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 News of the local companies

June saw Arriva the Shires much involved in MAD about Waddesdon and I am indebted to Adrian Lane for a report and some excellent pictures of the event,

Adrian writes "I don't know if anyone else has notified you of this interesting summer event hosted at Waddesdon Manor, last weekend 27/28 June, however, MAD about Waddesdon is a festival of Music, Art & Drama & Dance for Buckinghamshire and features student performers from local schools, colleges, and dramatics groups and academies. 

I attach a short report on the marvellous "performance" (as a pun") by Arriva, who laid six of their newest and finest from the Aylesbury garage on the Sunday working --  at least , when I attended with my family.

I'm not sure of the Saturday vehicles. Arriva Aylesbury were providing the free shuttle service from the lower grounds and vast overflow parking area , up to the fountain roundabout, where we disembarked  (and later re-boarded)."

Arriva perform at MAD about Waddesdon!

Saturday 27^th and Sunday 28^th June 2009 

The last weekend of June (on the 27^th and 28^th) Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, hosted this interesting summer event; MAD about Waddesdon. 

This event, now in its fourth year, is a celebration of Music, Art, Dance & Drama (MAD) and features student performers from local schools, colleges, and academies. This gives the visiting public the opportunity to experience and enjoy the talents and creativity of over 2000 performers, across two days from stages within the grounds of Waddesdon Manor. 

Over the two day festival several thousand visitors were expected and the public and performers would be shuttled up from the car parks in the lower grounds to the event area in front of the main house (at the fountains). 

These shuttle duties were performed by Arriva Aylesbury, who laid on six of their newest and finest vehicles for the Sunday operations, when I visited with my family. 

The vehicles involved on the Sunday were sourced from the 300 (Aylesbury-High Wycombe) and 280 (Aylesbury-Oxford) Routes, and were as follows: 

The vehicles were at work from before 10:30am through to beyond 6:00pm when the event closed, and were kept busy all day by their cheerful drivers. 

All the vehicles were immaculately presented and although six months old still appeared as newly delivered and this is a credit to the Arriva Aylesbury depot team. 

A fine performance and most definitely worth a standing ovation!!

A selection of photos from the event

I much enjoyed Adrian's photographs which show the Arriva "performers" to the best with superb backdrops.

I liked this picture was produces a rather special result.

Two excellent pictures with wonderful backdrops.

The trees frame the buses rather well and notice the reflection in the third picture, I like that one.

 
I wonder if anyone else got some pictures of the buses at this event?

Finally a visiting coach - a very new 09 plate - is seen above to round off our pictures of this event.

Camera :  Canon EOS 400D (Exposures mixed - set to 400 ISO on Shutter priority; with Zero to 1 F stop reduction compensation)

Weather: Sunny spells & cloud , plus shade from trees & glare (some back-lighting occurrence);  the results hence vary !

Images © : A.D.Lane, Steeple Claydon, Bucks.

I am most grateful to Adrian and am sure readers will enjoy his report and pictures.

The new buses for Stevenage had mostly entered service by the beginning of July and represent a significant investment by Arriva in local services in Hertfordshire.

Adam Green writes ".... sending you a picture taken on 9th June covering the Stevenage based 3407-3412 VDL SB200-Wirghts Pulsar 2s now in service on route SB1."

On the same day Adam took several interesting pictures around Stevenage which I include below.

Ex Sovereign 3310 (note the pale blue fleet number) displaced from Centraline works a local service 3. Adam Green.

Another ex Sovereign Volvo 3300, once in Yorkshire I believe, works local route 2.

Volvo B7RLE 38xx is seen working a 5 route service in Stevenage.

Many of this batch of Darts are at Aylesbury and Luton but more recently this bus has transferred to Stevenage, 3281 seen working local route 14.
Above pictures by Adam Green.

Andrew Morgan provided some very nice pictures from Stevenage which I include below.

VDL 3407 in Stevenage bus station waiting to go out on route SB1 along side ex-SB1 3322 waiting to go out on route 101 to Luton .


VDL 3410 going into the bus station


Another VDL, 3408 going into the bus station.


VDL 3412 showing offside route branding plus new white Arriva name on windscreen in place of original black one .


VDL 3407 showing rear route branding.


VDL 3408 showing nearside route branding.
Above pictures by Andrew Morgan.

For pictures of the new Enviro 300s please follow this link to my earlier Editorial page.

Other news concerns a recent arrival and unusual working in High Wycombe.

Mark Munday writes "We had a new arrival at Wycombe on Monday 15th June. It is a Volvo B10BLE no.3454. I believe it has come ever from Stevenage and we expect a further two similar buses in the near future. They will be used to convert the Reading services to Low Floor Easy Access.

Additionally on Sunday 12th July Wycombe received Scania 3196 and Volvo B10BLEs 3850 and 3851 all from Stevenage. The Volvos are ex Sovereign. Finally ex Motts Volvo B6s 3138 and 3139 have both been sold."

This and the following buses have and will be fully repainted.

Trevor Wilson writes "Arriva Optare Solo 2497 was operating the 305 High Wycombe Beaconsfield Uxbridge today (24/06/09).  This route is usually operated by an MPD Dart."

I would also note that in the evenings when the Orange route 39 does not require its buses, the Versas often work the 74 to slow and even the Line 40 to Stokenchurch.

Arriva under the Green Line banner commenced a new service 712 from St Albans to London on the 29th June.
This revived an old connection as St Albans has not been well served by coaches for sometime now.
The livery for the new service is displayed by the pictures above.
The coaches are all based at Hemel Hempstead and were until recently used on the 757 service from Luton Airport.

One of the Watford based Citaros on service 321 displays advertising for the 712. Picture by Glenn Knight.

Whilst the Aylesbury Citaros are nearly always used on their branded route Line 300 between Aylesbury and High Wycombe they do on occasion
stray on to other routes. Gavin Francis caught up with 3923 on the 280 in Oxford and most surprisingly I saw 3920 on the 61 at Luton Airport a few weeks ago.

We reported that a second bus had received blue livery for Rainbow route 32 in Wycombe. This bus is 3203 and Gavin provides us with two pictures
to see how well this bus looks now. Sadly the destination screen was not working and a paper sticker had to suffice for information.

Now becoming the old lady of the Arriva Wycombe fleet, 3137 is an elderly Volvo B6 dating from 1994, when it was acquired from Stevensons of Uttoxeter.
It is a regular performer on the 74 and 353 services and is seen here on a 74 working on 26th June.

Although the Olympians are no longer branded for the 280, they do nevertheless fill in for the Enviro 400s when these are needed elsewhere.
Indeed the new buses are often used for Rail Replacement services at the weekend.

Pictures above by Gavin Francis.

A line up at Cressex depot show two of the blue route buses off service on a Sunday at the depot. M Crowe.

A sad line up at Cressex depot, perhaps ill advisedly parked against a public roadway
which does not give the best impression of a quite well kept fleet. M Crowe.

Reflections - Lane End and a 32 service worked by Olympian 5094 on Saturday13th June 2009. - M Crowe


The batch of Volvo B10Bs acquired with Wycombe Bus operation and formerly with Oxford Bus have not enjoyed a good time in recent years,
3841 and 3842 plus others have been the subject of fires or major accidents and this type is now on its way out.
3842 is seen entering The Eden Bus Station on a 31 working on 14th June 2009. M Crowe.

Dart SLF 3416, once at Stevenage, is now at Harlow and is seen working the 510 from Stansted Airport on 12th June.
This is not a type seen very often on the 510. M Crowe.

Dart 3226 appeared sometime ago at Wycombe and seemed to be little used.
However on Sunday 14th June it was seen at Wycombe ready to work the U9. M Crowe.

Scania 3159, used by Gavin and I on our day out on 29th May is seen at Luton Airport on 18th June. M Crowe.

Another Scania from Aylesbury is 3151 seen here on a 261 working in Oxford on July 4th 2009 - M Crowe.

Following the collapse of Stansted Transit, Arriva's Harlow depot has taken over some working on local routes 5 and 7. Other routes are worked by Excel, an Arriva offshoot based at Stansted Airport.

Once based at Stevenage, Vario 2195 was seen working ex Stansted Transit 7 on 17th June.
M Crowe.


Sister 2194 is seen on route 5 at Stansted Airport on 11th June 2009 - M Crowe.

The M A N/MCV saloons are now being preapred for service and are expected to enter service with the new school year in September.

A yard line up on 3rd July shows one of the ex Birmingham M A N s. M Crowe.

Two pictures of the main depot of Carousel showing the variety in this fleet. M Crowe.

One of the green Darts seen on the hospital route nr 27. G Francis.

One of the recently acquired EVLs from London General seen on Line 1 in Wycombe, they are also used on the A40 to Heathrow. G Francis.

Cetrebus continues to get on with its business and at present is in low profile mode. Fleet repainting is proceeding and a bright orange, white and blue livery is appearing on many buses.

One bus which seems to be in waiting is a bus once owned by Starline of Knutsford - M389KVR.
This bus does not quite look at its best especially when seen on 8th July in Hemel.
I must say this is one of the worst turned out buses I have ever seen, any prizes and it'll be a winner.

Glenn Knight writes "M821 RCP 121 is in the new CENTREBUS livery. P132PPV Dennis Dart recently from Ipswich Buses noted that sister bus P131PPV is with Trustline of Harlow in their new livery.

Two or three Solos are due from Scotland soon and maybe for route 31/32 in Hemel Hempstead. 

Dart 566, W566XRO, acquired some time ago from Sovereign and the only one of the batch not to go to UNObus was recently involved in a rather bad accident at Flamstead en route to Dunstable It seems that the accident involved a truck and the front end is in a bad shape."

Pictures by Malcolm Crowe

A very varied fleet has been assembled by Excel to work Stansted Transit routes until new arrangements can be made. Buses include a number from dealers such as Ensign who have provided a number of ex Stagecoach buses plus a number of all white dealer Darts.

Ex Arriva Olympian 5904 from Tunbridge Wells works a local Bishops Stortford route, 302.
It is seen at Stansted Airport on 24th June 2009.

Ex Arriva Midlands 4325, H659GPF, once based at Derby is another dealer stock bus being used at Stansted. M Crowe - 27th June 2009.

Phil Thoms asks for help writing "Just wondering if there are any colour photos of the Massey bodied Daimlers supplied to Smith of Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire known as Heyfordian? I have black and white images but I don't know what their livery was."

FJ09DWZ with windows removed and the film crew at work. 29th June by Gavin Francis,

Four coaches used in an all day filming encounter at Stansted. All were new 09 registered coaches.

There are twenty five new two axle Levantes in the process of delivery and the first seven have gone to Arriva-MK Metro who have recently taken over the 707 service from First Bus.

Details of the latest coaches are:

FJ09DXG YS2K4X20001863100 FO93043001 MK METRO 418
FJ09DXK YS2K4X20001863113 FO93043002 MK METRO 419
FJ09DXL YS2K4X20001863121 FO93043003 MK METRO 420
FJ09DXM YS2K4X20001863140 FO93043004 MK METRO 421
FJ09DXO YS2K4X20001863165 FO93043005 MK METRO 422
FJ09DXP YS2K4X20001863144 FO93043006 MK METRO 423
FJ09DXR YS2K4X20001863176 FO93043007 MK METRO 424
FJ08DXS YS2K4X20001863201 FO93043008
FJ09DXT YS2K4X20001863214 FO93043009
FJ09DXU YS2K4X20001863207 FO93043010
FJ09DWY YS2K4X20001863249 FO93043011
FJ09DWZ YS2K4X20001863271 FO93043012
FJ09DXA YS2K4X20001863258 FO93043013
FJ09DXB YS2K4X20001863276 FO93043014 Ambassador 207
FJ09DXC YS2K4X20001863279 FO93043015
FJ09DXE YS2K4X20001863255 FO93043016
FJ09DXF YS2K4X20001863262 FO93043017
FJ09DWF YS2K4X20001863238 FO93043018
FJ09DWG YS2K4X20001863267 FO93043019
FJ09DWK YS2K4X20001863245 FO93043020
FJ09DWL YS2K4X20001863217 FO93043021
FJ09DWM YS2K4X20001863231 FO93043022
FJ09DWN YS2K4X20001863228 FO93043023
FJ09DWO YS2K4X20001863222 FO93043024
FJ09DWP YS2K4X20001863233 FO93043025

Sightings of operators using these new coaches would be appreciated.

With the previous news involving First Coaches losing work transferring work, First Devon & Cornwall have also lost some more digrams after losing the 339/502 to Hookways recently, the other diagrams changing are: 

328 Rochdale - Plymouth to Selwyns ( Operated from Manchester Airport Depot ) two coaches. 

330 Nottingham - Penzance to Coachmasters Leicestershire. two coaches. 

336 Edinburgh - Penzance to Bruces. three coaches. 

At the same time selwyns are transferring some of their other NX work on 060 & 440 to the Manchester Airport depot. 

Parks are in the process of consolidating their operations and as a result it looks as if Trathens will close with Plymouth becoming an outstation operation for the NEx work.

Arriva MK Metro now operate the 707 between Gatwick and Northampton. A brand new Levante is seen on the first day at Luton Airport.
Picture by M Crowe.

The same coach is seen in Gloucester Green, Oxford on 4th July on the Bristol service - G Francis.

Ambassador Travel who operate the 497 also have one or some new Levantes. Their 207 is seen in Bulleid Way by Gavin Francis on 5th July.

One of Go-Ahead's north east tri-axle Levantes is seen in Gloucester Green on the 304 service on 14th June 2009 - G Francis.

Selwyns operate the 303 and their DAF 123 is seen in Oxford on this service on 12th June by G. Francis.

Wembley special services are now a feature of National Express coach operations. Here Yeomans Levante FJ07TKD is seen in Oxford GG on service W13 on 5th July. G Francis.

These fifteen metre coaches are now in regular use on National Express services once the preserve of the Neoplan double deck coaches.
They even come through Oxford on service 421 at 0100 and 0430 hours daily.  G Francis.

Often seen at Stansted is this old Van Hool, Y302HUA, now used for driver training. M Crowe - 16th June 2009.

It seems that Stansted NEx have problems with their fleet and in recent days they have hired in a coach from Olympian of Harlow to work on service A6.
This produced a rather unique situation last week when an ex Oxford espress coach (nr 14 V283SBW once V14OXF) was pictured alongside a current X90 coach in Victoria.
Picture by Gavin Francis - nice scoop Gavin!!) - 8th July 2009.

On the 10th July another Olympian coach was in use but sadly not an ex Oxford one.
Pictured at Stansted by M Crowe.

I have to say how useful I have found the HB Publications - National Express Datafile 2009 edition. Check the link at http://hbpub.co.uk for details. At £11.00 I think it is quite a bargain. It not only lists National Express services and coach fleets but also Scottish citylink, Megabus, Oxford Tube and Shearings. Most useful.

More pictures from various sources are shown below.