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Oldest buses in service

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Volvo142

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Arriva in Derby had some B reg Volvo City buses in daily use up until the arrival of a batch of new Geminis, making them 25 years old at the time of withdrawal. Some of them went on to work with other operators and one is still in use as a mobile cafe in Cornwall - see http://www.busfayre.net/?fbclid=IwAR2229rmCXZT4XwgUXCsArBMS1R9ZJ3OGKOQp5GEX2m7o_FAe3V_1W2fOr0 or https://www.facebook.com/westcornwallbusfayre/ for more details.

The batch were unique, in that they were only ones to have the Marshall bodywork, but sadly only the bus cafe survives, as far as I'm aware.
 

Man of Kent

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Arriva in Derby had some B reg Volvo City buses in daily use up until the arrival of a batch of new Geminis, making them 25 years old at the time of withdrawal. Some of them went on to work with other operators and one is still in use as a mobile cafe in Cornwall - see http://www.busfayre.net/?fbclid=IwAR2229rmCXZT4XwgUXCsArBMS1R9ZJ3OGKOQp5GEX2m7o_FAe3V_1W2fOr0 or https://www.facebook.com/westcornwallbusfayre/ for more details.

The batch were unique, in that they were only ones to have the Marshall bodywork, but sadly only the bus cafe survives, as far as I'm aware.
Unique apart from Strathclyde AH1 (ESU 378X).
 

Bcn1973

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Transdev Burnley have quite a few X & y plate Volvo b10ble and some 51 plate tridents in all day service, the b10s are nudging 19 years old now and still going very well
 

Zakforbes4

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Seen a 51 plate renown still in Barbie sf51 Yao in Glasgow yesterday doing the peak service 1E but also seen it on the frequent 1A service (btw these are usually used by E300)
 

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Wessexbuses

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Oldest bus in Service with First Wessex is 3 2000 ALX400 B7TL open tops,but only used in Summer, oldest bus in service full time is our 04 reg Scania Omnidekkas

Oldest bus for Buses of Somerset is 43821/22 which are X Reg
 

route101

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Seen a 51 plate renown still in Barbie sf51 Yao in Glasgow yesterday doing the peak service 1E but also seen it on the frequent 1A service (btw these are usually used by E300)

Took one on the 1A yesterday.
 

JamesC357

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First Essex Hadleigh Depot still has an X reg vehicle, in the form of Volvo B7TL ALX400 30894 X749 VUA, the oldest bus in Essex and I am not aware of any imminent plans to withdraw it.
 

JL1

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Arriva Southend still has a few 02 and 52 reg Wright Cadets in front line service, i'm led to believe they'll be going though once a new batch of StreetLites arrive at Hemel Hempstead to free up Versa's to Southend.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Oldest bus in Service with First Wessex is 3 2000 ALX400 B7TL open tops,but only used in Summer, oldest bus in service full time is our 04 reg Scania Omnidekkas

Oldest bus for Buses of Somerset is 43821/22 which are X Reg

BoS also have a former West Yorkshire X reg B7TL.

First Essex Hadleigh Depot still has an X reg vehicle, in the form of Volvo B7TL ALX400 30894 X749 VUA, the oldest bus in Essex and I am not aware of any imminent plans to withdraw it.

First Essex are receiving some B7TL Geminis from Bath/Wells and were also due to get some Tridents from Worcester (but don't know if that's still the plan) so expect some culling of the oldest fleet in Essex

Given the slew of new vehicles arriving in Leeds, Bristol, Kings Lynn and Portsmouth, plus various service reductions, there's going to be a lot of elderly First vehicles being culled.
 

Robertj21a

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BoS also have a former West Yorkshire X reg B7TL.



First Essex are receiving some B7TL Geminis from Bath/Wells and were also due to get some Tridents from Worcester (but don't know if that's still the plan) so expect some culling of the oldest fleet in Essex

Given the slew of new vehicles arriving in Leeds, Bristol, Kings Lynn and Portsmouth, plus various service reductions, there's going to be a lot of elderly First vehicles being culled.

Tridents from Worcester still planned.
 

DavidGrain

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NXWM still have a number of BU51 reg Volvo B7TLs mainly at Acocks Green and West Bromwich garages. I saw one in service the other day but many have now been withdrawn.
 

route101

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NXWM still have a number of BU51 reg Volvo B7TLs mainly at Acocks Green and West Bromwich garages. I saw one in service the other day but many have now been withdrawn.

Seen quite a few ALX 400S in brum last year , may of spied a 51 plate
 

TheGrandWazoo

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wibble1989

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First West Yorkshire Huddersfield depot have 30943 Y798 XNW still seeing regular service work
 

markymark2000

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Arriva Chester still run a Y reg Lowlander. It's main use is for the 10S (Connahs Quay school) but it does find it's way around the network in times of need. Y706XJF
 

RustySpoons

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Jordan Adam

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That's highly impressive, well regarded reliable kit too. I take it the lights are a retrofit, they don't look original?

Indeed they are a retrofit. Not a big fan of them tbh as they ruin the stylish look of the Renown, but i can understand why it was done.
 

scosutsut

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Indeed they are a retrofit. Not a big fan of them tbh as they ruin the stylish look of the Renown, but i can understand why it was done.
Agreed! I must say they are growing on me, still flabbergasted that's a 20 year old vehicle. I've seen year old kit looking tattier!
 

Jordan Adam

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Agreed! I must say they are growing on me, still flabbergasted that's a 20 year old vehicle. I've seen year old kit looking tattier!

Just goes to show what's possible, i bet most punters would think it's still a fairly new vehicle.
 

scosutsut

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Just goes to show what's possible, i bet most punters would think it's still a fairly new vehicle.
I bet. It's a perfect example that refurbishments, done right can transform just about anything - it's all about the economics of actually doing it stacking up and delivering a quality product at the end. Too often corners are cut and it shows in the end result.
 

JamesC357

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First Essex are receiving some B7TL Geminis from Bath/Wells and were also due to get some Tridents from Worcester (but don't know if that's still the plan) so expect some culling of the oldest fleet in Essex

Given the slew of new vehicles arriving in Leeds, Bristol, Kings Lynn and Portsmouth, plus various service reductions, there's going to be a lot of elderly First vehicles being culled.

Thanks for the info! Let’s see what happens then...
 
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