To most people, the biggest surprise of tonight was probably England qualifying for the semi-finals at the Euros. To me, it was this ride of 3764, one of Arriva’s Pulsar 2s, filmed on the 85 to South Wigston. This should have been 4577, but the bustimes tracker showed it to have suddenly stopped at the end of New Road.
3764 was new to Cannock in January 2012 as part of the Chase Linx network that was running in Staffordshire at that point. It transferred to Thurmaston in March 2016 along with 3765 and 3766 and has been there ever since. During 2017-2019 the YJ61s carried branding for the 14, which Arriva ran in competition with First until they pulled the plug on it in October 2022 due to the Leicester Buses Partnership’s crackdown on duplicated bus routes. This is why last year Arriva’s 26 became the 28, Stagecoach’s 48 became the 148, and Centrebus stopped running the 54A, since it was no different to First’s 54.
Frankly, being on this route, I’m just glad to have a Pulsar. The important thing is it wasn’t a heap like when I had 3808. The only noticeable thing on this bus is that the door opening and close sound seems to have been re-fitted from a New Routemaster, which took me by surprise.
Since I last filmed a bus video that wasn’t from an event, the following changes have happened:
All of Arriva’s StreetDeck Electroliners are now in service on their allocated routes, which are the 47, 48, 50 and 51, though appearances have been quite common on the 31, 31A, 84 and 85 as well.
As a result of this, 4760 and 4761 are now Arriva’s last DB250s in service and they are clinging on for dear life. As a result, the standard 104 and 127 allocation is now the Trident E400s, now consisting of 4426-4439.
4115 has now transferred to Telford to be with 4111 and 4112, while all the Olympuses have gone down to the Shires to replace older vehicles. They have been split between Milton Keynes and Luton.
First’s StreetDeck Electroliners are now in service. 35179-35187 have now left, being split between Norwich and Sheffield, though 35188-35192 are clinging on. Additionally, 33697, 33718, 33728 and 33733 have now moved down to Essex, where quite a lot of the SN12s are now First have been relegated to Rochdale in Greater Manchester (this a result of the recent Bee Network changes which have seen Stagecoach win the Oldham franchise).
However, some of First’s older StreetDecks are being retrofitted to electric to be used in some cities, and some will be coming to Leicester. The first of these to be confirmed is 35146, which was from Bristol originally, and it’s believed that 35188-35192 will be receiving the same treatment. Some are due to go to Leeds as well.
Finally, with Kinchbus, following a frequency increase on the Skylink, 128 has transferred down from Nottingham for the route, while Kinchbus also have Mango spares 109, 174 and 175. All the Mercedes Citaros have now been withdrawn and with new E200 MMCs due for the Mickleover soon, I have a feeling Kinchbus will be acquiring 101-106 as permanent replacements for older vehicles and for the Skylink.