from Keighley & District in West Yorkshire in January 2019, the BMC was subsequently re-registered to M31 AAM and received fleet number 509.

My thanks to Dan High for the photo.

Roy

33423 ~ (Not So) Final Journey

First Eastern Counties ADL Enviro400 33423 SN60 CAA has departed Great Yarmouth's Caister Road depot for the final time.



Withdrawn in December last year, due to chassis deterioration, it subsequently lost its engine and gearbox and is pictured leaving this morning on tow for an initial stay at Lowestoft's Gasworks Road depot prior to its last journey to the scrapyard.

Also in Great Yarmouth depot is former First South West partial open topper 37796 LX59 CXO still in its Lands End Coaster livery. It arrived in August last year.



My thanks to Steve N for the photos

Roy

First Electroliner Substitution

John Russell informs me that this morning’s 11:12 Pink Line departure from Wroxham and Hoveton to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital was unusually worked by ex Doncaster and Kernow Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 36225 BD12 TAV.

I am grateful to John for the information and photo.

Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 15th April 2026

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

Two new services have been introduced from 13th April 2026. The first is a Fridays only one return journey from Roys Department Store at Hoveton and Aylsham Market Place. The other is a schools service 855 Salthouse Road, Sprowston to: Broadland High School at Hoveton

There are two amendments to routes and timetables of existing services commencing 12th April 2026. They are the 10 between The Street, Catfield and St Stephens Street in Norwich plus the 2 between Bridge Road in Potter Heigham and Stalham.

From 13th April 2026 the timetable of the 717 St Stephen Street, Norwich to Kingsway, Hemsby is being amended

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

Roy

Derby Day Coaches

Martin Bott says that 'on Saturday Simonds turned out 17 coaches for the Tractor Boys visit to Carrow Road for the East Anglian football derby game (a Norfolk operator for Suffolk fans??).



Amongst these was high-spec Irizar i8 bodied Scania K410, recently transferred here from Galleon Travel (Central Connect). One of just 25 Scania i8s in the UK.

However, other fans got this 28 years old Volvo B10M 4940 VF (new as Kenzies R81 NAV), which has been with Simonds for 21 years now. I guess they weren’t too upset having won the match!'

My thanks to Martin for the report and photos.

Roy

Dolphin Acquistions (Updated)

Norwich-based Dolphin Autos has acquired three vehicles previously advertised for disposal by Our Bus.



One of them is Irisbus KV05 YRO which is pictured at Dolphin's Swanton Road site earlier today by Dan High. The identity of the the other two have subsequently been confirmed as Volvo B10M /Plaxton Panther PUI 6679 and PEZ 1549.

When he visited BMC Condor YK56 DLX and Volvo PEZ 1549 (referred to above) were present

My thanks to Dan for the photos and to Joe Wilson and Anon for the information.

Roy

Rail Replacement Norwich

Rail replacement bus services between Norwich and Ipswich were in position this weekend with Galloways two new Higer bodied Scania K410 tri-axles in the form of YN26 VSK and YN26VSL making an appearance.



Galloways also provided their relatively new ADL Enviro 400MMC SN75 YKP E400MMC



Completely Coaches also got in on the act by supplying Van Hool TDX27 Astromega P29 CCT, previously registered YJ14 LFW.



My thanks to Martin Bott for the photos

Roy

First Repaints

First Lowestoft Wright StreetLite 47647 SN15 AFJ has been taken to Roy Humpfrey of Diss for a repaint into the Ultraviolet livery.

First Norwich Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 36221 BJ12 VXE has left the Diss site after losing its Doncaster colours with similar 36226 BD12 TBO about to receive the same treatment.

My thanks to Steve N for the information.

Roy

Norwich Monday

Three photos have been selected from Dan High's sightings in Norwich's Castle Meadow earlier today.



ADL Enviro200 YX64 TXP was in use with Konectbus on service 50 from the City Centre to Mousehold.



First Eastern Counties Wright StreetLite 63143 SN14 DWW was operating service 12 to the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital



The final photo is of Our Bus Mercedes-Benz Sprinter EVM Cityline RE17 FAO (which also featured in our post of earlier today) which was working its 32 route from Heartsease to the City Centre.

Again my thanks to Dan for the continuous supply of photos.

Roy

Surprise Surprise!

I was driving back from Lowestoft during yesterday afternoon when I decided I would see how many cyclists I could observe using the new cycle lanes on Middleton Road in Gorleston.

Nearing the end of the route I saw a red and yellow minibus parked up beside Middleton Gardens. It was Our Bus Mercedes-Benz Sprinter EVM Cityline RE17 FAO complete with its Farleigh Coaches colour scheme. Affectionately referred to as Morph, the vehicle was new to the Kent operator in May 2017.

As for the cycle lanes they resulted in no cyclists being spotted. I'll just leave that there!

Roy

Where Are They Now? LT02 ZDL

Quite often we feature vehicles finding new owners after their their working in our local area and the subject this time is former First Eastern Counties Volvo B7TL/ Plaxton President 32112 LT02 ZDL

Previously branded Network Norwich, it is now operated by Brian Jones Coaches of Gravesend, primarily on schools duties. Originally introduced in April 2002, it was acquired by First Eastern Counties from CentreWest of London in February 2010 and last served in Norwich in March 2024

My thanks to Luke Champeny for the information and photos.

Roy

Norwich Friday

Today is the last day for First's excel services to pass through Norwich's Castle Meadow plus there are also some Konectbus routes being changed from tomorrow.



Dan High was watching activity in Castle Meadow yesterday and recorded First Eastern Counties Scania N250UD/ Enviro400 City 36906 YN69 XZK on excel route B to Peterborough.



Konectbus was employing ADL Enviro400 635 SN65 OAU on its Dereham Fast service.

Meanwhile, similar Konectbus decker 603 SN10 CFG was heading off on the 11B to Sprowston

Thanks Dan for the photos

Roy