East Anglia Bus Scene

[buslad1988]

£13.8 million investment brings 24 more electric buses to Norfolk​

£13.8 million investment brings 24 more electric buses to Norfolk - Travel Norfolk

Norfolk County Council and First Bus have joined forces to bring an additional 24 brand new electric double-decker buses to...

www.travelnorfolk.co.uk

It’s getting so frustrating how far behind Suffolk is falling in comparison with any electrification!

 

[stuart81]

They are also moving Streetdecks into the Coastlink fleet with e400s heading to Essex.

That one confuses me, there are only 6 StreetDecks vs. 22 E400's (split across Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft). 6 StreetDecks doesn't fit into any of Great Yarmouth's PVR either:

1/1A = 8
2/3 = StreetLites
8 = 9
X1/X11 = 14

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Sep 2025 ==

It’s getting so frustrating how far behind Suffolk is falling in comparison with any electrification!

It just doesn't seem to be a priority for them at all.

I'm guessing First Ipswich depot is completely suitable for electrification (and I don't think there is a low-height EV decker?). Ipswich Buses I'm guessing are skint given the lack of investment for years (I gather the 4 new E400MMC's are dealer stock hence they aren't in service yet). Not sure about First Lowestoft depot whether that's suitable. All the other operators are so small I assume it's not worth the cost of putting in chargers for such small numbers.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

That one confuses me, there are only 6 StreetDecks vs. 22 E400's (split across Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft). 6 StreetDecks doesn't fit into any of Great Yarmouth's PVR either:

1/1A = 8
2/3 = StreetLites
8 = 9
X1/X11 = 14

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Sep 2025 ==


It just doesn't seem to be a priority for them at all.

I'm guessing First Ipswich depot is completely suitable for electrification (and I don't think there is a low-height EV decker?). Ipswich Buses I'm guessing are skint given the lack of investment for years (I gather the 4 new E400MMC's are dealer stock hence they aren't in service yet). Not sure about First Lowestoft depot whether that's suitable. All the other operators are so small I assume it's not worth the cost of putting in chargers for such small numbers.

The StreetDecks appear to be the beginning of a modernisation of the Great Yarmouth fleet - the six were what was available presumably.

First bid with Suffolk to electrify a number of Lowestoft services in the ZEBRA2 round (which would also have electrified the (Go-Ahead) Chambers operation at Sudbury, too), but the bid was unsuccessful. There *is* a low-height EV 'decker - Oxford took 99 of them, all Wright StreetDeck Electroliners (7 of which were open-top!), and it appears that much of the Go-Ahead provincial order that has begun arriving - the first 50 of which are entering service at Plymouth - are also low-height models.

Norfolk are succeeding because they are working with operators to improve services in other ways as well as electrifying, and it appears that they are doing it well. Every operator, pretty much, is confident in investing now in the county and as ridership increases, so does justification for more investment.

 

[buslad1988]

Ipswich Buses I'm guessing are skint given the lack of investment for years (I gather the 4 new E400MMC's are dealer stock hence they aren't in service yet).

Does IB require a new depot before it can realistically start thinking about new infrastructure?

I see they’ve put the Omnicity double deckers back on the 5 in the short term - probably so when the new E400’s start people realise they’re new and an improvement.

 

[stuart81]

Does IB require a new depot before it can realistically start thinking about new infrastructure?

I see they’ve put the Omnicity double deckers back on the 5 in the short term - probably so when the new E400’s start people realise they’re new and an improvement.

I think it would be difficult given the layout of the outside parking unless gantries are used maybe?

 

[buslad1988]

I think it would be difficult given the layout of the outside parking unless gantries are used maybe?

I’m sure lots of issues were found the last time a feasibility study was undertaken.

It’s a shame they never went ahead with the new depot on Hadleigh Road twenty years ago. The designs looked brilliant and it was a good location. Think the main issue at the time was finances dried up. The Constantine Road land must be worth a small fortune!

 

[Mr Manager]

Con road is a flood plain. Doubt without megaa bucks being spent it would get housing or business build permission.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Konnectbuses have canceled approx 50 services already today in Essex and Suffolk due to lack of staff.including some on the 50 which is a BSIP route I believe?

Still hasn't stopped them offering rail replacement services on behalf of Greater Anglia however.

 

[Trainman40083]

Konnectbuses have canceled approx 50 services already today in Essex and Suffolk due to lack of staff.including some paid for with our hard earned taxes through BSIP.

Still hasn't stopped them offering rail replacement services on behalf of Greater Anglia however.

Anyone would think they were running services that delivered the greatest profit.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Anyone would think they were running services that delivered the greatest profit.

There should be severe penalties or withdrawal of funding for those services which are funded through general taxation that do not operate and instead allocated to other operators who are able to deliver them.

They should also not be allowed to bid for more contracts until they have demonstrated that they can operate their existing network to a high standard of reliability.

I also cannot think for one minute the rest of the sector in Suffolk and Essex are happy with a company bidding for work that they clearly do not have the resources to deliver without affecting their regular network.

 

[Trainman40083]

There should be severe penalties or withdrawal of funding for those services which are funded through general taxation that do not operate and instead allocated to other operators who are able to deliver them.

They should also not be allowed to bid for more contracts until they have demonstrated that they can operate their existing network to a high standard of reliability.

I also cannot think for one minute the rest of the sector in Suffolk and Essex are happy with a company bidding for work that they clearly do not have the resources to deliver without affecting their regular network.

Well, I read that and thought "it is just the same in Derby/Derbyshire. They increase the frequency of certain services, yet they can't deliver existing ones. I suspect there is little independent monitoring not meaningful enforcement. Certainly not uncommon to see some BSIP services not running, due to no bus available

 

[F Great Eastern]

And that is where the sector really needs to sharpen up if it is to attract more people onto buses. I suspect that requires government intervention and a strong regulator to really give hard hitting punishments that make the cost of not operating the service more than the money they will make from more lucrative ones.

It is no wonder why people do not want to get out of their cars when they see all this blurb about improved bus services and it feels like a lottery at times as to whether the bus will turn up and leave them stranded, especially in the more rural and cut off areas where there is only one route serving them hourly or less often and no other public transport option.

I can only imagine what Bob the independent family run operator around the corner and Dan the man who built his company up from scratch who never cancels service thinks when a large operator gets all the contracts whilst he's sitting there with drivers (and probably paying them a better wage) and vehicles that can be used but is not getting the business and struggling to make ends meet because said large operator has taken on the work whilst cancelling services on other routes. It's really not fair in my eyes. No wonder we have less and less independents.

 

[Trainman40083]

And that is where the sector really needs to sharpen up if it is to attract more people onto buses. I suspect that requires government intervention and a strong regulator to really give hard hitting punishments that make the cost of not operating the service more than the money they will make from more lucrative ones.

It is no wonder why people do not want to get out of their cars when they see all this blurb about improved bus services and it feels like a lottery at times as to whether the bus will turn up and leave them stranded, especially in the more rural and cut off areas where there is only one route serving them hourly or less often and no other public transport option.

I can only imagine what Bob the independent family run operator around the corner and Dan the man who built his company up from scratch who never cancels service thinks when a large operator gets all the contracts whilst he's sitting there with drivers (and probably paying them a better wage) and vehicles that can be used but is not getting the business and struggling to make ends meet because said large operator has taken on the work whilst cancelling services on other routes. It's really not fair in my eyes. No wonder we have less and less independents.

Add in all these company apps and bus stop electronic displays, that convey a bus is coming, but "vanishes". Due at 09.10, then due, then drops off to be replaced by the next. If only there was certainty of travel, that the bus was coming, but delayed. Something you could see where all the buses on the route were. Thank God for bustimes.org. As one bus operator said to me, we might not describe ourselves as really good, but we actually turn up when expected. And indeed they do, day in day out. Okay, you get the odd breakdown, but I find out before I've even left home.

 

[greenline712]

Here's the thing . . . spoiler alert . . . stuff happens!! I don't know how many Greater Anglia RRB duties are operating today . . . it looks like 3-4 service driver duties are uncovered . . . one of the routes is a Sudbury local service, with 2 buses / hour cancelled, so that's probably 20% of the cancelled journeys accounted for. The Konect site notes all the cancelled trips (some of which are attributed to a "medical emergency", and others to "staffing complications"). . . I don't do twitter, so I don't know if these are shown there as well.

I will be the first to admit that this is a terrible day for them, but before condemning them outright . . . let's assume that all duties were covered on Friday evening. A driver is taken ill overnight, and goes to hospital; their partner is also a driver, and goes with them. Reasonable so far? Stuff happens, and sometimes there actually is no immediate solution . . . no extra drivers are available at short notice. Driver duties are long now, and staff may actually be "out of weekly driving hours".
To put this into perspective . . . a driver on a 4-day week may well work almost 10 driving hours each day; that's 40 hours. They may work an extra day; that's now 50 hours. The maximum in a week is 56 hours; 90 hours in a fortnight. A driver may wish to work, but can't!!

Let's now look at RRB coverage. Work will be (usually) allocated at the beginning of each week to each garage, and they will (normally) accept such work that they can expect to cover. At my company, the driver allocator at each garage would receive these details on a Monday, and would cover them as they could. By 1200 on Wednesday, they would confirm all duties were covered, and if they weren't covered hand them back for coverage by other garages.

These extra duties would now become the allocated work for the weekend. I don't know if standby drivers are available . . . I expect, at the smaller garages, probably not. So . . . a few drivers have become un-available, and there are no spare drivers available. What should the garage cut? All the RRB buses? That would seriously upset the rail passengers, wouldn't it? Cut the service journeys? That'll upset the regular passengers greatly, won't it? Damned if you do . . . damned if you don't.

I've been in this sort of situation (in London) . . . and being castigated from both sides isn't nice. In my case it was a flu epidemic that decimated the garage for four days over a weekend. Sometimes . . . stuff just happens. A little bit of understanding doesn't hurt. If it happens week on week . . . that's different.

 

[markymark2000]

And that is where the sector really needs to sharpen up if it is to attract more people onto buses. I suspect that requires government intervention and a strong regulator to really give hard hitting punishments that make the cost of not operating the service more than the money they will make from more lucrative ones.

I dream of such a day. Sadly too much like hard work for the DFT and Traffic Commissioners. Easier to sit back and earn the same money while doing a lot less work.

I echo your other comments too but I'm not quoting them to save the post being too long.

Add in all these company apps and bus stop electronic displays, that convey a bus is coming, but "vanishes". Due at 09.10, then due, then drops off to be replaced by the next. If only there was certainty of travel, that the bus was coming, but delayed. Something you could see where all the buses on the route were. Thank God for bustimes.org.

This should get better in time as Bus Open Data does have a thing set up now for operators to log cancellations and so this flags up on journey planners and Bustimes.org on the bus stop 'next departures' section. Perhaps if/when more operators contribute to this, more will be done to make it obvious which trips aren't running. But least it's a great start for now.

Let's now look at RRB coverage. Work will be (usually) allocated at the beginning of each week to each garage, and they will (normally) accept such work that they can expect to cover. At my company, the driver allocator at each garage would receive these details on a Monday, and would cover them as they could. By 1200 on Wednesday, they would confirm all duties were covered, and if they weren't covered hand them back for coverage by other garages.

These extra duties would now become the allocated work for the weekend. I don't know if standby drivers are available . . . I expect, at the smaller garages, probably not. So . . . a few drivers have become un-available, and there are no spare drivers available. What should the garage cut? All the RRB buses? That would seriously upset the rail passengers, wouldn't it? Cut the service journeys? That'll upset the regular passengers greatly, won't it? Damned if you do . . . damned if you don't.

I've been in this sort of situation (in London) . . . and being castigated from both sides isn't nice. In my case it was a flu epidemic that decimated the garage for four days over a weekend. Sometimes . . . stuff just happens. A little bit of understanding doesn't hurt. If it happens week on week . . . that's different.

Rail Rep work outside of London is slightly different as it goes through an intermediary (in Greater Anglias case, Transport UK is their intermediary). If Konect couldn't cover, they pass the duty back to Transport UK and then it's down to Transport UK to find alternative suppliers to cover the duty. As such it wouldn't be Konect who would be upsetting the rail passengers.

The only possible caveat is that sometimes drivers will agree to overtime specifically for rail replacement. If they were told that the rail rep duty is no longer going, they would just withdraw their offer to work extra and so not only does the rail rep duty then get handed back and the company lose money, but the driver also loses money as they don't want to do local work, and you are still no better off in the end as the local work is still uncovered. Rail Replacement is generally seen by bus drivers as a different type of work to local bus work because it's more of an express service and you tend to get longer breaks etc etc and so they are more more willing to give up their spare time to do such work over local bus.

 

[Magdalia]

Konnectbuses have canceled approx 50 services already today in Essex and Suffolk due to lack of staff.including some on the 50 which is a BSIP route I believe?

Still hasn't stopped them offering rail replacement services on behalf of Greater Anglia however.

I don't know how many Greater Anglia RRB duties are operating today

Lots. It is buses north of Colchester both mainline and Harwich branch both Saturday and Sunday. There is a further complication today because the main line buses are running to/from Stowmarket not Ipswich to avoid the road closures for the Ipswich half marathon.

There is also a Saturday and Sunday block south of Cambridge with buses to/from Royston and Audley End/Stansted Airport. Greater Anglia run their buses to/from Cambridge North not Cambridge.

 

[pjnathanail]

Rail replacement work for Konectbuses will pretty much always be overtime, I would imagine, because they don't do regular private hire work, so their rotas won't have scope for colleagues to do ad hoc work within the normal work allocation. As others have said up-thread, many drivers will agree to overtime on rail replacement work for the fact that it is something a bit different and / or a premium rate is paid, so it isn't as simple as handing back the rail replacement and reallocating the driver(s) to local bus work.

There are other operational considerations as well. Konectbuses operate from four depots across Essex and Suffolk; the buses for the rail replacement may have come from depots not losing mileage. If, for example, a Clacton bus and driver is on the rail, the chances of that driver knowing, say, the 49 Sudbury local service is remote, so the rail isn't taking away from the bus network. Similarly the times of the rail duties (which will have been agreed / accepted on the basis of driver availability) may not align with the service shifts, and in the event of short notice sickness, the rail replacement drivers might be away from work / even asleep so can't even be asked if they fancy covering something different instead!

As is often the case in the transport industry, it isn't as simple as it seems... and for those commenting about independent operators, TransportUK are excellent and always make sure that the smaller operators get a good look-in on the work / share the work around to make sure everybody gets a proportionate amount. They're very aware that it is the smaller operators who often turn out in emergencies and thus they look after them. So the fact that Konectbuses are doing some rail work probably doesn't mean that local independent operators are missing out.

 

[markymark2000]

As is often the case in the transport industry, it isn't as simple as it seems... and for those commenting about independent operators, TransportUK are excellent and always make sure that the smaller operators get a good look-in on the work / share the work around to make sure everybody gets a proportionate amount. They're very aware that it is the smaller operators who often turn out in emergencies and thus they look after them. So the fact that Konectbuses are doing some rail work probably doesn't mean that local independent operators are missing out.

I think the comments about "independents losing out" (or words to that effect) is more in relation to local bus service contracts rather than the rail replacement stuff. GoAhead have gone big on contract wins, and are failing to deliver and yet a smaller independent may be very slightly more expensive but would provide a stable service.

 

[pjnathanail]

I think the comments about "independents losing out" (or words to that effect) is more in relation to local bus service contracts rather than the rail replacement stuff. GoAhead have gone big on contract wins, and are failing to deliver and yet a smaller independent may be very slightly more expensive but would provide a stable service.

That makes more sense. Their new SCC funded work appears to be directly negotiated BSIP wins, not work tendered out to all, so I think this is a fair point. It is a consistent source of frustration for all reliable operators when an operator which is less reliable picks up work and then doesn’t run it reliably!!

 

[Cesarcollie]

That makes more sense. Their new SCC funded work appears to be directly negotiated BSIP wins, not work tendered out to all, so I think this is a fair point. It is a consistent source of frustration for all reliable operators when an operator which is less reliable picks up work and then doesn’t run it reliably!!

I’m sure they’ll get much better in the next few months…….

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Agreement has been reached for Transport Made Simple to acquire Konectbus (Go East Anglia) from Go-Ahead: https://cbwmagazine.com/tms-acquires-go-east-anglia/

 

[buslad1988]

Agreement has been reached for Transport Made Simple to acquire Konectbus (Go East Anglia) from Go-Ahead: https://cbwmagazine.com/tms-acquires-go-east-anglia/

Well that’s a shocker! Go-Ahead have literally just rebranded the names and routes. Also very rare for Go-Ahead to sell a company! Must show what a basket case it was and explains why they never put much money into it.

Transport Made Simple really are trying to snap up as much as they can in the east. They clearly are making offers to anyone.

 

[plebb11]

Hopefully they rebrand as east anglia connect or east of England connect rather central connect using the same livery as central connect who should also bring their Essex and Herts operations into this, leaving East Midlands as central connect.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Well that’s a shocker! Go-Ahead have literally just rebranded the names and routes. Also very rare for Go-Ahead to sell a company! Must show what a basket case it was and explains why they never put much money into it.

Transport Made Simple really are trying to snap up as much as they can in the east. They clearly are making offers to anyone.

They can't do any worse than the current lot, another considerable batch of cancellations today leaving people high and dry.

Lack of staff, not great wages and conditions from what I hear and an aging fleet, Transport Made Simple really are going to have to put their hands in their pockets to turn that operation around.

I had hope that the rebranding would be Go East Anglia turning over a new leaf but doesn't seem so.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Here's some information to get people talking.

Suffolk County Council have posted how much BSIP grants operators are getting per week. Note this is on top of any normal subsidy that routes may or may not be getting.



Interesting the amount that Ipswich Buses are getting overall, whilst the biggest payment of all is for the Park and ride which is also getting a further £600 a week uplift for serving Suffolk One on top of it's existing pre BSIP subsidy.

 

[buslad1988]

Here's some information to get people talking.

Suffolk County Council have posted how much BSIP grants operators are getting per week. Note this is on top of any normal subsidy that routes may or may not be getting.

View attachment 189322

Interesting the amount that Ipswich Buses are getting overall, whilst the biggest payment of all is for the Park and ride which is also getting a further £600 a week uplift for serving Suffolk One on top of it's existing pre BSIP subsidy.

That seems an awful lot for IB’s service 4 - they’ve only added a few additional peak extras! Compared to service 5 which is an extra bus out all day Monday to Friday. Also service 8B appears to not be as successful as anticipated - which is why working it into the existing service 8 would’ve been a better option.

It’s just frustrating when they could have done so much more with that money!

 

[Camb]

New at Lynx, King’s Lynn are ADL Enviro200 MMC’s 35-7 (YX75 LCL, YX75 KVF/G) 35 is to join similar 31-4 on the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton corridor, whilst 36/7 will be used to upgrade the King’s Lynn to Fairstead route.

Thanks to East Norfolk Bus Blog for the information.

 

[Jim James]

That seems an awful lot for IB’s service 4 - they’ve only added a few additional peak extras! Compared to service 5 which is an extra bus out all day Monday to Friday. Also service 8B appears to not be as successful as anticipated - which is why working it into the existing service 8 would’ve been a better option.

It’s just frustrating when they could have done so much more with that money!

£1,800 a week for a one bus operation in Sudbury seems very excessive

 

[stuart81]

It all just feels like a complete waste of money, nothing sustainable in any of the services, just burn it because it was there.

The Ipswich Park & Ride seems to be suffering with lots of late running (frequently 20 minutes +, sometimes up to an hour) since the change of route.

 

[JKP]

£1,800 a week for a one bus operation in Sudbury seems very excessive

Doesn’t sound that excessive for a six day a week route. Suspect though that the operator has tendered on the basis of receiving little or no passenger revenue.