Centrebus goes small at Grantham, with the arrival of our two newest vehicles!
These two Mercedes-Benz 519CDI minibuses, with Ilesbus I-City bodywork, will enter service from Tuesday 2nd April on service 833, operating between Bingham, Aslockton, Langar and The Cropwells.
Both have been acquired from Weardale Motor Services - however one was never used, and was never actually registered during its time there, and so has become Grantham's first brand new bus in 14 years!
The two vehicles are numbered 203 (WP23XHJ - which was previously BU23WMS) and 204 (BK24HVD), and are seen here in Grantham Depot earlier today.
Tags: Centrebus 203 WP23XHJ 204 BK24HYD
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On Saturday 16th March, we held a launch event for the improvements to services which came into effect on Monday 18th, which include a doubling in frequency on the Grantham town service 1 between Earlsfield, the town centre and Alma Park - going from every 30 minutes to every 15; and the extension of the 28 from South Witham to Stamford.
Short Enviro200 548 was the vehicle used for the launch event, given that it's the most recently repainted vehicle in the fleet, and carries a nearside advertisement for the improvements.
It's seen here at the Market Place in Grantham Town Centre - a location which buses don't normally get anywhere near, so I was quite pleased to be given the chance to drive it into place here!
Tags: Centrebus 548 MH07HTC
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A surprise transfer which I hadn’t been expecting is that of VDL SB200/Plaxton Centro 745, which moved from Leicester to Grantham earlier on today.
As the registration gives away, the vehicle was formerly used on the Hospital Hopper route in Leicester, with UHL being the abbreviation for the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust - which was formerly also the route designation, prior to it becoming HH.
It’s seen here on Crabtree Road, between Buckminster and Skillington, whilst on its transfer journey.
Tags: Centrebus 745 H4UHL
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Time for another bigger bus than usual, today’s being the appearance of an Enviro200MMC on Vectare’s circular service 833 between Bingham, Aslockton and The Cropwells.
The service is normally operated by an EVM Cityline bodied Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, but the opening of Vectare’s new depot at Saxondale earlier this year, as well as the transfer of a few Enviro200MMC’s from sister company Central Connect, has seen a more mixed allocation on appearing on the route than previously.
Now numbered 329 in Vectare’s fleet, it’s seen here departing Bingham on the 1010 journey, heading clockwise around the loop.
You’ll see a bit more of the 833 featured here soon, as Centrebus will shortly be taking the route on, having won the tender to operate the service from the 2nd April.
Tags: Vectare 329 CC71GAL
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Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station is now one of a kind within the UK, as the final remaining coal-fired power station in the country. With its closure having been previously deferred, the axe is now dangling very precariously over the chimneys, with September 2024 being the current scheduled closure date - and it provides a very industrial backdrop to today's photograph.
We've had a couple of vehicle movements taking place over the weekend, getting vehicles in place at Grantham ahead of forthcoming timetable changes which double the frequency of the town service 1, and extend the 28 to Stamford - and seen here is the second of the two, with ADL Enviro200 522 moving from Chaserider's Cannock depot today.
It's a vehicle which can't be described as having had a very strenuous life, spending a lot of its time as an airport shuttle bus at Manchester, Heathrow and most recently, East Midlands Airport - with a short stay at Compass Bus in-between.
At the time I took this photo, the power station was generating 1.44GW of electricity - a mere fraction of that being generated by other sources. It'll be odd, many years from now, to stand at East Midlands Parkway station, and not having the cooling towers looming over you.
Tags: Centrebus Chaserider 522 YX18KYA
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