‘Scene’ in Aberdeen on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Another post featuring buses in Scotland but not on this occasion from friend Peter Rose but from my eldest son Andrew.

 

Posted with his permission and my thanks.

 

SV22 VXK ‘First Aberdeen’ No. 39723, H2 Powered by Hydrogen, Zero Emissions, First 17&18.

Wright Streetdeck FCEV Hydroliner

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Something of a coup for Andrew with this being the first Hydrogen powered bus to make it into my blog.

 

 

 

 

SN09 CBO ‘First Aberdeen’ No. 38205.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. Trident Enviro500 / Alexander Dennis Ltd.

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Another coup for Andrew with the first Trident/Enviro500 to make it into my blog.

 

New to ‘First Glasgow’ who took a batch of 25.

 

Other Enviro500 bodies went to the USA, Canada and the far east but the only other European purchaser that I know of was ‘Dublin Bus’ who bought them on Volvo B9TL chassis.

 

 

 

 

BG58 OME ‘First Aberdeen’ No. 11110.

Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

Aberdeen is known as the ‘Granite City’ and the buildings behind the bus seem to underline that.

 

New to ‘First York’ where I photographed it some years ago.

 

 

 

 

YX65 ZKL ‘Stagecoach Bluebird’ No. 54251.

Volvo B11RT / Plaxton Elite-i

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Stagecoach Bluebird Buses’.

 

 

 

‘Scene’ In Innsbruck, Austria on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Many of us are now in a state of lockdown because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

I, like many more find it all very boring so I am trying to lift my (and hopefully your) boredom a little by posting a few extra blogs that are a bit different from my norm.

 

In 2019 my wife and I had a holiday in Austria which took in parts of Germany and Italy.

 

The blogs were produced mainly for my own amusement but I have decided to  ‘give them a go’ in the public domain to see how they do.

 

 

This current ‘lockdown’ finishes in early December so between now and then, I am going to post 2 or 3 images per day.

 

I have never done this before for so long, fingers crossed here goes.

 

 

This lively city is the capital of the Austrian region of Tirol.

 

Magnificent scenery with plenty of transport interest.

 

I 418 IVB ‘VVT Innsbruck’No. 418. Mercedes-Benz Citaro Articulated

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

I 260 IVB ‘VVT regio bus’. MAN Lion’s City Articulated

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

I 630 IVB ‘VVT Innsbruck’No. 627. ‘From peak to peak take the J line’ Mercedes-Benz Citaro

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

‘Scene’, PARK & RIDE in York on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The City of York like many other historic locations, whilst welcoming visitors does not want the traffic or the atmospheric pollution that their vehicles bring.

 

The answer is the ‘Park & Ride’ sites on the outskirts of the City.

 

YJ20 AXD ‘First York’ No. 39507 ‘YORK PARK & RIDE’. Optare Metrodecker MD1114EV /1

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

And some all electric buses that reduce the pollution further.

 

Note the use of 2 doors.

 

 

 

 

YJ20 AXD ‘First York’ No. 39507 ‘YORK PARK & RIDE’. Optare Metrodecker MD1114EV /2

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Pictured in front of part of the city wall.

 

 

 

 

YJ20 AXB ‘First York’ No. 39504 ‘YORK PARK & RIDE’. Optare Metrodecker MD1114EV

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

BG58 OLR ‘First York’ No. 11101 ‘YORK PARK & RIDE’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro Articulated

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

YJ15 AYK ‘First York’ No. 49908 ‘YORK PARK & RIDE’. Optare Versa V1110EV

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Another electric bus you will note.

‘Scene’ at the ‘East Midlands Airport’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

At airports, the interest is mainly with the aircraft that pass through it. However for every flight there has to be substantial back up by surface transport.

 

Which to you and me means buses and sometimes trains.

 

The airport has its own transport network provided under contract by ‘ARRIVA’ whose dedicated buses serve the different parts of the airport and the many carparks on it.

 

‘trentbarton’ and ‘Kinchbus’ (both members of the ‘Wellglade’ group) provide links branded as ‘skylink’ to Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.

 

‘trentbarton’ also works in from Ilkeston with its ‘my15’ service.

 

‘Robert’s of Hugglescote, Leicestershire provide a service to Coalville to where the Nottingham ‘skylink’ sevice is extended on an hourly basis.

 

 

BX04 MXN ‘ARRIVA Midlands No. 5007 ‘east midlands airport’. Mercedes-Benz Articulated Citaro

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

New to ‘ARRIVA London North’ as No. MA15.

 

The airport’s distinctive control tower appears in the distance.

 

Similar bus BX04 NDU was parked up nearby.

 

 

 

 

YX17 NLA ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3101 ‘east midlands airport’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

Similar buses YX17 NLD/E were also in service.

 

 

 

 

YX67 VEY ‘trentbarton’ No. 122 ‘skylink’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

FN54 AEZ‘trentbarton’ No. 662 ‘skylink’. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

YJ11 ENM ‘trentbarton’ No. 807 ‘my15’. Optare Versa V1110

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

FJ55 AAO ‘trentbarton’ No. 674 ‘spare bus livery’. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

‘Scene’ in Amsterdam. Continental Registered Vehicles. on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

A short break staying in Eindhoven included time to see something of the Dutch transport ‘scene’.

 

We found the Dutch people very wellcoming, very helpful and the vast majority speak good English.

 

The principal transport operator, wholly owned by the City of Amsterdam is

‘Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf’ (GVB) who operate on rail, road and water.

 

 

BX-VZ-20 ‘GVB’ No. 364. Mercedes-Benz Citaro Articulated

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

Tram No. 2022 ‘GVB’. Siemens Combino 13G/C1

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

The ornate building in the background is Amsterdam Zentraal railway station.

 

 

 

BT-NN-48 ‘Connexxion’ No. 3916. MAN A78 Lion City

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New in 2007.

 

 

 

BV-XD-26 ‘CitySightseeing Amsterdam’, ‘Bakker’, No. 129. Volvo B9TL / Unvi Urbis 2.5DD

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

It looks like a normal double deck bus but it is a convertible open topper only the first bay has a fixed roof.

 

 

 

OO-BFZ-3 ‘Flixbus/Meinfernbus’. Van Hool TDX 27 Astromega’

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

‘Flixbus/Meinfernbus’ are the German equivalent to Britains ‘National Express’.

 

 

 

72-BJK-5 ‘Brouwer’s Tours’, Nordwijk, Holland No. 206. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo x 6

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

BZ-BL-88 ‘Munckhof’, Amsterdam. No. 212. VDL / Berkhof

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Interestingly, this coach carries ‘Volvo’ branding behind the door which probably dates from the time that Volvo marketed the VDL SB120 because at that time, Volvo had nothing in its own range that fitted the bill.

 

 

 

BZ-FX-42 ‘Doelen Coach Service’, Rozenberg, Holland. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo x 6

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

BZ-TR-10 ‘Meering Touring Cars’, Duivendrecht, Holland. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo x 4

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 5AF 0393 ‘Planet Line’, Prague, Czech Republic. Mercedes-Benz Travego

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

DR-340LJ ‘Riccio Bus’, Alvignano, Italy. Irisbus Domino

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

‘Scene’ in Brighton. ‘Brighton & Hove’ (B&H) on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

For an earlier Brighton blog please see blog published May 10th. 2017.

 

A substantial part of the ‘B&H’ fleet is made up of Volvo B9TL and B5LH chassis fitted with dual purpose seated Wright Gemini Eclipse bodies.

 

 

BJ11 XHO ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 413 ’49’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

This carries the latest form of ‘B&H’s route branding where the blue identifying the route around the destination blind is reinforced with the same colour appearing in a ‘swirl’ on the bus sides.

 

 

 

BJ11 XHG ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 407 ’49’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

BK13 OAJ ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 465 ‘5’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

BX15 ONF ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 929 ’12 Coaster’. Mercedes-Benz / Wright Streetdeck

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

BF12 KXC ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 428 ‘Regency’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

One of 15 buses branded for the service linking Brighton to Tunbridge Wells.

 

 

 

BJ11 XHW ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 420 ‘HOP ON’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

BF12 KXS ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 439 ‘PRIDE’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

YN05 GZP ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 653.  Scania N94UD / East Lancs OmniDekka

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

YN57 FYC ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 675. Scania N270UD / East Lancs OmniDekka

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

YP09 HWG ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 720 ‘2’. Scania Omnicity N270UD / Scania

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

YN06 NYK ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 919 ‘City Sightseeing Brighton’. Scania N94UD / East Lancs OmniDekka

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

YN55 NFD ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 665 ‘Albion in the Community’. Scania N94UD / East Lancs Omnidekka

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

BL57 OXP ‘Brighton & Hove’ No. 126 ’25’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro Articulated

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New to ‘London General’ as its MAL 108.

 

‘Scene’ in and around Norwich Bus Station

Whilst on holiday on the North Norfolk Coast, the lure of the county town Norwich could not be ignored.

 

As we arrived by bus in the bus station, that seems a good place to start.

 

YJ56 ATX

 

An Optare Tempo of ‘Norfolk Green’ (NG).

 

At one time ‘NG’ was an independent operator but as of December 2013 it became part of the ‘Stagecoach’ group as ‘Stagecoach in Norfolk’.

 

YN57 HPU

A Optare Solo of ‘Anglian Bus Ltd’ (ABL).

 

YX63 LJV

 

Passing by the entrance to the bus station was this Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400 of ‘First Eastern Counties’ (FEC).

 

Seen operating on part of service X1 that at its longest links Lowestoft with Peterborough which according to Google maps is over 100 miles!

 

SN10 CFD

 

An ‘ADL’ Enviro 400 of ‘konectbus’ (kb) working on the Park & Ride (P&R) service from Harford.

 

‘kb is another one time independent who have joined a larger group. In their case the ‘Go Ahead’ group.

 

BL57 OXN

 

A Mercedes-Benz 0305G articulated Citaro. Another ‘kb’ bus working a ‘P&R’ service. This time from Costessey.

 

At one time it was part of the ‘London General’ fleet that was banished from the capital by London Lord Mayor Boris Johnson.

 

 

YN06 JWC

 

A Scania N94UD Omnidekka with East Lancs bodywork. 

 

Seen the livery of another independent operator ‘Sanders of Holt’ (at least at the time of writing they still were).

 

Formerly in the fleet of ‘Reading Transport’.

 

 

SN62 AVY

 

An ADL’ Enviro 400 again of ‘kb’. Working on service 6 from Watton.

 

 

W219 PRB

 

An Optare Excel once more working for ‘kb’. 

 

It has an East Midlands connection having formerly been a member of the ‘trentbarton’ fleet.

 

 

WX62 HHF

 

An unusual MAN Ecocity gas powered bus in ‘ABL’s fleet. The bodywork is by Caetano.

 

Working  service 7 from Great Yarmouth.

 

 

SN60 CAA

 

An ‘ADL’ Enviro 400 of ‘FEC’ being based in Great Yarmouth.

 

Working on service X1 from that town.

 

 

PN03 UMH

 

A Dennis Trident with Plaxton President bodywork working for ‘Norse’.

 

Formerly part of the ‘Go- Ahead London General’ fleet.

 

 

GX10 HBY

 

An ‘ADL’ Enviro 300 of ‘NG’.

 

Part of the deal when ‘Stagecoach’ took over ‘NG’ was to retain the ‘NG’ livery for a period of time (which I think was up to two years).

 

This bus shows the ‘NG’ colours but painted in what I would call ‘Stagecoach’ style which I think is very attractive.

 

 

YJ03 UML

 

A rare Optare Spectra. Seen working for ‘NG’. 

 

Based on DAF SB250 running units it was previously part of the ‘Reading Transport fleet’.

 

This was Optare’s first attempt at a double decker and at the time of writing, its most successful.