MORE SERVICES TO BE AXED

66981 Volvo B7RLE KXO5 MHK a new arrival from First Midlands the only one of the batch in Ipswich the rest are at First Essex in Colchester.

Volvo B7TL 30887 W742 DWX on loan from Great Yarmouth, waiting at the Great Colman Street temporary terminus whilst the Old Cattle Market is closed, about to take up a 75 to Felixstowe.

Recent news concerns two more operators services to be cut next month both who undercut First Group either on the whole route or part of the route, to be axed at the end of  June is the X14 Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds by Stephensons  the 164 Ipswich to Saxmundham and the 165 Ipswich to Rendlesham by Anglian, particularly a shame considering that Anglian were operating much more superior fare than First. Missed from the last blog is the first withdrawal of one of Ipswich Buses last three East Lancs Olympians in the form of 42 M42 EPV with engine failure. In First fleet news is the return of 32494 to Ipswich after it was partially de-roofed at Ipswich Hospital last year, the driver was charged with dangerous driving and is the first B7TL in Ipswich in the new livery. One more Scania in 65543 P543 RNG is presumed withdrawn.

ALL CHANGE!

OLD CATTLE MARKET TO CLOSE FOR 3 MONTHS 

Carters Dart MPD SN51 SXU and Galloways Optare Solo YJ55 YGK at the OCM on layover.

From Monday May 6th, the Old Cattle Market bus station will close for three months for refurbishment for more information about the progress go to the Travel Ipswich website, whilst Falcon Street and Dogs Head Street will reopen for traffic with all town services reverting to their normal routes.

Services departing from Great Colman Street: First: 63/64/A/75, IB 73A/914, From Upper Brook Street PF Travel 71,Beestons 72,Anglian 164/5, Galloways 115/6/8/9 and Simmonds 113/4, From Upper Brook Street/Friars Street, First 66/7, from Queen Street stop 1, IB 98/202, stop 2, HCT 90, Beestons/Carters 91, From Princes Street stop 1, Carters 30/A,92/3/96/A, Stop 2, Galloway 87, First 88/A, Beestons 111, Stop 3, Stephensons X14,Galloway 110,HCT 120, Fareline 121, Beestons 179. Services 76/77 and IB/Beeston 163 will go from Tacket Street.

MORE INS AND OUTS FROM FIRST IN IPSWICH

Another golden oldie to join the rest of the Scanias is 65628 V828 FSC from First Essex at Basildon.

INS

65628 V828 FSC Scania L94UB/Wright Axcess Floline N43F From First Essex, Basildon

66981 KX 05 MHK Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Urban N43F From First Midlands, Worcester

OUTS

42431 P431 ORL Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer B35F

43488 R688 DPW Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 B37F

65546  P546 RNG Scania L113CRL/Wright Axcess Ultralow B47F

34157 P657 UFB Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine 2 B47/29F

IB AND FIRST ROUTE AND TIMETABLE CHANGES

IB AND FIRST ROUTE AND TIMETABLE CHANGES

IB Trident 20 Y436 NHK seen outside Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre whilst using the X3 stop during the Falcon Street closure which reopens on the 6th May.

The main news which i didn't quite cover last time is the abandonment of First route 63 to Framlingham, which apart from schoolday services leaves Framlingham with no service and unless some other operator will step in, the 64 as mentioned in the last blog will be separated at Saxmundham  with the 64A covering the section to Aldeburgh, the current 64A will become the 64B, while the 65 to Rendlesham will be extended to Aldeburgh via Snape, one other loser will be Wickham Market which will see a significant cuts in it's current times. IB changes are that route 8/8B will be simplified into one route with revision to the current directions and a revised timetable, it will also no longer serve the Railway Station. One other route to be lost is Beeston's 103 Stanton to Ipswich from the 4th May. As Mentioned on the caption is the reopening of Falcon Street in Ipswich on the 6th May meaning all local bus routes will go back to using the circuit round the Town Centre, and incoming country routes with the closure of the Old Cattle Market on the same day will now terminate in either Upper Brook Street or Great Colman street more on this in the next blog.

SCANIA WITHDRAWALS AND ROUTE CHANGES 

Scania/Wright Axcess Ultralow 65546 on the 70 to Sainsbury's Warren Heath on Monday whose time is nearly up.

News that i clearly omitted on the last blog i have added today, is the withdrawal of 3 Scanias  65531 R151 GSF whose time at Ipswich has been often frequented by time in the depot was withdrawn along with 65541 P541 RNG and sister 65544 P544 RNG as the early Scanias begin to be withdrawn, its worth noting that all Scanias including the L94UB V reg 65588-90 will have to be withdrawn prior to the 2015 DDA requirements, this includes most other companies buses prior to the year 2000.

ROUTE CHANGES

The end of May will see First add a 64A to their routes which will cover part of Anglians 164 between Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, whilst Sundays on the Felixstowe route will start it's Summer timetable with journeys to Landguard Fort.

APRIL CATCH UP

APRIL CATCH UP

New Arrival in from Basildon is 65670  SN51 UYC a Scania L94UB/Wright Eclipse Solar which are not been welcomed by passengers and drivers alike.

Due to ongoing problems at home, since my mother has been diagnosed with Dementia, i have had little time to prepare for an update to the blog, as my own health has been knocked about with, so without further ado here we go.

FIRST FLEET UPDATE FOR UPCOMING MONTHS 

While i have been decommissioned so to speak a lot has happened in the last month. The order for the new X1 Enviro 400's has been delayed until September, what will happen in September are as follows though with First Group this could change.

Ipswich

Ipswich will receive from Lowestoft 32651/2/4-6 Volvo B7TL/ALX 400's AU05 MUO/P//W/Y/MVA for the 66  although where that leaves are current ones is unknown.

Lowestoft

Lowestoft will receive Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Geminis currently used on the X1's which will replace i would imagine replace remaining Volvo Olympians.

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth will get around 6 ex Dennis Tridents for the X2's although i am guessing the number here and it could be more or less.

From Basildon with love

New Arrival from Basildon  Scania L94UB/ Wright Axcess Floline 65632 V832 FSC seen on the 60 today.

VEHICLES IN TO IPSWICH FROM BASILDON

65670/6 SN51 UYC/K Scania L94UB/Wrightbus Solar

65630-32 V830-2 FSC Scania L94UB/Wright Axcess Floline

65691/92 YS03 ZKL/M  Scania L94UB/Wrightbus Solar 

 

New arrival 65692 YS03 ZKM a Scania Wrightbus Solar on usually a double deck route 66 today.

SLOW NEWS MONTH

IB Dennis Dart/East Lancs Spryte 98 X98 LBJ on the 8 to Whitehouse Asda last week

Seems to be a very slow month at the moment, the bus war continues into its 8 month and still no one seems to give in, while this in the short term guarantees passengers with a healthy selection of buses to choose from, no doubt in the future months to come it may or may not be a different story,only one other noteworthy piece of news courtesy of the Ipswich Bus Page is the withdrawal of IB Lance 160 J160 LPV which  has knocked up nearly 22 years with IB it has subsequently passed to the Suffolk Bus Preservation Group.

Anglian Scania Omnicity 425 YT11 NVF a regular on the 164 from Saxmundham to Ipswich seen unusually unloading in the bus station.

IPSWICH IN THE NINTIES

One of the original route 66 buses DP75 latterly 46375 M375 YEX outside of what was originally the infamous Blue Coat Boy pub now used as a Fish and Chip Bar, the stop has long disappeared and used to host in the main Bickers country services.

The nineties was probably a good time to follow what began as a Independent Eastern Counties to latter on become a massive group owned First Group company, for some reason by this time i wasn't as interested in Buses as i should have been, as my career took precedence, during the first part of the nineties in came all All Leyland Olympians, National Greenways, Dennis Javelins, plenty of Mercedes Benz mini buses and Dennis Darts while the end was nigh for the Leyland Nationals and the Bristol VR's . From the time First  Group took over Low Floor Buses began to appear the first a batch of ten Scania 541-550 P541-50 RNG for another Super route the 88 while all manner of curio's came in and out Iveco Minibuses from Leicester, Olympians from Glasgow and London, Darts from Leeds and even 2 Leyland Lynx's which didn't last five mins, if anyone out has any memories from this time and would like to add there own please contact me.

One of the ex West Yorkshire by then Yorkshire Rider VR's WWY 122S which saw little action in Ipswich, to be fair they were over 20 years old by this point!