Vast Expansion - new outstation and a new depot

Our expansion is to continue in the next two to three months effecting our newly formed South East fleet  - more details on these soon - with a new outstation and a new depot.

From the 26th July, we will be opening a new depot in the Berkshire town of Bracknell. Here we will be taking over the operation of withdrawn First Bus routes 90, 94 and many more including commercial town services. However, the first route to be taken over will be route 90 with the rest following in late August when First Bus close there Bracknell depot. Route 90 to Reading via Workingham will become under our 'Crimson' brand with brand new double decker buses due shortly for the route. This new depot will be opened under our new South East division.

From the 30th August, we will be opening a new outstation in the Hertfordshire town of Hemel Hempstead which will see buses from our Aylesbury depot along with maintenance being completed there. This depot is being opened to takeover some of the services that are due to be withdrawn due to council funding but we also hope to operate other services in the town in the coming years.

These new depots and outstations will spark many changes within the group due to finances as well as many fleet movements to accommodate the new services.

Fleet Updates

ADL Enviro200s 2155/6/9/60 WO15 GZD/E, YX11 CNE/F have jointed the Weston-Super-Mare fleet. This means that Optare Solo 2157 CRZ 9869, ALX200s 2309/10 Y28/2 CMS and Dennis Dart 2311 W963 TRP have been withdrawn from the fleet.

 

Wright Eclipse Geminis 5716-28 LJ03 MBF/U/V/X/Y, MDE/F/K/U, MEV, MFA/E/F have all joined the fleet with 5716-22 being based at Aylesbury and 5723-28 based at the rural depot of Pimperne. Due to this Volvo Olympians 5741-3 R267/9/70 LGH moved to Norwich before being withdrawn there a week later. Plaxton President 5759/60 W501/2 WGH and Optare Spectra 5910-2/6 R154-6 NPR, Y975 FEL were withdrawn. 

 



Plaxton Elite 9509/10 X1 AYL, X1 LON are at Aylesbury for the X1 with Caetano Levante 9856/7 FJ06 URG/H being withdrawn.

Mercedes Benz Citaros 3905-10 BK08 NAO, BV08 ZWF/J/K/R/T are in service at Luton on route 82. Similar 3911-3 BK58 URX, BN09 FWS, BV10 ZJU are also due to enter service at a yet unknown depot in the coming months.

 

Great Yarmouth Service Changes

From Friday 3rd July, there will be a number of different service changes coming into place across our Great Yarmouth network with three brand new routes coming into place. The changes are listed below:

Route 9: This seasonal service will commence operation from this date with a frequency of every 15 minutes using three open-top buses plus a spare. The route will take passengers from the Haven Seashore Caravan Park along the seafront to the Sealife Centre and then on to Market Gates in the town centre. These open-top buses will be:

6901 GT52 YAR (ex-SN03 EAF)

6902 GT03 YAR (ex-SN03 EAG)

6903 C1 YAR (ex-T670 KPU)

6904 C2 YAR (ex-T671 KPU)

'Crimson' Route 10: The routeing will remain the same but the frequency is to be increased to every 12 minutes from end to end. This service will continue to be operated along with Better Bus with both companies operating seven workings each. Two more ADL Enviro400s have joined the Great Yarmouth fleet after refurbishment, however, they will be used for two days before to service changes at the Royal Norfolk Show on the 1st and 2nd of July.

5420 AU14 DOA

5421 AU14 DOD

Route 12: This new service will operate between Great Yarmouth town centre and Belton via Bradwell. The service will operate every 20 minutes using two Dennis Darts transferred in from the Aylesbury depot a few months back.

2110 SN06 JPV

2111 SN06 JPX

Route 15: This service will begin operation from this date between Scratby and Great Yarmouth via Caister.The service will operate every 20 minutes using brand new Wright double deckers brought from dealer stock a few months back and then refurbished to our own standards. One of this buses will act as a spare for this service.

5712 AU15 LGR

5713 AU15 LGS

5714 AU15 LGR

5715 AU15 LGU

Route 49: This new service will begin operation between The Norfolk Broads and Great Yarmouth via South Walsham. The service will operate every 30 minutes using two Optare Solos transferred from Aylesbury depot a few months back.

2115 YJ54 UBP

2116 YJ54 UBR

Also arrived here are Optare Solos 2117 YJ54 UBT and 2118 YJ12 NAA as spare buses from these services. 2117 has transferred from Aylesbury depot and 2118 was brought through Plaxton Coach Sales.

2117 YJ54 UBT

2118 YJ12 NAA

Royal Norfolk Show Service

During the Royal Norfolk Show, on the 1st and 2nd July we will be operating a service between Sprowston Park & Ride and the Royal Norfolk Show. The service will also be stopping off at Norwich Rail Station and Norwich Bus Station along its route. The service will operate every 7 minutes with the journey time end to end expected to be about 35-40 minutes. Thirteen buses will be used for the service which contain a mix of buses from the Norwich fleet and buses which have been drafted in from other depots. The buses that are set to be allocated to these services on the 1st and 2nd of July are:



5420 AU14 DOA from Great Yarmouth



5421 AU14 DOD from Great Yarmouth



5624 LX04 FXV from Luton



5625 LX04 FXW from Luton

5712 AU15 LGR from Great Yarmouth

5713 AU15 LGS from Great Yarmouth

5714 AU15 LGT from Great Yarmouth

5715 AU15 LGU from Great Yarmouth

5741 R267 LGH from Aylesbury

5742 R269 LGH from Aylesbury

5743 R270 LGH from Aylesbury

5754 LK03 CFV from Norwich

8001 BX54 UDG from Norwich

It is expected that Sprowston Park & Ride will seen even more than usual visitors on these days so it is advised that passengers wanting the use the ordinary Park & Ride services use the Postwick Park & Ride site or any other site. On the days, the decision may be made to close the Sprowston Park & Ride site and have it open only to passengers to the Royal Norfolk Show. In the event of this, the purple Enviro400s for the Sprowston Park & Ride service will be used on the Royal Norfolk Show service as well.

This will be the first day in service for Wright double deckers 5712-5 AU15 LGR-U, which we brought some months back as part of dealer stock and then refurbished to our own standards. This will also be the first day in service for Enviro400s 5420 AU14 DOA and 5420 AU14 DOD since there refurbishment to 'crimson' specification.

Wiltshire Buses Update

Wright Streetlite Max 3617 SK14 JFX has transferred to Salisbury for use on route 24 alongside an Enviro300. The other Enviro300 will become a spare bus as Salisbury didn't use to have one of a suitable size for this route. 3617 has come from Southampton depot and carries the new livery.

The operation of ex-Damory route 400 (Salisbury – Cann Common) will be operated by Wiltshire Buses as of Monday 22nd June as this would make more sense operationally. Optare Solo 2340 MX57 CAV has been transferred to Salisbury for this from the rural ex-Damory Pimperne depot. 2340 carries the new version of fleet livery.

Damory Joins The Group

Another acquisition by Braham Buses Group is of Go-Ahead owned Damory from Dorset. This is by far the biggest purchase so far by the group but does not include the Poole depot which is to be incorporated into the Wilts & Dorset subsidiary of Go-Ahead and nor does it include the coach side of the business which will stay under Go-Ahead ownership but named as Tourist. However, the deal does include the buy out of 63 buses and 2 depots including Dorchester and a rural depot in Pimperne in Dorset.

All buses are to be added into the Braham Bus group fleet number sequence but East Lancs Myllennium Vyking PL51 LGE and East Lancs Myllennium Lowanders YJ05 PXM/N are withdrawn but have gained Braham Buses Group fleet numbers 5616, 5612 and 5613 respectively. Optare Solo 2353 CE52 UXC is also withdrawn but is likely to see use else where within the group.

All buses in the Damory livery have had there fleet names removed and replaced with Braham fleet names like Optare Excel 3311 HF03 HKA. Eventually, the whole of the Damory fleet will be repainted into Braham corporate livery.

Rainbow Norwich Launches

Today we are launching our new Rainbow Norwich network for city services around Norwich. Each area of Norwich has been given its own colour and the buses have been repainted into the necessary colour scheme for the area which that route operates in. The first day of the new network is on Sunday 7th June but the needed changes may already be seen on our buses in the Norwich area. The routes and there colours can be seen listed below with an image of one of the buses for the route:

Route 32: City Centre - Plumstead Road - Heartsease

Route 33: City Centre - Eaton - Cringleford - Caistor St Edmund - Poringland

Route 34: City Centre - Eaton

Route 35: City Centre - Heartsease - Thorpe End

Route 37: Mulbarton - Long Stratton - City Centre - Aylsham Road - Hellesdon - Horsford

Route 38: City Centre - Aylsham Road - Airport Industrial Estate - Ives Road

Route 39: Lakenham - City Centre - Mile Cross

Route 41: City Centre - New Sprowston - Sprowston

Route 43: City Centre - Felthorpe - Reepham