A SMALL CHAT WITH CHRIS SPEED

First Ipswich Enviro 300 67774 SN62 AXK at Ipswich Dogs Head Street.

Apologies for the lateness of this but due to things being out of my control I have only just got back on the internet. This being the first chance of seeing Mr Speed in a fair while we talked about se
veral things, the main topic being the Park And Ride taken over from Ipswich Buses in July, so far passenger levels have exceed expectation, he did tell me that a further Enviro 300 is due to cover for the current batch as they will be converted to Euro 6 emissions, most routes are gaining passengers especially the Felixstowe routes, which could do with extra Double Deckers however the site at Foundation Street is currently planned to be redeveloped as part of the waterfront scheme, currently Ipswich Depot is unable to take Deckers as it was constructed to only take low height Deckers and the council does want it to be raised any further. Recently First announced that there maybe a threat to other depots in England/Scotland/Wales closing, so for all those out there I can comfortably announce that none in the Norfolk/Suffolk area will be closing.

Finally repainted into the new livery carried by the Optare Versa's is E200 is IB  KX59 GNY.

RURAL VILLAGES TO LOSE BUS ROUTES

Galloway's Optare Solo SR YJ65 EWG one of the buses used on the 113/14 service.

A number of villages in North Suffolk which rely on Suffolk County Council sponsored services will lose there bus from September 4th, Stoke Ash and Thwaite will no longer have a bus while other buses will be cut out on Saturday's currently the two villages use up 14% of it's total subsidy this will affect the 113/14 operated by Galloway's Diss to Ipswich route, other villages will also see fewer stops, the County Council have said they will look again at it's community transport for the places affected by these cuts. The main timetable will cater for the bulk of passengers such as peak times and school times will remain While on Saturday's there will be cuts to off peak services.

14 SCANIA OMNICITY DECKERS FOR IB

With thanks to Justin Wythe at Ipswich Buses I can reveal that 14 Scania Omnicity deckers will replace the current fleet of Dennis Tridents in both the IB/Carter's fleet they will be numbered in the 30 series the first one to arrive is YR61 RPV. Seen here in First days on the White City 207.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55059449@N06/6621658941/in/photolist-eisTPW-b68Jvt-W51Jpf-WdGLXN-fAvTty-VCt5Bw-WbDScj-e9QUsP

 

The Goodbye

This decision will ultimately hurt but it's time for the blog to close down unless any one decides to take it on most people will know I'm in hospital, this will be for some time I will keep the pages up for reference.

Clive

Hi everyone;

Can I ask you all to remember Clive, the owner of this blog in your thoughts and prayers. An entry on his Facebook page states he is in hospital after attempting the ultimate step. Thankfully he was unsuccessful, and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say to Clive don't give up, mate. You have more friends you can call on than you realise. Get yourself healthy again, in body, mind and spirit and we look forward to you picking up the reins again.

In the meantime I'll try and keep the blog ticking over whenever anything interesting happens in Ipswich.

Steve.

IBT BRISTOL RE FLASHBACK

A chance to delve into the archive with a flashback of two Bristol RELL's with two different livery schemes, at the top heading into the Cricketers lay by is 119 TRY 119H, near by is a Leyland Atlantean advertising the Britannia Building Society now i believe absorbed into what is now the CO-OP bank, the Greenwich route is still run by Ipswich Buses as the X1 in competition with First Ipswich, the picture below it is of sister 121 TRY 121H which run initially in Leicester livery with the maroon band painted green which was almost identical to the Ipswich livery carried by Atlanteans 1-35, 120/21 were fairly early casualties, the last being 118 which exited Constantine Road depot on a late duty on the 8 to Whitehouse on a June afternoon in 1987, 118 is preserved today in Economic livery which it carried whilst finishing it's career up on Tyne and Wear.

FIRST IPSWICH POSITIVE MOVES

First Ipswich ADL E300 67774 SN62 AXO seen parked up today at Ipswich Depot,prior to transfers being applied.

I'm not going to elaborate to much into the changes as if you go to Steve's Bus and Train Page you can read a full write up there http://busandtrain.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/ipswich-area-changes.html. I see these changes as very positive within Suffolk i particularly like the idea of the 68 to Kesgrave as one of my great grinds when travelling to Woodbridge was having to divert every hour around the narrow roads, the reinstatement of an every hour service to Aldeburgh linking in with trains at Saxmundham, with one Park and Ride bus per hour going through to Rendlesham, Woodbridge retains an once every 30 mins service with these changes, the only minus being the loss of the Rendlesham to Leiston section which will only be served at peak times, further changes announced on the First Norfolk and Suffolk pages, sees the 60/61 Ipswich town service re timed from Tower Ramparts to Greenwich/Gainsborough changed to, 00/10/20/30/40/50 past each hour, the 66 to Martlesham has evening journeys changed to link in with train arrivals at Ipswich Station, as well as an amendment to times on Saturdays to improve punctuality. The 77 Ipswich to Landguard Fort will now serve the Leisure Centre and the Seafront, 7 days a week, there will also be minor changes to the timetable during the afternoon,the X7 as previously mentioned will now only operate at Peak Times only

Route Number	Route Details	Operator	Service Change
63, 64, 65, 65B	Aldeburgh - Woodbridge - Ipswich	First in Norfolk & Suffolk	The 800 (Ipswich Park & Ride) now operates an hourly service between Ipswich and Woodbridge/Rendlesham. This has affected the 63, 64, 65 services and has resulted in the need for a revised timetable. The Sunday service 65B will remain unchanged.
68	Kesgrave - Ipswich	First in Norfolk & Suffolk	Similar to the First in Norfolk & Suffolk service 68 that was cancelled in August 2015 it will operate hourly off-peak journeys between Ipswich and Kesgrave, Monday to Saturday.
70, 70A	Woodbridge - Grundisburgh - Ipswich	First in Norfolk & Suffolk	All journeys will now operate directly along Tuddenham Road through Ipswich. This has resulted in a revised timetable.
X7	Felixstowe - Ipswich	First in Norfolk & Suffolk	Service has been reduced to peak time journeys Monday to Friday only.
800 (Ipswich Park & Ride)	Rendlesham - Martlesham P & R - Ipswich Town Centre - London Road P & R	First in Norfolk & Suffolk	The Ipswich Park & Ride service will now be operated by First Buses. Journeys will extend once an hour to Rendlesham via Woodbridge. All journeys will operate as through journeys from Martlesham to London Road P&R sites with a 15 minute frequency.
62	Snape - Hacheston - Wickham Market - Woodbridge	PF Travel	Some journeys will now operate via Snape and Easton. Timetable and routing has been revised.

Suffolk Norse latest arrival is this Mercedes Benz Tourismo BN17 JJY seen this afternoon in Crown Street,Ipswich.