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Excel:
Excel News
Content copyright of
Shaun C. 2008-11.
Email for more details
or to contribute.
Excel:
Excel News
Content copyright of
Shaun C. 2008-11.
Email for more details
or to contribute.
Optare Excel News
Last update: 16th December 2011
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Contributions and corrections welcome to slc9t9@yahoo.com (copy and paste email address)
16th December 2011
A-Line, Pelaw - acquired ex-Geoff Amos HIL6812 (V390KVY), entering service with A-Line in early October. They also operate P502OUG, R29MFM and V79JKG, the three of which were previously owned by M Travel.
Alpha Bus - R987EWU was bought for the Sidmouth, Devon, Festival service in August 2011, but was found to be underpowered for hills that were involved. This bus had been sold by Midland Bus to JP Travel, where it is not thought to have been used, before moving on to Alpha. It has been stored since at least September 2011.
Blackpool Transport - just a few photos of the fleet, 214 at Talbot Square in modern fleet livery on 30th September 2011, 216 in former 'Line 7' livery on 23/07/11 and 220 also on 23rd July 2011 in the former general route fleet livery of 'Metro Coastlines' as Blackpool Transport's bus operations were known as for nine years until July 2010.
East Yorkshire Motor Services - S288RAG was withdrawn at one time during 2011, it had been the last Excel with East Yorkshire to have the original type of engine fitted (for readers unfamiliar with the companies, both EYMS and Blackpool have been fitting newer lower emission engines to their older Excels). It has however returned to service, though with what sort of engine is not known.
First Manchester - Excels still operate in force in the Wigan area, R2LCB shows some caring attention from a paintbrush as well, with matt black painted areas including unusually on the front grill and the Optare lettering picked out in silver! The rear end also has an unusual Excel logo painted on. Photo's taken on 24th August 2011.
Also on 24th August 2011, R882ENF (former R1LCB) was photographed front and back at Leigh bus station. This has unusual tail lights, as per Wigan stablemate P213HRJ, previously shown on this news page.
GHA - N201LCK unlicensed, N206LCK SORN.
Go Goodwin, Eccles - By 09/11 330GGX returned to its Nottingham registration of Y957DRR and moved on to Shoreline Suncruisers of Scarborough. It became a 61 seater vehicle for schools whilst with Go Goodwin, as advertised on the side of the bus.
The two images above, the first taken by Steve Kemp and the second by Richard Grantham (click names for Flickr sites for these photographers) show the bus on 12th July 2011 at Sale Baths in Go Goodwin colours, and on 22nd September 2011 in Shoreline Suncruisers livery.
The registration mark '330GGX' is now however on P915SUM, seen above on 12th October 2011. P915SUM had been WSV553 for a while but reverted briefly to its P reg.
R380DJN has been recently parked outside the Macclesfield Town football ground with J Davidson Scrap Metal Processors vinyls and is believed to be operational, having been branded with advertising for the scrap dealer itself before leaving Go Goodwin's. However recently it has been re-branded to advertise Henshaws Waste Management, though keeping the lower bodyside images of scrap vehicles. The bus itself had previously been registered WSV551 until that reg moved on to ex Nottingham series 2 Excel FD51EYX. In the image above taken in April 2011 it could be seen to still have Go Goodwin lettering etc at their Eccles depot, and would appear to have been sold on since then as it now has J. Davidson Tours on its front destination area.
WSV541 (FD51EYS, WSV reg once carried by R376DJN) was noted in the last update as being for sale on Ebay. It still operates with Go Goodwin, albeit without the branding for the Go1 route.
WEZ7837, Nottingham’s FD51EYU, carried this interesting livery combination – Go Goodwin’s and a little bit of Nottingham green, when viewed on a depot visit on 2nd April 2011. This photo and and R380DJN image were kindly provided by Richard Covey - click on his name to see his Flickr site.
Hardings - ex Ipswich 187 P5HCR had been for sale in Coventry after Harding's demise.
Impera of Moreton, Wirral - R990EWU seen on a depot visit on 12th November 2011.
Konectbus of Dereham - 201 R836FNG withdrawn, to be used as spares for others in the fleet. It has been withdrawn due to new vehicles arriving etc, other the R-FNGs and possibly S169UAL could be sent to other parts of GoAhead or sold.
ex McKindless of Wishaw - P540CTO has been converted to a party bus and registered as A2VGA.
The photo above and below were provided by David Love and taken in October 2011. His Flickr site is available by clicking here.
P544GAU and S556OGB, also previously operated by McKindless are on the same site in Cowdenbeath and are likely to be owned by the same company - future plans unknown.
V193DRC is the only other ex McKindless vehicle tracked, as previously reported it moved to Thompson's of Ringwood.
Midland Bus - S2CLA at Wolverhampton's new bus station in October 2011. For information on their former R987EWU, see Alpha Bus at the top of the news.
New Adventure Travel - S931LBL last known to have worked at the end of 2010, this may have been sold for scrap? H2KFJ seems to have been withdrawn by the end of June, shortly after the photo displayed at the last news update, and has regained Reading registration S929LBL. Their other Excel S925LBL appears to still be in operation.
Norfolk Green - operate P195SGV, S156UAL, S171UAL and S172UAL after both P190SGV and R186DDX were sold for preservation during the summer. Their remaining buses are expected to be seen off by newer Optare Tempos shortly. See 'preservation' towards the end of the update.
Nottingham Corporation Transport - 551 withdrawn by 09/11.
P&O, Dover - YJ51JXG seen on its usual Dover port to Dover railway station duty on 11th August 2011. A rear end view has been included of it to highlight the Excel2 logo. In common with a number of Excels in use at Dover it first entered service as a demonstration vehicle - whether the Excel2 badge was applied to non-demonstrators or not is not currently known.
X538NWT above in August 2011 at Dover Port between duties.
Peoples Bus, Aintree - S70BUS (ex S163UAL) is off the road with panels missing and mechanical problems. It is still owned by the company.
R375DJN at Bramley, near Powell's home depot in Hellaby, South Yorkshire, on 19th August 2011.
Red Line Buses, Barnsley, operated ex M travel P273NRH briefly but this has now been scrapped. It had been purchased by them by at least July 2011, it had been for sale on Ebay prior to that.
South Wales Travel - in service are S926LBL and S930LBL, though R916SJH may have been withdrawn with a gearbox failure.
Stagecoach - R11ABC (re-registered to ??? before sale), R641MBV and R643MBC were the first Excels removed from service this year, in August 2011.
N208LCK, P101UNH (ex P333ABC), JAZ9851 (orginally P275NRH) and P937SSK (P277NRH) were officially delicensed on 27/10/11 and sold to Wigley, Carlton for scrap. The Chesterfield bus scene now feels quite weird with no prospect of an early Excel appearing (series 2 vehicles still work in the area), it had been quite an entertaining place with Excels gathered there which had operated in many parts of the country. There are however still series 2 vehicles operating around there.
N207LCK and P222ABC had already been scrapped earlier in 2010. The P333ABC reg is now on a car.
The photographs above both show YN51VHW in Rotherham on 19th August 2011.
Thompsons, Ringwood - P321KAR scrapped, P429AHR for sale (was on Ebay, but also in trade books). Their other Excel, V193DRC, has been on a SORN since the end of the summer.
Travel West Midlands - a selection of recent photos provided above. Mark Youdan's photo of R410HWU taken on 18th July 2011, Steve Kemp's were taken in October 2011, and my own of R417HWU was taken on 29th June 2011. The lowest photo, side-on, is of T717NOE.
X227WRA in Stockport on 25th June 2011, photo provided by Steve Kemp.
Wellglade Group - The following bits from an update kindly provided by Adrian Healey in June 2011;
Download Festival - no former TM Excels were used unlike the previous year, as many former branded vehicles were made available. Excels that were used however were the former Swift branded vehicles 264 to 266 which gave a low floor element to some of the services. Single deckers tended to be used on services to East Midlands Parkway, Derby services saw mainly double deckers when they were available.
Accident damaged Trent Excel 262 has gone for repair, whilst more seriously damaged Unibus/Notts and Derby Excel 223, has gone to Langley Mill for spares recovery. Its engine should appear in one of the TM Travel buses 213, 214 or 215.
A previous update made mention of series 2 example 225 - it was originally a demonstrator at one of the trade shows but has always carried one of Trent's liveries. It was originally numbered 99, and then numbered into the main Trent sequence at a later date.
It would seem that repainting of Excels into Transpeak livery is on hold, as the Trent Dove Holes operation is merging with Bowers, to form High Peak Buses. Time will tell what happens to this service, but it is worth adding that it has a far higher percentage of discounted older passengers than other routes.
In addition, these notes were also kindly provided by Adrian Healey in October 2011;
264 Y264DRC now with Kinch in Skybus Plus yellow livery. It is now allocated to Loughborough and was previously in Swift livery. 265 Y265DRC is now Trent Barton red with branding for 20% off at Wetherspoons with Mango.
Suspect Trent Scanias at Dove Holes are going to be replaced by Excels when it becomes High Peak Buses. Trent Excels 157 and 161 (S157/161 UAL) went to the auctions at Belle Vue, Manchester by Oct 2011. It was initally suggested that they had gone to Norfolk Green, but this does not seem to be the case. Of course it was reported previously that S157UAL had been preserved...
W214PRB in Rowsley on 19th June 2011. The photograph of X226WRA was taken at the same location on the same date.
Export
Dublin Port Company - V942DCF, now 99-D-87727, owned by Dublin Port Company (Ireland) to move passengers from passenger terminal 1 to ferries operating out of terminal 1 in the port. The main operator in terminal 1 is Irish Ferries. These photos were provided by Michael O'Connell.
Above are T787KNW (left) and T782KNW (right) at terminal 2 at Dublin port taken on 12th August 2010. The buses themselves travel on the ferry 'Adventurer' from Holyhead to Dublin and are used for transferring passengers from the terminal building to the ferry, the vehicles usually stay on-board the ship so are hard to picture. They have operated here since 2009.
Ex Airport bus sisters T781KNW and T788KNW were purchased by Stena Line in March 2008 and are both still on the Belfast to Cairnryan/Stranraer route as a back-up to the passenger walkway should it not be in use. One was allocated to each port and from time to time they would both end up at each port due to service break-downs etc.
New Zealand - Steve Kemp reports that in a ten day visit to New Zealand (and Australia) that only one Excel was seen; DSA57 fleet number 624 (above) in the places they would usually be expected. If you're interested in transport etc in those two countries then his Flickr site has this interesting set of collections.
Preservation;
P190SGV - Ipswich Bus Preservation group now privately owned and shown above on 21/11/11, joining in preservation...
R189DDX - photographed below earlier this year.
R186DDX - was acquired in late September from Norfolk Green, and is also an ex Ipswich vehicle. It has been purchased by Leon Wells.
As both of the above were purchased from Norfolk Green this leaves four Excels running with them, P195SGV, S156/71/2UAL.
Other Private Owner - P324NHJ appears to have been unlicensed since the summer. This was the first (of quite a few) converted for non PSV use. It is currently for sale with 275998 miles on the clock at Wilson Auctions, branded InverNET1, still present in catalogue for 10/12/11. It was first noted for sale in late August 2011.
Vengbus - A2VGA, ex P540CTO, see ex McKindless vehicles above.
Scrap by 11/11 and not previously reported;
Ex Wellglade/TM Travel V389KVY and R213DKG (Looms, Spondon).
Ex Cumfybus N202LCK now scrapped along with the pioneer body - N330EUG.
Ex Red Line Bus and M Travel P273NRH has now been scrapped.
Ex Centrebus S955NRA now scrapped at Ripleys.
Ex Powells P330NHJ now scrapped at Hardwicks
Wellglade ex TM Travel R374DJN and P505OUG now scrapped at Looms, spondon, the R-DJN having been noted there in October.
Plus also the ex Stagecoach vehicles listed under the Stagecoach section.
De-licensed for at least two years and considered scrapped if no other confirmation has been received;
For the following buses registrations and rough date of last license or SORN;
GAZ4632 (P276NRH) 02/09
N205LCK 11/07
P322KAR SORN 10/09, UL interrupted SORN from 04/11
P334NHJ 04/08
P501+6OUG 01/09
P504OUG 01/09
P509OUG 05/09
P510OUG 07/09
R207DKG 07/09
R208DKG 09/09
R212DKG 11/09
R278EKH (YBZ1462) 10/08
R279EKH (YBZ6469) 10/08
R281EKH (YBZ7531) 10/09
21st June 2011
BL Travel - own V196/7DRC, the former was photographed at South Elmsall on 9th June 2011 on route 223.
Go Goodwin - WSV541 (FD51EYS) currently for sale on Ebay. Photo on previous news update below.
Go South Coast (Wilts & Dorset) - 3603 W603PLJ is withdrawn at Poole depot with engine fire damage, noted on 7th June 2011. 3602 W602PLJ was also parked out of service in Poole depot. In use on local Poole services were 3604 W604PLJ, 3609 X609WLJ and 3611 HJ02WDF. 3611 was photographed at Broadstone by the editor on a 3 to Wimborne.
Showing the similar lower front end panelling of the second series Excel and the Optare Solos is 3604 W604PLJ at Poole bus station on 7th June 2011.
Hunt's of Alford and JP Travel of Middleton - Hunt's *do* still have V198DRC in operation at Skegness. Ex Hunt's V2JPT (V210ENU) was photographed in Manchester with JP Travel by Mark Youdan on 17th June 2011, now without an offside advert below the windows (see a previous news update).
Humphrey's Coaches/New Adventure Travel - S925LBL photographed above on 21st June 2011 on the Tesco contract from Newport bus station, sister H2KFJ (S929LBL) was there too on the Sainsbury’s contract (below). Their third Excel, S931LBL, may be withdrawn.
Although the two seen on the 21st June were both branded for Humphrey’s 102 to Pontypridd, the Excels seem to have been demoted from this as the company purchased new vehicles towards the end of 2010.
H2JFK (S929LBL) at Newport's Sainsbury's store on 21st June 2011.
Konectbus of Dereham - V205ENU (above) and W216PRB (below) seen on 26th May 2011 - photos from Steve Simister.
Powells Bus - P330NHJ and V208ENU were seen in use on route 18A from Doncaster to Dinnington on 31st May 2011, R375DJN and V208ENU seen on the 18/18A respectiveley on 9th June 2011 with P330NHJ parked up between school duties at Rotherham. Sadly P330NHJ had been debranded by 16th June 2011 and was parked in a Barnsley scrap yard.
R377DJN was seen in use on the 64A at Doncaster on 6th June 2011 but failed in service during the day. A Dart SLF was seen on the route later in the week.
Photographs: V208ENU above at Dinnington Interchange on 31st May 2011, and P330NHJ below at Rotherham Interchange on 9th June 2011.
P330NHJ above in original livery with Harris Bus, seen at Stratford on 11th August 1997. By 2011 it had been fitted with a fold out wheelchair ramp which it didn't have when new, these became a standard fitting on Excels from somewhen in 1997/98.
Simonds of Botesdale - P192SGV was parked in Bury St Edmunds for much of the day on 15th June 2011 - it has been re-registered to JGV929, a reg previously carried by some of their coaches. It carries the livery of its previous owner.
Southampton Airport - W428CWX, seen parked up in the last update, was seen parked by the terminal on 7th June 2011 so is presumably still regularly operated there.
Stagecoach East Midlands - Route branded 35009 YN51VHU at Rotherham.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - N207LCK and P222ABC were, as has been reported, sold for scrap last year. However, the other seven first series Excels were all in use on 10th June 2011, despite reports of four of them having been withdrawn at various points in the year. 35017 N208LCK (photographed below, 10/06/11), 35019 P333ABC and 35023 JAZ9851 (photographed above, 10/06/11 - originally P275NRH) were on route 25 from Chesterfield to New Whittington, 35020 R11ABC and 35025 P937SSK were on route 51 from Chesterfield to Danesmoor. The other shorter pair, 35021 R641MBV and 35022 R643MBV were on routes 80 and 90 to Staveley, the two routes interwork with each other.
P333ABC, and rear (below) - 10/06/11.
Short wheelbase R643MBV at Staveley after working a 90 from Chesterfield and heading back on an 80 to Yew Tree via Chesterfield - 10/06/11.
Wellglade Group
Notts & Derby - V202ENU was on the Meteor Park & Ride duty at Derby on 10th June 2011.
W221PRB was on shuttles from Derby to the Download Festival at Donnington Park also on 10/06/11. There were no reports this year of any TM Travel Series 1 Excels returning to use to cover this event, which they did last year having only been withdrawn for a few months at the time.
A selection of Series 2 Excels now operate Unibus services in Derby, X236WRA displays the relevant livery outside Derby Railway Station on 10th June 2011.
TM Travel - Excels from the W213-5PRB batch have been used on route 31 from Rotherham to Meadowhall recently, on 9th June 2011 as shown above it was W213PRB which was used. Below is W215PRB at Sheffield Interchange before working the 2005 Sheffield-Aston-Sheffield X14 working on the same day, W213PRB was also present in the interchange after working on the 31 route.
Trent Barton - 225 V109LVH seen at Stockport (thanks to Steve Kemp) provides an interesting talking point, it's one of the second series Excels with a Mercedes engine. These are generally newer than all of the Cummins engined original series vehicles, however this one was new in November 1999, which (I think) makes it the only series 2 Excel first registered in the 1990s. Indeed Trent still had a batch of early series vehicles to be delivered and V202ENU shown at the top of this Wellglade Group heading was first registered two months later in January 2000.
235 X235WRA in Derby, 10th June 2011.
Rear end of 226 W226WRA at Derby bus station, 10th June 2011.
In the attractive (to my eyes at least!) TransPeak green livery, X231WRA was seen at Stockport on 4th June 2011. On 10th June 2011 S158UAL, which is the last early series Excel in this livery, was seen at Derby after 1515 on a TransPeak working, photograph from Steve Kemp.
28th May 2011
Arriva - I've put this image at the top of the news page despite Arriva not being alphabetically before APL as I thought it was nice to show such a common livery which is carried by only two Excels. Also because it hasn't been shown here before... Anyway, this is V392KVY in Milton Keynes on 10th August 2010. The other Excel in this livery is V393KVY.
photo copyright of Steve Kemp
APL, Crudwell - V78JKG is currently out of service with a blown engine, and has been replaced by V81JKG which had been stored.
Here above is 10.7 metre long V78JKG when still in use, on 20th October 2010 on route 33 from Chippenham to Devizes, running with its digital blind removed.
photo copyright of Tony Shackell.
Bennett's of Kilwinning are thought to no longer have any Excels. RUI9480/1 ex R992EWU and R991EWU could have been exported (Ireland?).
R990EWU has definitely been sold though to Impera (see below).
Centrebus, Grantham - Shown above on 17th April 2010, S955NRA. The company no longer operate Excels, this bus is currently in Ripley's scrapyard but is intact. Centrebus compatriot N203LCK was shown in the last update.
photo copyright of Martyn Bryant.
(former) Essex County Buses - at least four of the Excels latterly owned by Essex County Bus are, along with other former buses from this fleet and the previous Stansted Transit concern, parked in a construction firm's compound near the village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire. They're parked close together some distance from the road so it is not possible to easily identify exactly which they are.
First Manchester - A few of the Excels here, at Wigan, have received repaints recently. 40067, 60149, 60155, 60156, 60157, 60159 have been noted to have been done in recent months. 60155 above, photo copyright of Steve Kemp, 21/05/11.
Although repainted, 60157 R7LCB required its front axle lifting before being recovered to the Wigan depot after a problem, 21/05/11.
Go Goodwin - Series 2 (circular headlights) WSV551 in Sale on 27th April 2011, reported in March was that the ex Nottingham series 2s in this fleet were formed of;
Y547LRB - now R77WES,
Y548LRB - now WSV552,
Y957DRR - now 330GGX,
FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX.
The FD51s have also now been re-registered as follows;
FD51EYS - now WSV541
FD51EYU - now WEZ7837
FD51EYX - now WSV551
R376DJN (now elsewhere) once carried WSV541, and R380DJN which is still in the fleet though currently not in service carried WSV551 until recently. This is the first occasion that I know of where more than one Excel has carried the same registration.
Go Goodwin have mainly used their Excels on school bus workings in the years they've owned them, and a couple of one way public workings in the peak times, though they're currently running a 'GO1' Sale-Altrincham public service in competition with Arriva which requires two buses. The former FD51s are being used normally, the two which now carry WSV plates and shown here can be seen to have GO1 branding and fare information on the windscreen and one nearside window.
photo copyright of Steve Kemp
Impera of Moreton, Wirral - A new operator on Merseyside has R990EWU, though they only operate public services on a Sunday morning.
Pilkington, Accrington - Their website advertises ex East Yorkshire S289RAG and S291RAG for sale.
M Travel - Another ex EYMS Excel for sale, P273NRH was on Ebay in mid May 2011.
New Adventure/Humphrey's - S931LBL appears to have been out of service for a few months, possibly all of this year?
Powell of Hellaby - On 20/05/11 V209ENU was operating the 1100 service 18A from Doncaster to Dinnington.
Trent/Wellglade - The days of the branded Excel on the Swift (Derby, Ashbourne and Uttoxeter) look to be coming to an end with the 3 vehicles set to be replaced by Wright bodied Volvos from the route 15. At least one of the Excels looks set to be transferred to Sutton Junction, replacing Mark 1 Excel 201 V201ENU.
Mark 2 225 (ex Dove Holes) and 235 (Sutton Junction) are transferred to Derby to work Trans Peak - they may yet be repainted and could see the withdrawal of oldest Mark 1, 158 S158UAL.
Former TM Travel Excels are expected to re enter service for the forthcoming Download Festival at Donington Park (10-12th June 2011) – there are not many other spare vehicles.
Ports and Airports
Stena Line - As well as the exports, sea ports and airport terminal allocations have made Excels more interesting to track as certain of the type appear to never be photographed and are often well hidden from public view, the discovery of '43' at Leeds Bradford Airport recently being an example. T781KNW, with a door behind the front off-side wheel arch, was seen above on 13th July 2010 in use at Stranraer Harbour which was a location not previously known to have had an Excel at. From this T781-5/7/8KNW batch, new to Concorde Express of Heathrow (no more known than that), T782/7KNW are also believed to be with Stena Line and located in Belfast. Indeed an episode of BBC's Top Gear originally aired on 6th December 2009 shows two Excels parked amongst lorries in Belfast.
photo copyright of Andy Campbell
BAA - New to Meteor Parking W428CWX, also of Heathrow (so were there lots of Excels both air-side and serving car parks at Heathrow at the turn of the millennium, or were they spread around the country at other airports?) it was previously silver as per T781KNW, though without the offside door. Now with BAA and having been at Southampton Airport since at least 2009, it was seen parked up out of use on 17th March 2011. W429CWX went to Essex County Buses, W439CWX was reportedly new to Cardiff Airport. All three are 11.5 metre vehicles.
photo copyright of John Oram
photo copyright of John Oram
Sales
V388KVY, V823DHN, V824DHN at Drew Wilson Coach Sales
JEZ9739 (X964BPA) back at Nigel McCree
Previously having been for sale for a long period of time but now thought to be scrapped, S160UAL above was seen on 7th November 2010.
photo copyright of Colin Humphrey
Website
The 'Excel List', a link for which is always provided on the top left hand side of this and most other pages, has been updated for the first time in over a year (it takes a long time to check on!). This page shows all Excels and current information for most vehicles.
Thanks for help in this update to:
GGC, Leo, Andy Campbell, Adrian Healey, Colin Humphrey, Martyn J, Steve Kemp, John Oram, Tony Shackell, Martin Stubbings
10th April 2011
A Line of Pelaw - now operate P502OUG, this bus had moved from Speedwellbus to M Travel, though it was not seen in use with M Travel.
From the top of Blackpool Tower in June 2010, 218 T218HCW (the black and yellow vehicle) was the only one of the native Blackpool Transport Excels to carry this older version of the black and yellow livery, which it still carries at the moment - as do ex Reading T932EAN and T933EAN and former Go North East T880RBR, T881RBR and T884RBR.
The other Excel in the view is 224 T934EAN which at the time was in Line 7 purple and yellow, it's now one of three Excels (T211HCW and T214HCW being the others) in the new Blackpool black and yellow livery.
Note 218 has no roof window, the window at the rear of 218 provides the emergency exit, on the ex Reading Excel in the view there is no rear window so the emergency escape is through the roof! Some Excels do however have both a rear window and roof window, presumably the roof window in that case is just used for ventilation.
The white circular pod on the roof of 218 is a GPS tracking device, now fitted as standard to Blackpool trams and buses, though on 224 it was fitted before its last repaint and is camouflaged in this instance by purple paint.
Centrebus of Grantham - N203LCK has been sold for scrap.
First Manchester - 40064-7/ 60140-7/54-6/9/60 were seen in use during a three hour period on the morning of 16th March 2011.
Routes that the vehicles were used on were;
40067, 60140-3/5/7 on 621/8s (circular) - of which 40067 is shown photographed above,
40064-6 on 625/6s (circular),
60144/54/60 on 658s to Leigh,
60146 on a 600, and
60155/6 on 631/2s (circular).
60144 R217SBA departs Wigan on a 658 to Leigh, 16/03/11..
The same bus, R217SBA, was delivered new to Timeline as their number 217 - seen here in 1999 after takeover by First and replacement of Timeline logos with First Manchester wording. At the time the photo was taken it was numbered 6605 in the First Manchester fleet. Photo taken by GGC.
R4LCB leads R5LCB away from Wigan bus station, 16/03/11.
Go Goodwin’s of Eccles - Reported last time was that three of the six series two vehicles had been re-registered; Y547LRB - now R77WES, Y548LRB - now WSV552, Y957DRR - now 330GGX.
The other three have now also changed, these are; FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX – which are now WSV541, WEZ7837 and WSV551 in order. The WSV551 plate was carried until recently on R380DJN, WSV541 was once carried by R376DJN which moved to Scotland).
R373DJN and P915SUM still carry WSV550 and WSV553 respectively.
On Monday 4th April 2011* the company began a Monday-Friday ‘GO1’ route from Sale-Altrincham, WSV541 (FD51EYS) and WSV551 (FD51EYX) have had fare branding added to their windows for use on the route.
Ipswich - The four remaining Excels are YG52DGO, YG52DHF, YG52DGE and YG52DFF, numbered 170 to 173. 170 and 171 see use on driver training, Nottingham is another operator which like to use the Excel 2 as a driver training vehicle, with their FD02SFJ, FD02SFK, FD02SFN and FD02SEO (numbered 559-562) used for that purpose.
JP Travel - 172 V2JPT was in use on 17s from Manchester to Middleton on 16th March 2011 - seen in Middleton. It has a Network West Midlands sticker in the windscreen (next to the £2.50 sticker if you haven't seen it before), possibly from ex Midland R744BUJ or R987EWU which may have been acquired by JPT for spares. JPT's other two operational Excels weren't seen, though S927LBL was seen in use in February on 18s from Manchester to North Manchester General Hospital.
The same bus is seen back in Skegness on 26th May 2007 with its original registration of V210ENU whilst operating alongside fellow former Trent bus V198DRC for Hunt's of Alford. Photo taken by the editor.
The rear of the bus may not have been painted since moving to JPT, it currently advertises a Middleton based DJ.
M Travel - P502OUG moved on to A Line of Pelaw, P152CTV and P273NRH are confirmed as operating with M Travel at Pontefract.
MASS Transit/Brightbus of North Anston - S154UAL, numbered 1154, was the last Excel here, having arrived from Trent in 2004 after withdrawal with a batch of fellow vehicles in the middle of 2003. The Derby Bus Depot reports 154-168 were for sale in June 2003 and that 154 as mentioned along with 155 S955NRA, 159/60/2/5 S159/60/2/5UAL were all working with Mass by 2004. Unfortunately 154 is now at Barnsley in a poor way, there is a photograph of it on Flickr. 154 attended the Showbus rally in 1998, along with at least one other Excel.
Midland - 153 S3CLA, which is with D&G, has been out of service having suffered an engine failure.
P&O - Buses magazine recently reported the move of R819WJA from Hull to Dover, but it had been at Dover in recent years anyway, so this had either been on a temporary loan or has actually gone the other way to Hull? It and R818WJA were sold by Travel de Courcey (where they hadn't stayed for long) to P&O Dover in 2002, but were new to Universal Buses of Chadderton.
Simonds of Diss - now operate P192SGV which had been with Carters recently after operating with Ipswich. Simonds once operated Excel T342FWR, which later moved to Ogdens of St Helens and was stripped for spares before being scrapped in 2009.
ex Smith's of Keith - P813OET was advertised for sale on a non-Ebay auction site for salvaging parts with damage to its front end after unfortunately suffering collision damage in March 2010 and is now presumed scrapped. A late correction but this had actually been an L1070 and not the longer L1150 chassis as was previously listed here.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - 11.5 metre long JAZ9851 on Knifesmithsgate in Chesterfield on mainly Optare Solo dominated route 39, 7th April 2011, photo taken by the editor.
On 7th April 2011, second series vehicles 35001/2/3/5/6 were in use on Chesterfield-Sheffield route 44/44A, early type Excel JAZ9851 was on route 39 during the morning, later disappeared but returned on a different route at 1430, P937SSK replaced it on 39s. P333ABC was on route 25, and N208LCK worked the 1440 Chesterfield-Alfreton on route 96 and a return working. Of the early series buses, ex Merseyside R11ABC, R641MBV and R643MBV were not seen. Previously operated P222ABC and N207LCK have been scrapped.
Other interesting Excels operated by Stagecoach include P937SSK - this is actually P277NRH of East Yorkshire Motor Services, it and JAZ9851 (P275NRH) shown above have lead interesting lives, being sold to Neoplan in July 2002 along with P276NRH, all three moving to Highland Country. 277 shown above had become registered NXI327 there, 275 as OXI413. A 2005 change, perhaps when Rapson's Coaches took over the business, meant 277 was now JAZ9857 and 275 picked up its existing JAZ9851 plate.
Stagecoach took over Highland Country in June 2008 and reregistered 277 to P937SSK, both moved south to Stagecoach Yorkshire and were refurbished before entering service there in early 2009.
Hard to believe but this bus is 15 years old very shortly, ex Blackpool N208LCK, seen departing from Alfreton bus station on route 96 to Chesterfield on 7th April 2011. After finishing with Blackpool it later worked for Docherty of Irvine who were taken over by Stagecoach Western - so Stagecoach East Midlands, Stagecoach Merseyside, Stagecoach Western and Stagecoach Yorkshire have all operated Excels.
The same bus seen at Oxford Square, Blackpool, on 20th October 1998 (photo by the editor). It remained operating in Blackpool for just over ten months longer, it was one of the last three operating during week commencing 06/09/99 which saw N202LCK, N206LCK and N208LCK in use. Vehicles from this eight strong batch that had not already left Blackpool to head back to Optare were all parked in Blackpool's depot on 13/09/99 (202, 206, 207, 208 and one more, believed to be 205).
P333ABC (seen 07/04/11), one of a trio of Excels new to Garnett of Ainsdale/ ABC Coach Ltd. Of the other two, P222ABC was scrapped recently and R11ABC may still operate with Stagecoach. These three and R641/2/3MBV from Springfield Coachways and later CMT Buses ended up working for Glenvale Travel (GTL), except R642MBV, in Liverpool who were taken over by Stagecoach in 2005. The subject of the photo, P333ABC, was named 'LEYTON' in the GTL fleet.
Musn't forget the newer Excels though - these were new to Stagecoach and outnumber the older type. Here is YN51VHO which carries route branding for route 44/44A which runs from Chesterfield to Sheffield. Stagecoach Yorkshire at Chesterfield operate 35000-35006 with at least 35003-6 carrying this route branding, sister company Stagecoach East Midlands operating the remainding nine of the Stagecoach second series Excels.
Photo taken by the editor on 7th April 2011.
Tates of Darton - R378DJN was indeed sold for scrap, and this operator now operates no Excels after finishing with former Optare demonstrator P443SWX in February.
Travel Wright of Newark - V199ERA had moved here from the Wellglade group by November 2010, joining S166UAL there.
Trent/Wellglade
V199ERA - see Travel Wright of Newark where it joins fellow ex Trent vehicle S166UAL which has been there for many years, S154UAL - see MASS Transit, S157UAL - sold for preservation whilst S158UAL remains in use on Transpeak. S161UAL in Derby college livery was withdrawn last year, possibly overlooked in last year’s news.
Conversions - Mike Phipps kindly provided images of his DAZ4300, originally P151CTV, which has been converted for the benefit of a church group in Barrow in Furness. A more thorough study, including photos of it before the rebuild, can be found on the Converted Excels page.
N203LCK, opposite fortunes of N208LCK shown further up in the update, in a scrapyard in Barnsley on 21st January 2011. Many thanks to Colin Humphrey for the above photo.
Scrapped Excels round up - Buses that have already been scrapped or are in the process of being stripped for scrap;
N203LCK (2011), N204LCK (2010), N207LCK (2010), P222ABC (2011), P202BNR,
P153CTV, P326NHJ, P327NHJ (2010), P328NHJ, P331NHJ, HCO514 (2010), P506OUG (2011),
P443SWX (2011), R741BUJ, R742BUJ (2010), R378DJN (2011), R3LCB, R642MBV,
R817WJA (2010), S35NRG, S156OCU, S157OCU, S154UAL (2011), S170UAL (2011),
T342FWR (2009), V998DRA, W301PRB, Y269DRC.
Possibly to add are P321KAR, P151BUG, P152BUG, P153BUG, P154BUG, P156BUG, P157BUG and perhaps others from McKindless, R987EWU and/or R744BUJ may have been stripped or scrapped and the same for ex Clarke’s of Tredagar P322KAR and P333HBC plus Optare demonstrator R98HUA is either in someone's shed in a excellent condition or it was scrapped 10 years ago! R98HUA is the only Excel demonstrator that is not known to have found a permanent owner.
Another view of former Blackpool 203, Centrebus of Grantham's 703, taken by Colin Humphrey. The fate of Centrebus's other Excel - S955NRA is not known, though it is not in operation.
Preservation - S157UAL has been preserved, making a total of at least two preserved Excels.
Thanks for your invaluable help and support to - GGC, Leo's Bus Tours, Midland Bus, Noel Baxendale, Colin Humphrey, Steve Simister, ipswichbuses.co.uk, Alan Millar/Buses magazine.
9th March 2011
Preservation
An important development and an indication of the small band of fans of the Optare Excel is the purchase for preservation after finishing service of R189DDX, being returned to the Ipswich area having been purchased from Tate of Darton back in August 2010. Not only is this the first Excel known to have been officially bought for preservation purposes, it could be the very first low floor/kneeling vehicle in preservation also.
Fleet updates
A Line, Pelaw - their first Excel was R29MFM, seen above at Pelaw depot in September 2010, showing how smart a clean Excel looks. The company have purchased V79JKG from M Travel and the vehicle was in service by 11/10. Photo copyright of Gary Hunter from www.simplybusphotos.com
Blackpool Transport - By February, 224 T934EAN has become the first ex Reading Excel now in service in Blackpool with a Euro3 Cummins ISBe engine, replacing the earlier 6BT unit. It was seen above in St Annes on 4th March 2011 after returning to service, showing the new (on 224) and old black and yellow livery (on 219 T880RBR behind) of Blackpool Transport.
221 T884RBR is now away for fitting of an ISBe engine, the final of the three ex Go North East vehicles in England with the old engine. All three of these, 219-21 T880/1/4RBR have now been fitted with a modern destination screen replacing the old type previously used by Go North East, shown in the editor's photos above of T880RBR at St Annes on 4th March 2011 and T881RBR at Victoria Hospital back on 24th January 2011. The same new destination equipment can be seen on T934EAN, though this was fitted to the ex Reading vehicles before they entered service here in January 2009.
222/3/5/6 remain in service with the old engine, and following another change in route allocations Excels have returned to route 7 at the end of January, having been used on route 2/2C since July 2010 which has returned to smaller vehicles. At least one Excel per day though is still being used on route 2/2C, and some on route 11 and occasionally the 14.
Rear end of T880RBR, showing just a single route number on the rear rather than a full destination as was the case with its previous Go North East destination equipment which was still in use with Blackpool earlier this year.
Cavendish Liner, Poole - just an update, they operate K155ELF (T790KNW) acquired from former Roadliner of Canford Heath (Poole) in August 2009, now numbered 4201 and painted in their dual dark grey livery. The livery previously associated with K155ELF is now carried as previously shown by 666VMX, another view is shown under 'Lucketts' below here.
First Glasgow - operate four Excels previously owned by Hutchison, above is T736JGB on 4th May 2010 in Glasgow. Copyright of Neil C.
W52WDS was seen receiving engine repairs at Cumbernauld depot on an Omnibus Society visit on 5th February 2011. T735JGB and W49WDS are Glasgow's other two Excels. Photo copyright of Alan Millar
GHA - N201LCK appears to have returned to service alongside N206LCK. 201 had been out of service for some time.
Go Goodwins, Eccles - this fleet has expanded with the purchase of six ex Nottingham series 2 11.8 metre long vehicles, by December 2010 their additional fleet comprised Y547LRB, Y548LRB, Y957DRR, FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX all ex Nottingham.
Also in the fleet already were R373DJN (ex Harris Bus/East Thames 2008), R380DJN (ex Raddoneur 2008) and P915SUM (ex Goonhilly 2006). R375DJN and R376DJN were also owned but have moved on (Powell and Bain respectively).
Series 1; L1070s R373DJN and R380DJN - now WSV550 and WSV551, L1150 P915SUM - now WSV553.
Series 2; L1180s Y547LRB - now R77WES, Y548LRB - now WSV552, Y957DRR - now 330GGX, FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX.
JP Travel - As previously documented, they operate S927LBL, S928LBL, V2JPT (V210ENU). It is possible that they acquired R987EWU and R744BUJ from Midland in December 2010, with R987EWU possibly later sold on. What happened then to either vehicle is not known.
Leeds Bradford Airport - Ref the last update of the mystery Excel here with no identity other than '43', there is no further news on this other than this quote from the Leeds Bradford Airport website; 'the Tempo [numbered only '44' with no UK registration] has been specifically designed for its role of moving passengers from the terminal building to one of four new remote aircraft stands now nearing completion for the busy summer holiday season. It joins an Excel to a similar internal layout and supplied to the airport in 2003.'
Lucketts - 666VMX (P913SUM) seen above in 2010.
M Travel - another acquisition here is Speedwellbus' former P502OUG, here by 01/11 and being painted during February. It joins 28 R28MFM (ex Happy Als 05/08), 152 P152CTV (ex Wellglade Group 07/10), 273 P273NRH (ex Hulley's 11/09).
Previously owned by M Travel but moved to A Line of Pelaw in 2010 were R29MFM (left, above, in A Line livery) and V79JKG which was still in M Travel livery when photographed in December. These were numbered 29 and 79 in the M Travel fleet. Photo copyright of Gary Hunter from www.simplybusphotos.com
New Adventure/Humphrey's Coaches - seen above is 'H2KFJ' at Newport on 8th March 2011, the former Reading L1150 S929LBL. In the New Adventure fleet are this one plus S925LBL and S931LBL. Sold in 2010 by the company were S927LBL and S928LBL to JP Travel. Both photographs copyright of Shaun C.
Norfolk Green - own S170/1/2UAL, R186DDX, P190SGV, P195SGV, S165UAL - numbered 201-7.
201 - S170UAL has been stripped but remained on their premises at the end of last year awaiting to be sent for scrap. This may have been unused since November 2007.
Pearson Vue - one of the final pair of Excels built is YJ54BTO, seen above. It and YJ54BTU were built as non PSV vehicles and BTO is seen acting as a mobile Driving Standards Agency theory test centre in 2009. Photo copyright of Peter Findlay.
Powells of Hellaby - current fleet is; 028 P330NHJ, 029 R377DJN, 030 R375DJN, 036 V209ENU, 037 V208ENU. Also previously owned was P327NHJ which has been scrapped.
Pioneer Travel, Rochdale - P541CTO is here, ex Warrington Coachways and may have been here since the end of 2009.
Speedwellbus of Hyde - retained N608JLY (N200FET) after the sale of P502OUG to M Travel.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - Withdrawn last year, P222ABC has been sold for scrap, at the end of 2010.
Tates of Darton - not a lot going on here any more unfortunately, P443SWX was the last Excel remaining licensed and has been withdrawn according to the Tates Travel website, and believed to have since been stripped for spares. Towards the end of 2010 they had P332NHJ and R378DJN, and as reported, R189DDX was sold for preservation, and P326NHJ had already gone for scrap - perhaps with the other two ex Harris Bus vehicles following for scrap.
Thompsons Tours of Christchurch - although P321KAR had only been re-activated by August 2010, it was out of service again by November during a period of non-operation by the operator and has been stripped and is believed to be ready for scrap. P429AHR remains and has been joined by ex McKindless V193DRC, seen above and below on 25th February 2011. This is the first former McKindless Excel known here to have found a new owner, many are currently for sale at low prices from used vehicle dealer Drew Wilson. Thanks to Peter Cook for both photos.
Trent Barton - (W223PRB above photographed on 13/12/10). Route 'The One' from Derby to Ashbourne and the 409 service that operates between Ashbourne and Uttoxeter which used Excel 264 Y264DRC was to be jointly branded 'Swift' and became an hourly service from Derby to Uttoxeter on 31/01/11, via Ashbourne. It is presumed that Excels 265 and 266 will be repainted turquoise as per 264 to give a common livery. For about a fortnight, Excel 265 was running unbranded in that livery, whilst sister vehicle 266 is in the paintshop. 264 and 266 have been branded for 'The Swift' service by February though 265 was away for repairs after damage caused by a skip to the near side of the bus.
Excel 260 carries the same generic Trent Barton livery as 262 and is back in service, advertising Trent services.
Withdrawn is Excel 157 S157UAL ex Trans Peak and stored at Langley Mill, 158 S158UAL still in use.
(Amberline Y271DRC seen above on 13/12/10).
By February, Rainbow 3 Excel 243 was back at Sutton after collision repairs during the heavy snow and Amberline branded Excel 255 has been repainted Trent Barton red and transferred from Langley Mill to Sutton, having been replaced on Amberline by a Solo. 256 and 257 remained on Amberline at the time.
Volvo B10M Plaxton coach 59 R59RAU is said to have transferred from Transpeak to TM Travel division, it's place on Transpeak being taken by Excel 225.
TM Travel; - the series 1 vehicles are believed to be stored out of use at Langley Mill. 1133/1134 R374/379 DJN - the former is reportedly being stripped for spares and 1134 may have been sold on. The first of this fleet withdrawn after the Wellglade Group takeover were R379DJN, R213DKG and V389KVY.
R213DKG back in September 2009 at the Halfway garage of TM Travel, during Johnson of Hodthorpe's VR running day. Coincidentally, Johnson's still operate former East Yorkshire Excel P274NRH. R213DKG however has operated for Cardiff City Transport, Reading Buses, Eastbourne Buses, South Gloucestershire and Central Connect before moving to TM Travel.
Sales
Ventura Sales - S160UAL no longer for sale.
Drew Wilson Sales; V212ENU plus others from McKindless, also V823DHN and V824DHN previously from A Trip in Time, which are seat belt fitted. P504OUG there by 08/10.
P501OUG and P506OUG were owned privately, P506OUG seen above has since been stripped to provide parts for P501OUG.
Thanks for help with this update to - GGC, Jenky, Leo, Adrian Healey, Colin Humprhies, Gary Hunter, Alan Millar/Buses magazine, Steve Simister, Mike White, Mark Williams.
23rd February 2011
A look at some of our exported Excels including R280EKH which was exported as recently as 2010, and a mystery at Leeds Airport...
Malta -
Malta is of course in the news with the end of traditional vehicles operating timetabled services currently scheduled for July 3rd 2011, which will include the only Optare Excel built for export, seen above in Paceville on 9th February 2011. Photo taken by the editor.
This was my second trip to Malta, on the first trip I didn't see the Excel at all - though sightings from a fellow enthusiast on the Malta Bus Yahoo email group confirmed it was operating. Rear view of FBY805.
Probably the only Excel to show off that it is 'powered by Cummins' or to state 'Excel' on the rear. Uniquely for an Excel this vehicle has a fully manual gearbox which doesn't sound at all unusual.
An off-side view of the FBY805 at Valletta taken by Peter Cook on 27th October 2010. As stated on the page about FBY805, it has had its windows fully replaced to these larger examples - about five years ago - to enable a decent air flow in the hot months. The chassis designation of this is a unique L1100 (11 metres) but its original window layout appeared to be the same as the L1070. I'm not sure exactly where on this vehicle it gains an extra 30 centimetres on the 10.7 metre version.
A plaque inside FBY805 states its significance in Maltese bus history as the first low fleer vehicle to enter the country in January 1997.
Optare would have hoped that their Excel exported to Malta would lead to orders for more. 14 years down the line I can't provide an answer as to why it didn't, perhaps the reliability of the very early Excels put them off, though it was documented that Optare only had a small production line back then and at the time had plenty of orders - some of them large in number - to provide vehicles for UK fleets. Development and production of the highly successful Optare Solos would also fill much of their workshop space.
Flying from Leeds Bradford Airport to Malta provided the chance to view this which I was unaware of, an un-registered three door (two near side, one off side) series 2 vehicle. A press release states this was new to this Airport in 2003, the only identity on it is the number 43. Several years later an Optare Tempo numbered 44 which is also un-registered was added to the fleet there.
Could it be that this Excel has escaped detection for a whole eight years? Unfortunately we had to walk to and from the plane, so no chance to check the chassis number!
New Zealand, Christchurch Bus Services -
As much as Malta is in the news in bus enthusiast circles, Christchurch - New Zealand - is unfortunately in the news this week following a bad earthquake.
Peter Cook had provided these images of ex Trent vehicles taken on 19th November 2008.
16 Trent Excels work for Christchurch, all but three of the remaining exported Excels in New Zealand are from the Reading fleet and those operate with Ritchies of Auckland. CQW41 above was previously T173LCH.
This rear and near side study of former T178LCH, now 133 CQU982, shows the interesting addition of a single door in front of the rear axle. Over the years a number of Excels have had the middle door removed (National Express's R-HWUs), though quite a few have had a full size middle door added, such as V511KMY and X538NWT at Dover - showing a versatility of the Excel body.
The panel towards the front of the small exit door would normally be fitted to the off side, judging by the livery.
Rear study of CRF809, ex T182LCH.
137 CQU960, originally T787XVO.
143 CRF819, former T788XVO.
Ex T977LCH above.
The 28th February 2010 update (which can be found much lower down this page) has a front off side view of CQU982 the rear near side of this is shown above here, and also a photo of ex Reading P904EGM now working with Ritchies of Auckland.
Thanks again for the New Zealand pics here to Peter Cook.
Ireland -
The most recently (known) export of an Excel to Ireland is R280LKH, now re-registered to 97-G-20318. It is owned by Lough Rea Hotel & Spa in Galway - who have a nightclub as you can see from the vinyls on the vehicle. Thanks to Martin Dillon for the photo.
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Last update: 16th December 2011
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16th December 2011
A-Line, Pelaw - acquired ex-Geoff Amos HIL6812 (V390KVY), entering service with A-Line in early October. They also operate P502OUG, R29MFM and V79JKG, the three of which were previously owned by M Travel.
Alpha Bus - R987EWU was bought for the Sidmouth, Devon, Festival service in August 2011, but was found to be underpowered for hills that were involved. This bus had been sold by Midland Bus to JP Travel, where it is not thought to have been used, before moving on to Alpha. It has been stored since at least September 2011.
Blackpool Transport - just a few photos of the fleet, 214 at Talbot Square in modern fleet livery on 30th September 2011, 216 in former 'Line 7' livery on 23/07/11 and 220 also on 23rd July 2011 in the former general route fleet livery of 'Metro Coastlines' as Blackpool Transport's bus operations were known as for nine years until July 2010.
East Yorkshire Motor Services - S288RAG was withdrawn at one time during 2011, it had been the last Excel with East Yorkshire to have the original type of engine fitted (for readers unfamiliar with the companies, both EYMS and Blackpool have been fitting newer lower emission engines to their older Excels). It has however returned to service, though with what sort of engine is not known.
First Manchester - Excels still operate in force in the Wigan area, R2LCB shows some caring attention from a paintbrush as well, with matt black painted areas including unusually on the front grill and the Optare lettering picked out in silver! The rear end also has an unusual Excel logo painted on. Photo's taken on 24th August 2011.
Also on 24th August 2011, R882ENF (former R1LCB) was photographed front and back at Leigh bus station. This has unusual tail lights, as per Wigan stablemate P213HRJ, previously shown on this news page.
GHA - N201LCK unlicensed, N206LCK SORN.
Go Goodwin, Eccles - By 09/11 330GGX returned to its Nottingham registration of Y957DRR and moved on to Shoreline Suncruisers of Scarborough. It became a 61 seater vehicle for schools whilst with Go Goodwin, as advertised on the side of the bus.
The two images above, the first taken by Steve Kemp and the second by Richard Grantham (click names for Flickr sites for these photographers) show the bus on 12th July 2011 at Sale Baths in Go Goodwin colours, and on 22nd September 2011 in Shoreline Suncruisers livery.
The registration mark '330GGX' is now however on P915SUM, seen above on 12th October 2011. P915SUM had been WSV553 for a while but reverted briefly to its P reg.
R380DJN has been recently parked outside the Macclesfield Town football ground with J Davidson Scrap Metal Processors vinyls and is believed to be operational, having been branded with advertising for the scrap dealer itself before leaving Go Goodwin's. However recently it has been re-branded to advertise Henshaws Waste Management, though keeping the lower bodyside images of scrap vehicles. The bus itself had previously been registered WSV551 until that reg moved on to ex Nottingham series 2 Excel FD51EYX. In the image above taken in April 2011 it could be seen to still have Go Goodwin lettering etc at their Eccles depot, and would appear to have been sold on since then as it now has J. Davidson Tours on its front destination area.
WSV541 (FD51EYS, WSV reg once carried by R376DJN) was noted in the last update as being for sale on Ebay. It still operates with Go Goodwin, albeit without the branding for the Go1 route.
WEZ7837, Nottingham’s FD51EYU, carried this interesting livery combination – Go Goodwin’s and a little bit of Nottingham green, when viewed on a depot visit on 2nd April 2011. This photo and and R380DJN image were kindly provided by Richard Covey - click on his name to see his Flickr site.
Hardings - ex Ipswich 187 P5HCR had been for sale in Coventry after Harding's demise.
Impera of Moreton, Wirral - R990EWU seen on a depot visit on 12th November 2011.
Konectbus of Dereham - 201 R836FNG withdrawn, to be used as spares for others in the fleet. It has been withdrawn due to new vehicles arriving etc, other the R-FNGs and possibly S169UAL could be sent to other parts of GoAhead or sold.
ex McKindless of Wishaw - P540CTO has been converted to a party bus and registered as A2VGA.
The photo above and below were provided by David Love and taken in October 2011. His Flickr site is available by clicking here.
P544GAU and S556OGB, also previously operated by McKindless are on the same site in Cowdenbeath and are likely to be owned by the same company - future plans unknown.
V193DRC is the only other ex McKindless vehicle tracked, as previously reported it moved to Thompson's of Ringwood.
Midland Bus - S2CLA at Wolverhampton's new bus station in October 2011. For information on their former R987EWU, see Alpha Bus at the top of the news.
New Adventure Travel - S931LBL last known to have worked at the end of 2010, this may have been sold for scrap? H2KFJ seems to have been withdrawn by the end of June, shortly after the photo displayed at the last news update, and has regained Reading registration S929LBL. Their other Excel S925LBL appears to still be in operation.
Norfolk Green - operate P195SGV, S156UAL, S171UAL and S172UAL after both P190SGV and R186DDX were sold for preservation during the summer. Their remaining buses are expected to be seen off by newer Optare Tempos shortly. See 'preservation' towards the end of the update.
Nottingham Corporation Transport - 551 withdrawn by 09/11.
P&O, Dover - YJ51JXG seen on its usual Dover port to Dover railway station duty on 11th August 2011. A rear end view has been included of it to highlight the Excel2 logo. In common with a number of Excels in use at Dover it first entered service as a demonstration vehicle - whether the Excel2 badge was applied to non-demonstrators or not is not currently known.
X538NWT above in August 2011 at Dover Port between duties.
Peoples Bus, Aintree - S70BUS (ex S163UAL) is off the road with panels missing and mechanical problems. It is still owned by the company.
R375DJN at Bramley, near Powell's home depot in Hellaby, South Yorkshire, on 19th August 2011.
Red Line Buses, Barnsley, operated ex M travel P273NRH briefly but this has now been scrapped. It had been purchased by them by at least July 2011, it had been for sale on Ebay prior to that.
South Wales Travel - in service are S926LBL and S930LBL, though R916SJH may have been withdrawn with a gearbox failure.
Stagecoach - R11ABC (re-registered to ??? before sale), R641MBV and R643MBC were the first Excels removed from service this year, in August 2011.
N208LCK, P101UNH (ex P333ABC), JAZ9851 (orginally P275NRH) and P937SSK (P277NRH) were officially delicensed on 27/10/11 and sold to Wigley, Carlton for scrap. The Chesterfield bus scene now feels quite weird with no prospect of an early Excel appearing (series 2 vehicles still work in the area), it had been quite an entertaining place with Excels gathered there which had operated in many parts of the country. There are however still series 2 vehicles operating around there.
N207LCK and P222ABC had already been scrapped earlier in 2010. The P333ABC reg is now on a car.
The photographs above both show YN51VHW in Rotherham on 19th August 2011.
Thompsons, Ringwood - P321KAR scrapped, P429AHR for sale (was on Ebay, but also in trade books). Their other Excel, V193DRC, has been on a SORN since the end of the summer.
Travel West Midlands - a selection of recent photos provided above. Mark Youdan's photo of R410HWU taken on 18th July 2011, Steve Kemp's were taken in October 2011, and my own of R417HWU was taken on 29th June 2011. The lowest photo, side-on, is of T717NOE.
X227WRA in Stockport on 25th June 2011, photo provided by Steve Kemp.
Wellglade Group - The following bits from an update kindly provided by Adrian Healey in June 2011;
Download Festival - no former TM Excels were used unlike the previous year, as many former branded vehicles were made available. Excels that were used however were the former Swift branded vehicles 264 to 266 which gave a low floor element to some of the services. Single deckers tended to be used on services to East Midlands Parkway, Derby services saw mainly double deckers when they were available.
Accident damaged Trent Excel 262 has gone for repair, whilst more seriously damaged Unibus/Notts and Derby Excel 223, has gone to Langley Mill for spares recovery. Its engine should appear in one of the TM Travel buses 213, 214 or 215.
A previous update made mention of series 2 example 225 - it was originally a demonstrator at one of the trade shows but has always carried one of Trent's liveries. It was originally numbered 99, and then numbered into the main Trent sequence at a later date.
It would seem that repainting of Excels into Transpeak livery is on hold, as the Trent Dove Holes operation is merging with Bowers, to form High Peak Buses. Time will tell what happens to this service, but it is worth adding that it has a far higher percentage of discounted older passengers than other routes.
In addition, these notes were also kindly provided by Adrian Healey in October 2011;
264 Y264DRC now with Kinch in Skybus Plus yellow livery. It is now allocated to Loughborough and was previously in Swift livery. 265 Y265DRC is now Trent Barton red with branding for 20% off at Wetherspoons with Mango.
Suspect Trent Scanias at Dove Holes are going to be replaced by Excels when it becomes High Peak Buses. Trent Excels 157 and 161 (S157/161 UAL) went to the auctions at Belle Vue, Manchester by Oct 2011. It was initally suggested that they had gone to Norfolk Green, but this does not seem to be the case. Of course it was reported previously that S157UAL had been preserved...
W214PRB in Rowsley on 19th June 2011. The photograph of X226WRA was taken at the same location on the same date.
Export
Dublin Port Company - V942DCF, now 99-D-87727, owned by Dublin Port Company (Ireland) to move passengers from passenger terminal 1 to ferries operating out of terminal 1 in the port. The main operator in terminal 1 is Irish Ferries. These photos were provided by Michael O'Connell.
Above are T787KNW (left) and T782KNW (right) at terminal 2 at Dublin port taken on 12th August 2010. The buses themselves travel on the ferry 'Adventurer' from Holyhead to Dublin and are used for transferring passengers from the terminal building to the ferry, the vehicles usually stay on-board the ship so are hard to picture. They have operated here since 2009.
Ex Airport bus sisters T781KNW and T788KNW were purchased by Stena Line in March 2008 and are both still on the Belfast to Cairnryan/Stranraer route as a back-up to the passenger walkway should it not be in use. One was allocated to each port and from time to time they would both end up at each port due to service break-downs etc.
New Zealand - Steve Kemp reports that in a ten day visit to New Zealand (and Australia) that only one Excel was seen; DSA57 fleet number 624 (above) in the places they would usually be expected. If you're interested in transport etc in those two countries then his Flickr site has this interesting set of collections.
Preservation;
P190SGV - Ipswich Bus Preservation group now privately owned and shown above on 21/11/11, joining in preservation...
R189DDX - photographed below earlier this year.
R186DDX - was acquired in late September from Norfolk Green, and is also an ex Ipswich vehicle. It has been purchased by Leon Wells.
As both of the above were purchased from Norfolk Green this leaves four Excels running with them, P195SGV, S156/71/2UAL.
Other Private Owner - P324NHJ appears to have been unlicensed since the summer. This was the first (of quite a few) converted for non PSV use. It is currently for sale with 275998 miles on the clock at Wilson Auctions, branded InverNET1, still present in catalogue for 10/12/11. It was first noted for sale in late August 2011.
Vengbus - A2VGA, ex P540CTO, see ex McKindless vehicles above.
Scrap by 11/11 and not previously reported;
Ex Wellglade/TM Travel V389KVY and R213DKG (Looms, Spondon).
Ex Cumfybus N202LCK now scrapped along with the pioneer body - N330EUG.
Ex Red Line Bus and M Travel P273NRH has now been scrapped.
Ex Centrebus S955NRA now scrapped at Ripleys.
Ex Powells P330NHJ now scrapped at Hardwicks
Wellglade ex TM Travel R374DJN and P505OUG now scrapped at Looms, spondon, the R-DJN having been noted there in October.
Plus also the ex Stagecoach vehicles listed under the Stagecoach section.
De-licensed for at least two years and considered scrapped if no other confirmation has been received;
For the following buses registrations and rough date of last license or SORN;
GAZ4632 (P276NRH) 02/09
N205LCK 11/07
P322KAR SORN 10/09, UL interrupted SORN from 04/11
P334NHJ 04/08
P501+6OUG 01/09
P504OUG 01/09
P509OUG 05/09
P510OUG 07/09
R207DKG 07/09
R208DKG 09/09
R212DKG 11/09
R278EKH (YBZ1462) 10/08
R279EKH (YBZ6469) 10/08
R281EKH (YBZ7531) 10/09
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21st June 2011
BL Travel - own V196/7DRC, the former was photographed at South Elmsall on 9th June 2011 on route 223.
Go Goodwin - WSV541 (FD51EYS) currently for sale on Ebay. Photo on previous news update below.
Go South Coast (Wilts & Dorset) - 3603 W603PLJ is withdrawn at Poole depot with engine fire damage, noted on 7th June 2011. 3602 W602PLJ was also parked out of service in Poole depot. In use on local Poole services were 3604 W604PLJ, 3609 X609WLJ and 3611 HJ02WDF. 3611 was photographed at Broadstone by the editor on a 3 to Wimborne.
Showing the similar lower front end panelling of the second series Excel and the Optare Solos is 3604 W604PLJ at Poole bus station on 7th June 2011.
Hunt's of Alford and JP Travel of Middleton - Hunt's *do* still have V198DRC in operation at Skegness. Ex Hunt's V2JPT (V210ENU) was photographed in Manchester with JP Travel by Mark Youdan on 17th June 2011, now without an offside advert below the windows (see a previous news update).
Humphrey's Coaches/New Adventure Travel - S925LBL photographed above on 21st June 2011 on the Tesco contract from Newport bus station, sister H2KFJ (S929LBL) was there too on the Sainsbury’s contract (below). Their third Excel, S931LBL, may be withdrawn.
Although the two seen on the 21st June were both branded for Humphrey’s 102 to Pontypridd, the Excels seem to have been demoted from this as the company purchased new vehicles towards the end of 2010.
H2JFK (S929LBL) at Newport's Sainsbury's store on 21st June 2011.
Konectbus of Dereham - V205ENU (above) and W216PRB (below) seen on 26th May 2011 - photos from Steve Simister.
Powells Bus - P330NHJ and V208ENU were seen in use on route 18A from Doncaster to Dinnington on 31st May 2011, R375DJN and V208ENU seen on the 18/18A respectiveley on 9th June 2011 with P330NHJ parked up between school duties at Rotherham. Sadly P330NHJ had been debranded by 16th June 2011 and was parked in a Barnsley scrap yard.
R377DJN was seen in use on the 64A at Doncaster on 6th June 2011 but failed in service during the day. A Dart SLF was seen on the route later in the week.
Photographs: V208ENU above at Dinnington Interchange on 31st May 2011, and P330NHJ below at Rotherham Interchange on 9th June 2011.
P330NHJ above in original livery with Harris Bus, seen at Stratford on 11th August 1997. By 2011 it had been fitted with a fold out wheelchair ramp which it didn't have when new, these became a standard fitting on Excels from somewhen in 1997/98.
Simonds of Botesdale - P192SGV was parked in Bury St Edmunds for much of the day on 15th June 2011 - it has been re-registered to JGV929, a reg previously carried by some of their coaches. It carries the livery of its previous owner.
Southampton Airport - W428CWX, seen parked up in the last update, was seen parked by the terminal on 7th June 2011 so is presumably still regularly operated there.
Stagecoach East Midlands - Route branded 35009 YN51VHU at Rotherham.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - N207LCK and P222ABC were, as has been reported, sold for scrap last year. However, the other seven first series Excels were all in use on 10th June 2011, despite reports of four of them having been withdrawn at various points in the year. 35017 N208LCK (photographed below, 10/06/11), 35019 P333ABC and 35023 JAZ9851 (photographed above, 10/06/11 - originally P275NRH) were on route 25 from Chesterfield to New Whittington, 35020 R11ABC and 35025 P937SSK were on route 51 from Chesterfield to Danesmoor. The other shorter pair, 35021 R641MBV and 35022 R643MBV were on routes 80 and 90 to Staveley, the two routes interwork with each other.
P333ABC, and rear (below) - 10/06/11.
Short wheelbase R643MBV at Staveley after working a 90 from Chesterfield and heading back on an 80 to Yew Tree via Chesterfield - 10/06/11.
Wellglade Group
Notts & Derby - V202ENU was on the Meteor Park & Ride duty at Derby on 10th June 2011.
W221PRB was on shuttles from Derby to the Download Festival at Donnington Park also on 10/06/11. There were no reports this year of any TM Travel Series 1 Excels returning to use to cover this event, which they did last year having only been withdrawn for a few months at the time.
A selection of Series 2 Excels now operate Unibus services in Derby, X236WRA displays the relevant livery outside Derby Railway Station on 10th June 2011.
TM Travel - Excels from the W213-5PRB batch have been used on route 31 from Rotherham to Meadowhall recently, on 9th June 2011 as shown above it was W213PRB which was used. Below is W215PRB at Sheffield Interchange before working the 2005 Sheffield-Aston-Sheffield X14 working on the same day, W213PRB was also present in the interchange after working on the 31 route.
Trent Barton - 225 V109LVH seen at Stockport (thanks to Steve Kemp) provides an interesting talking point, it's one of the second series Excels with a Mercedes engine. These are generally newer than all of the Cummins engined original series vehicles, however this one was new in November 1999, which (I think) makes it the only series 2 Excel first registered in the 1990s. Indeed Trent still had a batch of early series vehicles to be delivered and V202ENU shown at the top of this Wellglade Group heading was first registered two months later in January 2000.
235 X235WRA in Derby, 10th June 2011.
Rear end of 226 W226WRA at Derby bus station, 10th June 2011.
In the attractive (to my eyes at least!) TransPeak green livery, X231WRA was seen at Stockport on 4th June 2011. On 10th June 2011 S158UAL, which is the last early series Excel in this livery, was seen at Derby after 1515 on a TransPeak working, photograph from Steve Kemp.
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28th May 2011
Arriva - I've put this image at the top of the news page despite Arriva not being alphabetically before APL as I thought it was nice to show such a common livery which is carried by only two Excels. Also because it hasn't been shown here before... Anyway, this is V392KVY in Milton Keynes on 10th August 2010. The other Excel in this livery is V393KVY.
photo copyright of Steve Kemp
APL, Crudwell - V78JKG is currently out of service with a blown engine, and has been replaced by V81JKG which had been stored.
Here above is 10.7 metre long V78JKG when still in use, on 20th October 2010 on route 33 from Chippenham to Devizes, running with its digital blind removed.
photo copyright of Tony Shackell.
Bennett's of Kilwinning are thought to no longer have any Excels. RUI9480/1 ex R992EWU and R991EWU could have been exported (Ireland?).
R990EWU has definitely been sold though to Impera (see below).
Centrebus, Grantham - Shown above on 17th April 2010, S955NRA. The company no longer operate Excels, this bus is currently in Ripley's scrapyard but is intact. Centrebus compatriot N203LCK was shown in the last update.
photo copyright of Martyn Bryant.
(former) Essex County Buses - at least four of the Excels latterly owned by Essex County Bus are, along with other former buses from this fleet and the previous Stansted Transit concern, parked in a construction firm's compound near the village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire. They're parked close together some distance from the road so it is not possible to easily identify exactly which they are.
First Manchester - A few of the Excels here, at Wigan, have received repaints recently. 40067, 60149, 60155, 60156, 60157, 60159 have been noted to have been done in recent months. 60155 above, photo copyright of Steve Kemp, 21/05/11.
Although repainted, 60157 R7LCB required its front axle lifting before being recovered to the Wigan depot after a problem, 21/05/11.
Go Goodwin - Series 2 (circular headlights) WSV551 in Sale on 27th April 2011, reported in March was that the ex Nottingham series 2s in this fleet were formed of;
Y547LRB - now R77WES,
Y548LRB - now WSV552,
Y957DRR - now 330GGX,
FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX.
The FD51s have also now been re-registered as follows;
FD51EYS - now WSV541
FD51EYU - now WEZ7837
FD51EYX - now WSV551
R376DJN (now elsewhere) once carried WSV541, and R380DJN which is still in the fleet though currently not in service carried WSV551 until recently. This is the first occasion that I know of where more than one Excel has carried the same registration.
Go Goodwin have mainly used their Excels on school bus workings in the years they've owned them, and a couple of one way public workings in the peak times, though they're currently running a 'GO1' Sale-Altrincham public service in competition with Arriva which requires two buses. The former FD51s are being used normally, the two which now carry WSV plates and shown here can be seen to have GO1 branding and fare information on the windscreen and one nearside window.
photo copyright of Steve Kemp
Impera of Moreton, Wirral - A new operator on Merseyside has R990EWU, though they only operate public services on a Sunday morning.
Pilkington, Accrington - Their website advertises ex East Yorkshire S289RAG and S291RAG for sale.
M Travel - Another ex EYMS Excel for sale, P273NRH was on Ebay in mid May 2011.
New Adventure/Humphrey's - S931LBL appears to have been out of service for a few months, possibly all of this year?
Powell of Hellaby - On 20/05/11 V209ENU was operating the 1100 service 18A from Doncaster to Dinnington.
Trent/Wellglade - The days of the branded Excel on the Swift (Derby, Ashbourne and Uttoxeter) look to be coming to an end with the 3 vehicles set to be replaced by Wright bodied Volvos from the route 15. At least one of the Excels looks set to be transferred to Sutton Junction, replacing Mark 1 Excel 201 V201ENU.
Mark 2 225 (ex Dove Holes) and 235 (Sutton Junction) are transferred to Derby to work Trans Peak - they may yet be repainted and could see the withdrawal of oldest Mark 1, 158 S158UAL.
Former TM Travel Excels are expected to re enter service for the forthcoming Download Festival at Donington Park (10-12th June 2011) – there are not many other spare vehicles.
Ports and Airports
Stena Line - As well as the exports, sea ports and airport terminal allocations have made Excels more interesting to track as certain of the type appear to never be photographed and are often well hidden from public view, the discovery of '43' at Leeds Bradford Airport recently being an example. T781KNW, with a door behind the front off-side wheel arch, was seen above on 13th July 2010 in use at Stranraer Harbour which was a location not previously known to have had an Excel at. From this T781-5/7/8KNW batch, new to Concorde Express of Heathrow (no more known than that), T782/7KNW are also believed to be with Stena Line and located in Belfast. Indeed an episode of BBC's Top Gear originally aired on 6th December 2009 shows two Excels parked amongst lorries in Belfast.
photo copyright of Andy Campbell
BAA - New to Meteor Parking W428CWX, also of Heathrow (so were there lots of Excels both air-side and serving car parks at Heathrow at the turn of the millennium, or were they spread around the country at other airports?) it was previously silver as per T781KNW, though without the offside door. Now with BAA and having been at Southampton Airport since at least 2009, it was seen parked up out of use on 17th March 2011. W429CWX went to Essex County Buses, W439CWX was reportedly new to Cardiff Airport. All three are 11.5 metre vehicles.
photo copyright of John Oram
photo copyright of John Oram
Sales
V388KVY, V823DHN, V824DHN at Drew Wilson Coach Sales
JEZ9739 (X964BPA) back at Nigel McCree
Previously having been for sale for a long period of time but now thought to be scrapped, S160UAL above was seen on 7th November 2010.
photo copyright of Colin Humphrey
Website
The 'Excel List', a link for which is always provided on the top left hand side of this and most other pages, has been updated for the first time in over a year (it takes a long time to check on!). This page shows all Excels and current information for most vehicles.
Thanks for help in this update to:
GGC, Leo, Andy Campbell, Adrian Healey, Colin Humphrey, Martyn J, Steve Kemp, John Oram, Tony Shackell, Martin Stubbings
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10th April 2011
A Line of Pelaw - now operate P502OUG, this bus had moved from Speedwellbus to M Travel, though it was not seen in use with M Travel.
From the top of Blackpool Tower in June 2010, 218 T218HCW (the black and yellow vehicle) was the only one of the native Blackpool Transport Excels to carry this older version of the black and yellow livery, which it still carries at the moment - as do ex Reading T932EAN and T933EAN and former Go North East T880RBR, T881RBR and T884RBR.
The other Excel in the view is 224 T934EAN which at the time was in Line 7 purple and yellow, it's now one of three Excels (T211HCW and T214HCW being the others) in the new Blackpool black and yellow livery.
Note 218 has no roof window, the window at the rear of 218 provides the emergency exit, on the ex Reading Excel in the view there is no rear window so the emergency escape is through the roof! Some Excels do however have both a rear window and roof window, presumably the roof window in that case is just used for ventilation.
The white circular pod on the roof of 218 is a GPS tracking device, now fitted as standard to Blackpool trams and buses, though on 224 it was fitted before its last repaint and is camouflaged in this instance by purple paint.
Centrebus of Grantham - N203LCK has been sold for scrap.
First Manchester - 40064-7/ 60140-7/54-6/9/60 were seen in use during a three hour period on the morning of 16th March 2011.
Routes that the vehicles were used on were;
40067, 60140-3/5/7 on 621/8s (circular) - of which 40067 is shown photographed above,
40064-6 on 625/6s (circular),
60144/54/60 on 658s to Leigh,
60146 on a 600, and
60155/6 on 631/2s (circular).
60144 R217SBA departs Wigan on a 658 to Leigh, 16/03/11..
The same bus, R217SBA, was delivered new to Timeline as their number 217 - seen here in 1999 after takeover by First and replacement of Timeline logos with First Manchester wording. At the time the photo was taken it was numbered 6605 in the First Manchester fleet. Photo taken by GGC.
R4LCB leads R5LCB away from Wigan bus station, 16/03/11.
Go Goodwin’s of Eccles - Reported last time was that three of the six series two vehicles had been re-registered; Y547LRB - now R77WES, Y548LRB - now WSV552, Y957DRR - now 330GGX.
The other three have now also changed, these are; FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX – which are now WSV541, WEZ7837 and WSV551 in order. The WSV551 plate was carried until recently on R380DJN, WSV541 was once carried by R376DJN which moved to Scotland).
R373DJN and P915SUM still carry WSV550 and WSV553 respectively.
On Monday 4th April 2011* the company began a Monday-Friday ‘GO1’ route from Sale-Altrincham, WSV541 (FD51EYS) and WSV551 (FD51EYX) have had fare branding added to their windows for use on the route.
Ipswich - The four remaining Excels are YG52DGO, YG52DHF, YG52DGE and YG52DFF, numbered 170 to 173. 170 and 171 see use on driver training, Nottingham is another operator which like to use the Excel 2 as a driver training vehicle, with their FD02SFJ, FD02SFK, FD02SFN and FD02SEO (numbered 559-562) used for that purpose.
JP Travel - 172 V2JPT was in use on 17s from Manchester to Middleton on 16th March 2011 - seen in Middleton. It has a Network West Midlands sticker in the windscreen (next to the £2.50 sticker if you haven't seen it before), possibly from ex Midland R744BUJ or R987EWU which may have been acquired by JPT for spares. JPT's other two operational Excels weren't seen, though S927LBL was seen in use in February on 18s from Manchester to North Manchester General Hospital.
The same bus is seen back in Skegness on 26th May 2007 with its original registration of V210ENU whilst operating alongside fellow former Trent bus V198DRC for Hunt's of Alford. Photo taken by the editor.
The rear of the bus may not have been painted since moving to JPT, it currently advertises a Middleton based DJ.
M Travel - P502OUG moved on to A Line of Pelaw, P152CTV and P273NRH are confirmed as operating with M Travel at Pontefract.
MASS Transit/Brightbus of North Anston - S154UAL, numbered 1154, was the last Excel here, having arrived from Trent in 2004 after withdrawal with a batch of fellow vehicles in the middle of 2003. The Derby Bus Depot reports 154-168 were for sale in June 2003 and that 154 as mentioned along with 155 S955NRA, 159/60/2/5 S159/60/2/5UAL were all working with Mass by 2004. Unfortunately 154 is now at Barnsley in a poor way, there is a photograph of it on Flickr. 154 attended the Showbus rally in 1998, along with at least one other Excel.
Midland - 153 S3CLA, which is with D&G, has been out of service having suffered an engine failure.
P&O - Buses magazine recently reported the move of R819WJA from Hull to Dover, but it had been at Dover in recent years anyway, so this had either been on a temporary loan or has actually gone the other way to Hull? It and R818WJA were sold by Travel de Courcey (where they hadn't stayed for long) to P&O Dover in 2002, but were new to Universal Buses of Chadderton.
Simonds of Diss - now operate P192SGV which had been with Carters recently after operating with Ipswich. Simonds once operated Excel T342FWR, which later moved to Ogdens of St Helens and was stripped for spares before being scrapped in 2009.
ex Smith's of Keith - P813OET was advertised for sale on a non-Ebay auction site for salvaging parts with damage to its front end after unfortunately suffering collision damage in March 2010 and is now presumed scrapped. A late correction but this had actually been an L1070 and not the longer L1150 chassis as was previously listed here.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - 11.5 metre long JAZ9851 on Knifesmithsgate in Chesterfield on mainly Optare Solo dominated route 39, 7th April 2011, photo taken by the editor.
On 7th April 2011, second series vehicles 35001/2/3/5/6 were in use on Chesterfield-Sheffield route 44/44A, early type Excel JAZ9851 was on route 39 during the morning, later disappeared but returned on a different route at 1430, P937SSK replaced it on 39s. P333ABC was on route 25, and N208LCK worked the 1440 Chesterfield-Alfreton on route 96 and a return working. Of the early series buses, ex Merseyside R11ABC, R641MBV and R643MBV were not seen. Previously operated P222ABC and N207LCK have been scrapped.
Other interesting Excels operated by Stagecoach include P937SSK - this is actually P277NRH of East Yorkshire Motor Services, it and JAZ9851 (P275NRH) shown above have lead interesting lives, being sold to Neoplan in July 2002 along with P276NRH, all three moving to Highland Country. 277 shown above had become registered NXI327 there, 275 as OXI413. A 2005 change, perhaps when Rapson's Coaches took over the business, meant 277 was now JAZ9857 and 275 picked up its existing JAZ9851 plate.
Stagecoach took over Highland Country in June 2008 and reregistered 277 to P937SSK, both moved south to Stagecoach Yorkshire and were refurbished before entering service there in early 2009.
Hard to believe but this bus is 15 years old very shortly, ex Blackpool N208LCK, seen departing from Alfreton bus station on route 96 to Chesterfield on 7th April 2011. After finishing with Blackpool it later worked for Docherty of Irvine who were taken over by Stagecoach Western - so Stagecoach East Midlands, Stagecoach Merseyside, Stagecoach Western and Stagecoach Yorkshire have all operated Excels.
The same bus seen at Oxford Square, Blackpool, on 20th October 1998 (photo by the editor). It remained operating in Blackpool for just over ten months longer, it was one of the last three operating during week commencing 06/09/99 which saw N202LCK, N206LCK and N208LCK in use. Vehicles from this eight strong batch that had not already left Blackpool to head back to Optare were all parked in Blackpool's depot on 13/09/99 (202, 206, 207, 208 and one more, believed to be 205).
P333ABC (seen 07/04/11), one of a trio of Excels new to Garnett of Ainsdale/ ABC Coach Ltd. Of the other two, P222ABC was scrapped recently and R11ABC may still operate with Stagecoach. These three and R641/2/3MBV from Springfield Coachways and later CMT Buses ended up working for Glenvale Travel (GTL), except R642MBV, in Liverpool who were taken over by Stagecoach in 2005. The subject of the photo, P333ABC, was named 'LEYTON' in the GTL fleet.
Musn't forget the newer Excels though - these were new to Stagecoach and outnumber the older type. Here is YN51VHO which carries route branding for route 44/44A which runs from Chesterfield to Sheffield. Stagecoach Yorkshire at Chesterfield operate 35000-35006 with at least 35003-6 carrying this route branding, sister company Stagecoach East Midlands operating the remainding nine of the Stagecoach second series Excels.
Photo taken by the editor on 7th April 2011.
Tates of Darton - R378DJN was indeed sold for scrap, and this operator now operates no Excels after finishing with former Optare demonstrator P443SWX in February.
Travel Wright of Newark - V199ERA had moved here from the Wellglade group by November 2010, joining S166UAL there.
Trent/Wellglade V199ERA - see Travel Wright of Newark where it joins fellow ex Trent vehicle S166UAL which has been there for many years, S154UAL - see MASS Transit, S157UAL - sold for preservation whilst S158UAL remains in use on Transpeak. S161UAL in Derby college livery was withdrawn last year, possibly overlooked in last year’s news.
Conversions - Mike Phipps kindly provided images of his DAZ4300, originally P151CTV, which has been converted for the benefit of a church group in Barrow in Furness. A more thorough study, including photos of it before the rebuild, can be found on the Converted Excels page.
N203LCK, opposite fortunes of N208LCK shown further up in the update, in a scrapyard in Barnsley on 21st January 2011. Many thanks to Colin Humphrey for the above photo.
Scrapped Excels round up - Buses that have already been scrapped or are in the process of being stripped for scrap;
N203LCK (2011), N204LCK (2010), N207LCK (2010), P222ABC (2011), P202BNR,
P153CTV, P326NHJ, P327NHJ (2010), P328NHJ, P331NHJ, HCO514 (2010), P506OUG (2011),
P443SWX (2011), R741BUJ, R742BUJ (2010), R378DJN (2011), R3LCB, R642MBV,
R817WJA (2010), S35NRG, S156OCU, S157OCU, S154UAL (2011), S170UAL (2011),
T342FWR (2009), V998DRA, W301PRB, Y269DRC.
Possibly to add are P321KAR, P151BUG, P152BUG, P153BUG, P154BUG, P156BUG, P157BUG and perhaps others from McKindless, R987EWU and/or R744BUJ may have been stripped or scrapped and the same for ex Clarke’s of Tredagar P322KAR and P333HBC plus Optare demonstrator R98HUA is either in someone's shed in a excellent condition or it was scrapped 10 years ago! R98HUA is the only Excel demonstrator that is not known to have found a permanent owner.
Another view of former Blackpool 203, Centrebus of Grantham's 703, taken by Colin Humphrey. The fate of Centrebus's other Excel - S955NRA is not known, though it is not in operation.
Preservation - S157UAL has been preserved, making a total of at least two preserved Excels.
Thanks for your invaluable help and support to - GGC, Leo's Bus Tours, Midland Bus, Noel Baxendale, Colin Humphrey, Steve Simister, ipswichbuses.co.uk, Alan Millar/Buses magazine.
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9th March 2011
Preservation
An important development and an indication of the small band of fans of the Optare Excel is the purchase for preservation after finishing service of R189DDX, being returned to the Ipswich area having been purchased from Tate of Darton back in August 2010. Not only is this the first Excel known to have been officially bought for preservation purposes, it could be the very first low floor/kneeling vehicle in preservation also.
Fleet updates
A Line, Pelaw - their first Excel was R29MFM, seen above at Pelaw depot in September 2010, showing how smart a clean Excel looks. The company have purchased V79JKG from M Travel and the vehicle was in service by 11/10. Photo copyright of Gary Hunter from www.simplybusphotos.com
Blackpool Transport - By February, 224 T934EAN has become the first ex Reading Excel now in service in Blackpool with a Euro3 Cummins ISBe engine, replacing the earlier 6BT unit. It was seen above in St Annes on 4th March 2011 after returning to service, showing the new (on 224) and old black and yellow livery (on 219 T880RBR behind) of Blackpool Transport.
221 T884RBR is now away for fitting of an ISBe engine, the final of the three ex Go North East vehicles in England with the old engine. All three of these, 219-21 T880/1/4RBR have now been fitted with a modern destination screen replacing the old type previously used by Go North East, shown in the editor's photos above of T880RBR at St Annes on 4th March 2011 and T881RBR at Victoria Hospital back on 24th January 2011. The same new destination equipment can be seen on T934EAN, though this was fitted to the ex Reading vehicles before they entered service here in January 2009.
222/3/5/6 remain in service with the old engine, and following another change in route allocations Excels have returned to route 7 at the end of January, having been used on route 2/2C since July 2010 which has returned to smaller vehicles. At least one Excel per day though is still being used on route 2/2C, and some on route 11 and occasionally the 14.
Rear end of T880RBR, showing just a single route number on the rear rather than a full destination as was the case with its previous Go North East destination equipment which was still in use with Blackpool earlier this year.
Cavendish Liner, Poole - just an update, they operate K155ELF (T790KNW) acquired from former Roadliner of Canford Heath (Poole) in August 2009, now numbered 4201 and painted in their dual dark grey livery. The livery previously associated with K155ELF is now carried as previously shown by 666VMX, another view is shown under 'Lucketts' below here.
First Glasgow - operate four Excels previously owned by Hutchison, above is T736JGB on 4th May 2010 in Glasgow. Copyright of Neil C.
W52WDS was seen receiving engine repairs at Cumbernauld depot on an Omnibus Society visit on 5th February 2011. T735JGB and W49WDS are Glasgow's other two Excels. Photo copyright of Alan Millar
GHA - N201LCK appears to have returned to service alongside N206LCK. 201 had been out of service for some time.
Go Goodwins, Eccles - this fleet has expanded with the purchase of six ex Nottingham series 2 11.8 metre long vehicles, by December 2010 their additional fleet comprised Y547LRB, Y548LRB, Y957DRR, FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX all ex Nottingham.
Also in the fleet already were R373DJN (ex Harris Bus/East Thames 2008), R380DJN (ex Raddoneur 2008) and P915SUM (ex Goonhilly 2006). R375DJN and R376DJN were also owned but have moved on (Powell and Bain respectively).
Series 1; L1070s R373DJN and R380DJN - now WSV550 and WSV551, L1150 P915SUM - now WSV553.
Series 2; L1180s Y547LRB - now R77WES, Y548LRB - now WSV552, Y957DRR - now 330GGX, FD51EYS, FD51EYU, FD51EYX.
JP Travel - As previously documented, they operate S927LBL, S928LBL, V2JPT (V210ENU). It is possible that they acquired R987EWU and R744BUJ from Midland in December 2010, with R987EWU possibly later sold on. What happened then to either vehicle is not known.
Leeds Bradford Airport - Ref the last update of the mystery Excel here with no identity other than '43', there is no further news on this other than this quote from the Leeds Bradford Airport website; 'the Tempo [numbered only '44' with no UK registration] has been specifically designed for its role of moving passengers from the terminal building to one of four new remote aircraft stands now nearing completion for the busy summer holiday season. It joins an Excel to a similar internal layout and supplied to the airport in 2003.'
Lucketts - 666VMX (P913SUM) seen above in 2010.
M Travel - another acquisition here is Speedwellbus' former P502OUG, here by 01/11 and being painted during February. It joins 28 R28MFM (ex Happy Als 05/08), 152 P152CTV (ex Wellglade Group 07/10), 273 P273NRH (ex Hulley's 11/09).
Previously owned by M Travel but moved to A Line of Pelaw in 2010 were R29MFM (left, above, in A Line livery) and V79JKG which was still in M Travel livery when photographed in December. These were numbered 29 and 79 in the M Travel fleet. Photo copyright of Gary Hunter from www.simplybusphotos.com
New Adventure/Humphrey's Coaches - seen above is 'H2KFJ' at Newport on 8th March 2011, the former Reading L1150 S929LBL. In the New Adventure fleet are this one plus S925LBL and S931LBL. Sold in 2010 by the company were S927LBL and S928LBL to JP Travel. Both photographs copyright of Shaun C.
Norfolk Green - own S170/1/2UAL, R186DDX, P190SGV, P195SGV, S165UAL - numbered 201-7.
201 - S170UAL has been stripped but remained on their premises at the end of last year awaiting to be sent for scrap. This may have been unused since November 2007.
Pearson Vue - one of the final pair of Excels built is YJ54BTO, seen above. It and YJ54BTU were built as non PSV vehicles and BTO is seen acting as a mobile Driving Standards Agency theory test centre in 2009. Photo copyright of Peter Findlay.
Powells of Hellaby - current fleet is; 028 P330NHJ, 029 R377DJN, 030 R375DJN, 036 V209ENU, 037 V208ENU. Also previously owned was P327NHJ which has been scrapped.
Pioneer Travel, Rochdale - P541CTO is here, ex Warrington Coachways and may have been here since the end of 2009.
Speedwellbus of Hyde - retained N608JLY (N200FET) after the sale of P502OUG to M Travel.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - Withdrawn last year, P222ABC has been sold for scrap, at the end of 2010.
Tates of Darton - not a lot going on here any more unfortunately, P443SWX was the last Excel remaining licensed and has been withdrawn according to the Tates Travel website, and believed to have since been stripped for spares. Towards the end of 2010 they had P332NHJ and R378DJN, and as reported, R189DDX was sold for preservation, and P326NHJ had already gone for scrap - perhaps with the other two ex Harris Bus vehicles following for scrap.
Thompsons Tours of Christchurch - although P321KAR had only been re-activated by August 2010, it was out of service again by November during a period of non-operation by the operator and has been stripped and is believed to be ready for scrap. P429AHR remains and has been joined by ex McKindless V193DRC, seen above and below on 25th February 2011. This is the first former McKindless Excel known here to have found a new owner, many are currently for sale at low prices from used vehicle dealer Drew Wilson. Thanks to Peter Cook for both photos.
Trent Barton - (W223PRB above photographed on 13/12/10). Route 'The One' from Derby to Ashbourne and the 409 service that operates between Ashbourne and Uttoxeter which used Excel 264 Y264DRC was to be jointly branded 'Swift' and became an hourly service from Derby to Uttoxeter on 31/01/11, via Ashbourne. It is presumed that Excels 265 and 266 will be repainted turquoise as per 264 to give a common livery. For about a fortnight, Excel 265 was running unbranded in that livery, whilst sister vehicle 266 is in the paintshop. 264 and 266 have been branded for 'The Swift' service by February though 265 was away for repairs after damage caused by a skip to the near side of the bus.
Excel 260 carries the same generic Trent Barton livery as 262 and is back in service, advertising Trent services.
Withdrawn is Excel 157 S157UAL ex Trans Peak and stored at Langley Mill, 158 S158UAL still in use.
(Amberline Y271DRC seen above on 13/12/10).
By February, Rainbow 3 Excel 243 was back at Sutton after collision repairs during the heavy snow and Amberline branded Excel 255 has been repainted Trent Barton red and transferred from Langley Mill to Sutton, having been replaced on Amberline by a Solo. 256 and 257 remained on Amberline at the time.
Volvo B10M Plaxton coach 59 R59RAU is said to have transferred from Transpeak to TM Travel division, it's place on Transpeak being taken by Excel 225.
TM Travel; - the series 1 vehicles are believed to be stored out of use at Langley Mill. 1133/1134 R374/379 DJN - the former is reportedly being stripped for spares and 1134 may have been sold on. The first of this fleet withdrawn after the Wellglade Group takeover were R379DJN, R213DKG and V389KVY.
R213DKG back in September 2009 at the Halfway garage of TM Travel, during Johnson of Hodthorpe's VR running day. Coincidentally, Johnson's still operate former East Yorkshire Excel P274NRH. R213DKG however has operated for Cardiff City Transport, Reading Buses, Eastbourne Buses, South Gloucestershire and Central Connect before moving to TM Travel.
Sales
Ventura Sales - S160UAL no longer for sale.
Drew Wilson Sales; V212ENU plus others from McKindless, also V823DHN and V824DHN previously from A Trip in Time, which are seat belt fitted. P504OUG there by 08/10.
P501OUG and P506OUG were owned privately, P506OUG seen above has since been stripped to provide parts for P501OUG.
Thanks for help with this update to - GGC, Jenky, Leo, Adrian Healey, Colin Humprhies, Gary Hunter, Alan Millar/Buses magazine, Steve Simister, Mike White, Mark Williams.
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23rd February 2011
A look at some of our exported Excels including R280EKH which was exported as recently as 2010, and a mystery at Leeds Airport...
Malta -
Malta is of course in the news with the end of traditional vehicles operating timetabled services currently scheduled for July 3rd 2011, which will include the only Optare Excel built for export, seen above in Paceville on 9th February 2011. Photo taken by the editor.
This was my second trip to Malta, on the first trip I didn't see the Excel at all - though sightings from a fellow enthusiast on the Malta Bus Yahoo email group confirmed it was operating. Rear view of FBY805.
Probably the only Excel to show off that it is 'powered by Cummins' or to state 'Excel' on the rear. Uniquely for an Excel this vehicle has a fully manual gearbox which doesn't sound at all unusual.
An off-side view of the FBY805 at Valletta taken by Peter Cook on 27th October 2010. As stated on the page about FBY805, it has had its windows fully replaced to these larger examples - about five years ago - to enable a decent air flow in the hot months. The chassis designation of this is a unique L1100 (11 metres) but its original window layout appeared to be the same as the L1070. I'm not sure exactly where on this vehicle it gains an extra 30 centimetres on the 10.7 metre version.
A plaque inside FBY805 states its significance in Maltese bus history as the first low fleer vehicle to enter the country in January 1997.
Optare would have hoped that their Excel exported to Malta would lead to orders for more. 14 years down the line I can't provide an answer as to why it didn't, perhaps the reliability of the very early Excels put them off, though it was documented that Optare only had a small production line back then and at the time had plenty of orders - some of them large in number - to provide vehicles for UK fleets. Development and production of the highly successful Optare Solos would also fill much of their workshop space.
Flying from Leeds Bradford Airport to Malta provided the chance to view this which I was unaware of, an un-registered three door (two near side, one off side) series 2 vehicle. A press release states this was new to this Airport in 2003, the only identity on it is the number 43. Several years later an Optare Tempo numbered 44 which is also un-registered was added to the fleet there.
Could it be that this Excel has escaped detection for a whole eight years? Unfortunately we had to walk to and from the plane, so no chance to check the chassis number!
New Zealand, Christchurch Bus Services -
As much as Malta is in the news in bus enthusiast circles, Christchurch - New Zealand - is unfortunately in the news this week following a bad earthquake.
Peter Cook had provided these images of ex Trent vehicles taken on 19th November 2008.
16 Trent Excels work for Christchurch, all but three of the remaining exported Excels in New Zealand are from the Reading fleet and those operate with Ritchies of Auckland. CQW41 above was previously T173LCH.
This rear and near side study of former T178LCH, now 133 CQU982, shows the interesting addition of a single door in front of the rear axle. Over the years a number of Excels have had the middle door removed (National Express's R-HWUs), though quite a few have had a full size middle door added, such as V511KMY and X538NWT at Dover - showing a versatility of the Excel body.
The panel towards the front of the small exit door would normally be fitted to the off side, judging by the livery.
Rear study of CRF809, ex T182LCH.
137 CQU960, originally T787XVO.
143 CRF819, former T788XVO.
Ex T977LCH above.
The 28th February 2010 update (which can be found much lower down this page) has a front off side view of CQU982 the rear near side of this is shown above here, and also a photo of ex Reading P904EGM now working with Ritchies of Auckland.
Thanks again for the New Zealand pics here to Peter Cook.
Ireland -
The most recently (known) export of an Excel to Ireland is R280LKH, now re-registered to 97-G-20318. It is owned by Lough Rea Hotel & Spa in Galway - who have a nightclub as you can see from the vinyls on the vehicle. Thanks to Martin Dillon for the photo.
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