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www.buszone.co.uk

October 2006

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| Site Last Updated: 26-12-07 |

30-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 723 and 961-4 are shortly to be repainted into a new generic livery of silver (in place of the charcoal) and beige with a non-silver swoop. 11 entered service with the others on 23rd, whilst 12 has been held back by Scania for development work, but with delivery expected soon. 963 remains at Newbury to cover. 971-3 are confirmed as being withdrawn on 13th, and were swapped with 961-3 on 14th. 942, 961/2/4 were withdrawn from Newbury on 20th, and 630/1 on 21st. 630/1, 942, 961/2/4 were swapped with 6-11 from Reading on 22nd ready for 23rd. Thanks to Brian Coney for this. 630 may have replaced 632 in the Reading ancillary fleet.
  • A Wrightbus Hybrid double decker that is due to be shown at the Bus & Coach show in November, is expected to visit Reading in December for the benefit of Local Authorities, councillors and developers. Thanks to Brian Coney for this.
  • Reading Transport Optare Solos: 123 has been repainted into the new Newbury livery, first appearing in service on 28th. Thanks to David Wilder for this. 120/1 have replaced 630/1 in the town fleet and had lost Vodafone logos by 27th.  Thanks to Brian Coney for this.
  • First Berkshire Fleet List: 64812/4/6/8 may have gone on loan to First Hampshire from 11th/13th October, but reports are unconfirmed. Thanks to Brian Coney for this. Meanwhile 64816/8 were withdrawn on 2nd. Thanks to Mat Wooll for this.
  • Horseman Coaches Fleet List: Three Volvos arrived today and L904/52/55 NWW departed as expected. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 34112 is now confirmed in service alongside 34113. Warwickshire County Council owned 47027 has also returned to the company, and re-entered service recently in Countylinks livery. Thanks to Keith Wood for this.

29-10-06:

  • Reading Transport: Link added to DJ Hancock's site with photo of ex 752 with Bedfordshire County Council
  • Reading Transport Optare Spectras: 751 is reported by the PSV Circle as having passed from Shamrock to J G Coaches in August, so there appears to be some confusion regarding its new owner. Hopefully things can be cleared up in due course. Meanwhile 752 is confirmed as having passed from Shamrock to Bedfordshire County Council in August. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.

28-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Optare Spectras: 751 has passed from Shamrock to Westbus at Hounslow who are managed as part of Armchair, the coaching side of Metroline. Thanks to LOTS for this.
  • Horseman Coaches Fleet List: Three Volvos arrived on 25th bringing the total to five, with L905 NWW departing the same day. Three more are due on Monday when L904/52/55 NWW should depart. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.

27-10-06:

26-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 942 has been returned to the leasing company, and is being offered for sale by Southdown PSV. 971 had joined 970 withdrawn at Reading by 14th with 961/3 also present there that day. Unlike 6-11, OmniCity 12 has yet to be shown as registered on the DVLA website meaning it may be this one which is not yet in service.
  • Reading Scania OmniCitys: 6-10 were delivered to Reading on 13th, not Newbury.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 34118 has returned from refurbishment. Warwickshire County Council 47027 looks set to rejoin the Warwickshire fleet shortly following changes to tendered services elsewhere. It is currently in store at Nuneaton. 40143 may have been withdrawn. 11 new Optare Solo Slimlines have been ordered for Witney to replace Varios 47371-75/77-82 and Darts 32627-30 following changes to services in Witney and Carterton from 10th December, although delivery is not expected to coincide with this date.

23-10-06:

22-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 475 has a new MegaRear for Ikea replacing its one for the Ant Bully. Thanks to James Cusworth for this.
  • Horseman Coaches Fleet List: L902/948 NWW departed on 20th to Filer, Stanton Wick, Somerset. The second three new Volvos didn't arrive as planned, but are now due in the next few days. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.

19-10-06:

  • Horseman Coaches Fleet List: The first two of the new Volvo B12B / Plaxton Panthers arrived yesterday, with three more due tomorrow. The vehicles are not going to enter service until the new year, at which point they will be registered. L903/951 NWW departed in exchange, with L902/905/948 NWW due to depart tomorrow. To cover in the meantime M659 SBL, N660/2 VJB and T10/20 DMB have been temporarily returned to service. The new Panthers differ from the first ones in having a longer front overhang and a wider door so that a wheel chair lift may be fitted if required in the future, they have destination equipment, a reversing camera, a DVD player and more, but no rear window. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: The seating capacities on the exLondon Darts at Nuneaton is B34F. Thanks to Keith Wood for this.

17-10-06:

  • Weavaway Travel Fleet List: The two new Bova Magiqs on order are WA56 ENV/W, one arrived on 10th and the other was at the dealership today. H251/6/7 JJT have been reregistered LUI 9693/4/5. Former W341 MKY passed from Moseley (dealer) to Wills, Bow, Devon. Thanks to Derek Bradfield for this.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 13626 has transferred from Nuneaton to Rugby. 14515 has been reinstated to Nuneaton from reserve, and 34111 to service at Nuneaton from dual door conversion. 20220 is confirmed as remaining at Leamington following the arrival of the Darts, whilst 40143 transferred from Leamington to Nuneaton, 40153 returned off loan from Leamington back to Nuneaton and 40163 has been withdrawn from Leamington for disposal. Withdrawn Rugby 40160 is also awaiting disposal. Withdrawn 32002/3/4/6/7/8 have transferred to Stagecoach East at Bedford.

16-10-06:

12-10-06:

10-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 6-12 are to be registered YN56 FAA/F/J/K/M/O/U. All are now in the Country and are to be delivered soon. There is to be a Vodafone launch in the week prior to their entry in service on 23rd. Meanwhile 970-3 are to return to the leasing company at the end of this week, with 961-4 to be used in their place for one week. 964 actually arrived in Newbury on 5th to replace 970 which had to visit Reading for repairs to an electrical fault. 4th October may become the withdrawal date for this vehicle. 961-3 have had most of their TVP vinyls removed as well pending the loan. Ancillary vehicles 306 and 350 left the fleet between 24th September and 8th October, whilst the Scania OmniLink demonstrator was returned to Scania on 15th September. Thanks to Brian Coney for this.
  • Reading Transport MegaPanels: 512 has a new panel for Tour de Reading which was fitted on 4th. Thanks to Brian Coney for this.
  • First Berkshire Fleet List: Ten Mercedes Citaros with Euro V engines are on order for use on Heathrow services in the new year. The six remaining low floor Scanias expected are actually coming from South Yorkshire from whence they will be released in the next few months. Thanks to Keith Nason for this. 65831 lost its ColourBus livery for Computer Associates during September in favour of ordinary First Student livery. Thanks to Brian Coney for this.
  • Oxford Bus Company Fleet List: 809 returned refurbished and repainted in City 5 livery a week or so ago. Dart 401 has been repainted into the new two tone red Oxford Bus Company livery, as has the first cascaded Trident NX51 UCL although it has yet to enter service.

09-10-06:

  • Reading Transport Fleet List: Three of the Vodafone OmniCity registrations are YN56 FAA, FAF and FAK, although its not confirmed which fleet numbers these will be. These three were amongst five at the Scania dealership in Hull this weekend. Thanks to Keith Thompson for this. The seven new vehicles are expected to enter service on 16th.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 20218 is confirmed as having transferred from Leamington to Nuneaton. Thanks to Keith Wood for this.

07-10-06:

05-10-06:

03-10-06:

  • First Berkshire Fleet List: 60162, 60164, 60165, 60168 officially entered service on 13th September, 60167 on 26th September and 60163 on 1st October. 34279 transferred from Bracknell to Slough on 28th September and 60295 was withdrawn from Bracknell on 29th September. Thanks to Mat Wooll for this.
  • Thames Travel Fleet List: New is Dart 156 probably registered KX56 HCZ, although this noted in a rush
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 35176-85 have branding for route X17, whilst 35175 is an unbranded spare. All now are confirmed in service apart from 35185. Following this Leamington 20558, 20560, 20803, 20804 (and most likely 20541, 20557, 20559, 20808 as well) have lost their X17 branding - except for the front destination display surrounds which remain purple. 20201 has transferred from Leamington to Nuneaton, whilst 20219 is confirmed still at Leamington leaving only the statuses of 20218 and 20220 as unconfirmed. Leamington 20417 and Nuneaton 20423 are in the process of being transferred to Yorkshire following the fleet reshuffle. 16072 has been repainted from Unibus livery back into fleet livery following changes to the Unibus timetable for this academic year. The 'Solo' branding on 47014/5 has been removed from the sides of the vehicles, but remains in place on the rears. Withdrawn Rugby 14374 and 14937 are in store at Leamington along with 29617, 14517, 14932 and 14944. Leamington 40143 and 40163 appear likely to have been withdrawn, and 40153 has probably returned to Nuneaton.

02-10-06:

  • News Page: New Scania OmniCity Vehicles for Thames Valley Park with photos of 1, 2, 3 and 5
  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 4 is registered YN56 FBK and 5 is YN56 FBL. 1-5 all entered service today, whilst redundant 961-4 are parked up at the rear of the depot, status unknown. 970-3 are still in service at Newbury on Vodafone duties, and have not yet returned to the leasing company as was previously suggested that they might. 473 has lost its MegaRear for Ant Bully in favour of fleet livery, but 475 still has its one.
  • Reading Transport Leyland Olympians: 14, 15 and 17 have passed from Ensignbus (dealer) to Peter Godward Coaches, Chelmsford.
  • Reading Transport Optare Excels: 929 has gained Hanover LED displays
  • Reading Transport Scania OmniCitys: NEW PAGE! to follow developments with this vehicle type
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: New 35176/79/80/83 were confirmed in service today. Thanks to Keith Wood for this. 34112/3 have returned from refurbishment and appear to be ready for use at Nuneaton. Thanks to Alistair Rigley for this. 32002-8 have been withdrawn for immediate disposal.

01-10-06:

  • News Page: Solo Next in New Newbury livery with photo of 109. Thanks to Paul Hilton for this.
  • Reading Transport Fleet List: 109 has been repainted into the new livery, and entered service on 25th September after several days of operation without vinyls/logos. Thanks to Paul Hilton for this.
  • Oxford Bus Company Fleet List: 808 has been refurbished and repainted in City 5 livery. Eight Dennis Trident / Plaxton Presidents (including NX51 UCL) are expected from Go North East for route 35. Thanks to Malcolm Crowe for this. Additionally, 641 was repainted into new style Oxford Bus Company Livery a couple of weeks ago.
  • Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire Fleet List: 20206, 20217 and 20814 were amongst six B10Ms that transferred from Leamington to Nuneaton today. Thanks to Alistair Rigley for this.

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