Beaver Bus

[Fin447]

Beaver are a bus operator based in south Leicestershire who mainly operate school buses.

This thread is for for bus enthusiasts to discuss all things Beaver bus.

 

[GusB]

I have created this thread for bus enthusiasts to discuss all things Beaver bus

Perhaps you could share your own opinions. There's no point in starting a thread unless you actually have something to share!

 

[Fin447]

Unofficial fleet list:

X422 PFE - ex Dublin Bus AV78 (00-D-40078)
X231 PFE - ex Dublin Bus AV79 (00-D-40079)
X829 XKH - ex Dublin Bus AV80 (00-D-40080)
X174 PFE - ex Dublin Bus AV81 (00-D-40081)
X141 UAO - ex Dublin Bus AV149 (00-D-70149)
BC51 NDN - ex Dublin Bus AV187 (01-D-10187)
BC51 NDL - ex Dublin Bus AV191 (01-D-10191)
BA02 AUY - ex Dublin Bus AV270 (02-D-20270)
BA02 AUX - ex Dublin Bus AV271 (02-D-20271)
BA02 AKK - ex Dublin Bus AV272 (02-D-20272)
KT05 YSW - ex Dublin Bus AV447 (05-D-10447)
BP60 XXH - ex Dublin Bus AX465 (06-D-30465)
BC06 OXG - ex Dublin Bus AX467 (06-D-30467)
KO56 HLA - ex Dublin Bus AX545 (06-D-30545)
BP56 ZNK - ex Dublin Bus AX605 (06-D-30605)
KO56 HKZ - ex Dublin Bus AX606 (06-D-30606)
BP56 ZPM - ex Dublin Bus AX607 (06-D-30607)
KO56 HGZ - ex Dublin Bus AX608 (06-D-30608)
KO56 HHA - ex Dublin Bus AX609 (06-D-30609)
KO56 HHB - ex Dublin Bus AX626 (06-D-30626)
KO56 HFJ - ex Dublin Bus AX630 (06-D-30630)

 

[Towers]

Interesting choice of name would be my first thought! Especially if your target market is busloads of sniggering teenagers!

 

[MotCO]

Are there no age restrictions on Leicestershire's school buses? The youngest is 17 years old, with many 23 years old.

 

[SSmith2009]

Interesting choice of name would be my first thought! Especially if your target market is busloads of sniggering teenagers!

they used to have the tagline of 'ride the beaver' it was later changed to 'catch the beaver'

Originally they started operating around Leicester as Virgin Bus but it was changed to Beaver Bus something to do with Virgin and Richard Branson.

 

[Flange Squeal]

Are there no age restrictions on Leicestershire's school buses? The youngest is 17 years old, with many 23 years old.

Confidence, another Leicester area based school bus operator, have a fleet of which the majority appear to be V-reg (with some older). Within the last few months they’ve acquired Volvo B7TL / ALX400 W808 PAE, which they’ve also painted so one presumes won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Guess together that might indicate not? Fleet list can be found at: https://www.confidencebus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/fleet-list-2019.pdf

 

[Red Onion]

Slightly off topic but I remember either First Aberdeen or Grampian Transport (as they were previously known) used to run some services called beaver buses, which were run using the much smaller Mercedes vehicles.

 

[Flying Snail]

Are there no age restrictions on Leicestershire's school buses?

Should there be?

 

[Lewisham2221]

Slightly off topic but I remember either First Aberdeen or Grampian Transport (as they were previously known) used to run some services called beaver buses, which were run using the much smaller Mercedes vehicles.

Plaxton's bodywork for Mercedes 709D minibuses was called Beaver, with a revised Beaver 2 version for the later Vario range of Mercedes minibuses.

Should there be?

Some local authorities do impose age restrictions on vehicles used on their school contracts. Presumably on the assumption that newer is safer. Goodness knows what that does to tender prices

 

[Red Onion]

Plaxton's bodywork for Mercedes 709D minibuses was called Beaver, with a revised Beaver 2 version for the later Vario range of Mercedes minibuses.

That explains it, thank you. Apologies for the off topic discussion which can now end!

 

[GusB]

The subject of thread is Beaver Bus, so let's keep in on topic, please.

 

[RJ]

Interesting choice of name would be my first thought! Especially if your target market is busloads of sniggering teenagers!

I think the idea is for their slogans to attract attention. I bought an articulated Mercedes Citaro from them and above the windows it says;

Choo! Choo! Choo! Come and Ride the Bendy!
Go trendy, Catch the Bendy!

It being an artic generates a lot of comments from people on the roadside and the slogans do too in equal measure. As amusing as that is, the plan is to remove them in due course.

The bus was pretty much preserved in original condition inside and structurally which is why I like it and have invested in keeping it going, though it was acquired with a wheelchair ramp that had been isolated - when I livened it up, it was clear it couldn't deploy fully and the quote from Evobus to repair it was at least £2500!

 

[northwichcat]

I think the idea is for their slogans to attract attention.

Also worth remembering posts going viral on social media provide businesses with free marketing. Most people won't take a photo of a bus but if it's got an animal incorporated into the livery, it's a different matter.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 May 2023 ==

Some local authorities do impose age restrictions on vehicles used on their school contracts. Presumably on the assumption that newer is safer. Goodness knows what that does to tender prices

It's look like Beaver Bus' fleet contains a number of vehicles that would be seen as too old to still be used on regular bus services. A lot of coach hire companies, in particular, have a small fleet of old buses alongside their regular fleet, for school services only. Possibly some councils have put restrictions in place because they don't want their school services to be operated by such old vehicles. If safety was the primary concern then they could specify coaches fitted with seatbelts, opposed to allowing old Dennis Darts with any type of seating.

 

[MotCO]

It's look like Beaver Bus' fleet contains a number of vehicles that would be seen as too old to still be used on regular bus services. A lot of coach hire companies, in particular, have a small fleet of old buses alongside their regular fleet, for school services only. Possibly some councils have put restrictions in place because they don't want their school services to be operated by such old vehicles. If safety was the primary concern then they could specify coaches fitted with seatbelts, opposed to allowing old Dennis Darts with any type of seating.

Not just old, but not low floor either. Old does not automatically equate to poor condition etc; some companies can keep old vehicles in tip-top condition - the Wrexham based Routemasters4Hire being a case in point (now dispersed).

 

[northwichcat]

Not just old, but not low floor either. Old does not automatically equate to poor condition etc; some companies can keep old vehicles in tip-top condition - the Wrexham based Routemasters4Hire being a case in point (now dispersed).

Low floor has been standard for new buses for over 20 years now. Old buses are more likely to need replacement destination displays to be compliant for service work though.

I didn't say old has to mean poorly condition. It would be expensive to use old buses on regular service work due to needing servicing more frequently and burning more fuel per mile. That's less of a problem if it's only used for a morning and an afternoon working for school work.