Plymouth Citybus have been making changes to their coach fleet. Along with the recent additions to the fleet they are having a bit of a makeover. YX14SFE is seen here in the paint shop as a bit of a teaser!
It shouldn't be too long to wait for the new look which seems to be white based rather than the current blue.
Thanks James!
Some bits of fleet news for Plymouth Citybus from the last few week or so
The Optare Solos coming from Go Ahead Northern are being allocated fleet numbers in the 1800’s (no idea why either!)
1804 NL63XZU
1808 NL63XZY
1809 NL63XZZ confirmed so far
The other ones I have so far as being in Plymouth are YJ62FMA, KY63VTA, NL63XZW, NL63XZO, NK18EEA, NK18EEB
As far as I am aware none have been used in service yet, but some of them have been given Plymouth Citybus fleetnames on their red based GNE liveries.
The group seems to be expanding their coach operations again.
One from East Yorkshire is YX14SFY Volvo B9R with Plaxton Elite bodywork which is now Plymouth Citybus 324. It remains in East Yorkshire livery at the moment
There are also a few Volvo B9R Caetano Levante’s joining the fleet with BF63ZPY, BF63ZRA and BF63ZRZ confirmed as Plymouth Citybus 324-326 resp. Another three are coming but expected to join Dartline. These remain in plain white at the moment. It remains to be seen if the Plymouth Citycoach fleetname is going to be used on the Citybus ones.
Plymouth Citybus has announced it will be providing an extra service from Royal Parade for school children. The travel company says the extra bus is needed due to regular "overcrowding" on the 8.10am service.
A statement released on the company's Twitter page reads: "City College Students. In order to address overcrowding issues on morning departures from Royal Parade there will now be an additional bus running as a duplicate alongside the 0810 departure from Royal Parade. If you use the buses at this time there will be plenty of space." Archive Copy
Plymouth Citybus has stressed it is not unfairly targeting certain bus users after it emerged some fares have risen more than others. The company has explained why some ticket prices have risen by more than others by saying it is an attempt to keep fares low for as many passengers as possible.
The bus company hiked fares across the board this month - but some tickets went up by more than others. For example, a one-day Dayrider ticket for Zones 1 and 2 has risen 50p to £5.50, a 10% increase and a one-week season ticket for Zones 1 and 2 has also gone up by 10%, from £20 to £22.
But a one-week season ticket for Zone 1 only, or Zone 2 only, has jumped by £3 to £20 - a rise of 17.6%. A four-week season ticket for Zone 1 only, or Zone 2 only, has jumped £12 - an 18.1% hike.
However, one Citybus user, who asked to be anonymous, complained: “Surely, any price increase should be at an equal rate across all fares and season tickets, one specific set of users should not be subject to a higher price rise, especially when that increase is higher than the rate of inflation
Comment: Although I can see the passengers point to an extent, this is no different to most businesses. If you go into a shop will will see some items have gone up by a lot more than inflation whilst some prices are actually lower (not many!) Its just business!
Friday 30 December was the final day of operation of PCC tendered route 39. Time will tell but it may also have been the final day in service for Citybus Mini Pointer Dart 251. I've attached a shot on what was a dismal gloomy day (weather to match the occasion) of 251 starting the 1151 return journey from Hartley Vale to the city centre via Mannamead.
Kind regards Mark Bailey
It has appeared on the 59 at least since the new year. Surely it cant manage much longer?
The very sad decision has been taken to close Plymouth Citycoach, the holiday and day trips company owned and operated by Plymouth Citybus.
We are deeply sorry for the disappointment and sadness this will cause our customers.
The company has been operating since the 1980s but has fallen victim to the financial repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Plymouth Citycoach had to suspend its programme of day trips and holidays in March for safety reasons and had already cancelled all holidays and trips up to and including this September. Staff have been working remotely to refund customers in full for their cancelled holidays and trips and the process of refunding all bookings is still underway and will take some weeks.
Plymouth Citycoach operated as a member of Bonded Coach Holidays, with adherence to its charter and strict financial procedures and all monies will be refunded to customers in due course.
The closure of Plymouth Citycoach potentially affected seven staff and will unfortunately result in the loss of six jobs, as during the redundancy consultation process with staff, one offer of alternative employment within Plymouth Citybus was taken up.
The closure is the result of the severe financial pressure the entire coaching industry has come under over the last three months. The loss of passenger booking income, remaining overheads such as coach maintenance, insurance and depreciation costs for its fleet and the potential introduction of social distancing measures reducing coach capacities, has eroded the viability of the business.
Plymouth Citybus MD Richard Stevens commented:
'We are devasted that we have had to make this decision and deeply regret the loss of the jobs of our colleagues, all loyal and long-serving staff, but we were faced with no other option due to the effects of the pandemic.
'I would like to thank most sincerely our customers for their support for Plymouth Citycoach over many years and I do appreciate that they will feel the loss of holiday and breaks programme very keenly.'
Customer refunds with be dealt with by Plymouth Citybus staff, in date order of holiday and customers do not need to make contact with the company at this point. Please be patient, we are working as hard as we can to refund many bookings and please rest assured we will get to yours.
Emergency e mail contact can be made via: Customer.experience@plymouthbus.co.uk or on 01752 662271.
Thank you again for your valued past support and for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.
Very sad indeed.
Plymouth Citycoach were among several operators sending coaches to Portsmouth for the Argyle match this weekend. However, one of the coaches didn't make it back…
“Supporters were forced to flee the coach and watch as huge flames engulfed the Plymouth City Bus Coach. Huge plumes of black smoke filled the sky, an hours drive from Portsmouth near Salisbury around 8pm this evening, as fire crews tackled the blaze. A spokesperson for City Bus confirmed that all passengers were safe and well after the incident and said the driver of the coach was an ex firefighter, so passengers were in "good hands".
Plymouth Live (If you can grin and bear it through all the adverts there are a few photos and a quick video of the coach in full flames if you like that sort of thing)
For the record the coach was 315
I think it is safe to assume that this is the end of 315. Whilst a coach fire like this is never a good thing at least everyone got out safely and did eventually get home. At least it gave the Argyle fans something to talk about and take their minds of the match itself…
There is quite a tradition of buses from Oxford heading down to the South West for the summer holidays. For many years Thames Transit sent Brookes Bus Tridents to Exeter for example.
Its not just Stagecoach, as Go Ahead do the same with their coaches. I am sure this is not the first time we have had Oxford coaches on loan at Plymouth Citybus.
Currently here is Oxford 47 UF61OXF Plaxton Panther 2 bodied Scania. It is possible that one or two more may arrive.
© Jason Beverley - with thanks
Plymouth Citybus have two ‘new’ coaches to join the Plymouth Citycoach fleet
YX14SFE and YX14SFN were delivered this week in plain blue. I know that they are Volvo B11Rs with Plaxton bodywork but dont know much else about them at the moment. Are these both Plaxton Panthers? It is presumed they will be 320 and 321 but this is not confirmed yet…
Thanks to Jason Beverley for the photos.
© Richard Smith 
Richard Smith 
A brand new arrival at Milehouse: Plymouth Citycoach WA64FZY. Cant wait to see her in the full Citycoach livery!
Thanks to Brian George for the photo.
Thanks to Richard Smith for supplying the photos. One big advantage of adopting blue for Citycoach, they could easily stick Citycoach names on the South Coast vehicles and they would look part of the fleet.
We have just been informed of an over turned lorry in the vicinity of Crafthole by a resident to our Torpoint depot supervisor and the road being closed as a result. Services 81 due to operate via Sheviock & Crafhole this afternoon will operate directly to and from Torpoint until the road re-opens.
Service 93: - Road closed at Blackpool Sands due to fallen tree (Council team on site) service 93 will not be able to serve Stoke Flemming and the surrounding area until this is cleared, we have a diversion in place via old stone corner but due to turning restrictions only in one direction. Time scale we believe at this time is 2/3 hours.
Update on Plymouth City Centre, Coburg Street outbound now closed due to unsafe roof on YMCA building. Outbound services that would have used Coburg Street will operate via Royal Parade/Union Street/Western Approach/Charles Cross. This will add additional running time to trips and will result in services being unable to adhere to the published timetable. This will undoubtedly also lead to traffic congestion in the city as motorists try to find alternative routes and diversions. Please allow extra time for your journey and anticipate delays to all services.
Please be aware that the 120,121 and 122 will all be running late tonight, the schools have been informed already. The reason for them being late is due to a major RTA, this will mean that all three buses will run to the Ploughboy after this point the 121 will take all the children for Liskeard and go straight to there, the other 2 services will continue with their services (apparently the police have said they will let the buses go through) but due to traffic tail backs this will mean they will arrive home late. We do not know how late, it could be 30 mins or more but these are circumstances beyond our control
False Alarm: False alarm! Xelabus C3 and C4 are safe. Phil Blair from Xelabus confirmed in a comment on this blog that the confusion is down to an administrative error at the traffic commissioner's office.
NATIONAL EXPRESS PRICE HIKE: Coach giant National Express has been accused of ripping off families by increasing fares over the busy school half-term. The price rises of up to five per cent are being introduced on all its airport routes and routes to and from London. The company is also suspending group bookings on half-term weekends
Network Rail: Network Rail has chosen an additional alternative railway route to the storm-stricken Dawlish line along the Devon coast, BBC News can reveal.(now denied by NR!)
Running a flag up a pole: A New Bus for Anywhere’s not actually required. But you can see the appeal of such a vehicle. It’s almost as if every high spec bus project needs its figurehead: in this case, a radical looking take on the old concept of a double deck. An ordinary bus won’t do it
200th Anniversary: On the morning of the 12th February 1814, an explosion shook London that was so vast that the mighty Custom House in the City was utterly destroyed, and documents from the building were recovered from as far away as Hackney Marshes.
Image Problem: Apparently commuting by bus for more than 30 minutes each way has a significant impact on people's happiness. Something tells me that survey wasn't very scientific. How did they measure happiness, for a start?
Timewarp Taunton Trip [3] One beef, already expressed by fbb, is that maps and timetables don't always match. To be really helpful, any map should, as a minimum, include every point time from its accompanying timetable. As yesterday's blog revealed, presently they don't
Borderbus Borderbus, recently established by former Anglianbus managing director Andrew Pursey, is to take over the service from the 31st March
The constant stream of storms (and more on the way) has really highlighted the poor transport links for the region. While we have the ears of government (i.e. while its in the news!) the City Council have been pressing hard:
Plymouth City Council leader Councillor Tudor Evans who chaired the recent meeting, said;
"We are pleased that the Secretary of State for Transport saw at first hand the damage that has severed our rail link. We are grateful that he took the time to come to Plymouth to listen to the Council leaders, MPs and business leaders across the South West reiterate their call for urgent action. It was extremely constructive and heartening to hear the commitment to this immediate problem.
"The minister also acknowledged this was not a heritage rail restoration project. It is a modern engineering project and heard our calls to start future proofing the railway."
The meeting was given assurances from the minister that the funding for emergency work would be available - 'no question about it'.
Normal for Dawlish…
With trains so disrupted there is more than enough rail replacement work available for local bus companies. Plymouth Citycoach have been busy on this work for some time now, but with recent events are increasing their fleet to cope:
With the line now closed at Bridgewater and Castle Carey rail replacement will now be between Plymouth and Bristol. We have five coaches and seven drivers coming from Go South Coast on long term loan and we have two coaches coming from Oxford on short term loan
Council Backs Down: Lancashire County Council says it has listened to the views of local people and changed its mind over proposals to withdraw all subsidised evening and Sunday bus services in the county.
Dawlish Diversion Demanded [intro 2] What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. The sea wall at Dawlish will fail again and again.
Welcome Return At the last Hull Bus Forum, the city council representative called the change a "mistake", and from Monday 10th February it is being reversed with the 58 being replaced by returning service 50, again operated by EYMS
@ItsCamSinclair @PlymouthHerald (photo by @PlymouthChaz) pic.twitter.com/he2pVc8LTF
— Chaz Singh (@PlymouthChaz) February 8, 2014
As promised I bring you a brief report on my Silverstone Grand Prix trip which I won in the Plymouth Citycoach Facebook draw.
We set off from a dry but dull Bretonside at exactly 7AM on the Thursday morning with a feeder driver to Exeter where we had our first short stop and picked up our driver for the trip, Kevin. The journey up the motorway was uneventful with no traffic issues at all even around the Bristol area where we stopped at Gordano services for a break. We then continued up the motorway to the Heritage Motor Centre where we had three and a half hours free to look around…
I have to say that the museum comes under the worthy but dull category as far as we were concerned. There are some fantastic cars there and I took loads of pictures but after about an hour or so we had seen everything and there was little left to do. The place felt very corporate and was clearly geared up for conferences more than anything else. The cafe was incredibly expensive so that ruled out a slow cup of coffee to while away another half hour or so. We did go for a ride on a brand new RangeRover on the off road course which was twenty minutes but felt like a lot quicker as it was great fun.
We were not the only ones who felt that we had too much time there so the driver tried to round us all up onto the coach an hour earlier than the planned departure and we were all keen to get going again onto the hotel in Hatfield.
The Comet hotel was in the centre of Hatfield. It was clean and tidy and the staff were very friendly It has to be said that the food was adequate rather than brilliant. It was hot though which isnt always the case in hotels. There was not a lot of choice on the menu and the vegetarian option was lasagne on both Thursday and Friday! The breakfast though was fine, a nice decent full English along with all the other options meant you could fill up at the start of the day.
The room was surprisingly big with both a double bed and a single bed. I have never found a hotel bed anywhere near as comfortable as mine at home and these were no different!
Early Friday morning and we set off for Silverstone only to be sat in heavy traffic on the A40 for ages not getting into Silverstone until gone 11am. This was all down to the extremely wet weather which turned the car parks and camp sites into mud baths as was reported on the national news all weekend. It pretty much rained all day. We were able to get some cover for the practice sessions but eve then were getting wet from the rain being blown in under the grandstands. I managed to get a few photos but nothing like as many as I hoped.
One thing we did find funny was that by pure chance I ended up sitting next to my colleague from work who sits at the desk next to mine!
I think thats Alonso somewhere under all that spray!
To be continued...
Thanks for all the comments over the last day or so about your thoughts on the proposed changes to routes which were featured in the local press this weekend. I will be going through these over the coming week so please keep your thoughts coming in the comments as I will be using them!
I know some think this livery is quite dated but it still looks quite fresh to me. Its nice and simple yet bold and I am not aware of anyone else using the same style. I have never been a fan of the grey though and I do like the new blue livery even more. Its hard to believe that the above photo was taken in 2003, almost 9 years ago. When this coach is in the new livery she wont look out of place next to the brand new ones, only the registration giving away how old she is. I have never been a fan of this style of Plaxton bodywork, seems quite bland compared with other designs out there, but perhaps that has helped it to remain ‘ageless – and not to age quite as much as some designs have done.
