Diamond Bus East Midlands (was Midland Classic of Burton)

[Russel]

Thank you.

Any word on when these future electric vehicles will be arriving? Assume they will be further custom dennings

Whatever they are they will probably be in service before Arrivas electrics just down the road in Tamworth!

 

[43055]

The 19 is due to be withdrawn from 20th August. The Burton to Swadlincote section will be coved by the 4 maybe with a new Saturday timetable as the 19 runs on Saturdays as well. The Swad - Ashby section is currently being reviewed for what service will be provided.

EM 19 Service Changes | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

From 20th August 2026, Service 19 will be discontinued. The service between Burton – Swadlincote will be covered by other existing routes.

The section of route on Beaufort Rd, Grafton Rd and Violet Way, will be covered by the existing number 4 service, which will be re-routed to cover this part of the route. Additionally, Newhall High St is also served by the number 4 and the 4 will continue to serve all areas that it currently serves.

Stops on Ashby Rd, Wood Ln, High St and Darklands Rd into Swadlincote are already covered by the existing 9 route which runs every 30 minutes.

At this moment in time, current solutions are being found for providing service for areas beyond Swadlincote – Ashby. This solution has not yet been confirmed as we are working with the relevant local transport authorities. Once a decision has been reached we will provide a further update.

We would like to advise that there will be no changes to services 19A and 19C which will both remain in place in their current format

Fleet wise Volvo B8RLE 30530 has joined from the West Midlands and repainted from red. Duel door E200 31426 has also been repainted into blue.

 

[derbybusdepot]

The 19 is due to be withdrawn from 20th August. The Burton to Swadlincote section will be coved by the 4 maybe with a new Saturday timetable as the 19 runs on Saturdays as well. The Swad - Ashby section is currently being reviewed for what service will be provided.

EM 19 Service Changes | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Fleet wise Volvo B8RLE 30530 has joined from the West Midlands and repainted from red. Duel door E200 31426 has also been repainted into blue.

4 new custom Dennings in diamond livery are currently parked in a yard in Ilkeston, on the corner of Quarry Hill Rd and Merlin Way. One passed through Spondon yesterday on trade plates. This may be the new Custom Denning base?

 

[43055]

4 new custom Dennings in diamond livery are currently parked in a yard in Ilkeston, on the corner of Quarry Hill Rd and Merlin Way. One passed through Spondon yesterday on trade plates. This may be the new Custom Denning base?

Presumably it won't be too long before they are in Burton then.

 

[derbybusdepot]

Presumably it won't be too long before they are in Burton then.

Apparently there are now 7 there in diamond livery, plus 1 in white, which will be a demonstrator. This site appears to be the base for Custom Denning in the UK.

It will be interesting to see if they get many orders from other UK bus operators/transport authorities. Long term they have hinted that the Custom Denning could also be produced in the UK if there was enough demand. Perhaps we will see the combined authority purchasing buses built in the local area, surely that would tick alot of boxes.

 

[Trainman40083]

Apparently there are now 7 there in diamond livery, plus 1 in white, which will be a demonstrator. This site appears to be the base for Custom Denning in the UK.

It will be interesting to see if they get many orders from other UK bus operators/transport authorities. Long term they have hinted that the Custom Denning could also be produced in the UK if there was enough demand. Perhaps we will see the combined authority purchasing buses built in the local area, surely that would tick alot of boxes.

7 + 1 eh? I have been given the impression that they may be an issue at the factory in Aus, and they are being finished off at the unit in Merlin Way . There is talk of Custom Denning coaches.. Did you notice there was an industrial unit, just a bit further up on the other side. Two grey coaches in (no idea what type). Fairly modern though.

 

[joieman]

Apparently there are now 7 there in diamond livery, plus 1 in white, which will be a demonstrator. This site appears to be the base for Custom Denning in the UK.

It will be interesting to see if they get many orders from other UK bus operators/transport authorities. Long term they have hinted that the Custom Denning could also be produced in the UK if there was enough demand. Perhaps we will see the combined authority purchasing buses built in the local area, surely that would tick alot of boxes.

Are the front ends of the Element 2 TFL-compliant?

 

[Trainman40083]

Are the front ends of the Element 2 TFL-compliant?

How would one tell?

 

[capitalpotter]

How would one tell?

They need to be safe to pedestrians like the windscreen wipers mechanism being above the screen

 

[Trainman40083]

They need to be safe to pedestrians like the windscreen wipers mechanism being above the screen

Well, it looks to be that the windscreen wipers are at the bottom..... But then, the white demonstrator could be different to the Diamond Bus ones. But it didn't appear to be (partially instructed by a skip mind)

 

[capitalpotter]

Well, it looks to be that the windscreen wipers are at the bottom..... But then, the white demonstrator could be different to the Diamond Bus ones. But it didn't appear to be (partially instructed by a skip mind)

Maybe they aren't TFL compliant

 

[Trainman40083]

Maybe they aren't TFL compliant

Maybe

 

[capitalpotter]

Maybe

Having done a quick search it's confirmed they aren't TfL compliant yet

 

[joieman]

They need to be safe to pedestrians like the windscreen wipers mechanism being above the screen

And the front end being raked back, crucially.

Having done a quick search it's confirmed they aren't TfL compliant yet

Noted!

 

[YX73OUB]

Will these be used on all services does anyone know?

Any ideas on what if anything will leave the fleet? The I3s?

 

[darylyates17]

Will these be used on all services does anyone know?

Any ideas on what if anything will leave the fleet? The I3s?

Weren't they rumoured to replace the Scanias a while ago?

 

[BusLink61]

Weren't they rumoured to replace the Scanias a while ago?

Correct, however I believe still nothing has moved forward with this.

Now that one of the YX12 E200’s has been repainted this indicates they may see use elsewhere with Diamond, so they could be transferred out.

I can’t see the older Pulsars lasting very long, although 32124 did have some work done to it prior to entering use at Burton.

 

[YX73OUB]

Thanks for the responses

It's a bit of a pity some can't be branded and kept on one route.

 

[43055]

Thanks for the responses

It's a bit of a pity some can't be branded and kept on one route.

It is a pitty as I did like the x12 and airway9 branding but with the interworking I imagine it's quite difficult to keep them on one route.

 

[SubToBloxOrDai]

It is a pitty as I did like the x12 and airway9 branding but with the interworking I imagine it's quite difficult to keep them on one route.

What I've found surprising is that Diamond have actually tried to retain the Airway and Flyer branding, it features on a lot of adverts on the town centre stops, the stop flags and the online and paper timetables when they existed for a few weeks. Usually I would expect Diamond to remove any remnants of previous branding!

 

[markymark2000]

What I've found surprising is that Diamond have actually tried to retain the Airway and Flyer branding, it features on a lot of adverts on the town centre stops, the stop flags and the online and paper timetables when they existed for a few weeks. Usually I would expect Diamond to remove any remnants of previous branding!

To be fair, before the refurb, there was still Midland Classic branding all over Swad Bus Station because Diamond couldn't be bothered getting it updated for the 3 years since they took over. The division is a bit of a farce marketing wise.

 

[YX73OUB]

What I've found surprising is that Diamond have actually tried to retain the Airway and Flyer branding, it features on a lot of adverts on the town centre stops, the stop flags and the online and paper timetables when they existed for a few weeks. Usually I would expect Diamond to remove any remnants of previous branding!

Are most of the bus stops still advertising midland classic branding? 3 years adter takeover?

 

[43055]

What I've found surprising is that Diamond have actually tried to retain the Airway and Flyer branding, it features on a lot of adverts on the town centre stops, the stop flags and the online and paper timetables when they existed for a few weeks. Usually I would expect Diamond to remove any remnants of previous branding!

The other week one of the recent additions from Tamworth had the X12 flyer logo on the destination for the route number.

Are most of the bus stops still advertising midland classic branding? 3 years adter takeover?

Yes. New Street has only recently been updated on the flags but every other stop in town still has Midland Classic branding somewhere along with diamond timetable and maybe buslink, trent and evolve to add to the mix.

 

[SubToBloxOrDai]

Are most of the bus stops still advertising midland classic branding? 3 years adter takeover?

As 43005 said, most of the Midland Classic branding has just about been removed from New Street now, however everywhere else still has old branding apart from places which have been done by either councils or other operators, Lichfield and Uttoxeter bus stations to name a few.

Also related to my previous post, one of the adverts that Diamond have done for the X12, this was a few years ago now and I think it has been removed, however a new one has popped up recently advertising the new electrics, referencing that they are for airway.

 

[YX73OUB]

Diamond have posted details of the revised service 4 and 19 on their Facebook.

 

[citybus2500]

7 + 1 eh? I have been given the impression that they may be an issue at the factory in Aus, and they are being finished off at the unit in Merlin Way . There is talk of Custom Denning coaches.. Did you notice there was an industrial unit, just a bit further up on the other side. Two grey coaches in (no idea what type). Fairly modern though.

They arrive complete from Australia and are not being "finished" in the UK.

They do need checking and presenting for test though.

There are 9 for Diamond.

 

[YX73OUB]

Airport bus through Derbyshire cut after lack of support, says firm

Diamond will be scrapping part of the Airway 9 bus route after a loss of funding, it says

share.google

Looks like the 9 is being cutback to run between Ashby and Burton only - removing the airport section.

 

[swinny1990]

No date ?

 

[YX73OUB]

No date ?

I cannot help but worry about the amount of work lost over the last 18 months.

 

[derbybusdepot]

Airport bus through Derbyshire cut after lack of support, says firm

Diamond will be scrapping part of the Airway 9 bus route after a loss of funding, it says

share.google

Looks like the 9 is being cutback to run between Ashby and Burton only - removing the airport section.

I read this, but am not sure how accurate it is? Is the route being scrapped to the airport altogether or just the early and late trips? It's not very clear from the article (or not to me anyway) and there doesn't appear to be any mention of changes elsewhere yet.

Still plenty of time for the combined authority to find the funding from it's deep pockets.