High-Spec Coaches on Local Services

[GordonT]

The opposite side of the coin to my thread entitled Service Buses on Coach Workings. I saw a picture recently of a yellow-liveried Stagecoach Express coach working an Ayr/Prestwick local service. Any other examples of exotic provision on mundane operations?

 

[stadler]

Brighton & Hove used to regularly use coaches on the 11X service. It was a ten minute end to end journey from Brighton Town Hall to Hove Town Hall and was the last route i would expect a coach on. A council contract shuttle running every thirty minutes and taking just ten minutes from end to end. I never understood why coaches were used so often. At least 50% of the time it would be a coach.

 

[Flange Squeal]

When Reptons Coaches returned to bus operation after many years absence, they bought a brand new Enviro 200 for use on their one bus Surrey County Council contracted 478 (Guildford to Leatherhead). Sadly that was involved in an accident and was off the road for some time, so while they sourced a back-up vehicle in the form of a Mini Pointer Dart, they were forced to use one of their Van Hool coaches. They did (when I saw it) have a second member of staff on board to assist passengers, with the nature of the 478 acting as transport for the elderly or buggy laden parents for weekday shopping trips etc.

 

[TB]

Prior to their recent closure, Yorkshire Buses would frequently use a Caetano Levante coach on service 30 linking Horsforth and Pudsey.

 

[SteveHFC]

Arriva Luton often use Green Line 757 liveried coaches on Cardinal Newman school services.

 

[class387]

Whippet are using their ex-Flixbus coaches as spares on their local Cambridgeshire routes currently. Being top-spec Neoplan Tourliners they give a very comfortable ride!

 

[stadler]

Kent Coach Tours used to run two Ashford town bus routes (113 and 125) until two years ago and i remember i would occasionally see coaches operate those two routes when their buses were unavailable.

 

[Megafuss]

Stagecoach North Scotland regularly use decent coaches on local services within and between Wick and Thurso.

 

[Simon75]

Also mentioned in this thread

Trivia: Coaches used on local services

Years ago some bus companies eg PMT, Crosville, would have coaches that sometimes end up on local routes. Are there any examples of this these days?

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[TR673]

Perhaps not "high spec" but in 2017 I saw Notts & Derby running an old Plaxton Premiere on a once-a-week free Tesco route. Usually it was a Plaxton Centro, and prior to that, a Northern Counties Paladin. There surely can't have been many examples of a free coach to Tesco!

 

[Fletcj10]

Reading Buses used one of their coaches for i think 1 trip inbound to town back in 2018

Caetano Lenante (FJ57 KJU)

Operator: Reading Buses Make/Model: Scania K340EB4/Caetano Lenante (C49FLt) Registration Number: FJ57 KJU Fleet Number: 1402 History: South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach - (National Express)

www.flickr.com

 

[ACBest]

Back when Centrebus Grantham had two coaches between 2020 and 2021, they appeared on local routes on a handful of occasions to cover for unavailable buses.

DSC_0103

A shortage of buses whilst I was the controller on Saturday 24th July saw me head out the office, and on to the road, to keep things rolling in a coach - and in the process, bring a touch of luxury to the 6 and 27! Volvo B9R/Jonckheere JHV 991 was once again my service steed for the two round...

flic.kr

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Whippet are using their ex-Flixbus coaches as spares on their local Cambridgeshire routes currently. Being top-spec Neoplan Tourliners they give a very comfortable ride!

Until the 2010s Whippet used to use their coaches on local service on a daily basis, particularly the 1A Huntingdon to Cambridge.

 

[MCR247]

For one that was at the time booked, Trent Barton used to use coaches on their peak time only commuter xprss which was like a faster version of their rainbow 4 (now i4).

 

[GordonT]

Has anyone encountered the use of a coach with no ticket/cash equipment fitted being used on a local bus duty?

 

[SSmith2009]

Has anyone encountered the use of a coach with no ticket/cash equipment fitted being used on a local bus duty?

Yes a fair few years ago Thurmaston Bus in Leicester had most of their buses repossessed and ended up using coaches on the 51/52 to Hamilton which had no machines fitted so had to just take cash singles.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Stagecoach Glasgow used to quite often have a coach on the x19 in the 2010s

 

[ACBest]

For one that was at the time booked, Trent Barton used to use coaches on their peak time only commuter xprss which was like a faster version of their rainbow 4 (now i4).

They also used one on a round trip on Ruddington Connection each morning to Clifton and back.

 

[callum3490]

Didn’t trent also use coaches on their skylink express service when first launched. Depends how far we are stretching the phrase local as its Nottingham to East Mids airport

Some would class their red arrow as local despite it being intercity, Nottingham to Derby

 

[Eyersey468]

I believe Safeway of South Petherton used to use coaches on their bus services regularly

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I believe Safeway of South Petherton used to use coaches on their bus services regularly

You could say that of many traditional independents. Wakes of Sparkford had loads of market day services that featured coaches

 

[Poiuytre]

First South West often used a Plaxton Profile on the Exeter operated Journeys of the Dartmoor Explorer in its final year.

 

[gazthomas]

Llew Jones of Llanrwst have a variety of luxury mini-Coaches that find themselves on the 19 and 75 services

 

[dgl]

Back when First Wessex operated an express service between Dorchester and Poole using a coach there was at least the odd time a coach ended up on a Portland service.

 

[JGurney]

This used to be quite common among small companies which operated a few market day buses in addition to their main business of private hire and excursions. It was uneconomic to buy a separate vehicle for those routes, so they were run with coaches. One typical example was Swanage-based South Dorset Coaches. They mainly did private hire and excursions but also ran two Thursday-only buses, Kimmeridge to Wareham and Creech to Wareham, which were were operated using coach vehicles. Another example was the weekly bus from Bantham to Kingsbridge, in Devon, which was also run with a coach (I can't recall the operator's name).

Sometimes large companies used coaches for longer or limited stop bus services. E.g. Tees used to use coaches for the 93 (Middlesbrough - Scarborough), X4 (Bishop Auckland - Saltburn) and X56 (Middlesbrough - Whitby) bus routes until accessibility needs led to the adoption of low floor buses.

 

[JKP]

You could say that of many traditional independents. Wakes of Sparkford had loads of market day services that featured coaches

Yes, very few traditional independents operating rural services purchased buses either new or used. Indeed during the 1970s the Government gave out 50% grants towards the cost of a new coach if it had front driver operated doors.

An operator I knew often duplicated their market cum shopping service with fares collected by a conductor who transferred vehicles on route. His uniform was a milking coat and as produce was carried in the boot, one of his duties was to wheel it to the market on a trollley.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Grayscroft of Mablethorpe have been using coaches to cover their local service work on occasion recently.
A Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B9R has appeared several times on the 50, Grimsby to Saltfleet, covering for the usual B7RLE.
Their short tenure on the Tuesday and Friday only 25 (Market Rasen to Grimsby) often produced a minicoach, including a Caetano bodied Toyota.
Probably the highlight a few weeks back was a Berkof Axial bodied VDL double deck coach on the Tuesday only 28 (Mablethorpe to Grimsby), in place of the usual Scania double deck bus!

 

[Mark L]

Carousel used coaches, made available by the withdrawal of City of Oxford service X90, on the 102 for a short period from December 2019 until Covid restrictions saw the route temporarily withdrawn in March 2022.

 

[Poiuytre]

My interpretation of this thread is that it's asking about recent encounters of seeing coaches on routes that are primarily operated by buses.

Of course there are countless examples in years gone by of operators using coaches on service routes. And even now you'll find a sizable number of rural once-a-week routes where using mini & midi coaches such as Sprinters and Varios is not uncommon.

I find that rare workings of coaches on routes primarily served by buses to be a much scarcer sight nowdays. Apart from my previous contribution to this thread, I can't think of any examples.

I do know of an occasion where a PLC operator failed to run a route for much of the day (one bus PVR, no interworking) due to a vehicle shortage despite the fact that they had two PSVAR coaches standing idle in the depot which would of fitted on the route with ease.

Prehaps operators should be a bit braver if it will get them out of a hole. Prehaps somone more knowledgeable than me will confirm, but I seem to recall an occasion where EYMS (pre Go-Ahead) ran a heritage vehicle on one of there Hull services to due to lack of vehicle availability.

 

[GordonT]

Perhaps operators should be a bit braver if it will get them out of a hole. Prehaps somone more knowledgeable than me will confirm, but I seem to recall an occasion where EYMS (pre Go-Ahead) ran a heritage vehicle on one of their Hull services to due to lack of vehicle availability.

In the days of NBC/SBG certain companies and/or specific depots within them were quite creative in this respect especially with regard to "purloining" a visiting coach which happened to be parked up temporarily in their depot which they then utilised to cover a piece of their own work.