GERMANS ON CHANTRYS ~ TEMPO BRANDING ~ AND TRIDENT DEPARTURE

Hello and welcome to another post of this bus blog. I am writing this blog on Monday 20th May at 22:20, and lets get down to buisness! First and foremost, Ipswich Buses Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses have recently been employed on the Chantry (Cambridge Drive) routes and is not a fantastic idea due to some tight corners along the route; OmniCity saloons were better to be honest! Now, the Mercedes buses is perhaps packed with premium motors and massive horses to power them (which makes them expensive), and one Saturday, a driver decided to give one of them a thrash up Birkfield Drive and that was OK. 

Mercedes 155 seen at Rail Station on May 9th

Today, on 20th May, Mercedes 155 was employed on the 13 route between Tower Ramparts and Tescos. 

Also, all Optare Tempo's have subsequently arrived and have been in service (apart from 92, which is having a issue), and have been branded for two predetermined routes and that is for 9 and 10 between Tower Ramparts and Castle Hill/Whitton and the other route is branded for the 13 between Tower Ramparts and Copdock Tesco's, now in my dedicated opinion, I am not a fan of the branding itself, because they are probably to head towards other routes such as the 3's for example. I remember the Scania OmniCity saloons branded for the 13 back in 2007 when they were state-of-the-art back then, and it wasn't long before one of them appeared on another route. And going back to Tempo SR's, each day, I look on bustimes.org to see which buses are on what route, and most recently, a frequency of them does a 4, 1, even a 3 in the mornings before heading towards their actual allocated route.


Before concluding this specific page, I would like to inform enthusiasts that Dennis Trident 8 has left the fleet and headed for a local scrapyard which is presumably Beestons. I seriously loved that Trident. RIP 8 (LX04FYB).  

8 getting prepared to be towed away by the DAF CF tow truck. 

44518 done the 66 on Monday 20th May!

And also, important notice that First E200's will be first to be repainted starting with 44517, and the next one is 44519 as I express. And one of them was allocated to the 66!

A REVIEW OF THE TEMPO SR AND NEWS.

These are the current Tempo SR's in service: 87,88,89,90,91,94,96,97,98, and 99. Whilst 92 and 93 are already getting prepared for service; but nobody has found 95 unless there is something wrong with it, I don't know, although I am writing this blog at 21:53 on Sunday 5th May. 

Latest withdrawls: 8,70,71,72,73,75,87,88,134,136,137, 244. Although Monday 6th May, more could be withdrawn from service. Another point could be that 84 and 135 be a spare bus if a Tempo SR is out-of-service. 

But the review of one Tempo SR. 6/10.
Boarded 99, YJ12GWU, one of the nice drivers who I commonly chitchat to, and the driver didn't actuall like the bus as he was protesting about hard drivers chair, back hurts because of it, and also the bells are exceedingly quiet. I'd rather be on a MCV Evolution to be honest. In my personal opinion, for a customer (well, enthusiast), was satisfactory as the whole engine was level-headed which is powered from Mercedes-Benz. 

Now some of these photos are actually from myself with 99 at Tower Ramparts alongside with an interior shot take at Copdock Tesco's. Also one of the photos was on a Saturday when Lowlander 58 was employed onto the 8 service. Also, recently, Versa 152 going through the Old Cattle Market bus station due to closure of Dogs Head Street.

Also a photo of Tempo SR 94 employed onto the 16 service which this done 1 trip only and returned to the depot, and the next time is came out was 2 days later. Also, Dart 137 seen on its last day service with Ipswich Buses on the 13, the remaining Dart is brother 135 which remains as a spare.

Also 84, which was the first bus to be painted in that livery with the 'Waterfront' signage on the window, it was taken on May 1st. 

Also with Ipswich Buses, their travel office has changed their timings for customers who usually comes in for assistance if required. Monday to Fridays: 09:00 to 12:30 - 13:00 to 17:00. Saturday is now between 10:00 and 14:00. 

And before finishing this blog, I have some news regarding First Ipswich. 44517 is to return from Lowestoft, and also thanks to a nice driver from First who I seemed to bumped into the local shop, she told me that 4 Enviro 300's are coming from Colchester Depot, so probably get rid of those 2005 buses which needs a bit of a steam clean and interior clean. Also no news on replacing the B7TL's. 

69011 done a quick detour via Tower Ramparts bus station as driver disremembered to go down Civic Drive when Museum Street was closed, but will 69011 leave the fleet (Taken 8th April), meanwhile, SN62AHV, 67736 could even join the Ipswich fleet. (Taken 9th April)