Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Newbies at PCB

Modernisation continues at Plymouth Citybus, with the first of the Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7s being painted into the new version of the Plymouth Citybus livery. With many thanks to Tom Pearce, I can bring you this photo of her in the paint shop soon after completion. You will also note that the original London spec roller blind has now been taken out, and a new LED blind fitted in its place. As with the design for the single deckers, there appears to be no room for advertising boards, so just contains information about Plymouth Citybus down the sides. The bus is certainly looking much tidier than it was when it arrived from London, and it looks like the depot team have again done a sterling job. Also interesting to note is that the middle doors have again been retained. On the Mylenium bodied examples, the disabled access ramp was located in the middle door, so I would presume that this is the same for these batch of buses. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing these out on the road, but there can't be much time left now for the remaining step entrance Dennis Darts. 


Go Ahead are now also modernising the Plymouth Citycoach fleet, with this new arrival. BX11 GVP is a Plaxton Panther boded Volvo B9R, currently in just plain white. Good to see that the trials with the demonstator of this time must have gone well, and that the PCC business itself is still going strong! Unfortunately First are now winding down the Truronian coaching side of the business they bought in 2008, which is certainly a shame, although I'm surprised its lasted this long! Good to see that Go Ahead have made a real effort with Plymouth Citycoach though, with the future seeming secure for years to come. 


Both photos are with thanks to Tom Pearce 
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8 comments:

  1. Jared2 June 2011 at 00:12

    So is the Citycoach on trial or is it now in the fleet?

    The double decker is looking good from what we can see. Any ideas on how many are being brought in this time? How many step darts are currently left in service?

    Can't wait to see them out and about. Do we have a on the road date yet?

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  2. Laurence Mayhew2 June 2011 at 00:26

    Yep, this coach is actually ours! The demo coach looked identical, but had a different registration (BJ60 CAO).

    As to the deckers, I believe there are currently 6 at Milehouse awaiting to be put into PCB livery. I could't tell you the exact number of Darts still going, but a majority of the L and M reg batches can still be seen around, so I would estimate around 10-15.

    No official date yet that I know of, simply because the depot has been filled with work, doing the various Blue Triangle vehicles, so there hasn't been any gaps for them to have a good crack and getting the deckers done as of yet, but I shall let you know as soon as I know!

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  3. Jared2 June 2011 at 00:35

    I remember seeing the demo coach & just wondered if this was another. Will be interesting to see if the coach gets a paintjob in the near future.

    Do you know what the result of the bendy bus trial was?

    Keep up the good work Laurence

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  4. Anonymous2 June 2011 at 01:12

    Passed the Milehouse depot today and noticed that one of the double deckers is now seemingly complete interms of the repaint. (I'd imagine it is the same one you have the picture of!)

    Shouldnt be long before they hit the road. . . Question has to be though, what routes will they spring up on, and, does Plymouth really need to replace the Darts with double deckers??

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  5. Anonymous2 June 2011 at 11:12

    there are 10 or 11 of the deckers currently at the depot waiting to be repainted this is the first to be compleated

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  6. Anonymous2 June 2011 at 14:18

    Well theres; 107, 112, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132 left so thats. . . . . 16 :)

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  7. lutongreen2 June 2011 at 21:56

    What has happened to the three Volvo stepdarts? I think they were nos. 51-53.

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  8. Anonymous3 June 2011 at 11:25

    They were withdrawn from use, but all three are still in the depot.

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