You'll be pleased to know that I finally spread my wings and done a little bit of exploring around Bath today!
I started off doing a return trip up to Odd Down on the 41. This was 35110. My friend was driving so thought why not. The Streetdecks suit the route well and surprisingly seemed to handle Wellsway alright. Although I do think some more permanent fleet should be invested.
After alighting back at Southgate, I then jumped on the U1 for a run up to the university. I was expecting a plum coloured Enviro 400MMC to turn up but my lucky B9 37760 turned up, having a day off X39s. Now for those who have been lurking on here for a while you'll remember that 37760 is my lucky bus for many reasons. I have to say, it climbed Bathwick Hill marvellously and is obviously being looked after, unlike the vast majority of buses at Bath.
I had a nose around the university and noticed that the buses don't half get busy; I dread to think what it's like up there between 4 and 6 o'clock. In the short time I was there, 32637, 10037 and 33944 turned up and all three buses had a queue of around fifty people at a time, so I can see why deckers/bendis and a frequent service is required. It was interesting to compare the service and layout with UWE, where I attended.
I decided to get the U2, which was in the hands of 33943. Believe it or not this was my first time on one of the Unibus E400MMCs; a few weeks ago I'd just missed 33947 on the 19 of all routes in Kingswood. They are very nice vehicles but with only eight of them (admittedly with the B7LAs and ALX400s as back up), I wonder if it's enough? 32551 and 32637 were both operating it too.
My intention was to get off at Trowbridge House and get the 1 back into town, as that was another route I hadn't done and one that my mate said was of interest, but according to the real-time boards the next one wasn't for another twenty one minutes and I thought bugger that, so I stayed on a little bit longer and got off at Twerton Bridge. It's a great route as it don't half get hilly around Odd Down!
The 5 was in the hands of 66881, a usual contender found in brand standard Bath City blue colours. It performed well too, for a 14 year old ex-Manchester bus. Credit where credit is due. I do wonder whether B7RLEs are the best option for the 5? I'm surprised its not Streetlight operation!
I got off in the bus station and wanted a ride on one of the new Solo SRs, which I was expecting to find on the 1. As it happened, it turns out that if I did wait for that 1 at Trowbridge House, I would have been blessed with 53816, so I'm glad I stayed on as far as Twerton Bridge.
Again thanks to my mate he recommended going up on the 6 and back on the 7 and vice versa. In the bus station was 53856 on the 7. I trialled it up to Larkhall. These buses are great and the seat moquette matches the vehicles perfectly, but my goodness they are tiny!! Perfect for such routes though. The 7 does take an interesting couple of narrow roads, especially around St Saviours Church.
My plan was to find a point along the route where the 6 and 7 briefly cross, or somewhere as close to where they cross as possible. As I got off I realised I had another fifteen minutes for the 6, so decided instead to walk down to London Road and get a 3. I'd just missed 32553 of all vehicles which floored it down towards town. An X31 and an X72 of Faresaver turned up, both Enviro 200s, and then 44522 on the 3A turned up, which despite being on time according to both my app and the timetable was only going as far as the station and not Foxhill. There had been a school protesting climate change right through town, so this may have displaced buses and drivers.
All in all a great morning/afternoon. Will plan my next route soon, which I think will involve the 173/174 now we've got some Mendip Explorer-branded B9s!
