Had a decent trip out around Leeds,Bradford & Keighley the other day,so got up fairly early & set off.
- Transpennine to Leeds -
SN15 AEF - 476349 First WY Wright Streetlite,Route 5 Leeds City Loop - York Road 8:48 - 9:21
After leaving the Train stn i jumped on this & got my MetroDay,before doing the loop around the City Centre & up York Road,leaving at the Dawlish Row "Layby" stop.Compared to some Streetlites i`ve travelled on,this one is in fairly decent condition,with less rattles than i was expecting plus the WIFI worked,whats always a bonus!
V74MOA - 2721 Transdev Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President,Route 7 York Rd - Seacroft 9:34 - 9:45
After departing the Streetlite i checked the live times screen & decided to wait for the Service 7,nipping into the local shop getting a drink in the meantime. As i was expecting a red Wright Eclipse it was abit of a surprise to see a Pride of the North President turn up! Ever since being bought by Transdev this seems to spend most of its time being passed between Harrogate & York depots,so must of got lucky for the day! Its old NXWM interior was starting to look abit worn out,but gave a decent ride with little rattles,with the engine notably lacking the "hoovering" noices that would be expected & sounded in much better mechanical than some of the newer First Examples i saw during the day!
Y169 HRN - Fleetnumber? Squarpeg Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown,Route 9 Seacroft - White Rose Cnt 10:10 - 11:08
As we entered Seacroft Bus Stn,i saw the Renown parked up so decided to hang around waiting for it to depart,killing time by taking a few pics of the other vehicles coming & going from Seacroft but was worth the wait,as this Renown was in fantastic condition,with Squarepeg managing to maintain the standards Transdev kept it in.The interior still in decent nick despite it being a fair few years old (If i remember correctly it had a referb in 2009 for the Mainline network,the same time Burnleys Wright Eclipse 2s turned up) Once it out of Seacroft & Crossgates it managed to hold a great turn of speed & even with a few delays once we hit Middleton we still managed to arrive at the White Rose Cnt bang on time.
YJ08 DVK - 1106 Arriva Yorkshire Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse,Route 221 White Rose Cnt - Morley 11:30 - 11:45
After a quick look around the White Rose Cnt,once I got back to the Bus Stn 1106 was just about to enter,with this being the only Wright Eclipse in the new Arriva livery at the moment. It is easy to see why some think of these as the unloved vehicles of Arriva Yorkshire,with almost every other vehicle in the fleet gaining a referb in the last few years (Both newer & older vehicles) these have remained with their original interiors & apart from 1106,the original paintwork,with it showing on the Interior of this example. Despite the Interior looking fairly shabby but gave a decent turn of speed with little rattles,the driver also did a great job getting around the back streets of Morley with its many parked cars!
NK13 AZL - 1719 Arriva Yorkshire Volvo B5LH/Wright Gemini 2,Route 425 Morley - Bradford 12:08 - 12:46
Upon learning what routes went from where in the new Morley Hub set up (not much improvement on the last set up,apart from the stops being in 1 line rather than an T shape before) I saw a Bradford bus was due in around 10 minutes wait. The Wakefield - Bradford routes can get a good mix of vehicles during the daytime,with my vehicle being a 444 Branded hybrid. As it was not too longer ago it was refurbished to MAX standard the interior was in decent nick,even though i forgot how little leg room there seems to be on these! I`m not too sure how these Hybrids work,but when entering Bradford on the main downhill section it sounds like it entered Electric mode,but as it was going around 30-35MPH i carnt say for sure if it was!
YJ51 RFK - 60910 First WY Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse,Route 680 Bradford - Bingley 13:29 - 14:30
After hitting Bradford,i was looking at getting on the Transdev Shuttle service,but it seemed like there was a fair few delays going on,so decided to get the only service i have not got on between Bradford & Bingley. When it arrived i was tempted just to hang around & wait as i`m not a big fan of the B7Ls & this example reminded me why! Sluggish,worn out rock hard interior & rattled at every chance! Its hard to think this was once one of Yorks flagship fleet for the Park & Ride services,age has not been kind to it & was thankful when i arrived at Bingley,no surprise we ended up arriving 5min late.
YJ16 DWG - 240 Transdev Optare Versa,60 Bingley - Keighley 14:49 - 15:03
Once i arrived at Bingley,after nipping for a quick drink & snack i decided just to jump on the first vehicle that turned up towards Keighley. The Versa gave a decent performance on the main AireValley road,but did notice a fair few rattles for a vehicle thats only around 2 year old. Maybe Versas was not the best choice of vehicle for this service (both for the type of route plus capacity,as it was the start of rush hour & after Bingley it quickly filled up towards Keighley) The Next stop announcements was also interesting,as it being in a strong Yorkshire accent i dont think everyone could fully understand them!
LN18 EWE - 53 Transdev Mellor Strata,K14 Keighley - Keighley 15:05 - 16:14
After arriving in Keighley i decided to rush & quickly jump on this,as upto then i had never been on any Mellor vehicle so was interested in finding out what these was like! They a great little vehicles,plus with Transdev purchasing them with normal bus seats,free WIFI & USB Ports they are a huge step up from the Solos used before! The route itself is a nice little scenic service with some decent views to offer! Once i got back into Keighley,i ended up speaking with the driver as he guessed i might of been an enthusiast by me doing the full circle. He also gave positive views on the Mellors,saying they was fun to drive & the stearing was alot better than the Solos. I`m guessing this could be why they went for purchasing Mellors instead of going for the 7.1m Solo.
FJ08 BZS - 1845 Transdev Wright Eclipse,67 Keighley - Bradford 16:35 - 17:37
Once getting some a bite to eat at a little bakery across from the Bus Stn,i jumped on the more scenic trip to Bradford from Keighley. As like the the Arriva example i travelled on earlier this Eclipse was also starting to show its age,but as its leased rather than owned i assume its somewhere in the small print that they cannot referb the bus without outright buying it. Once leaving Denholme the driver got a good chance to build up some speed,with us ending up having to wait a few minutes in Thornton,with a First Gemini overtaking us,with the 2 of us leap frogging between there & Bradford
YJ17 NJY - 1071 Yorkshire Tiger Enviro 200MMC,747 Bradford - Yeadon 17:45 - 18:20
On approach to Bradford Int,I noticed one of Yorkshire Tigers Enviro 200MMCs coming up behind us,but assumed it would park out as the next Airport service was a 737 due in around half an hour,but once i departed 1845 I noticed it was starting to load & it turned out to be the 17:35 747 service running around 10 minutes late so jumped on. The Blue interior is very smart,but i hope they maintain these better than the Optare Versas used on the LBA - Leeds service,what are not in the best of nick. The amount of rattles was surprisingly bad,even worst than alot of the Olden style E200s. I thought ADL said the MMC range was ment to have no rattles? think they need to take a second look! The driver did a good job making up time despite the odd bit of late peak time traffic & i departed at Yeadon,were we was only 4 minutes late.
SL67 VXH - 35280 FWY Wright Streetlite,97 Yeadon - Leeds 18:25 - 19:20
After arriving in Yeadon,i took a quick look at timetable & had to plan for a 30minute wait,but a few other passengers in the Shelter told me there was a late one due,so after a couple of minutes wait a late 18:20 turned up & i hoped onboard. These new Streetdecks are a little bit of a letdown,being sluggish on the hills & again the amount of rattles was shocking for such a new vehicle. The next stop announcements need work also,as on some parts half way through the sentance it would cut back to the start,when going through Horsforth it didnt anounce the stops at all then when whilst travelling through Headingley for 2-3 stops it decided to say it was a service 28,i`m guessing they are still ironing out the problems as its the first batch of vehicles for First WY to have NSAs.
YJ09 OAA - 37687 FWY Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini,16 Leeds York St - Leeds Rail Stn 19:25 - 19:30
After departing 35280,I walked across the road & jumped on the first bus heading towards the Stn. Not much to say as it was a standard B9TL,but i will say apart from the interior it was a big improvement on the Streetdeck i just left,in a way its almost a shame they just could not upgrade & refurb these instead of purchasing mass amounts of Streetdecks.Upon leaving this at the Train Stn i went for a quick bite to eat before getting my train home.
Altogether it was a decent day out,with me using a number of different vehicles & companys,with me getting my usage out of the MetroDay,priced at £6 it worked out at 50p a journey so i carnt complain!
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