[Bristopl] FirstGroup display, 18th August 2013

[DaveHarries]

Hi all,

Something likely to be of interest to enthusiasts. According to First's website some buses are to be on display in Bristol City Centre for the next "Make Sundays Special" (MSS) event on Sunday 18th August. It looks as if the vehicles will be:

- 1x Volvo 7900H from First Berkshire
- 1x Wrightbus Streetlite (of the X39 variety)
- An electric bus of the sort about to be trialled in York

The buses will be parked up by Broad Quay. More info:
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/bristol_bath/travel_news/news_initiatives/?item=12521&conf=0

Could be worth a look for anyone who can be bothered to battle through the chaos these MSS events cause. Personally I hope they are not repeated in 2014: last time I tried to get into townduring an MSS event it took 3 times as long.

HTIOI,
Dave

Admin Note: I put this originally into the First SW & Wales thread but it was treated as an edit, and thus double-post, of my previous message when it was not a double post as there was more than 24 hours between the messages. For this reason I put this into a separate thread. Thanks.

 

[Qwerty133]

bit late really considering that was today...

 

[Dennis]

Thanks for the heads-uo; took a look - well stocked stand of goodies (now a little depleted) together with the vehicles on show plus some enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. Good to see First are putting in a bit of PR effort in the region.

No traffic chaos noted despite the MSS closures.

 

[DaveHarries]

bit late really considering that was today...

I had previously posted the original message on Thursday 16th! Unfortunately when, on 18th August, I tried to post a list of vehicles on show the forum added the new message to the original post which was not what I wanted. So I removed the extra post, saved it and it has changed the date!

For anyone who missed it the vehicles on show were:

Diesel bus: Wrightbus StreetLite 63073, SM13 NBE (First S&A)
Hybrid bus: Volvo 7900 Hybrid 69929, BV13 ZCY (First Berkshire & Thames Valley)
Electric bus: Optare Solo SR Electric YJ13 HKY (soon to be trialled in York)

It was good to get a look. I was glad to finally get a look at a Volvo 7900 in the flesh rather than in just in a photo and I really liked that Volvo. I can't help wondering if some Volvos to a similar specification might do well on the A1 service that links Bristol to Bristol Airport. Getting some could be a tad pricey though: someone from First told me that those Volvo 7900 Hybrids would have cost around £280,000 each without the Green Bus Fund grant.

HTIOI,
Dave