Bus Vannin Fleet Update December 2013
Further Citaros join the fleet
After the arrival of 225 in February there was a reasonable gap before the next Citaro joined the fleet, with a second ex- demonstrator BD62 LPX arrived in August. However it did not enter service until mid September, now with fleet number 226 registered LMN-226-H, initially working mostly from Ramsey. The next arrivals returned to brand new vehicles, the four new buses 227-230 (LMN-227/8/9/30-H) arrived in early November, entering service after a few weeks.
Change for the Streetlites?
The demonstrator door forward Streetlite 127 has continued in service since June, however with the arrival on island of the Mercedes Sprinter, 127 was re-registered as LMN-267-K during October. The original batch 121-126 may have decreased, 121 was seen in Heysham docks earlier in the year, and of recent 122 and 125 have also not been noted anywhere on island, Banks Circus recently has been observed without any Streetlites in the main yard.
ELC fleet draws down
As with the trend of the last couple of years the East Lancs bodied Tridents and DAF fleet has been decreasing and it continues to do so. During September and into October 2013, 11 and 16, and then 13, 14 and 15 were disposed off, believed to be going to a company in Nottingham. 12 is the only remaining member of the batch although has not been noted in service during December. Although all members of the 2003 batch of DAFs remain with Bus Vannin all except 6 and 7 appear to have been restricted to school services only during December.
New Volvo Wright Eclipse Geminis
During November Bus Vannin received delivery of its first new double deck vehicles in four years. These were 6 Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Geminis numbered 171-176 (LMN-171/2/3/4/5/6-K) in a silver livery unlike the 2009 Geminis. The buses entered traffic in the latter part of the month and have since been in frequent regular service.
General News
Some of the other observations of recent.
All photos © David Kelly 2013, unless stated otherwise. All photos of buses in depots have been taken from outside, do not access a depot without permission. Many of the observations made of Banks Circus depot have been made from travelling past by train.