Fleet Update Part One

I have long been promising a fleet update for Plymouth Citybus but at last have had a bit of time to update my own records so will start going through the fleet a batch at a time. As always this is not an official list so please let me know if you spot any errors or disagree with my listings!

Mercedes Citaro

No.	Reg	Chassis	Body	Seats	New	Livery	Notes
81	WJ55HLH	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B42F	Nov 2005	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	TRAINER
84	WJ55HLN	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B42F	Nov 2005	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	TRAINER
85	WJ55HLO	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B42F	Nov 2005	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	TRAINER
87	WJ55HLR	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B42F	Nov 2005	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	TRAINER
88	WA56OZM	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B39F	Jan 2007	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	WDN
91	WA56OZR	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B39F	Jan 2007	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	TRAINER
92	WA56OZS	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B39F	Jan 2007	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	WDN
94	WA56OZU	Mercedes-Benz O530	Mercedes-Benz	B39F	Jan 2007	Plymouth Safe Bus	SOLD - but still at Milehouse

26 March 2024 – 84 with a very friendly driver!

Enviro 200

No.	Reg	Chassis	Body	Seats	New	Livery	Notes
133	WA56HHO	Dennis Dart Enviro 200	Alexander Enviro 200	B37F	Oct 2006	PLYMOUTH Citybus ৲	Withdrawn
134	WA56HHP	Dennis Dart Enviro 200	Alexander Enviro 200	B37F	Oct 2006	PLYMOUTH Citybus  \\\	Withdrawn
135	WA56HHN	Dennis Dart Enviro 200	Alexander Enviro 200	B37F	Oct 2006	PLYMOUTH Citybus  \\\	Withdrawn

134 was still in service 26 March 2024

Meanwhile Late Enviro News...

look out for 2466 and 2467 tomorrow (all being well...)

Plymouth Citybus Fleet Update Single Decks

Dennis Darts

The Dennis Dart is almost extinct with 60 61 63 76 77 78 all expected to come out of service with the new timetables from the 24th April. The last one is expected to be 251 which will hang around for a short while longer eventually being replaced by short length E200s coming up from Cornwall.

Mercedes Citaro

The remaining Citaros are all expected to come off service by 24th April. The plan to retain some for the training fleet has been dropped in favour of the dual door E200s mentioned yesterday.

I noticed that the oldest Citybus Citaro, 87, was out in service today so I popped over to Eggbuckland to capture it on Culver Way working back to the city centre on the 28A from Crownhill.   ©Mark Bailey

Enviro 200s

There will be a few movements within the two fleets with 148 to 153 expected to return to Plymouth. Recently acquired E200s 167 will will be Plymouth based along with 168 when it comes back from refurbishment shortly leaving 169 and 170 to be converted. Three short 8.9M E200 are expected from Cornwall later to replace Dart 251 and E200s 160 and 161.

Coaches

When the E400s transfer to the training fleet its expected that the coaches 313 314 currently in use will be withdrawn with 317 and possibly 316 being retained in the coach fleet.

As always plan can and do change – Ive lost count of how many times we were expecting the Darts to be withdrawn, but they still solder on… but if you are lucky enough to spot a dart or a Citaro out and about then get your phots while you can!

Good Morning to you. Our offices are open now until 1600. Call us 01752 662271 or contact us via the app or our website. Royal Parade is open 0900-1600 today. https://t.co/gQyYyhGxPO.
This weekend marks the end of the era for the Dennis Dart fleet of buses in front line service. pic.twitter.com/zB2r0BFLRA

— Plymouth Citybus (@plymouthbus) April 9, 2022

Our offices are now closed. Back tomorrow from 0900.
Bowing out of front line service today the very last Volvo B7TL seen here on two of its final 34 trips. We wish you all a good evening! #Bekind
Photo used with permission. pic.twitter.com/jXiBmSSp4O

— Plymouth Citybus (@plymouthbus) April 8, 2022

Plymouth Citybus Fleet Update

Its not just the Dennis Darts that are being threatened with eventual extinction in the Citybus fleet as Mercedes Citaros are on dodgy ground too.

Citaro 80 WJ55HLG which recently had been demoted to the Training fleet has now been withdrawn.

its place in the training fleet will be taken by number 84 WJ55HLN

Meanwhile the first of other 03 Darts should be off for scrap this week. 67 WA03BHW

this was of course one of those that received the initial Go-Ahead livery. Not my favourite livery by a long mile, but it did look better on the Darts than on anything else.

167 LX07BXO, 168 LX07BXP, 169 LX07BXR,  170 LX07BYB

167 should be next to go to Hants & Dorset for the work shortly.

Finally for now we also have the imminent departure of a real survivor 416 PL51LGO the last of the East Lancs Volvos which as been sold on.

The last few of the Volvo double deckers cant have long left now. 440 was on the 50 the other day and didnt sound good, and took a long time to crawl up our hill – it was almost like watching an old Citybus Atlantean struggle.

Posh Swooped

As a bit of a break inbetween all the new timetable posts (which will continue later today), we bring you this smart little treat. Officially launched yesterday Plymouth Citybus 85 WJ55HLO shows a touch of class with her gold swoop: Investors in People Gold Standard. This was of course the one Citaro in the short lived (thank goodness) dark red front livery.

Citaro Demonstrator

"if you want to catch it you had better be quick” dbg Elsewhere... numberzz 88 Others... TGP: Devonport

Plymouth Citybus now have two demonstrators working for them. The latest is this smart looking Mercedes Citaro which is running on the 21/51 to compare with the existing Citybus Citaros. It is only here for another week so if you want to catch it you had better be quick. Although I was lucky to catch it in town for a photo this afternoon as I was only in town for 15 minutes I could have done with it being a bit later then I may have had the chance for a ride, but never mind! The other demonstrator is the gold Enviro 300 SN08AAF which is still around, although I didn't see which route it was on as it passed me on Royal Parade as I was boarding a 50 home.

Citaro Advert close up

Thanks to Daniel Marker I can bring you these two extra close up photos of Citybus 84 in the new advert wrap taken before it entered service. I must admit I do like the rear end view!

 

Both ©Daniel Marker

Plymouth Citybus have another advert

Thanks to Ian Kirby (Iantherev) I can bring this photo of the latest advert for Plymouth Citybus, and its the first Citaro to be used in this way. 84 in quite a pleasant advert for Academy Training.

Click the link above to see more of the Revs photos from his visit to Plymouth.

rare treat

I normally travel on the Citybus 50 service to work (Derriford Hospital) each morning and usually its one of the low floor Darts. Occasionally we get the odd step entrance Dart which never goes down well with the number of young Mums who use the service.
Thsi morning we got the rare treat of bus 94 a new Citaro. I have seen Citaros in use on the 50 a few times in the late afternoon but this is the first time I have had a Citaro on my morning run. And what a nice treat it was too. I think the poor driver must havbe been getting fed up with the number of passengers saying that it was too posh for the 50!
What was also noticable was how much quieter this was than the normal low floor Darts. Not just the engine noise - the Darts rattle, the Citaros dont!

Mercedes Citaros

I continue to make slow progress with adding new pages to my On the Road A2Z - the virtual enclyclopedia of road transport in Plymouth.
The latest page to be added is Plymouth Citybus Citaro WA56 batch.

www.ontheroad.a2z.googlepages.com/plymouthcitybuscitarowa56

Fifty Sixers Part 7

093 WA56OZT Plymouth Citybus., originally uploaded by didbygraham.

Following on from the Citybus Enviros were another batch of Mercedes Citaro single deckers.

News release from Plymouth Citybus

Plymouth Citybus announce their new Citaros...
Following the success of the 8 eye-catching Mercedes Citaro buses that entered the
Plymouth Citybus fleet at the end of 2005, the Company has bought a further 7 ‘state of
the art’ Citaro buses equipped with the very latest Euro 5 engine technology. This is well
ahead of legislation which is not due to be compulsory in the UK until 2009.
“It means that the Company is almost certainly running the most environmentally
friendly buses in the country” said Plymouth Citybus MD, John Ackroyd. “Additionally
the Mercedes Citaro has just been voted European Bus of the Year 2007 no mean feat
considering that there are some 15,000 Citaros currently in service across Europe”.
Their clean engines will allow nitrogen oxide emissions to be reduced by up to 70% and
particulate and nano particles will be reduced by over 80% when compared against the
current Euro 3 diesel engine technology. These greener buses should also deliver lower
fuel consumption which will help to achieve lower operating costs.
Since 1992 Plymouth Citybus has consciously ensured that its bus buying strategy has
had a green strand and an important landmark was reached in 1996 when The Company
became the first in the UK to power its fleet of buses by way of ultra low sulphur fuels.
The new buses are fully accessible and are fitted with 39 seats and have capacity to carry
up to 23 additional standing passengers.
These vehicles are very well suited to use on busy urban bus services that carry large
numbers of people over relatively short distances and once on the road they will be put to
work on the extremely busy Route 43 that runs every 10 minutes between the City
Centre, Milehouse, St Budeaux and Ernesettle.
It is good news too for bus users in other parts of the City because the addition of these
new vehicles means that the Company will be able to allocate the Accessible buses
currently in use on route 43 onto other routes.

Full release and posed photo here (PDF)

New Citaro

The new Mercedes Citaros are now in service with Plymouth Citybus. I managed a very quick photo of 93 as I waited for the Park and Ride bus back home.

Incoming

It now seems that most, if not all of the Citybus Citaros are now in Plymouth being prepared for service.
Fleetnumbers 88 to 94 with registrations known so far for
88 WA56OZM, 89 WA56OZO, 90 WA56OZP, 94 WA56OZU.


© Dave Godley - used with permission.

It is also a useful time to recap on Citybus progress in repainting into the new livery.
Dart SLF: 1, 8, 9, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,47,48, 58, 69, 70, 71
Citaro: 80 - 94
Dart: 102, 107, 123, 124, 128, 129, 131
Enviro: 133-135
Dart MPD: 201-205
Mercedes Mini: 281,287

Information supplied by Dave Godley. Thanks!

Not to be outdone First Devon and Cornwall have confirmed that all 9 Enviro double deckers have arrived and scheduled to start 8th January. Great start to the new year for Plymouth passengers!

Plymouth Citybus 2007

Just a quick post to say Happy New year to all regular visitors to this blog. I never expected many people to pop in so often so it has been a pleasure to see just how many visitors have passed through.

Well, what can we expect in 2007?

The first big happening is the arrival of the next batch of Mercedes Citaro buses. There are 7 due and the first of these is already in Plymouth. Expect these to hit the road very soon.
These new Mercedes joining the fleet are actually seeing out the older Mercedes 'bread vans'. There are just 18 left now, and thats before the new Citaros enter service. The three Volvo B6's 51-53 must be living on borrowed time, but with plenty of older high floor buses still to be replaced they could well see out the next year.

It is clear that Citybus are intent on removing the Mercedes Minis from service as soon as they can - but there are still a few routes which need smaller buses - it was thought that more MPD Darts were on order at one stage, this does not seem to be the case now. There are still a large number of high floor single deckers on city services which at the present rate of new buses entering service will be the case for quite a few years yet. Big questions remain about the double deck fleet too. Sadly I dont see any new low floor deckers joining the fleet, although as a passenger I would certainly welcome them.
With the massive improvement we have seen in the fleet that First use in the city with most routes now fully low floor apart from the odd double decker, and a good fleet of low floor double deckers in service (not forgetting the new high profile launch of new buses on Park and Ride very shortly) Citybus suddenly look the poor relation. Of course First have achieved this through major cutbacks in services in Cornwall, North Devon and even in Plymouth itself with Citybus picking up the pieces in a few cases.
Are we going to see a similar 'hard look' at the Citybus network during 2007 with a better service - on fewer routes?
The other question that is bound to pop up again in 2007 is the big one on ownership of Citybus. I am not going to comment on this aspect tonight - other than to say that if anyone else does come in and take over then they will certainly be taking that 'hard look' at all the services. The local press will love it!

All the best to everyone in 2007. Thanks for all the support in 2006 and I look forward to continuing this and the sister photo blog for another interesting year. If anyone has anything of interest they want to send in - then I am always happy to receive it!

Incoming

Message from 'Citybus52' - a driver with First based at Torpoint:
Seen today as I drove passed Milehouse on my 81, was a brand new Mercedes Citaro citybus red/white livery..... it had no fleet or company decals or numberplate from what i could see..... it was showing "HANOVER DISPLAYS 123456789 ABC"on the destintion screens..... SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR IT !!!!!!

Presumably these will be to the new improved design recently unveiled by Mercedes.
More info when I get it!

Mercedes on loan

This plain white Mercedes Citaro is on loan to Plymouth Citybus at the moment. Its seen on the 43 which is the route used to trial new buese in Plymouth, although of course Citybus already has a fleet of these. I guess its to help cover warranty work on the other Citaros as often seems to happen with new buses these days?

Progress

Progress can be measured many different ways. Its not too difficult to see the progress in bus design between these two buses even just from this rear end view. The main one I want to draw attention too is the bumper stickers. Finally Citybus have managed to get the correct wording on the Citaro's which they fail to achieve on the Volvo and the Darts.

didbygraham

Xmas Citaro

As its getting very close to Christmas I thought I would post this picture of one of the new Citaros with a festive driver. I am not sure if the driver seat is just very low - or if the driver is just very small - but he appears to be sitting a lot lower than most drivers!
didbygraham

New Citaros

Finally got to see some of the new Citaro buses for myself today and get a few pictures. Number 81 is seen above which is the best photo I managed to get as the lighting conditions were not brilliant.
I also managed to get a ride on number 86. I was very impressed with how quiet and 'rattle free' it was - much better than the old darts! The huge windscreen looks a lot bigger from inide than it does from outside. Internally its quite smart too with comfortable seating and low step free floor almost to the very back of the bus. Its s ahme that they have not bought enough to convert a whole route in one go as it would have made much more of an impact on the passengers.

Citaros arrive - official!

The Citybus Mercedes Citaros have arrived - its official!
Bus operator Citybus has taken delivery of eight gleaming new buses worth £1 million.The Milehouse-based company has bought eight of the world's most advanced buses, which were officially handed over to the company yesterday.
The new vehicles will be introduced exclusively on services 21 and 51 serving Plympton.
I will be out taking photos within the next week or so!