TWO MORE VOLVO B7RLES FOR FIRST IN IPSWICH

TWO MORE VOLVO B7RLES FOR FIRST IN IPSWICH

69426 AU58 FFN edging its way through the roadworks in Crown Street, Ipswich

First Ipswich's 2 latest arrivals ex Transdev Blackburn via Ensign Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse PL05 UBR/S

Two ex Transdev Blackburn(Lancashire) Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse have turned up at Ipswich depot in the form of PL05 UBR/S, no fleet numbers yet, seemingly replacements for either 65542/47 or 65550 but not confirmed and only speculation at this time on my part both were stored at Dagenham and came via Ensign. This is part of an ongoing restructuring program which will see Ipswich depot being upgraded with newer buses over the next few months, with the vast majority of the Scania L113/L94UB's being withdrawn, out of interest 65528/29/32/40/88-90/65628/30-32,61528/33/38. It has also been confirmed that First East England and Midlands group will now be split back into two operating companies with two managing directors. Not reported elsewhere is that Volvo B7TL/ALX 400 30887 is now an Ipswich bus and will not be returning to Great Yarmouth as originally planned.

TOWER RAMPARTS BUS STATION WORK BEGINS

TOWER RAMPARTS WORK BEGINS!

IB DAF/East Lancs Lowlander 58 PJ53 OLA trying to turn left from the Crown Street Lay by on Tuesday morning.

Work has began rebuilding Tower Ramparts Bus station on Monday, with temporary bus stops positioned around Crown Street, with other stops located outside Christchurch Park and Wolsey Theatre, staff were on hand from Ipswich Buses and Suffolk County council to aid people to their respective shops. Monday was a disastrous day for many particularly as work has began on Norwich Road with Traffic lights not in tune with the volume of traffic, this has been changed to being operated by human hand, avoiding the 1 hour journey time from Whitton and Castle Hill, which interestingly had it's stop moved from outside the Cricketers pub to the Crown Street lay by, which is also now overcrowded.

CHANGES TO SERVICE 6 AND THE BROKE HALL AREA IN THE NEW YEAR?

IB's ex Stagecoach London Dart 141 Y273 FJN  on the 4 to Bixley and Broke Hall at the temporary stop in Crown Street.

A petition has been handed in to IB's managing Director Malcolm Robson this week after complaints that service 6 which served Sainsburys and Ravenswood was rerouted to serve Lindbergh Road instead, residents now can longer visit Sainsburys for shopping or visit Ravenswood surgery, IB have said that they have received loads of complaints about services around the Broke Hall area and are now in discussions with local councillors about improvements to services in the New Year.

TOWER RAMPARTS TO CLOSE ON SEPTEMBER 2ND

Cooperative Supermarket Advertising 69432 a Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse  AU58 FFV changing over from 70's Warren Heath to 60 Gainsborough.

Contrary to what has been said previously both bus stations will be shut over the next month to allow for work to be completed by the end of November in time for Christmas shopping. Suffolk County Council have asked the contractors Skansa to speed up the work by working extra shifts, with hopefully Tower Ramparts being completed by the middle of November. Work at the bus station will include enlarged bays, new shelters, paving and improved lighting. Real time information will also be installed in both bus stations, however they will not be switched on until January 2014. Bus station stand relocations are available at www.suffolkonboard.com and will based along Crown Street and Crown Street lay by currently used by visiting coaches.

Ipswich Buses Dennis Lance 162 L162 ADX unusually seen at Tower Ramparts in school holiday time now approaching it's 20th Birthday.

FURTHER TIMETABLE CHANGES FOR FIRST IPSWICH IN SEPTEMBER

FURTHER TIMETABLE CHANGES DURING SEPTEMBER FOR FIRST IN IPSWICH

69432 AU58 FFV a former Park and Ride Volvo B7RLE back on Park and Ride substituting for 69429 which was being road tested at lunchtime.

Firstly to correct my last blog, is that Ipswich Buses service 17 to Ipswich Hospital finishes this Friday and not last Friday. First Ipswich have announced further changes from the 1st September, service 63 a schooldays only service from Ipswich to Framlingham High School is now a tendered service and is renumbered 963 and runs in the morning from Woodbridge not Ipswich while the afternoon will return from Framlingham to Martlesham only. A new service is the 68 which will have 3 off peak journeys from Ipswich to Kesgrave  and return Monday to Saturday.  The 64/65 Ipswich to Saxmundham/Aldeburgh will now extend to Ipswich Railway Station at peak times, while the 64/A Ipswich to Saxmundham/Aldeburghwill have some minor adjustments to the timetable. The 65 to Aldeburgh will now go via Melton Road off peak and Bredfield Road peak times. Ipswich town service X70 will be incorporated into the 70 to Sainsburys with the route adjusted to serve Dereham Avenue, Medway Road and Futura Park in competition with IB's service 6. Below is a picture of the work currently going on at Tower Ramparts i am lead to believe it will close completely on the 1st of September, so for 3 weeks both bus stations will be shut well done Ipswich Borough Council!

BUS WARS YEAR ONE

BUS WARS YEAR ONE

IB Optare Solo 241 YN04 LMK on the new 19A short journey to Dales Road.

66850 Volvo B7RLE MXO5 CHD one of the five B7RLE'S bought in for the new town services in late July 2012, seen on the 61 to Greenwich on Monday.

It's just over a year since First Ipswich went up against Ipswich Buses on selected town routes, so what's happened since then well, Ipswich Buses have axed the 6A to Gainsborough and the 17 to Ipswich Hospital which will finish on Friday, while First announced recently that from the 1st September the 88 from Stowmarket will no longer extend to the Hospital via Spring Road, leaving the people once again with no service along a main road. In terms of the other routes the 55/56 to Broke Hall/Bixley remains a waste of time, partly due to Ipswich Buses restarting the 4 to Bixley also the adult fare is cheaper at £1.40, why create two routes which previously covered one, and the annoying thing for me is the lack of timekeeping with the First drivers generally unable to keep to the timetable, with early departures in the main partly admittedly due to the generous time allowed to get round Broke Hall estate. Service 70 which was brought into compete with IB on the 3 to Sainsburys stills seems sparsely used, again cheaper fares. With First losing the Park and Ride what's next  will they compete on other IB routes, we will keep our eyes open.

BOTH IPSWICH BUS STATIONS NOW BEING REBUILT

BOTH IPSWICH BUS STATIONS NOW BEING BUILT AT SAME TIME

58 YJ60 KGY Scania/Optare Olympus outside the Cricketers Pub stop the temporary home for the 9/10 Whitton/Castle Hill stop during the rebuilding of Tower Ramparts.

Work on the rebuilding of Tower Ramparts Bus Station which was due to start in mid May has now started on the paved area between the bus station and the Electric House now occupied by Haart estate agents, however with delays on the rebuilding of the Old Cattle Market Bus Station now almost three months late due to delays with Falcon Street and Silent Street and the deeper underground utilities in the bus station, the council has decided to start work on Tower Ramparts to cause less disruption prior to Christmas. During the rebuilding of Tower Ramparts the 9/10 Whitton/Castle Hill stop has moved outside the Cricketers Pub.

IB Dart/East Lanc Spryte 90 X901 LBJ now regularly found on the 13 to Pinewood Tesco route due to the interworking of the 8 Whitehouse route.

 

IB PROMOTION AND BEESTONS NEW 39 SERVICE

Optare Solo KX54 NLD on new service 39 to Rushmere Road operated by Beestons.

IB have just launched a new Summer Smiles ticket which sees one Adult and one Child travel on one journey for £2, promotion will last for the duration of the summer holidays. Service 39 operated by Beestons started last Monday with the use of a hired in Optare Solo KX54 NLD, loadings seem to be pretty high, although from the times i have seen it have been operating behind schedule, complaints however have been made in the Ipswich Star that certain sections of the 2 previous routes the 22/31 have not been included in the new one including the connection to Ipswich Hospital. As a result of recent changes which saw Carters no longer operating routes 30/31 has seen a few changes to the fleet including the sale of Dennis Dart MPD SN51 SXU, Dart/Marshall LT02 ZDO and Dennis Dart/EL Spryte P455 DCW to Ensign while Plaxton Primo BU08 ACV has also been withdrawn, which was often the spare bus for these routes, Carters now have only a fleet of 10 buses, 9 Double deck of which 6 are Dennis Tridents/ALX 400's, 3 Volvo Olympians and just the 1 single decker an MCV Evolution.

32494 AU53 HKM a Transbus/ALX 400 Trident looking rather smart in the sun in Great Colman Street in Ipswich