Snap on Sunday

Here we see Western Greyhound's Volvo Olympian S455 ATV on the lengthy 510, from Newquay to Exeter. The journey takes the bus 3hrs 30minutes, leaving Newquay at 13:05 and arriving into Exeter at 16:35. The last time I used this service I had a Mercedes Citaro, replacing the Volvo due to operational reasons requiring the Citaro to be moved up to the Bude depot for the next day's work. The Olympian performed faultlessly over the 2 and a half hours I spent aboard her up to *Launceston before switching to the 576. These Ex Nottingham beasts really do have some power and they really do perform surprisingly well. Of course the gearboxes have a fairly low ratio so speed is not a key element, but they certainly can go along some of the twisty narrow roads of West Cornwall. They certainly feel much more agile than the Citaro I did the journey aboard in 2009. S455 is pictured here in Okehampton resting before continuing the journey to Exeter.