Last of the year from Lowestoft

Final Photo opportunity of the year for me was a brief visit to Lowestoft this morning to try and capture the four latest arrivals from the South West. A Brisk sunny couple of hours was had and i managed to grab three of the four required.

42911 WX05RVV about to enter Gordon Road in the winter sun.

All were seen in use but 42908 failed to appear in the right direction for the camera as the sun was playing havoc trying to find a decent spot, i was a bit late for the usual Bus Station haunt so i moved to the roundabout at the top of Gordon Road with more sucess.

42943 WA56OAS also working the 101

My final capture was 42926 SN05EAE which i did wander back round to Gordon Road to see if it has pulled up in the last remaining sunny spot there and as luck would have it there she stood.

42926 SN05EAE now proudly wearing its new identity.

The rest of my photos will appear on my Flickr stream in due course. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hemsbybus/ Once done i headed back to Yarmouth to meet up with a certain Mr. Miller for a chin wag and a seasonal beverage!

Other news from First sees loanee Volvo B10BLE 66112 R912BOU returning to Rotherham due its non DDA status and another loanee has arrived in the shape of 60626 R789WKW which is DDA complient and will cover as a paint spare at Norwich.  Yarmouth based 66168 & 66169 should also be withdrawn after service today due to the changes also.

Finally i would like to wish all our readers and contibutors a very happy new year and also to Roy for once again allowing me to be part of the team and keep the local scene up to date for everyone.

Have a good one people and here's to another bumper year in 2016!                    Grahame.

#TBT F106CCL

After a week off following the publication of our annual reviews, Throw Back Thursday returns with a look at a vehicle with another Great Yarmouth based operator

Ambassador Travel (Anglia) came into being in 1984 following the hiving off of coach services by Eastern Counties. The coach featured in this post is Plaxton Paramount bodied Volvo B10M-60 F106CCL which was delivered new to the company in February 1989

Towards the end of its working life it was primarily used on schools service in the Great Yarmouth area and both photos show it in use to ferry pupils from St Mary's Roman Catholic School in Gorleston to Great Yarmouth on the 826 service during May 2007

The vehicle is still thought to be extant in a canabilised state in the rear yard of Ambassador's Gapton Hall site as witnessed in this picture posted to Flickr by Zak Nelson

So that's it for this year then - all that remains is to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016. 

Roy

Ensign in December

Ross Newman's regular updates on the comings and goings at dealers Ensign have been published a little earlier this month due to the seasonal festivities

Holt based Sanders Coaches features prominently with the arrival of DAF SB120 YJ03PKZ/PKX  at Ensign during December. They didn't stay long as they were immediately dispatched to Mullaneys Coaches of Watford in the same month. Also during December, Sanders acquired two former Arriva London DAF DB250's in the form of LJ53NHP/NHN

DAF YJ03PKZ when with Neaves in 2011 - the bus and the company were acquired by Sanders in April 2014

Another two of the ten former Norse Norwich P&R Dennis Tridents have gone to Belle Vue of Manchester. PN03UMA/UMH join PN03ULP/UMG already with this operator

Trident PN03UMA is one of four former Norwich Park & Ride deckers now with Belle Vue of Manchester

Finally ex Anglianbus Scania OmniCity YN03WRP has found a new owner in Edward Thomas of West Ewell, Surrey

My thanks to Ross for the information

Roy

The Oldies

A quick visit to town earlier today and I noticed both of the two recently transferred B10BLE's at work on the 6 to Bradwell. The next couple of days are expected to be their last days in local service before they are withdrawn as being none DDA compliant.

Volvo B10BLE 66168 had just completed a circuit of the Market Gates to Bradwell service when photographed today
The saloon is off to Rotherham in the new year for DDA work and will be retained by them as a 'paint spare'

Whilst out and about, I thought I would look in at First's Caister Road depot and it appeared to be eerily quiet. So I decided to take a look at what was lurking in the rear yard

Peering through the fencing I saw that four Volvo Olympians had been parked up. 34108 W435CWX was still beside 34112 W432CWX on the right hand side, whilst 34114 W434CWX had been moved to the rear south east corner taking up space which 34110 had vacated prior to its journey into preservation

34111 joins the withdrawn Olympian trio in the rear yard - on the left is 34114

The fourth member was 34111 W431CWX which was recently active on Bernard Matthews contract work. It is hoped that it will return to those duties in the new year

Roy

Another Loanee returns home

Christmas Eve saw another South Yorkshire Volvo B10BLE return to Rotherham after its loan spell with Eastern Counties. 60618 R781WKW has spent time working in Ipswich, Norwich, Yarmouth and Lowestoft whilst here.

60618 in Castle Meadow back in November.

With 60618 heading back North, Norwich based 33162 LR02LXX returned to Norfolk refurbished and repainted. 32106 & 32107 remain at Rotherham undergoing refurbishment and will return in Yellow line colours.

Grahame.

2015 Review ~ Other Operators

The second part of our annual review concentrates on the highlights of the local independent operators during 2015

Ambassador Travel

Little to report here of this Great Yarmouth based operator other than they operated their last 730 service in August. The 730 is a circular route between Great Yarmouth and Gorleston  via Cantley and Acle provided under contract to Norfolk County Council

The only other thing to say is that some of the fleet received cherished registrations during the year with Sunsundegui bodied Volvo B12Ms FJ06BPZ/BRF being re-registered KIG8457/8 

Belle Coaches

Suffolk-based Belle Coaches were named as the 2014 Just Go Holidays Coach Operator of the year during March

Fleet wise three coaches were deemed surplus to requirements with Eurocoach bodied Mercedes Benz AE05MZN joining Setras K2JTB and Y752DDA as being available for sale 

Border Bus

It is pleasing to report that this Beccles operator appears to be the only operator not reducing services and continues expanding

In February it registered the 146 route as two distinct parts - Southtown to Beccles and Beccles to Norwich with recent loadings being exceptionally high. Border took ADL Enviro200 MX12DYO on loan to help with the service

In addition to re-routing some of the schools services from the beginning of the new term in September, Border Bus also introduced two new routes - the SL8 and SL9 serving the Sir John Leman school from Oulton 9 (via Blundeston) and Barnby (via North Cove) respectively. These additional routes meant another decker arrival in the form of Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL LK51XGH

Craske Coaches

The blog reported in early August that this Catfield based operator had taken delivery of a brand new coach in the previous month. It was a Youtong bodied DAF registered YC15WDJ

Our Bus 

Another operator taking on more work is Acle-based Our Bus. It took over the running of the County Council supported 730 service at the beginning of September which was extended to the Gapton Hall Retail Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays only The inaugural service being operated by recently aquired Volvo B10BLE VAG608R

Our Bus, which reintroduced its seasonal Great Yarmouth Seafront service in July also took on a further seven services from September; some Norfolk County Council supported. To provide these services three second hand vehicles were acquired. These were Van Hool L141AHS, Iveco R208VJF and former East Lothian Optare Solo YE52FHC 

Reynolds Coaches 

Reynolds Coaches continued to operate its coaches on schools and  contract work during the year with a noteable vehicle arriving in the shape of Mercedes Tourismo SN57LKC.

On the negative side, Van Hool Alizee bodied Volvo B10M 7289DD was made available for sale

Sanders Coaches

Deckers began appearing on The East Norfolk Six Form
College run at the beginning of the autumn term

Sanders Coaches is another company investing in newer buses during the year including the Wright Pulsar bodied VDL YJ10DJU and the impressive trio of Optare bodied Scanias PN09ELJ/EMJ/ENJ 

The company also made significant changes to its bus network at the end of March including the service 6 between North Walsham and Great Yarmouth.

At the beginning of the autumn term its East Norfolk Sixth Form service from North Walsham began being regularly worked by a decker

Swift Taxis

School Bus BMC Falcon BX55OFN

This Great Yarmouth operator has seen its full sized coach fleet dwindle away to virtually nothing. Its downward spiral continued in the early part of the year when we reported that the company had lost almost all of their school's contracts

This decline continued during July with the loss of its last schools contract between Sprowston and Broadland High School in Hoveton. This was followed by the loss of its contracts to run the 291 and 292 routes and the end of their TR3 and TR4 routes

The last two standing Javelin SJI8127 and Merc MW51WFT

The only positive thing to report was the award of a Norfolk County Council contract in May to provide a Monday to Friday Cobholm to Market Gates service 6A until March next year - albeit operated by a taxi

The contract losses meant the disposal of vehicles was inevitable and during August Swift placed two coaches, a minibus and a taxi up for auction. The coaches were Volvo B12M CE2YRX (Swift retains its former S11WFT registration) and BMC Falcon BX55OFN; the minibus being Iveco YX51JPY. Autosan Eagle BV57MTJ had already been acquired by a Swindon operator

With the sale of Mercedes Benz MW51WFT to Irish operator Collins earlier this month, only Dennis Javelin SJI8127 remains as an example of what was once a large local fleet. Whilst Swift ceases to operate full sized coaches the Swift name continues in use on their minibuses and taxis

Whippet Coaches

Following the acquisition of Whippet by Tower Transit earlier in the year, the former announced that they would not run their coastal services to Great Yarmouth and other coastal routes during the summer of 2015

Acknowledgements

Again 2015 has been a busy year indeed which is reflected in the 386 posts (so far!) - the second highest  annual total. This activity is no doubt due to the many reports received during this past year and I would like to thank all of you who have contributed

Special mention must be made for the tireless contributions to the blog from my partner in crime Grahame Bessey, who has really helped me out when times have been difficult. Thanks very much Grahame!

My thanks also go to Syd Eade, Tim Miller, Jamie Skinner, Colin Thorne, Colin White, Neil Chilvers, Tim Major, Joe Leathers Watson, Danny Beales, Chris Speed, Des Speed, Sheldon Rees, Steve Gowler, James Long, Lee Howes, Rob Collins, SteveW, Crewcastrian, Eastleighbusman, Tom Baker, Zak Nelson, Mike Sayer, Harry Stanley, and Sam Larke for their support too. My apologies to those I may have left out!

And Finally....

Finally, eastnorfolkbus would like to wish all of its readers, supporters and contributors a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. It looks as though 2016 could be an interesting year too

Roy

2015 Review ~ Major Operators

Around this time every year we look back on activity over the past twelve months. Again it has been a busy year and here is a brief summary of the highlights of the major operators in the area during 2015

Anglianbus

Go-Ahead subsidiary Anglianbus  began 2015 with a long term loan of ADL Enviro200 YW14FHS which lasted until October.

YNPZF in use at one of the EATM running days

Other arrivals included East Lancs bodied Scania OmniDekkas - the first, YN55PZF, arrived in March and was immediately put to work on the 88/88A Norwich - Bungay - Halesworth route

Two 2010 built Optare Versas returned to the fleet from sister company Konectbus with new Anglianbus logos being applied to YJ60KGU/V during September

The company carried out extensive service revisions in November as some of the routes were operating at a loss and no longer viable. Following consultation with stakeholders and customers Anglian subsequently amended its planed 80 and 81/81A services

Optare Excel X229WRA on the 81 service 

The introduction of these new timetables resulted in a number of fleet withdrawals with Optare Excels W216PRB and X229WRA being the first to go. These were followed by Optare Solos YN04LWP, MX53EDO and MX53EDP. Two ex Metrobus Scania Omnicities YN05HFJ and YN05HFG were also axed.

Earlier in the year one of the operator's Gas Buses was withdrawn from service after it received a rear end shunt. As a result of the incident the chassis of  WX62HGG was twisted and beyond repair with the vehicle being subsequently written off

WX62HGG at Norwich Bus Station in December 2012

Meanwhile, Anglian repainted its four Streetlites back into white livery prior to handing them back to their owners following the end of their lease; although at least one still appears to be hanging around!

Finally Anglian closed its Rackheath Depot in April but increased the capacity of its Beccles Business Park site to accommodate 80 vehicles

First Eastern Counties

January saw the start of a major refurbishment programme for the Volvo/ALX400 deckers based at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. This involved ex Leicester examples at the former (32058/9/61-5) plus 30888 with 30886/9-901 at the latter. Subsequently two vehicles emerged in in special heritage liveries - 32058 W218XBD in Great Yarmouth blue and cream and 30888 W743DWX (now a Lowestoft bus) in Lowestoft cream and maroon

Whilst they were away, Rotherham provided 'paint spares' in the form of Renowns with 66112 R912BOU and 62143 R589SBA being noted in Lowestoft with 60618 R781WKW and 60621 R784WKW being observed at Great Yarmouth. Two other Renowns joined the Great Yarmouth fleet from Essex during November with 66168/9 W368/9EOW assisting in releasing deckers for Bernard Matthews' duties

The year also saw the start of  the migration of Great Yarmouth's Jersey Darts to Lowestoft with 43859/64 EG52FHD/FGA transferring in January. Later in the year they began to be cascaded to First Devon and Cornwall. Lowestoft began replacing them with low floor Darts from First Bath with 42943 WA56OAS  being the first to arrive in September. Meanwhile, the Suffolk town's sole surviving Plaxton Pointer bodied Dart SLF 43466 R466CAH continued in service until November

Other arrivals in the year included three deckers for Caister Road arriving from First Slough in the form of Volvo B9s 37274/5 LK58EDF/J and B7 32348 LK53LZL - the last mentioned causing a stir in the local social media by returning from Full Circle with the wrong fleet number!

First Norwich repatriated Dart 42921 EU05AUN to Caister Road complete with a version of the Olympia livery applied. Sister 42920 EU05AUM received similar treatment during October

Talking of Olympians, the numbers active at the end of the year were at an all time low with just 34111 W431CWX in use on Bernard Matthews contracts. Hopes of it appearing in normal service have been dashed with the removal of its ticket machine. At various times in the year five of the Olympians saw service including 34108/9/11/4 W435/6/1/4CWX and 34186 S686AEE - although they were predominantly employed on Bernard Matthews contract duties

Olympians 34113 and 34109 await the arrival of the
scrapman in Caister Road depot in early November

During the year inroads were made in removing some of the Olympians from the rear of Caister Road with 34186, 34109 and 34113 among those being taken for scrap by Alpha Recovery. On a happy note, the blog's campaign to get 34110 W437CWX preserved was successful with Colin Thorne saving it for preservation at Yeldham Transport Collection in early November

Routemaster RML2480 JJD480D was surprisingly active in service for a few days in October being used on the service 7 to Belton and the 8 to the James Paget Hospital

Operationally, First altered some of its Lowestoft service during August following the reduction in Central Government funding and low patronage. However, the X2 frequency increased with three Geminis transferring from Great Yarmouth to Suffolk in the form of 37575-7 to assist with the service. At the same time Great Yarmouth increased its X1 service to every 15 minutes throughout most of the day

Konectbus

Konectbus, another Go-Ahead subsidiary, began operating two new routes to Great Yarmouth in early May with their buses being rewgularly observed in Great Yarmouth for the first time (transfers to the Anglian fleet excepted!). The routes were the 71 operating between Wroxham and Market Gates and the 72 from Norwich to Market Gates via Blofield, South Walsham and Acle

Early September saw Konect providing all Norwich Park and Ride services with the operator investing more than £3 million in 18 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s to provide the services

Stagecoach Norfolk Green

Stagecoach Norfolk Green became part of the Stagecoach East at the beginning of May with the Norfolk Green branding being gradually replaced by the the Stagecoach corporate livery.

In September, Norfolk County Council announced that they had reached an agreement with Stagecoach to operate the Coasthopper route serving the North Norfolk Coast as a commercial service all year round . This was after Lynx had secured a tender to operate the service with County Council funding

Stagecoach Megabus

Megabus extended their M37 Norwich to Cardiff route to Great Yarmouth during the early summer which commenced at Beach Coach Station. The service was short lived as Megabus withdrew it from 1st September

During its operation, a left hand drive coach worked the route in late June with blog contributor Steve Gowler on hand to record Van Hool Altano KX14HSU on the service

Up Next

That completes our look at the major operators activities during the year. Coming up next we will look at the independent operators

Roy