‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 5 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The final part of my ‘yourbus’ saga. 

 

For about 10 years they enlivened the scene here in the East Midlands.

 

Not everyone will miss them, but I will. 

 

 

Towards the end of 2018, a coaching unit using mainly Mercedes-Benz Tourismo’s was set up. 

 

Initially in dealer white but a quite attractive livery was developed. 

 

Unfortunately they always seemed to keep out of my way and these are the only images I captured.

 

BF68 ZFY ‘yourbus’ No. 5103. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

BF68 ZFX ‘yourbus’ No. 5102. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

Pictured in Ripley, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

For completeness sake, I include two service vehicles that came my way.

 

PJ02 RHA ‘yourbus’ ‘driver trainer’. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Pointer

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

 

Pictured at ‘yb’s depot at Heanor.

 

 

 

 

FD61 NFX ‘yourbus’ ‘crew’. Ford KA

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 4 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The next operator to feel ‘yb’s competitive bite was ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ in Derby where ‘yb’ again went head to head with the incumbent operator on several routes including the 20 & 26.

 

Such were the numbers of buses in and out of the bus station that at times it was gridlocked.

 

 

BD64 NCF ‘yourbus’ No. 3110. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

The next type to join the fleet was the Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200.

 

Mainly the standard length but there was a batch of the shorter version for use on the more rural routes.

 

YX57 VGZ ‘yourbus’ No. 1411. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 /1

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

 

Pictured in Ripley, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

YX57 VGZ ‘yourbus’ No. 1411. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 /2

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

 

 

 

 

YY67 USC ‘yourbus’ No. 1451. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

The shorter version pictured in Ripley, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

YY18 THN ‘yourbus’ No. 1802. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200/1

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

 

The earlier version was followed by the newer style of bodywork, the Enviro200MMC.

 Pictured in Derby.

 

 

 

 

YY18 THN ‘yourbus’ No. 1802. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200/2

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

 

Pictured in Derby.

‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 3 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

More tomorrow. 

 

Almost at the same time that the Streetlites arrived a batch of 14 Mercedes-Benz Citaro’s joined the fleet.

 

BF62 JZG ‘yourbus’ No. 3014 ‘y5’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

BF62 JYS ‘yourbus’ No. 3016 ‘citylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro 

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

 

‘yb’ started a ‘citylink’ service from Derby to Nottingham in direct competition on a section of ‘trentbarton’s (tb) long established ‘red arrow’ service.

 

They matched the route and frequency which was 6 buses an hour. They even ran from adjacent stands in Derby Bus Station.

 

At the time, I thought that the low floored Citaro’s would do well against the high floored coaches that ‘tb’ then and still use.

 

It was not to be and eighteen months later the service was withdrawn.

 

‘yb’ also chose to compete directly with ‘tb’ on service H1 running between Derby and Heanor. In a short space of time it went from 3 buses an hour to 8. I doubt if anyone made any money.

 

The service was still running at the time of the shut down.

 

There were further ventures competing with ‘tb’ on sections of routes from Derby to Ripley and Eastwood. Neither of which lasted.

 

 

 

 

BD64 NBO ‘yourbus’ No. 3101. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

A surprise to me at the 2014 ‘Coach & Bus’ show at the NEC was the appearance of the new model Mercedes-Benz Citaro painted in a new livery that to me at least owed a lot to the livery then worn by the ‘Lothian Buses’ fleet in Edinburgh.

 

Nonetheless, it was big improvement over what had gone before.

 

 

 

 

BD64 NBZ ‘yourbus’ No. 3105. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

BF62 JYU ‘yourbus’ No. 3018. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

Gradually, the rest of the fleet gained the new colours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MX62 GVV ‘yourbus’ No. 1204. Wright Streetlite W/F /1

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

MX62 GVV ‘yourbus’ No. 1204. Wright Streetlite W/F /2

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 2 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The first delivery of new buses saw both Wright Streetlite D/F and Wright Streetlite W/F enter service. Six D/F’s and five W/F’s if I remember rightly.

 

Most made it into fleet livery but some stayed in dealer white until returned off lease 5 years later.

 

More tomorrow.

 

MX62 GXE ‘yourbus’ No. 1302. Wright Streetlite D/F

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

 

Pictured in Eastwood, Notts.

 

 

 

 

MX62 GWC ‘yourbus’ No. 1306. Wright Streetlite D/F

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

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

MX62 GVZ ‘yourbus’ No. 1201. Wright Streetlite W/F

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

 

Pictured in Belper, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

MX62 GVL ‘yourbus’ No. 1201. Wright Streetlite W/F

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

 

A couple of the Streetlite W/F’s received branding for routes 110 and 111. The branding was to show the rural nature of the two routes that linked Matlock to Ashbourne.

 

The 111 is a route that my wife and I use regularly on our visits to Carsington Water.

 

There were often only a handful of passengers on the service.

 

Pictured in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

BK10 MFX ‘yourbus’ No. 3601. Volvo B7RLE /Plaxton Centro

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

 

New to ‘Veolia England’ it came to ‘yourbus’ from ‘Premiere’, a Nottingham based operator who ceased operating 2013.

 

They had been using it on a contract for Nottingham University which went to ‘yb’  when ‘Premiere’ folded.

 

When the contract finished, the bus stayed with ‘yb’.

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

This particular blog runs to 26 images and would be far too long to post at one go.

 

This then is the first of several blogs that will be transmitted on successive days telling some of the story of ‘yourbus’ of Heanor, Derbyshire who closed down on October 4th. 2019.

 

This is not the place for looking at what went wrong nor the personalities involved but a look at some of the vehicles that served the company.

 

Always combative having over the years taken on ‘Nottingham City Transport’, ‘trentbarton’ and ‘ARRIVA midlands’ in head to head competition. 

 

Like many more before them, they have passed into history.

 

One personal observation over the years is that ‘yourbus’ (yb) never seemed to attract passengers in large numbers. Many buses running very lightly loaded.

 

My first contact with them was when in 2009 they took over the Ripley/Matlock., (Derbyshire) service No. 141.

 

The first livery was maroon all over with the silhouettes of passengers in silver on the sides.

 

I would add that my sympathies go to all the workforce at ‘yb’ who have lost their jobs. 

 

I wish them well in their search for further employment.

 

More tomorrow.

 

KU52 RYN ‘yourbus’ No. 1007 Branded for Nottingham services 81 & 82. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Pointer

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

 

New to ‘Pete’s Travel’, West Bromwich.

 

Pictured in Matlock bus station.

 

 

 

 

X632 AKW ‘yourbus’ No. 1012. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

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

 

New to ‘Pete’s Travel’, West Bromwich.

 

Pictured in Belper, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

LG02 FFC  ‘yourbus’ No. 1501. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Mini Pointer

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

 

New to ‘London United’ as No. DPK619.

 

Pictured in Nottingham.

 

 

 

 

M526 WHF ‘yourbus’ No. 3003. Volvo B10B / Wright Endurance

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

 

New to ‘Merseyside’ as no. 6526.

 

Pictured in Matlock.

‘Scene’ on ‘The Cambridge Busway’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I should add that on the day I was in Cambridge, after a fairly wet and windy morning all the buses were carrying a degree of ‘weathering’ for which allowance must be made by the viewer.

 

I have travelled on both the Leigh Guided Busway from Manchester (see blog dated 13/05/2016) as well as the Cambridge Busway and can only conclude that at upward of £200 million pounds for each system it seems an incredibly expensive way of moving people from A to B or even C.

 

Why the buses need to be guided when they have a driver who is more than capable of doing so and a concrete track when a normal tarmac road would have sufficed I don’t know.

 

I cannot see any saving over normal operation of a bus route as the driver is still required all the time to drive the unguided bits of the system.

 

However, politics are not my province so I can only hope that the ratepayers who paid for both systems feel that the have got value for money.

 

So to the hardware.

 

YN17 ONA ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 15291 ‘thebusway’. Scania N250UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400MMC

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

 

 

 

 

YN17 ONB ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 15292 ‘thebusway’. Scania N250UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400MMC /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

YN17 ONB ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 15292 ‘thebusway’. Scania N250UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400MMC /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

YN17 ONB ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 15292 ‘thebusway’. Scania N250UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400MMC /3

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

 

 

 

 

YN64 ANP ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 15198 ‘thebusway’. Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

This slightly older bus also put in an appearance on the day.

 

 

 

 

BF65 WKY ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 21309 ‘thebusway’. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 

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

 

 

 

 

BF65 WKZ ‘Stagecoach Cambus’ No. 21310 ‘thebusway’. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 

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

‘Scene’ in Nottingham. Many More Gas Powered Double Deckers on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

‘Nottingham City Transport’ continues to set a cracking pace with the introduction of its fleet of Scania gas powered double deck buses.

 

With more than 100 having been delivered over the last 2 years and more to come. Nottingham will have the World’s largest fleet of buses of this type by the end of 2019.

 

This time its service No. 77 ‘Turquoise Line’ that operates between the City Centre and Strelley which lies to the West of Nottingham.

 

Also services 68/69 ‘Yellow Line’ that runs between the City Centre and Bulwell which lies to the North West.

 

Readers may remember service No 17 ‘Brown Line’ gas buses running also to Bulwell on the more direct route from Nottingham covered in my blog posted 26/04/2019.

 

YN69 DSO ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 519 ‘Turquoise Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /1 

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DSO ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 519 ‘Turquoise Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /2 

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DRV ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 515 ‘Turquoise Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /1

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DRV ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 515 ‘Turquoise Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /2

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DPU ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 509 ‘Yellow Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DOU ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 504 ‘Yellow Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity 

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DOH ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 502 ‘Yellow Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /1 

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

 

 

 

 

YN69 DOH ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 502 ‘Yellow Line’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400CBGCity /2

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

‘Scene’ at ‘Coach & Bus UK19’ Part 13 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

So, we come to the final blog relating too ‘Coach & Bus UK19’.

 

For a show with a reduced level of exhibits it turned out to be one of the most interesting yet.

 

Having taken and edited over 150 photographs and produced 13 blogs in 13 days, I hope you will forgive me if I take a few days off to recover.

 

I have enjoyed producing them and I hope that you have enjoyed viewing and reading them.

 

Whatever I do or wherever I go, the camera will be with me.

 

All being well, I will be back at the NEC next year.

 

After some of the high priced exotica that has been seen on my blog this week, the 

 

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC may seem a bit mundane,

 

However there is nothing mundane about what is surely the  most popular single deck bus currently on sale in the UK. 

 

I might add that I expect it to be so for some time.

 

NK69 FBN ’Go North East’ No.5498. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

NK69 FBN ’Go North East’ No.5498. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

NK69 FBN ’Go North East’ No.5498. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /3

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

NK69 FBN ’Go North East’ No.5498. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /4

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