Wednesday 26 October 2011

Abellio Greater Anglia

As we all know national express east anglia are giveing up their franchise. it has been   awarded to Abellio
and the franchise will be called Abellio Greater Anglia .The duration of the contract is 29 months but abellio have some big plans to come such as 
•A new cycle hire scheme at Norwich station and cycle storage points at 15 stations, including space for 500 bicycles at Chelmsford.


•Up to 300 new car parking spaces, plus a further 300 at Shenfield and Wickford stations, subject to planning approval.


•Cleaning and painting of 141 stations across the franchise.

•Other improvements to be made by the new operator will include updates to existing ticket machines to make them more user-friendly, the installation of 28 new ticket machines at stations across the network and the introduction of online season ticketing.


•Oyster pay-as-you-go will be extended to cover the following
stations: Theobalds Grove, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Brentwood, Shenfield, Broxbourne, Rye House, St Margarets, Ware and Hertford East.


•Car drivers will see improvements with the provision of a total of 300 new car parking spaces at specific stations (subject to planning approvals). Meanwhile 300 new parking spaces will be provided at Shenfield and Wickford stations (subject to planning approvals) while 100 pay and display machines in station car parks will be replaced.
The new operator will also be required to install electrical car points at 20 stations.



•The new operator will also run a six month trial of a scheduled bus service between Saffron Walden and Audley End station, the introduction of a PlusCab service that will allow customers to book a taxi from 45 stations with pre-agreed fares based on a zonal pricing structureand a complimentary refreshments service for first class passengers on the London to Norwich and Stansted Express services.

•Information desks will be built at Cambridge, Norwich and Stansted Airport, and six new kiosks will be built at Bishops Stortford, Chelmsford, Colchester (two), Ipswich and Stratford. A new information desk will also be installed at Liverpool Street Station.

•Two new customer panels will be established and the new operator will also recruit a team of multi-lingual volunteers to provide information to customers in or around affected stations during the Olympics and Paralympics. Meanwhile a Smartphone App specifically for the Olympics will be developed which will provide real-time service information and directions to stations.


•A total of 141 stations will be refreshed and the whole the train fleet will be deep cleaned (except the class 379s), including all surfaces and floor coverings, toilets and lighting. In addition the interior of the class 321 units will be refreshed and CCTV will be fitted to 68 class 321 vehicles.    
  
The franchise starts in feb 2012  
 this will be their thired   UK rail franchise as they already have the successful  Merseyrail and Northern Rail businesses. i wish them all the best with the franchise 

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Megabus update

A lot been going on with megabus over the last couple of months includeing a new overnight sleeper service between Glasgow and London it the first one of it kind in the UK . the service will use three bendi 
one Volvo b10 Jonckheere Mistral's 51062-SJI1631  (click reg for photo) and two Volvo b10 Jonckheere Modulo 51092 & 51096  still un sure what ''new'' reg plate there going to be given  yet . 
The coaches are fitted with 24 seats and 24 beds  Passengers will also have access to a toilet, free Wi-Fi, on-board refreshments and a complimentary overnight pack containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of water, an eye mask and a luggage label. Each berth has a reading light and curtain for extra privacy, as well as a duvet, pillow and blanket. Prices for the service will start from just £1 up to £40 plus 50p booking fee the service is to start on the 21st of October photos of in side the coach are here beds  seats welcome pack . 
THE Depart Glasgow at 23:10 and arrive in London at 07:00
and Depart London at 23.55 and arrive in Glasgow at 07:45


Other news is that stagecoach have ten new Volvo B9R Plaxton Panther II for there new Birmingham to Edinburgh service M18 the coaches are 
53636-KX61GDU 53637-KX61GDV 53638-KX61GDY  53639-KX61GDZ
53640-KX61GEJ  53641-KX61GEK   53642-KX61GEU   53643-KX61GEY
                             53644-KX61GFA  53645-KX61GFE
The above coaches will be based at rugby 


From January 2012 there will be no more of the Volvo b10 Jonckheere Mistral's going in to london to the new low emissions(excepted the sleeper service ) so   52645/52647/52648/52649/52657/52658/52659 cant go into london from 2012  they will instead be used on other cross country services that avoid London  





Tuesday 18 October 2011

Trent Barton's new optare Tempo SR's

 Trent Barton  and UK bus manufacturer Optare and design consultancy Best Impressions  and with help from ranbow 4 (soon to be i4) customers on the  shape and  the eye-catching design of the new bus. 
The new Tempo SR'S that are to join Trent Barton fleet  by the end of the year are  12-metre long with 41 seats trimmed in a specially designed fabric and space for 44 standing passengers and feature double-glazed windows and an on-board, six-camera CCTV system. The  first of 13 Tempo SR buses will be delivered later this year and will operate on the Rainbow 4 route soon to be re branded I4, which operates every 10 minutes between Derby and Nottingham via Sandiacre and Stapleford. The new buses will also be the first to feature Trent Barton's new logo.
new Tempo SR (C) trent barton 

NEW TEMPO SR
(C) trent barton 

thanks to the ram at tb for photos and info

Monday 17 October 2011

out & about bus bash around Cambridge

On Friday i had a days bashing the stagecoach and whippet buses around Cambridge on my trip i meet up some of my driver mates as well as a trip up to cowly rd  (stagecoach cambridge's bus depot) to see what was there even spotted a 66 on chesterton siding what made a nice surprise
buses i bashed was as follows
21222-AE09GYS histon busway  stop to oakington busway stop  service A
21225-AE09GYV Oakington busway stop to science park busway stop service A
223320-AE51RYW science park to Cambridge city center  service citi 2
GO whippet G824UMU Cambridge-Croydon- Cambridge service 75
15658-AE10HFB Cambridge-oakington busway stop service B
21227-AE09GYW Oakington busway stop- histon busway stop service A
21230-AE09GZA Histon busway stop to cambridge city center service A
21229-AE09GYZ  Cambridge parkside to Cambridge new square service A
GO whippet G824UMU Cambridge-Croydon  service 75
GO whippet G824UMU Croydon-Swavesey depot --
15462-AE09GYK  Swavesey busway stop to cambridge Bridge st service B
19583-AE10BWU Cambridge Bridge st to Cambridge city center
15463-AE09GYN Cambridge city center to Histon busway stop service B

Bedfords  52437-R37AKV
after a pop down to the depot im now told stagecoach in Newcastle are finishing the rest of the trident open top conversions except 17079 what is still at Lincoln 17099 is still up cowly rd withdrawn pile along with three ex bedford leyland olys three volvo ps and Three P81-GMU olys  and two R66-DRP OLYS   also seen up cowly rd on training was stagecoach bedfords  52437-R37AKV also seen up cowly rd was 21223-AE09GYT what had substantiated accident (nothing major ) 34441 KV53EZU was across from stagecoach fens for  mot  seen on Chesterton sideing (opposite side of cowly rd ) was  DBS 66192

66192 ON CHESTERTON SIDING
Also seen in town was two oSelwyns 11 plate volvo b12 plaxton elites as well as one of simonds vanhool coaches  
some of the other shots of the day below





Thursday 6 October 2011

volvo B5L hybrid decker go's on loan to go whippet

whippet coaches have a volvo B5L hybrid decker on loan till monday BK10MGV was seen today at histon on  mabby it only day on the busway  as it could be used on other service such as the 1A (Hunts to Camb's ) . 
I managed to get  someone opinion of the bus from a mr Christopher bowles how travelled on it he said ''its very comfortable. I have to say. It was a bit off putting when the diesel bit cut out & the generator power cut in - it almost felt like it was stalling, even though it wasn't. However I think you'd get used to that within 4 or 5 journeys on it. It was so lovely & quiet when slowing down to pull into bus stops, and not that noisy when pulling away either. Not a bad ride at all actually, the B5 engine sounds quite. quite different to a B7 or B10''.

It did make for some good photos on the busway near  histon photos and video below enjoy 









 


big thanks to the flying chipmunk for the heads up and  Christopher bowles for his views on the ride

30 mins at the busway in histon

I was in the area of the busway yesterday at Histon with my camera so done a 30 min stint just north of histon's busway stop  buses seen was whippet's volvo b7 plaxton centro stagecoach's scania E400's and there volvo b7 Eclipse Urban And also the bus of most interest was whippets ''ghost of the busway'' there ex Demo    volvo b7 Eclipse Urban which has had to be put in to service after one of there centro's is off the road at the moment awaiting a replacement window.  photos below of what was seen enjoy
AE09GYS showing the drivers opinion of the busway :)

BG59FYD on service c


AE59EHR

AE09GYD on service B

AE09GYN ON SERVICE B 

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Goldline spec buses for X4

Stagecoach midland's are taking delivery of 12 scania N230UD ADL E400 in November for the X4 service from Peterborough to Northampton.
 The buses will be based at at kettering with the current scanias e400s ''bus spec'' on the x4 are likely to be used   on the kettering to bedford (49/50) service  the new E400 will be numbered 15739-15751
GOLD LINE SPEC
leather seats
WIFI
Air con


Thanks to the Dumfries decoy for the info

Tuesday 4 October 2011

national express east anglia hire in class 150

National Express East Anglia have hired a class 150 two car due to unit shortage the class 150 which is 150-280 from arriva Wales trains the unit is set to work the following lines  Norwich to Sheringham  Norwich to Great Yarmouth & Norwich to lowestoft  
150280 ran e.c.s from  Cardiff Canton to Norwich Crown Point on 5Z30 today (04/10/11)
150-280 working 5Z30  seen at just out side march(camb's)  ©rob brooks  
A big thanks to Tony Irle for advanced heads up and a big thanks for rob for allowing me to use his photo check out robs flicker here


Galloway coaches fleet changes

Galloway's have taken delivery of six  band new volvo b9   caetano levante for there new national express route 250 Ipswich to heathrow airport as well as seeing use on there ipswich to london services.
The regs of the new coaches are
 FJ61EVN
 FJ61EVP
 FJ61EVR
 FJ61EVT
 FJ61EVU 
FJ61EVV 
FJ61EVN seen at london V.C.S on 24/09/11


other changes in the fleet are
 National express coach VDL SB4000 vanhool  FJ54CGE re registered 2513PP 
 National express coach VDL SB4000 vanhool  YJ54CKN re registered 2086PP
Both are due in fleet livery next year 
also Plaxton Paramount fleet number 114 is withdrawn and will be scraped




big thanks to sir rob for the info  check out robs blog here

Sunday 2 October 2011

Ensign September's sales


VEHICLES IN.
From Metroline: Tridents T124 / 129KLD.

From Kingsley Coaches: Solo MX56AAO
 

From London United: Darts T503 /
4JPP  V506 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 23 / 24 / 26 / 31 / 33 / 34 / 36 / 38 / 39 / 51 / 52 / 53 / 56 / 57JBH.
 

From Veolia PLC: Solo's YN04LWP
CN06BXS / P   YJ54BTV   CN56FDP   Scania's YN05WJC / K / O  YN55NDV
Volvo's FJ56YWD / E / K

From Gibson Direct: Dart SX04ZXC.

From London General: Darts S101 / 103 / 104EGK   P514RYM   EU04BXD.   R124 / 126 / 140 / 142 / 146 / 147 / 151 / 153RLY

From Stagecoach Yorkshire: DAF SB220 : R990FNW   Volvo B6  P678NOJ  Olympians N418 / 420JBV.

From LCB Travel: Dart M96MBW   Merc C12LCB.

From Imperial Buses: Olympian G515VBB

From Go Ahead NE: Darts V729 / 731DNL  V749ECU  V192ERG.

From Tellings Golden Miller: Cheetah YN04WSY

VEHICLES OUT.

Darts T503 / 4JPP  V506 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 23 / 24 / 26 / 31 / 33 / 34 / 36 / 38 / 39 / 51 / 52 / 53 /
56 / 57JBH   M96WBW  N133XND   Trident T37KLD: Geoff Ripley, Barnsley.

Volvo B6 00-D-70028: Hugh McGonagle, Co Donegal, Eire.

Olympian K106JWJ: Mr M Lawrenson, Preston.

Tridents V178MEV / X235 / 6NNO: Kingsley Coaches, Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Olympian D152FYM: DeltaForce  Paintball, Leicester.

Darts S369ONL  W869YNA: Peoplesbus, Liverpool.

Trident X261NNO: Aintree Coaches, Merseyside.

Volvo B10M's P856 / 857GND: Galleon 2009, Harlow.

Dart W928WTS: LCB Travel, Harlow.

Merc 709's N370AVV / N640VSS / N454 / 58VOD : Nile Transport, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Solo  YN04LWP  Trident X384NNO: Anglian Bus, Beccles.

Olympian C46CHM: South East Coachworks, Faversham.

Olympian P477MBY: Red Route Buses, Northfleet.

Merc PIJ601 : Whitegate Travel, Cheshire.

Merc C12LCB: Linkfast, Benfleet, Essex.

Dragon M684TDB: Carters Coaches, Ipswich.

Javelin N84RGD: St Buryan Garage, St Buryan, Cornwall

Trident X263NNO: Quitin Kynaston School, London.

Volvo B7TL FE51RCX: Travelmasters, Sheerness.

DAF T164AUA   Dart SX04ZXC  Solo CN06BXS: GHA Coaches, Wrexham.

Solo's YJ07EFY / EFZ / VRV / VRW: Centrebus.

Solo YJ56AUK: Nippybus, Martock, Somerset.

Volvo T529EUB : VR Travel, Merthyr Tydfil.

Volvo B10B N597CKA: Sleafordian, Sleaford, Lincs.

DAF SB3000 YBZ818 : Bob Vale Coach Sales.

Darts V731DNL   V192ERG: ACE Travel, Liverpool.

Cheetah YN04WSY: Buglers Coaches, Bristol

Olympian C50CHM: Mr W Algar, March, Cambs.

Darts S104EGK  R715YWC: Imperial Buses, Hornchurch.

Volvo B10M HJZ4035: Pro-force, Chatham, Kent.

Scania YN55NDV: Aintree Coaches.

Scania YN05WJC / WJO : Lowes Coaches, Notts.

Scania YN05WJK: GB Coaches, Manchester.

Volvo FJ56YWD / YWK: Travelmasters, Manchester.

Volvo FJ56YWE: Gibson Direct, Glasgow.

Ensign Fleet.

Olympian S125RLE sold to Red Route, Northfleet. Dart Y339FJN into fleet single door as 739.

thats it.


big thanks to adam dowling Ross