Special thanks to Richard Smith who has supplied so many great photos this last year, along with a growing number of other readers.
Thanks to all who have contributed over the last year either by sending in photos or leaving comments in what has been a very busy year in Plymouth.
I will be taking a bit of a break for the next week, although the Devon & Cornwall Transit posts will continue as otherwise I will mess up my own filing system!
Enjoy Christmas, especially those drivers who will now end up working on Boxing Day. (Somehow I see even more of you working next year, but that's another story…)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Graham Richardson
Plymothian Transit.com
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Extra bonus bit...
Just to clarify details of buses due for Plymouth Citybus:
13 Enviro 200's with 7 in red swoop and the rest in Green Flash.
7 Enviro 400's with 2 in Green Flash for the 5 5A as they are needed for school movements
the other 5 in red swoops * for the revamped 70/72/72 32 Torpoint services. These are due in January.
* sound like they may carry some additional branding - "something a little different" but we will have to wait to see them!
More details on those already delivered can be found on my fleetlist
And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! From someone who only came upon Plymothian Transit recently, thank you for an informative and interesting website.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Richard.
ReplyDeleteE
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Thank you for all your hard work in running this very informative website.
ReplyDeletetrpoint buses my have on side Plymouth to torpint route
ReplyDeletealine coaches tropoint have told me there don't have go bye d.d.a low floor buses for there routes couse ,law has pushed it back 12 mouths till 1/1.17 then all single and double deackers got be d/d/a ---what a joke for bus companys
ReplyDeleteFirst I have heard of that - and I am sure it would be bigger news if it had changed. single deckers need to be compliant from 1/1/2016 double deckers have till 1/1/2017. Nothing has chnaged
DeleteNot heard that here, either. Indeed, Steve White on his First Bristol, Somerset & Avon news site reports:
Delete"Also on loan are some more Volvo B7RLE's, this time from Wright Bus this is due to a delay in supplying new vehicles elsewhere which in turn is holding the cascade plans to allow non DDA vehicles to be withdrawn." and Steve lists 5 at Bath, having previously mentioned 1 at Weston from Volvo.
I can't see First/Wright/Volvo doing this unless they had to.
A Line Coaches of Torpoint will have to comply with the current DDA the same as every other bus company and use appropriate vehicles on their services.
DeleteI would doubt that your comment on here is anything like what you might have been told by A Line Coaches, and suspect you are unlikely to be "told" anything else by them.
I guess they mean they can continue to use a step entrance DD on the route for the new year. That has always been the case. If they want to use a single decker then it has to be DDA compliant now. I cant imagine the service needs a DD though? or is it just using a school bus through the day?
DeleteI no the owner off aline coaches thank you he was driving route 33 on tue torpoint town route ,I asked him if he bought low rider buses yet for routes 32/32c/33 he said pushed bk 12 mouths 1/1/17
Deletehi ya gramham the dd double deackr and vario bus are both school bus and used on route 32/32c and 33 routes in day
DeleteOk, we realise you know the owner of A Line coaches. What is important in this discussion is what type of bus is being used on this service in 2016, i.e. now. If it is a double decker it doesn't have to be DDA compliant until 1/1/17. If a single decker bus is used it has to be DDA compliant now.
DeleteSo can you please tell us what type of bus is being used and ideally its registration plate.
Many thanks.
I can find out , ever this week or next week on way home from work I see the bus on route
DeleteCurrent DDA compliancys haven't changed, reason none of us have heard about it it's a spammy comment! I do not know the company living in Plymouth but I'm sure Aline are a well established company and are aware of the DDA status and probably will purchase other replacement vehicles in due course.
ReplyDeleteThe timetable suggests that is likely to be worked between Torpoint School contracts hence why a DD is used.
ReplyDeletePCB 21 now carries an orange LED destination display on the front of the vehicle. Rear is still slip dot but doesn't appear to be working to brilliantly!
ReplyDeleteNice to see some of the older darts getting some TLC, it's not all about flashy Enviros! Those Darts are actually really good buses! The oldest ones That have had swoops and seats reclothed look really good inside
ReplyDeleteOnly an EE contract but for the records anyway!
ReplyDeletePH0000135/167 - PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD, MILEHOUSE, MILEHOUSE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL3 4AA
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Plymouth, Milehous Bus Depot and Langage, Ashleigh Way given service number 22 effective from 01-Apr-2016
Several local (Devon/Cornwall) company's have been buying up citybuses double deckers river link and target travel for one, I'm sure. Some enthusiast can confirm this or indeed graham.
ReplyDeleteAs for aline they have that new Torpoint town service which as a single decker would need to be dda compliant as I believe they currently use a vario, they may well have also bought some single deckers? Citybus gave so many brand new buses coming this year I'm sure they have oodles to sell.
Sure PCB will have some more B7TLs for sale soon, maybe the likes of Aline/Target and and Jacketts would be intrested in them
Deletealine use a double deacker bus and vario bus on the town route
DeleteI ya gramham please put this post on here
ReplyDeletewhat I said about the d d a push back 12 mouths what aline coaches told me
are true couse plymoth citybus on the 2/1/2016 was using /R/X/Y/S/REG SINGLE LOW FLOOR BUSES I WAS ON A R REG PLATE
It's not the age of the bus but whether it has a low floor or not. All buses with City Bus are DDA compliant that are on the road.
DeleteYes, because Citybus has modified them so they now comply with the DDA rules. They'll be good for as long as they want to use them now.
DeleteIf A-line are still using a vario then I'm reporting them to dvsa, it's disgusting they think they can flout the law, what other corners are they cutting?? The bus industry large and small have had years to get there fleets sorted it's not like it was announced last year!
ReplyDeleteA-Line will still be allowed to use a Vario just like Tall Ho did on the 94 service, there is a legal loophole that allows you to use a Vario in the guise of a coach
DeleteThey are not alone,most small operators are still using some vehicles which breach the new law.There is apparently a 15 day exemption period for implication.Even First are using non-DDA vehicles.
DeleteExcuse me? *Most* small operators are breaking the law? Really?
DeleteHow have you decided this? You can't easilly tell whether a bus is DDA compliant or not, just by looking at it, certainly not from the outside. I assume you've been checking each vehicle's compliance certficate, then?
Please do not tar half the industry with this libelous nonsense. You have no more idea which buses have been modified so as to comply to the DDA regs, than I do, although bear in mind, non-DDA buses can still be used on schools and closed contracts etc without breaking any laws.
Aline are using a vario fitted with a tail lift fitted which has been agreed with cornwall council due to the lanes which we have to get through to collect the Antony school children, the school run is incorporated with the service and insists that the children have seat belts and as the lane has a width restriction of 6'6" anyone with half an ounce of common sense will understand and realise that most modern low floor vehicles are 8'2" wide and therefore would not fit.
ReplyDeleteRubbish! Do you think the law has a specific exemption for 1 little lane in the whole of the country??!!
DeleteI expect the law does not cover school contracts and just public service vehicles, there are plenty of low floor and narrow minibuses available if one was needed optare make ultra slim and short optares and then there's the plaxton primo which first used on there mousehole service and had a brief spell in Plymouth
It's not simply about having a low-floor, there's a lot more to it than that.
ReplyDeleteA lot of bus enthusiasts seem to think there is a very clear black & white distinction that they can use to tell which buses are compliant, this is simply untrue. DDA (or PSVAR as it is officially called) does not refer to age, neither does it mandate a low-floor. DDA is about a set of requirements to ensure vehicles are disabled friendly, a Vario with a wheelchair lift is perfectly able to be DDA compliant (in fact many late Varios were built as such from new) and it is not overly complicated (though comparatively expensive given the inherent value of vehicles that age) to make the necessary alterations to gain an accessibility certificate for many early low-floor models (more difficult for some models, such as some early Scanias, than others). As a note non-DDA Varios have been outlawed for a year as vehicles under 7.5t & with more than 21 seats (which a Vario is) had to conform to DDA regs from the start of 2015.
ReplyDeleteit nothing to do with council what bus u use ,and u could uses the vario for school run ,then change to low floor buses to millbrook and torpoint routes has lots old people live there ,and target travel are use none d d a buses still two
ReplyDeleteYes Target do still use a couple of non DDA doubledeckers - they are allowed to until end of 2016. They have replacements planned so they will be off for scrap pretty soon
DeleteIt very much is something to do with the council what bus you use, if it is a council subsidised service such as a school run.
DeleteNot Cornwall, nor even Devon, but I've specified plenty of vehicle requirements for council contracts in my time, and issued a few penalties for non-compliance too!
Plymouth Citybus presidents 422,423 and 424 have all been sold to Target
ReplyDeleteAnd 441.
Delete