East Anglia Bus Scene

[F Great Eastern]

Both seen in the yard yesterday. I have seen both out in the last two weeks in Hadleigh.

Must have been doing something else then than the 91 as YN55NDY/MX06LDN/YN55NJZ have been the mainstays of that route recently according to bustimes.org. The later is a real boneshaker at the back when I was on it out of Ipswich in the morning a few weeks back behind the rear wheels,, but oddly enough appears to be fine forward of that.

Any news on the new arrivals due?

Talking of Beestons, I note that the registration ‘BUS 91E’ will be in the next DVLA auction. I wonder if this will join its similar registrations at Beestons or not…

DVLA Auctions of Personalised Registrations

dvlaauction.co.uk

Doubt they need another plate, as they're currently not using BUS 91B, the 91 only requires a PVR of 3 a day and the majority of the service hours it's only two buses.

 

[Kartenga]

Beestons new bus update.

Seen in Hadleigh Suffolk today was a new Volvo MCV Evora in white livery.

Registration: 221GRA

 

[F Great Eastern]

There is 219 GRA as well. I assume both single deckers for school runs based on those registrations. 47 seater apparently.

They not getting any new doubles to replace the ex NCTs on the 91 when they go or will they stay now? Really the older Omnidekkas are showing their age now. Great workhorses over years mind.

Good to see the green BUS 91D was out on the peak extra services this morning. Still the older deckers on the all day duties though.

 

[Kartenga]

There is 219 GRA as well. I assume both single deckers for school runs based on those registrations. 47 seater apparently.

They not getting any new doubles to replace the ex NCTs on the 91 when they go or will they stay now? Really the older Omnidekkas are showing their age now. Great workhorses over years mind.

Good to see the green BUS 91D was out on the peak extra services this morning. Still the older deckers on the all day duties though.

The two new ones are replacing the two 04’ plated scanias

 

[F Great Eastern]

Beestons have posted photos on their Instagram page

Beestons (Hadleigh) Ltd on Instagram: "Our two brand new seat belted, Euro 6 buses with USB charging points."

21 likes, 0 comments - Beestons (Hadleigh) Ltd (@beestons_hadleigh) on Instagram: "Our two brand new seat belted, Euro 6 buses with USB charging points."

www.instagram.com

 

[F Great Eastern]

What looks to be an Ex Cardiff Bus Omnicity parked up in Beestons depot today judging by the shade of green on the back. Anyone know what it is and what it has replaced?

Elsewhere Mulleys have taken delivery of two of the cancelled ex Reading Buses Optare Metrodeckers, that look absloutely hideous in plain white.

 

[Kartenga]

What looks to be an Ex Cardiff Bus Omnicity parked up in Beestons depot today judging by the shade of green on the back. Anyone know what it is and what it has replaced?

Elsewhere Mulleys have taken delivery of two of the cancelled ex Reading Buses Optare Metrodeckers, that look absloutely hideous in plain white.

The registration for the Ex Cardiff Bus Omnicity is CN57 BJK

Vehicle Details | buslists.uk

buslists.uk

CN57 BJK​

Model: Scania OmniCity (s/d)

Operator: Beestons

Fleet number:

Depot: Hadleigh

Status: Active - passenger use

Original registration: CN57 BJK

Livery: Cardiff bus (old)

 

[F Great Eastern]

Reports of a decker delivery to Beestons over the past day or two, any ideas what?

 

[Kartenga]

Reports of a decker delivery to Beestons over the past day or two, any ideas what?

I saw one being towed near Beeston's depot yesterday. It’s a N94 Scania Dekka, but I don’t know the reg no. My best guess is that they are replacing the older deckers, but can conform was not a livery of Nottingham City Transport.

 

[F Great Eastern]

I saw one being towed near Beeston's depot yesterday. It’s a N94 Scania Dekka, but I don’t know the reg no. My best guess is that they are replacing the older deckers, but can conform was not a livery of Nottingham City Transport.

Well if we're talking the blue Omnidekkas to standard bus spec by my reckoning they have YN55NDY, MX06LDN and YN55NJZ left. The white ones to hybrid spec with seatbelts they have NSV 371, NSV 372 (both from 2004), 523 FN (2003), 524 FN (2004) and 526 FN (2005).

If it's an N94 Scania that makes it from 2006 at the very least unless it was a N2x0UD series, so it's not going to do much for the age of the fleet, especially if it ends up replacing ex Nottingham BUS 91C or BUS 91D from 2010.

Update - 1st June
Beestons have had another Enviro 400 MMC delivered YX23 OSM.

In other news open topper YN55 NKZ is supposed to be registered BUS 91R and has been converted to single door.

Still no identification on the other decker that Beestons have acquired mind.

 

[Kartenga]

Another Ex-Cardiff Bus at Beestons.

Vehicle Details | buslists.uk

buslists.uk

CN57 BJO
Model: Scania OmniCity (s/d)

Operator: Beestons

Fleet number:

Depot: Hadleigh

Status: Active - passenger use

Original registration: CN57 BJO

 

[F Great Eastern]

Both the 2022 and 2023 Enviro 400 MMCs were out on the 91 for Beestons yesterday and the two new Evoras are out on it today.

 

[The shadow]

They never had CN57 BJK only BJO

 

[F Great Eastern]

Someone must have made an error then - do we know if anything else has left the fleet following the recent influx?

 

[Bedford OB]

Both the 2022 and 2023 Enviro 400 MMCs were out on the 91 for Beestons yesterday and the two new Evoras are out on it today.

Suffolk County Council have published the proposed new timetable for the 91 from 24 July with the Saturday service withdrawn beyond Hadleigh.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Suffolk County Council have published the proposed new timetable for the 91 from 24 July with the Saturday service withdrawn beyond Hadleigh.

Not a huge surprise, students in the week aside, the Sudbury to Hadleigh leg was carrying very low numbers and most of whom were travelling were free pass holders. Cutting the route in half and the new timetable would allow the full timetable to be done with a single bus rather than two.

It's clear that a fair number of services in East Anglia, especially some of the more rural ones, are basically propped up by student travel, you have to wonder what would ever happen to these routes should any of the schools, sixth forms or colleges involved go down the route of procuring their own closed door services as it would take revenue away from the stage carriage services which might make them unviable.

 

[Silenos]

Most of East Anglia, including the most of Norfolk, would love those reduced frequencies instead of a 6.30pm last service. Even a get-home run in the hour or two after cinemas and theatres kick out would help.

A very good point. I would be happy to ‘eat out to help out’ in either of our nearby towns but with a last bus getting back to my village at 18:00 it has to be lunch or nothing. And I’m well aware that’s a good service - some villages have 1 or 2 buses a week.

I will say though that Lynx do seem to be upgrading service frequencies where they can - the 49/49A between Lynn and Fakenham, which I use regularly, has just become hourly for a fair portion of the day, though it retains an irritating gap between 14:00 and 16:45

 

[buslad1988]

Sanders have three new tri-axle Volvo/MCV double deckers - first of this combination?; and with glass staircase too.

See article from their website - https://sanderscoaches.com/news/more-brand-new-buses-hitting-the-roads-of-north-norfolk-this-week

Nice to see plenty of investment from an independent operator!

Does anyone know how Border Bus are doing in competition with First on the Saxmundham to Aldeburgh corridor?

 

[MotCO]

Sanders have three new tri-axle Volvo/MCV double deckers - first of this combination?; and with glass staircase too.

See article from their website - https://sanderscoaches.com/news/more-brand-new-buses-hitting-the-roads-of-north-norfolk-this-week

Nice to see plenty of investment from an independent operator!

Does anyone know how Border Bus are doing in competition with First on the Saxmundham to Aldeburgh corridor?

That is some investment!

 

[F Great Eastern]

So Eastern Colleges (never heard of them but appears to be a merger of West Suffolk College, Suffolk One and Abbeygate College) is going down the Kura closed door school bus route from September with up to 10 dedicated routes for students only to travel on.

https://ridekura.com/ecg-bus-routes/

This is going to take a fair amount of revenue and business out of the bus network in Ipswich and Bury which surely is going to result in service cuts to the open door services that serve the same area, especially in the more rural locations where students and concessionary passes make up a large chunk of the passengers.

No doubt Suffolk County Council will do absolutely nothing in terms of safeguarding the public bus services in the areas affected.

 

[rick_suffolk]

Sanders have three new tri-axle Volvo/MCV double deckers - first of this combination?; and with glass staircase too.

See article from their website - https://sanderscoaches.com/news/more-brand-new-buses-hitting-the-roads-of-north-norfolk-this-week

Nice to see plenty of investment from an independent operator!

Does anyone know how Border Bus are doing in competition with First on the Saxmundham to Aldeburgh corridor?

Apparently Beestons have 2 similar tri axles on order due next spring per Sanders Bus and Coach page on Facebook, quoted from Tom Hinson from Beestons

 

[F Great Eastern]

Apparently Beestons have 2 similar tri axles on order due next spring per Sanders Bus and Coach page on Facebook, quoted from Tom Hinson from Beestons

Be interesting to see what they do with them. Surely those blue 2005/2006 Omnidekkas on the 91 can't last much longer. They've been real reliable workhorses but they're due a well deserved retirement.

 

[NorwichRailFan]

Sanders have three new tri-axle Volvo/MCV double deckers - first of this combination?; and with glass staircase too.

See article from their website - https://sanderscoaches.com/news/more-brand-new-buses-hitting-the-roads-of-north-norfolk-this-week

Nice to see plenty of investment from an independent operator!

Does anyone know how Border Bus are doing in competition with First on the Saxmundham to Aldeburgh corridor?

Honestly brilliant, Up until about 2 years ago Sanders were my least favorite operator. Buses falling apart and rude drivers. But in the last few years they have been investing in a new fleet and I find a majority of my journeys use newer buses now rather then their old fleet which mainly appears to have been relegated to village shopper services and school runs. Sanders coaches have neglected their spot as North Norfolk's dominent operator for years and it is brilliant that they are becoming a reliable and trustworthy company.

On the Borderbus front I feel they must be doing ok as they keep improving frequencies. It is strange as I wouldn't have thought there was a hude demand on that route.

 

[buslad1988]

This is going to take a fair amount of revenue and business out of the bus network in Ipswich and Bury which surely is going to result in service cuts to the open door services that serve the same area, especially in the more rural locations where students and concessionary passes make up a large chunk of the passengers.

I’m sure Suffolk One already has a number of closed contracts to places like Stowmarket and Felixstowe that First operate.

Ipswich Buses town services and Firsts Park & Ride would probably still continue to provide the bulk of movement to the town/rail station anyway.

It’ll be if they introduce additional closed contracts that might cause problems; Shotley or Hadleigh for example. Although with a major housing developments in the new future there could be scope for improvements on these corridors.

I believe Ipswich Buses new Managing Director has now started so maybe we’ll see some changes and improvements there later this year.

 

[F Great Eastern]

The routes for Suffolk One
SO1 - Stowmarket / Great Blakenham / Needham Market
SO2 - Felixstowe - Trimley St Martin
SO3 - Stowupland / Claydon / Bramford
SO4 - Colchester
SO5 - Harwich / Brantham Holbrook
SO6 - Leiston / Saxmundham / Melton / Woodbridge / Martlesham
SO7 - Sudbury / Boxford / Newton Green.

I think that the SO7 will be the final nail in the coffin for the Sudbury to Hadleigh section of the 91. There's no way it can survive without student. It's already being cancelled at the weekend from July and the loss of students will finish it off.

If the Sudbury route services Hadleigh too, then questions about the overall viability of the 91 and if it can continue without subsidy will have to be asked.

 

[buslad1988]

The routes for Suffolk One
SO1 - Stowmarket / Great Blakenham / Needham Market
SO2 - Felixstowe - Trimley St Martin
SO3 - Stowupland / Claydon / Bramford
SO4 - Colchester
SO5 - Harwich / Brantham Holbrook
SO6 - Leiston / Saxmundham / Melton / Woodbridge / Martlesham
SO7 - Sudbury / Boxford / Newton Green.

I think that the SO7 will be the final nail in the coffin for the Sudbury to Hadleigh section of the 91. There's no way it can survive without student. It's already being cancelled at the weekend from July and the loss of students will finish it off.

If the Sudbury route services Hadleigh too, then questions about the overall viability of the 91 and if it can continue without subsidy will have to be asked.

Do we know if they’re looking for one operator to supply the lot or on a route per route basis? Could prove quite lucrative for whoever is successful.

There will of course be dead mileage involved in these routes so maybe an operator could build a service timetable around them.

 

[markymark2000]

Do we know if they’re looking for one operator to supply the lot or on a route per route basis? Could prove quite lucrative for whoever is successful.

Kura will just sub contract it to whoever is cheapest for each trip.

There will of course be dead mileage involved in these routes so maybe an operator could build a service timetable around them.

Kura tend to work with coach firms rather than bus firms and so often they won't build a timetable around it. Sadly stupid short sighted desicisons like working with Kura mean the whole county suffers a poorer bus network. Colleges only think about themselves and don't think about the wider consequences of their actions.

 

[buslad1988]

Kura tend to work with coach firms rather than bus firms and so often they won't build a timetable around it. Sadly stupid short sighted desicisons like working with Kura mean the whole county suffers a poorer bus network. Colleges only think about themselves and don't think about the wider consequences of their actions.

I’d imagine coach firms will be ruled out for many (if not all) of these contracts due to capacity so they’d need double deckers. So the likes of Beestons could benefit - although if it is purely on price First would be very competitive on that. Interesting.

 

[F Great Eastern]

I’d imagine coach firms will be ruled out for many (if not all) of these contracts due to capacity so they’d need double deckers. So the likes of Beestons could benefit - although if it is purely on price First would be very competitive on that. Interesting.

The requirements that Kura sets in terms of operators make it harder for smaller ones to win the contracts since the level of infrastructure, staffing and the amount of boxes that an operator must tick makes it more difficult for the smaller operator where staff may do more than one role whereas larger companies can spread such costs over the wider company with dedicated staff.

For example I heard when they tendered for another contract elsewhere in the country, they wanted a publicly accessible lost property division, a dedicated help desk / back office provision with dedicated staff, £12m of public liability insurance, high level disaster recovery policies and they had a fairly sharp focus on newer vehicles as well. Some of these things are easier for a larger company with bigger infrastructure and publicly accessible Town based facilities to meet than the smaller operator.

Also I'm not sure the contracts are so favourable for operators anyway. Kura apparently train the drivers to their own operating proceses rather than the companies and there was even talk on the Ipswich school contract that prior to drivers starting they had to do route practice laps and be monitored by Kura who would approve if they drove the route right. They also need to install infrastructure on the bus to support the Kura app and whilst the operator will be held liable for delays etc, if students damage the vehicle Kura or the school cannot be held liable under any circumstance. It does make the contracts seem a bit one sided and I'm not too sure many independent operators would like being told how to run a bus service by a technology company that has never run bus services itself.

 

[buslad1988]

The requirements that Kura sets in terms of operators make it harder for smaller ones to win the contracts since the level of infrastructure, staffing and the amount of boxes that an operator must tick makes it more difficult for the smaller operator where staff may do more than one role whereas larger companies can spread such costs over the wider company with dedicated staff.

For example I heard when they tendered for another contract elsewhere in the country, they wanted a publicly accessible lost property division, a dedicated help desk / back office provision with dedicated staff, £12m of public liability insurance, high level disaster recovery policies and they had a fairly sharp focus on newer vehicles as well. Some of these things are easier for a larger company with bigger infrastructure and publicly accessible Town based facilities to meet than the smaller operator.

Also I'm not sure the contracts are so favourable for operators anyway. Kura apparently train the drivers to their own operating proceses rather than the companies and there was even talk on the Ipswich school contract that prior to drivers starting they had to do route practice laps and be monitored by Kura who would approve if they drove the route right. They also need to install infrastructure on the bus to support the Kura app and whilst the operator will be held liable for delays etc, if students damage the vehicle Kura or the school cannot be held liable under any circumstance. It does make the contracts seem a bit one sided and I'm not too sure many independent operators would like being told how to run a bus service by a technology company that has never run bus services itself.

Wow. Thanks for that fascinating insight! It does indeed sound very one sided and unfavourable to any operator tbh! So realistically speaking then of those requirements you’ve stated only First are in a position locally to offer that? And that’s IF they were prepared to get involved in of those stipulations you stated.

Ipswich Buses has a fairly mid life decker fleet (newest being 12 years old). First do have the new streetdecks with added wifi, USB’s etc - although that could potentially tie a lot of them up in the peaks doing these contracts.

With the unpredictable (and more frequent) nature of traffic issues on the A12/A14 and Orwell Bridge delays are inevitable; and to a degree expected on an almost daily basis. Especially when all the contracts are using those roads travelling to/from surrounding towns and villages.