The great ksu461 hunt

last Tuesday i went after stagecoach east's 52466-ksu461. what is usually seen in service on the 99 Miton Keynes to luton airport.  Hoping to get a ride on it i planed my way down from Wisbech to mk via   norfolk green's 46 and Stagcoach's 9 & x5  amd that all went right to plan and heres the vehicles i had
620 -AU53KSO from wisbech to March
18418-AE06GZP from March to Cambridge
53601-KX58NBJ from Cambridge to Milton Keynes rail stn

As i got of my x5 ksu461 was siting on lay over after finishing a 99.  I went over to photo it when the driver said i hope you dont want a ride on it as it not going any were due to previous driver failing it on demisters only blowing cold air. and the  mechanic that come out from a mk garage didnt know how to fix it after looking in the back for the engine even tho it mid engined coach.  so the  mechanic failed it and said there sending a replacement coach from bedford. so no ride on ksu461 for me were the driver invied me on the coach and we got chating and turned out the driver drove ksu461 in scotland when it went on loan for the x74 (dumfries to glasgow) in April 2009 photo of it here . he was saying it never misses a beat to this day . As we finished talk about Dumfrice depot the replacement  coach showed up it was 52485-R185DNH so i did a quick trip to center mk  about a 10 min trip on it what was okay .then  i had about 10 mins there photoing arriva's mk metro buses and some local ops and then bashed on of stagecoach's Northampton shires x4 e400 scania's back to the rail station as hadent be on one and plus there soon to be replaced by new gold-line spec scania e400s . after a bit more photoing of buses i got my coach back to bedford as staying at the other halfs for a couple of days . my coach turned out to be 53601-KX58NBJ again so still got on it the see a volvo oly on the bedford mk service what i forgot about (DOH) it only 10 mins longer i remember next time   photos of the day can be found HERE

Stagecoach east fleet changes

Hello readers this is a quick round up of the stagecoach east fleet changes coming up they are


16010-P810GMU now reserve
16013-P813GMU now reserve
16214-R564DRP Fenstanton-now reserve
16216-R566DRP Fenstanton-now reserve
16496-P146KWJ Bedford-reserve

18411-AE06GZH Bedford to fenstanton
18412-AE06GZJ bedford to fenstanton
18413-AE06GZK bedford to fenstanton
18414-AE06GZL bedford to fenstanton
18415-AE06GZM bedford to cambridge
18416-AE06GZN bedford to cambridge
34141-V141MVX  bedford to fenstanton
34160-V160MVX  bedford to fenstanton
47351-AE06TWV cambridge to bedford

47352-AE06TWP cambridge to bedford



optare solo's on there last night at fenstanton (20/08/11) © Robert Tarling



47353-AE06TWU cambridge to bedford
47658-AJ58RBF  Fenstanton to Cambridge

47659-AJ58RBO Fenstanton to Cambridge

some intresting changes there

thanks to 

 bob tarling for the photo check out his flicker here

and thanks to  uk buses





A hour at bedford bus staion

On Friday i spent an hour at Bedford bus station as i was staying up there for 3 day.
in bedford i saw some of the new e400s and all three of the x reg plaxton tridents from Cambridgeshire
but didnt see any of the R56-DRP'S volvo olys from cambridge . the new x5 coach was also photoed also i was exctramly lucky to see another one of the natex plaxton elites  photos from the

AE11FMF 53618

PHOTO of the day can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/49490214@N08/sets/72157627455323458/

an hour in bury st edmunds

On Monday i payed a trip to bury st edmunds to see some of the changes after burton have gone and stephenson's have taken over and bought in there own buses with new e200 as well . also got to see the resprayed mulleys bmc and one of there new v reg darts  and also a natex plaxton elite plus also the ex carters optare excell now with simmonds  also seen was a had full of olys with stephenson's it was well worth anouther trip and more than a hour next time

YX11CTU

JGV929 

AE55NYL

photos of the hour in bury can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/49490214@N08/sets/72157627322292363/

on the busway

I  went on the busway  on the Monday afternoon to see if it was worth the wait
i started off on the southern part of the busway from Cambridge rail stn to trumpington park and ride
then moved on to the  northern part from orchard park and Milton rd.

21220-AE09GYR at trumpington p&r on the way back to st ives

The ride was smooth and speedy and very comfortable on both stagecoach & go whippet's buses.
time keeping was okay but there was some big delays to the stagecoach's B service and some were even duped to keep up with demand .and whippets c's service were leaving st Ives full and standing . i hope keeps the numbers up to prove it isn't going to be a white elephant like so many think

15460-AE09GYH seen heading to Huntington at Histon

THE BUSWAY BUSES i went on
21220 AE09GYR  Cambridge to trumpington p&r service A
21226-AE09GYW trumpington p&r to Cambridge service A
15461-AE09GYJ Cambridge to st Ives  service B
21225-AE09GYV St Ives p&r to Cambridge  service A
15461-AE09GYJ histon to Cambridge service B
AE59EHR Cambridge to histon  service C
21225-AE09GYV histon to st Ives service B
15463-AE09GYN st Ives to histon service B

I think that after all the buses i went up the busway on i would say that whippet with there cheaper Fares and Volvo B7RLE/Plaxton are best they would be even better if they had the leather seats . 


tell me what you think of the busway  comment below or email me at ksu461@gmail.com

busway opening 7th August

 The long-awaited guided busway has finally begun carrying passengers on routes through Cambridgeshire. after more than a two year delay. with a vip trip from st Ives park and ride  down the busway  to Cambridge and back. The vip tour using a whippet  Volvo B7RLE/Plaxton Centro and a stagecoach Fens Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Enviro 400

AE59EHO on  a VIP trip seen at  Histon

 

15459-AE09GYG on a VIP trip seen at Histon

After the vip run the first passenger run on the busway was stagecoach's B service from Huntington to Cambridge  at 8:30 what was duped  due to demand and with most b's for the day being duped due to public demand whippets c services were having good loads too.  all in all it looked to be a good opening day on the busway but time keeping wasn't the best on stagecoach's side as B's were up too 20 Min's late but this is due to demand of the service

three county bus bash

Well on Monday I had a fantastic bus bash from Wisbech to Bedford via Cambridge.

And here's how it went
 started with a twenty min walk from Elm to Wisbech horsefair bus station.

(204)R186DDX at Wisbech horsefair

I got  Norfolk Green's  06.55 46 to March which landed me one of Norfolk green's optare excel  (204)R186DDX what was a  nice bus and journey across the Fens to March . I was hoping that it would get in one min early as the 46 was due in at march at 07.23 and the 9 to Cambridge was due to leave march at 07.22. luckily the 46 got in two Min's early so i made the 07:22 Stagecoach 9 service to Cambridge. which  landed me an ex Peterborough Dennis trident 18418-AE06GZP and a thrashy trip it was from March to Ely but after a quick driver change at Ely. are service was dupe with 18339-AE55DJZ and set off in front of us. what we later court up with at waterbeach. After a 2hrs 5 Min's late due to traffic in Cambridge and after a walk down to Cambridge park side to get my x5 what landed me with 53610-KX58NCC with turned out to be one of my best mates driving so after a  catch up with her we left Cambridge bang on time at 09.40 and got me to bedford's goldington green near as on time and in to my girl friends arms for a well deserved hug

53606 KX58NBO at cambridge parkside about to do the last  x5 of the night back to bedford

after a good day with jade and her family it was time to leave so i walked down to goldington green for the 21.38  stagecoach bedford service back to Cambridge what landed me 53606 KX58NBO no b7's for me today yesss :) as we arrived back in Cambridge 3 late due to temporary traffic lights on the A428 in  Caxton area . after my nice b9 it was time for the last bus of the day what was an E400 on the 23.05 citi 8 to Histon the E400 was 19616-AE10BYG that turned out to be the last 10 plate E400 i hadn't been on so it was a good bus to end the night on  . i can defiantly say that was a great bash with all vehicle's being great would defiantly do it again  when i next stay over my mates in wisbech