Good Evans

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"one of my favourite local haulage fleets thanks to its distinctive livery” dbg elsewhere: More of my photos of Evans Transport Vintage London Underground posters Other peoples stuff: Omnibuses2.0: Here to take you there? TGP5: Frozen in time

Not a brilliant shot, but included here as its my first 09 registration I have for Devon based Evans Transport. WA09AZU is a new Scania R480. This has to be one of my favourite local haulage fleets thanks to its distinctive livery. WA56KTN is a MAN TGA which does seem to be a favoured model in the fleet. The last of my photos of this fleet, all taken yesterday, is DAF XF WA06LVD.

First Caught on Camera

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"the camera was telling me the battery was almost dead ” Other First photos: First 42969 First 32803 First 42832 Elsewhere: Numberzz: 79 Red noses TGP in the fog 3D pavement art

Having the day off work and seeing that the weather was brightening up I decided to spend an hour or so down at Marsh Mills to get a few more photos of what is out there on the roads of Plymouth. It was my first such outing this year and was quiet successful in that I took over 400 photos, with most of them coming out pretty well. The results will be appearing here over the next week or so. Today I feature some of the First buses and coaches that I caught on camera starting with this fine Caetano coach which actually manages to look good even in the awful National Express livery. 20547 bog standard Plaxton coach on National Express somehow doesn't carry the livery so well On the X80 we see 48234 Volvo Wright and 32717 Dennis Trident East Lancs Two buses that were not in service: Mercedes 50306 in Tamar Link livery and then Dennis Trident 32875 which has just arrived from London. Not a brilliant photo as it caught me by surprise as I had finished taking photos for the day, the camera was telling me the battery was almost dead and it came around the corner as I was walking away from my photographers perch.

Gold Star Award

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" Well done Dave, we're proud of you ”   Elsewhere… Warning for bus spotters TGP: Tides out Warning - flying poo! and introducing… Numberzz: the new blog!

This is Plymouth A BUS driver who became a school governor has won the Gold Star Award. Dave Connell, a driver in Plymstock, is First Devon and Cornwall's nominated winner of the award, which the bus company sponsors. Mr Connell, aged 59, has worked 'on the buses' since 1968, and has driven the school bus at Coombe Dean School for seven years. He became a community governor at the school three years ago. Marc Reddy, managing director of First Devon and Cornwall, said: "Dave is one of the best bus drivers we have. He's committed and enthusiastic and he applies the same dedication to his role as school governor. "He's helped us build links with the school and the importance of this, in itself, should not be underestimated. He thoroughly deserves his Gold Star Award; Well done Dave, we're proud of you." [archive link] Having known Dave and his family for many years I have to add my own congratulations to Dave. A reward well deserved for a true busman!   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Well, I did it! I am now back to being a skinhead! Three years of growing my hair and I am now back where I started. Nearly £300 raised for Comic Relief so I cant complain- but my head is cold!

Making life a little bit easier

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" So all in all its slow progress. But at least it is progress ”

Catching a bus from Keswick Crescent has finally become a little easier recently with the arrival of one of the new style bus stop flags. This makes it easier for me as I quite often use the sms service to check to see if and when the next bus is coming and it now means I don't have to try and search through my previous messages on the phone to find the bus stop code as it is now on the bus stop flag itself. There is also a nice little time table holder although this has remained empty so is not much use. Of course passengers going the other way get a shelter from the rain, which we don't get on this side, but then they have no notice anywhere of the sms bus stop code so cant use that facility. (on balance I think I would prefer a shelter really) Of course what would be nice is the Real Time display system being installed in the shelter but I am not holding my breath for this. We are still waiting for it to be installed at Derriford in our nice shiny new shelters - the fittings are there - but are boarded up. So all in all its slow progress. But at least it is progress! * * * * * * * *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Just as an aside, those out there that know me may well notice a slight change in my appearance after tomorrow. The fat long haired git becomes a fat skinhead git! I am having all my hard grown head of hair shaved off for Comic Relief by the girls at work. Over £250 raised so I have to go through with it! I just hope that no one checks my brand new smart card bus pass to closely as it shows me with long hair and a beard - both will have gone by the end of tomorrow!

Fancy a Dash to London?

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"quicker than the train, cheaper than the train”       (so they say!)   Elsewhere…   TGP is stumped

©54North on Flickr - Air Southwest Bombardier Dash 8 300 landing at Leeds Bradford . CITY airline Air Southwest has today announced it is ‘set to revolutionise travel between Plymouth and London’ with a new route flying direct from Plymouth to the heart of the capital. The airline has announced a new twice-daily direct service from Plymouth to London City Airport which it pledges will ‘fly to the heart of London in just over an hour’. More on This is Plymouth (archived link) The comments are as usual most entertaining!

Flickr Sunday Best : BOD25C

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"The streets of Plymouth were much poorer for their departure” Elsewhere…. FF17285 Flickr stream Woops at Bretonside Initial Thoughts from The Master and Drakes Circus and even a frolic

©Nigel Utting (FF17285 Flickr) There is no date or any other notes on this photo, of former Western National Bristol 2065 FLF BOD25C which was new to Southern National in September 1965. Rob Sly's excellent web site gives the last recording of this bus as with Colin Billington January 2005 ‘derelict’ with a photo of the bus looking even rougher! It does look a bit ‘unloved’ in this photo but its still a great reminder of these wonderful buses. The streets of Plymouth were much poorer for their departure.

Incoming Trathens Big and Bland!

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Just a quickie tonight but thanks to ‘Jamie’ I can give you a link to see the new Trathens 15m Plaxton Volvo coaches which are to replace the smart Neoplan Skyliners.   LSK870 is shown on Dave Francis’ National Express Photos Fotopic gallery National Express really couldn't have managed a more bland look if they tried!

Fancy a day out?

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"Smart day wear is appropriate. You are asked not to wear jeans or trainers”

The British Pullman is making a rare visit to Plymouth on the 25th April 2009. Departing 11:30.  Details - click the picture!

Amey goes for a Cantor or two

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"No bus or coach 09s today but this little 'un caught my eye” Elsewhere… It’s funny how people seem at best to have a grudging acceptance of their bus service Terry observes the Art of a Bus Station

©Terry Partridge: No bus or coach 09s today but this little 'un caught my eye With Amey now running the Highways Department for Plymouth City Council we are now seeing the new influence in their vehicle fleet with this new Mitsubishi Cantor truck being the first 09 registered truck caught on camera by Terry. Not sure how many there are of these - I have seen a few - but this may just be the same one several times!

Reflections on Brunel's Bridge.

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" this beautiful monument to British engineering ” Other Links Lantographers Bridges of Plymouth set TGP gets rusty Top 10 train trips in UK

©Lantographer (Flickr) Still Waters Run Deep. "Just a busy shot to show how good the water reflections were last night. Adjusted and cropped in Aperture 2.0" We are coming up to the 150th anniversary of IKB’s wonderful bridge across the Tamar. Over the coming months I hope to bring a selection of some of the fantastic photos that have been taken of this beautiful monument to British engineering. This great shot by Lantographer is one of the more unusual shots I have seen but it is just stunning. I also hope to revive the ‘Plymothian Bridges’ series later this year as I have neglected this area for too long.

Sunday Best: Citybus Recovery

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"It's hard to miss the Citybus wrecker ”   Elsewhere: TGP on canals TGP goes Quackers TGP looses his bottle Omnibuses: 1969 and all that The mouse has left the bus?

©Alredbus via Flickr Plymouth 166, a regular on these pages, needs some help to get it back home in this view taken in September 1991. It's hard to miss the Citybus wrecker in this colourful shot. Another superb shot! The recovery truck certainly stands out well - an impressive beast. It was always nice to see this fine truck out and about. For more great Atlantean shots visit Alredbus flickr stream here

How are we doing?

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"We believe our punctuality figure is truly representative of the experience our passengers face, but it is derived from a sampling process.”

The graph hasn't exactly come out as I had hoped but it is still good enough to show the figures that First Devon and Cornwall have been reporting each month for their punctuality and reliability. The main bars highlight the percentage of services running on time The ‘punctuality' score is an indication of how often buses run to time. The Traffic Commissioner (the bus industry's regulatory authority) considers the timekeeping of bus services is acceptable if they arrive at all points on a route no more than one minute early or five minutes late. This is also the standard we use (target 95%). The top red line shows the percentage of services actually ran (Reliability -target 100%) The ‘reliability' measure shows how many services were operated over a period of time. This figure is derived on our comprehensive knowledge of all cancellations, and is therefore a very accurate measure. Our aim is to run 100% of our scheduled services The gap is for January 2008 as no figures appear in their online archives for that period. I should point out that the periods do not match up exact calendar months.

Scene this yet?

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"certainly has potential to build up into something interesting”         Elsewhere… TGP is pointless Its not all Wright… What the Penguin likes Penguin Quotes

Devon bus scene is a nice new web site with a clean design which looks well made and certainly has potential to build up into something interesting. Its early days and there is not much there yet - but keep an eye on it!

At last they are here

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"After a long wait the London Tridents have finally started to arrive” Elsewhere… T878KLF in London T879KLF in London T879KLF in London T880KLF in London Make your own - Paper model to cut out and make of T878KLF Louis Flickr stream

©Louisandbuses. Flickr After a long wait the London Tridents have finally started to arrive in Plymouth. At least three are known to have arrived so far T878-80KLF which are in standard Barbie livery. I was looking for a few photos of the buses up in London and was really surprised to see that Louis has got one in Plymouth - well done!

Sunday Best: Skyliner on National Express

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"which look great even in the current dull National Express livery” Elsewhere… AEC Regents Flickr Christian Wolmar on National Express

©AecRegent “Having just left the bus station in Bristol, this coach is keeping left to go up the M32 and then the M4 to its destination at London Victoria. Taken from a pedestrian bridge over the road” OES628Y Bond Street. Bristol July 1986 (I assume not 1896!) Trathens have long been linked to the Neoplan Skyliners having introduced them on their London services way back in 1981. They still have a batch of them on National Express duties which look great even in the current dull National Express livery. The word is however that this will soon come to an end as they are about to be replaced by 15M long single deck coaches. No idea what these will be yet, but I cant see them being as impressively distinctive as the Skyliners. Shame. 15M of plain white coach with a few grey ‘stair rods’ at the back. Hardly eye catching is it?

A natural split?

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""There's almost nothing left on Armada Way apart from Dingles.” Elsewhere: What the penguin likes Cracking Granite Trouble for National Express?

Following on neatly from my ‘Quiet Sunday’ posting comes the suggestion that the City Centre should be split in two!  This is Plymouth : PLYMOUTH is likely to end up with TWO city centres polarised around Drake Circus mall and the West End's 'independent sector', top retail figures have suggested. It means new uses should be sought for the area in the middle around Armada Way, which is becoming a 'wasteland' as businesses close or move. Empty shops should be turned into housing or used as restaurants and cafes, it is suggested. "We will end up with two city centres," predicted Business Improvement District Ambassador Richard Brewster. "There's almost nothing left on Armada Way apart from Dingles. [archived] It is certainly an interesting debate which needs to be had but I cant see the are in between being used for housing somehow. They do need to find something to start to fill the gap between the two ends of the centre though. The large square is great when there are events and other attractions going on, but a on a wet day with nothing going on this area is a wasteland and a real pain in the neck as its really exposed to the wind and the rain going straight up through Armada Way. Maybe this could be the answer to replacing Bretonside? or bringing the buses off Royal Parade and into Armada Way closer into the City Centre? Plenty of reasons why not I guess but its a thought!

Citybus Changes the 34

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"in order to boost capacity following changes to First Devon & Cornwall Services 17 & 18.” Elsewhere… Celebrating Buses Magazine ftr coming to Bristol?

Plymouth Citybus in their usual fashion have given plenty of notice of forthcoming changes to their 34 service. The new timetable introduced on the 19th April 2009 is now available as a PDF here. Changes highlighted as: Monday to Fridays there is to be an additional Service 34 06:53 from Devonport to arrive at Derriford Hospital 07:15. There are also a number of other changes to the Service 34 both in the A.M & P.M peaks in order to boost capacity following changes to First Devon & Cornwall Services 17 & 18. On Saturdays there is to be an additional 06:34 Service from Milehouse to Derriford Hospital. There are also changes to the 07:10, 07:45, & 08:15 Service 34 from Royal Parade. These changes are to improve reliability in line with the changes made to the Monday to Friday timetable They also give advance warning of possible future changes: It is highly likely that due to ongoing parking issues in Duke Street that the Service 34 from June 2009 remaining morning services along with all evening and Sunday Services will be withdrawn from Mutton Cove.

Cornwall is on the up

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" the fact that fare paying passengers are also up by a decent amount is excellent news ”

BUS use in Cornwall rose by 19 per cent in the first nine months of 2008-09, compared with the previous year. Much of the increase is attributable to increased concessionary travel, which was up by 29 per cent. But the number of fare-paying passengers rose too, by 13 per cent. [Bus and Coach] The fact that numbers are up is to be expected with the new concessionary travel arrangements but the fact that fare paying passengers are also up by a decent amount is excellent news. Both Western Greyhound and First are reporting increases and both have invested in new vehicles for their networks.  Good news all round!

A quiet Sunday

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"Armada Way itself is a rather bland square these days” As always click on the photos to go straight to the flickr page and explore from there for more great photos

©Argentum (More of his photos here on Flickr) Plymouth City Centre 1968 A superb shot of what the junction of Royal Parade and Armada Way used to look like. How different from today! Contrast this with a few years later and this superb shot from aecregent: Armada Way no longer joins onto Royal Parade in this shot. The two fine Atlanteans take their place on the extended bus stops. Of course now the bus stops have retreated back again and the underpass has gone and a new zebra crossing takes pride of place at this location. Armada Way itself is a rather bland square these days and now dominated by the large TV screen. The shot below looks back towards Royal Parade to where the above two photos were taken from.

Ferry big boat

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"Plymouth has now got Europe's most modern ferry at its disposal”

A NEW £100million ferry set to serve Plymouth for the next 25 years has docked in the city for the first time. Brittany Ferries has launched the Armorique, purpose-built for the popular Plymouth to Roscoff route, with bosses dubbing it "Europe's most modern ferry'. Offering passengers more space than ever before, Armorique includes a self-service restaurant, two-screen cinema, lounge and various gaming, bar and shopping areas. She can carry 1,500 passengers and 470 cars, while there is room for almost 800 guests in 248 cabins, and 120 crew members. This is Plymouth [Archive link]   More on this new ferry on the Brittany Ferries web site and on Wikipedia. There are also some superb photos and even more detail on this ferry on its own blog

A new blog on the block

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"I am a young transport enthusiast from the Plymouth area”

A new blog for the area, started recently by Tom Pearce, a young bus enthusiast from Plymouth. he certainly gets out and about a lot more than I do so if he keeps it up (and that not easy!) its worth a visit. LINK Good luck Tom!

Sunday Best: Citybus Atlanteans

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"This is still my favourite Citybus livery”

©AecRegent via Flickr Another great shot by AECRegent of a couple of East Lancs bodied Atlanteans of Plymouth Citybus. This is still my favourite Citybus livery although I know many didn't like it. The red skirt was an improvement on the original mainly black livery. As always, do pop over and have a good look through AecRegents other photos