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

OLD CATTLE MARKET BUS STATION REBUILD DELAYED!

Carters ex Stagecoach London Dennis Trident LX51 FJN on the 92 to Brantham in April prior to the closure of the bus station for rebuilding.
Rebuilding of the Old Cattle Market Bus Station has been hit by major problems according to the Ipswich Star yesterday, when contractors discovered that the main services Gas, Water and Electricity were not as far down as previously thought, did the council not survey the area beforehand! Work which was was now due to be done by early August will now not be completed  until late September. This means that the work on Tower Ramparts bus station will now not be finished until February next year as work will be suspended prior to Christmas, you couldn't make it up could you.

APOLOGISES RUMOURS WERE TRUE

One of the former Park and Ride buses from when Ipswich Buses had the Park And Ride which is still  in service on town routes is Optare Excel 171 YG52 DHF.

Must apologise for my post yesterday that Ipswich Buses hadn't won the new contract for the Martlesham and Copdock Park and Ride, the article appeared on line in the Star in Ipswich in Saturday, unfortunately as the Star in Ipswich is not printed on Saturday, i missed the article, the link is here http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich_borough_owned_firm_wins_back_park_and_ride_contract_1_2277055
Unfortunately i can see other things happening, First will be as sore as anything in losing out, one can expect more retaliation from them in November so Bus Wars part 2 anyone?

Another ex Park and Ride Bus in X153 LBJ an DAF Optare Spectra parked up waiting to take on its daily lunchtime route on the 202 to Shotley.

PARK AND RIDE RUMOURS?

69431 AU58 FTT Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse was on Park and Ride duties on Tuesday in place of 69424

A lot has been said on groups and other pages about Ipswich Buses winning back the Park and Ride from First Ipswich and that 5 ex Nottingham Optare Versas  have been purchased as far as i am aware no announcement has been made by Suffolk County Council and for that matter nothing has been in the local press, so i won't speculate any further as it is purely conjecture at this point, and when it has been officially announced i will feature it on the blog. In route news in the latest Notice and Proceeding for the Ipswich area, Ipswich Buses have cancelled route 17 to Ipswich Hospital via Spring Road, Broke Hall and Bixley, as one who lives on the route this is hardly surprising as very few people actually use it, however First must be smiling as they will have Spring Road back to themselves.