June 15th 2020 @ 11:30: Fleet Ramblings

15/6/2020

Stagecoach East
First up from today’s bumper Stagecoach East catch-up is confirmation that ADL Enviro 400MMC 11279 has this morning been returned to service at Bedford. It has been off the road whilst having additional ‘Captain Tom Moore’ graphics applied to the exterior of the vehicle promoting the ‘Captain Tom Moore Foundation’ as well as receiving interior graphics. The graphic on the lower saloon staircase panel invites passengers to take a ‘selfie’ against a pic of Captain Tom Moore. Stagecoach East has confirmed that the bus will also operate from Peterborough and Cambridge depots. Following the ‘Exact Fare’ policy for cash fares, Stagecoach East is donating any excess cash received to the Captain Tom Moore foundation.

Staying at Bedford depot, the new arrangements for the X5 service, which links Cambridge and Oxford, started yesterday with the resumption of through services to Oxford - following the introduction of the lockdown timetable they has only been operating between Cambridge and Milton Keynes. Whilst Busway saloons 21232/35, 21303/07/12 and 21363-68 are now all at Bedford depot, on loan from Fenstanton, for the X5 service it was Enviro 400s that were used on the route yesterday including former Norfolk Green example 10055. From this morning the Volvo single decks are out on the route, and can also be found on the 99 Milton Keynes-Luton Airport route.
Ciaran Bird was out yesterday and photographed 10055 on the A34 Oxford Parkway, 19581 near Wolvercote along with 19707 (with Stagecoach West’s 10985 and Stagecoach Oxfordshire’s 15833) at Gloucester Green Bus Station in Oxford which Ciaran says is the only bus station where Stagecoach West and Stagecoach East buses meet!

Meanwhile, Brandon Fitzgibbon was out this morning and captured two Volvo saloons at Bedford Bus Station 21365 with MCV bodywork and 21303 with Wrightbus bodywork.

We understand that an engineering modification to being developed to fit enclosed screens to the drivers cabs on the Plaxton elite coaches which normally work the X5 service and also the Plaxton Panther coaches normally used on the 99 service.
Also returned to service at Cambridge this morning are the two BYD/ADL Enviro 400City electric vehicles 14033 and 14034 which are being used on the Maddingley Park & Ride service.
Currently operating from Cambridge depot are Busway Scania/Enviro 400s 15211/12/13/14/15/17 and 15813 along with Scania/Enviro 400MMC 15291.
We also understand that Enviro 300s 27850 and 27852 are on loan from Cambridge to Bedford.

Stagecoach West
We have received some images of the first Enviro 200 in this fleet to receive the new Stagecoach ‘Local’ livery - 36390.

East Yorkshire
The three Scania L94/Wright Solar saloons which had been on loan here from Go North East, 5226/31/32, have now been transferred to Go Ahead’s Plymouth CityBus operation. They were joined by similar 5211/23 transferred to Plymouth direct from the Go North East fleet. Their transfer has allowed Volvo B7TLs 669/70/71/73/77 to return to Hull after a period on loan to Plymouth CityBus.
The company has confirmed that the revised application of the East Yorkshire livery colours applied to new ADL Enviro 400MMC YX20OEB, which was seen on test from ADL’s Scarborough site recently, is for special route branding rather than a revision of the main East Yorkshire livery.