The home of anything and everything to do with transport in and around Plymouth for NINE years and counting!
We are well and truly into the bus rally season now with several events coming up which I am sure many readers will be attending. If you take any photos you feel will be of interest to our readers then please send them in - we would all love to see them!
©did by graham
More Volvo B7Ls from Somerset have arrived and entered service in Plymouth over the last few weeks:
60918 in full West of England livery! 
60895 with Buses of Somerset fleetnames still carried 
Over the last few weeks I have received a few photographs from people for the blog but have not managed to fit them all in with everything else going on at the moment! So this morning we start to put that right starting with a few from "Laira" who was on the 31 temporary Plymouth to Torpoint service laid on while the Torpoint Ferry staff were in strike recently:
You might like...
Bluestar hands M back to Velvet Bluestar have advised that they are no longer running the M, which they had taken on after Velvet collapsed last week.
Evesham Vale Light Railway The EVLR [Evesham Vale Light Railway] held their gala days recently with both their steam locomotives "Dougal" and "St.Egwin" in steam and extra trains running.
Fruit in Pots [1] The variety available today includes "Fruit Pots" which are, no doubt, far more nutritious and healthy than the concoctions fed to the mewling an puking** baby that was to become fbb. Of course, as you come to expect in an fbb blog post, the link to public transport is tenuous in the extreme.
12: Newton Abbot - Brixham The 12 is a high frequency link between the major towns of the English Riviera, serving several major tourist attractions along the way. It runs every 10 mins Mon-Sat daytimes, every 15 mins Sunday daytimes and every 20 minutes each evening. It's run by Stagecoach and is branded as Hop 12.
'Scene' in Hanley Bus Station. The independent operators. I was familiar with the old Hanley bus station and I had not yet seen the new one that opened in 2013 so a visit was long overdue. Although it was only a weekday, it seemed crowded and a driver told me to come back at tea time when it would be gridlocked.....!
Next Sunday sees a few timetable changes for Plymouth Citybus which we have not covered fully yet so...
5 June 2014
PH0000135/1 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH Royal Parade and KINGS TAMERTON Steph.Way given service number 16 effective from 27-Jul-2014. To amend Timetable.
27 July 2014
Service 16: Changes to the 17:32 Service Monday to Saturday with this Journey changing to depart 17:40
5 June 2014
PH0000135/5 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH Royal Parade and DERRIFORD Hospital given service number 28/28B effective from 27-Jul-2014. To amend Route and Timetable.
27 July 2014
Service 28 28A 28B: Changes to this Service with Monday to Saturday Services to operate early morning and late evening Services as Service 28B. During the day services to operate up to every 30 minutes from Royal Parade to Derriford Hospital operating a common Route from Royal Parade to the top of Shallowford Road then from this point Service 28 to operate hourly by Austin Crescent Crownhill to Derriford and Service 28A operating via Mainstone to Derriford. Sunday Services to operate every 2 hours during the day and a little more often in the evening (Plymouth Supported Service).
28 Service Map (northern section) City section remains unchanged from previous maps
28A Service Map (northern section) City section remains unchanged from previous maps
5 June 2014
PH0000135/145 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between Royal Parade and Ivybridge Rail Station given service number 45 effective from 27-Jul-2014. To amend Timetable.
27 July 2014
No details of any changes are given on Traveline or by Plymouth Citybus so there may not be a change at all!
5 June 2014
PH0000135/150 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Royal Parade and Torpoint HMS Raleigh given service number 32/22B effective from 01-Jun-2014. To amend Timetable.
27 July 2014
No details of any changes are given on Traveline or by Plymouth Citybus so there may not be a change at all!
5 June 2014
PH0000135/151 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between Plympton, Mudge Way and Plymouth, Notre Dame School given service number 103 effective from 27-Jul-2014. To amend Timetable.
27 July 2014
4 July 2014
©Richard Smith
5 June 2014
PH0000135/94 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between Saltash, Oaklands Green and Eldburton, Blackstone Close given service number 5/5A effective from 27-Jul-2014. To amend Route and Timetable.
27 July 2014
Slight change of route in Saltash with the Service 5A withdrawn from Barkers Hill (too much vehicle damage) and instead will return to Church Road. Within Plymstock the change is to the two afternoon School day services to Plymstock School which reducines the commitment to one school bus.
7 July 2014
PH0000135/76 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA Variation Accepted: Operating between ROYAL PARADE and DERRIFORD HOSPITAL given service number 29/29A effective from 31-Aug-2014. To amend Timetable.
27 July 2014
Monday to Friday journeys during peak times to be adjusted with the 07:17 Service 29A becoming a the 07:12 Service 29 to Derriford Hospital instead. The Service 29A that operated 07:30 from Holly Park to the City Centre will instead operate from Ringmoor way at 08:00.
Of course the next batch of timetable changes comes at the end of August as already detailed here The big change seems to be the combining of the 12 with the 42 which is extended to Tavistock every half hour. This also means most services going via Mutley Plain rather than Milehouse. I am sure it wont be long before full details are published.
You might like...
A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news… Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens have been shortlisted for a contract to supply 39 four-car ‘metro-style’ electric multiple-units for London Overground. Timetable for a bus route to an abandoned village Although it runs just once a year, and relies on heritage Routemaster buses, the service to the empty village of Imber is an official bus route, registered as bus route 23A.
NOT A GOOD DAY FOR STEAM Having started a lineside fire north of Leeds whilst working Railway Touring Company's The Wizard Express II, 1Z57, 0650 Manchester Victoria to York, 5972 Hogwarts Castle (aka Olton Hall), which had taken over the train at Carnforth, was pulled up and instructions given by Network Rail that the train had to be diesel worked Work begins on new £48 million Bolton Interchange "It’ll deal with the real problems we currently have with the number of people trying to get the train to Manchester, and as we’re developing office space on the area we’re expecting a lot of people to start coming to Bolton for work. Crossrail Franchise Awarded to MTR The £1.4bn contract to run the new Crossrail franchise through London from 2018 has been awarded to Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation, Transport for London (TfL) has announced. MTR was one of four companies short-listed to bid for the contract late last year. SPEED RESTRICTIONS FOR LONDON'S BUSES The Intelligent Speed Adaptation, or ISA, will be used on buses for the first time on UK streets and it is hoped that due to their size the buses will also be able to prevent other vehicles from breaking the speed limit.
Council check: Staffordshire We have good maps, although an index for those unfamiliar with the area would help. Timetables are similarly easy to find, but fares information is the big let down.
re You Sure? ... erm? ... at Shoreham? And there was plenty of public transport information available at the stop. But ... (there is often a "but") Firstly, look at the "flag". A mixed bag of News He stressed that financial pressures and increased competition meant the company was unable to survive. “We are very sorry that the company has come to an end in this way. The customers and staff have been brilliant and it's been a pleasure serving the people of Hampshire. But there are too many bus operators and not enough work to go round." The Sogginess of Steyning, but not Quite Stagecoach seemed to be running their prestigious 700 service to an arbitrary timetable bearing little relationship to the printed word! Under these circumstances the real time screen might be seen to be helpful. But if the service is so daftly disrupted as shown above, how does even the real time information help? The Sogginess of Steyning : a Delightful Excursion Once again, a simple bus ride produces much to interest the passenger. The fbbs managed to commandeer top deck front and on outward and return journey found much to amuse and entertain. Even Mrs fbb enjoyed the ride, despite the sogginess.
NNR Vintage Transport Weekend 2014 - part 2 The North Norfolk Railway vintage transport weekend took place on the 5th/6th July and one of our regular correspondents Colin Apps was there on the Sunday to photograph some of the interesting variety of buses (and trains!) that were either working or on display at the event
572: Plymouth - Polperro The 572 connects the city of Plymouth with two of Cornwall's prettiest seaside resorts. It runs every hour Monday to Saturday daytimes with a few journeys on Sunday daytimes.
There's a New Kid In Town: Part 1 The latest bus model to embrace the London Bus Scene is Optare's new single decker, the Metrocity. RATP Group are the first to purchase these and have a total of 17 Metrocities in their fleet.
End of the road for Velvet: All routes cancelled Velvet have ceased trading as of today. Their buses are off the road for good.Velvet was always well respected and it is sad to see them go. Almost all Velvet routes rehomed / Bluestar to Marwell Zoo Following yesterday's shock news that Velvet have closed down, the other operators in our region have been working very quickly to make sure that none of Velvet's passengers will be left stranded. Velvet revolution: Buses back on the road thanks to mystery buyer Velvet has been bought out of receivership and its buses are back on the road. It's not yet been confirmed who the new owners are.
Darlington & Durham Despite nearly forty years of photography I've hardly ever seen the north east, something I was determined to put right this year so while Mrs.McCaffery was stalking Barry Manilow across the country I decided on an escape to Scotland via unfamiliar places.
LISBON NEW GREEN ROUTE TRAM TOUR No news on Lisbon Trams till middle June, when a new hop on hop off tram tour has started New livery, new prices, on line 28 circuit
Metroline CELF Centre Part 45...LT190 & Update on VW1469 The last time we visited CELF, VW1469 hadn't entered service, its now July 2014 and VW1469 is now no closer to entering service for pretty much the most funniest of reasons as you'll find out
© Richard Smith
