09 February 2026

Connecting Sparks

I was lucky enough to spot 558 on the 51 this evening at Derriford Hospital.

In the short to medium term for Cornwall Plymouth Spark E400 550 to 558/560/1/2/4 are being temporarily rebranded for Cornwall operation

WA17FTF

WA17FTF


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8 comments:

  1. Does anyone think go-ahead will order new buses for Cornwall

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    Replies
    1. they did 6 years ago - it's fairly unlikely at this point until the contract is up for renewal / franchising is explored

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    2. The contract is due for renewal in 2028, so I can't see any new buses being ordered until then. Obviously a lot has change since 2020 with First now going and I'd like to see Cornwall Council taking a lot more hands on franchised model like Manchester.

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  2. On another matter, according to an article in Route One, the acquisition of Truroian by go ahead does not include vehicles, basically just the name and their order book which they will have to fulfill using existing dartline vehicles I would think

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  3. They will have to wait and see whether the financial results of the enlarged operation justify any investment. Rural areas are most likely to benefit from diesel vehicles cascaded from those areas that have been successful in obtaining funding for electric buses. That situation is likely to prevail all over the UK, not just in Devon and Cornwall.

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  4. Not in the short term, until Cornwall Council decides how it wants to fund and support its bus services from 2028 onwards. There may be an influx of new buses if Go-Ahead retains its work in Cornwall in 2028. This could also be tied in with funding for electric vehicles.

    There is also the possibility of obtaining newer, but still mid-life, buses cascaded from other Go-Ahead companies.

    Finally

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  5. So after the first full day of operations in Cornwall - there was almost no fleet movement? I thought that most of the ex ADL 4XXX would be in cornwall?

    The Sparks being in Cornwall obviously has been made a lot of but unless there was loads of cancelled services all over the place - then i assume everything went fairly smoothly?

    I haven't kept an eye on anything majorly in Cornwall recently - so please someone fill me in if i'm well off the mark

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