Optare Excel News *ARCHIVE*
Information used here will acknowledge contributors, or where viewed on websites will provide details of that website.
Data supplied here is protected by the Open Licensing Agreement which protects all internet content, according to which information shown here may be used elsewhere ONLY under the condition that the source of the information is acknowledged - this being http://sulzerpower.com/excel
Contributions and corrections welcome to slc9t9@yahoo.com (copy and paste email address)
This is the news archive page. For current news, please click here
9th December 2010
A-Line, Pelaw -
by 08/10 - R29MFM acquired and in service, ex M Travel.
Bennetts of Kilwinning -
RUI9480 (R992EWU) and RUI9481 (R991EWU) work services 27 or 29 from Irvine. They've been joined by sister R990EWU, all three having come from JP Minicoaches and previously National Express.
Blackpool Transport - 215 T215HCW above on new route 17 from Blackpool to Lytham on 29th July 2010. 215 was the last Excel painted in to this livery. 211 T211HCW was the first Excel painted in the new Blackpool black and yellow livery (see last update), entering service in early August 2010. Service changes which coincided with the new livery in July lead to Excels operating on different routes, previously they were used on 'line 7' which operated from Cleveleys to Lytham, and extending to Wesham on evenings and Sundays. New routes that the Excels have been operating on are covered below;
221 T884RBR stands at Poulton on route 2 which runs from here to the centre of Blackpool. Previously operated by Solos, the route used to extend south beyond Blackpool to South Shore and even further via the old tram route along Whitegate Drive.
221 T884RBR (seen above on 01/12/10), 222 T932EAN, 223 T933EAN, 225 T935EAN, 226 T936EAN retain 6BT engines, all other Blackpool Excels have the newer ISBe version. 224 T934EAN is the latest vehicle to be away for fitment of an ISBe.
Every other route 2 from Blackpool extends north to Knott End, on the other side of the River Wyre to Fleetwood, the service operating as the 2C. The 2 and 2C are now usually operated entirely by Excels. 226 T936EAN in the former 'line 7' purple livery stands at Knott End Ferry on 1st December 2010.
Another route which sees Excels is route 17 which ran in July from Blackpool to Lytham via St Annes (as shown in the 215 pic), though now only runs to St Annes with a route 18 operating the rest of the way. Neither route are as direct as other services between the towns. 223 T933EAN is at St Annes Square amongst Christmas lights on 01/12/10 before running back to Blackpool, it's destination box steamed up in below freezing weather conditions.
Route 5, which was the home of 210-8 T210-8HCW in the early millennium, and route 1 from Blackpool town centre to Fleetwood has seen occasional Excel operation recently, route 1 having 212 T212HCW, 216 T216HCW and 225 T935EAN in use on one day in place of new vehicles. Line 1 used to be worked by double deckers.
Blackpool images were taken by the editor.
Carters Coaches, Kings Lynn - P192SGV carries fleetnumber 292, seen at Colchester on 04/12/10. Thanks to Wayne Bell for the image.
(ex) Cumfybus of Southport -
N205LCK moved to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 10/10. The other two former Cumfybus Excels ended up with Wealden PSV Sales in Northfleet by 02/10 - pioneer of the fleet TIL2099 (N330EUG) and N202LCK.
Edwards of Llantwit Fadre -
R209DKG here (photographed by Glyn Williams on 4th August 2010) had previously operated with Red Arrow, Huddersfield.
East Yorkshire Motor Services -
S288RAG is believed to still be fitted with the original Euro 2 Cummins 6BT engine as reported at the June update, others all have the new ISBe unit. S287RAG was seen on 30th March 2008.
East Yorkshire's website includes an excellent enthusiast section which is worth a look and can be seen by clicking here.
Galleon/Trustline of Harlow -
This operator used P501OUG, P504OUG, P506OUG and P508OUG briefly, since this P504OUG and P508OUG are believed to have moved at some point to Rowe & Tudhope in Kilmarnock.
GHA Coaches, Ruabon -
N201LCK and N206LCK are numbered SB35 and SB36, though 201 is currently off the road at Ruabon depot.
JP Travel, Middleton -
V210ENU is the third Excel with this company, though now carries their private plate V2JPT and fleet number 172. It last operated with Hunt's of Alford.
King of the Road (Pilkington), Accrington -
S289RAG and S291RAG are still owned, obtained from EYMS on the 12th August 2006. Only S289RAG is currently available for service, though before this summer it had not been used for some time.
King, Kirkcowan -
R280EKH moved to Moseley (dealer) 02/10, and sold onward to a new owner in Loughrea in Galway, Ireland in July, it operates a service for a local night club.
Lodge Coaches, Chelmsford -
V118LVH is one of two Excels operated by Lodge, seen at their depot open day on 29th August 2010.
Also present was their other Excel, V936VUB. Thanks to Simon Coates for both photographs.
Meridian Bus -
DAZ4301, now P347LEY (ex P201BNR and WAZ8276 though!), from Kimes of Folkingham and Trent is now with Meridian. It was awaiting a gearbox overhaul when purchased and will be painted before being put into service. A repainted R845FWW has still been operating, though sister R846FWW is still waiting to return to the road.
M Travel -
P152CTV had entered service by the start of September 2010 having moved in July, R29MFM having moved to A Line of Pelaw. Their Excels are 028 R28MFM, 029 R29MFM, 079 V79JKG, 152 P152CTV and 273 P273NRH.
Malta -
FBY805 remains in use, this sole example of the type operating in Malta was the first low floor vehicle to operate on the island, though when Arriva Malta take over this could ironically be withdrawn as the Maltese government are believed to have requested a maximum age of 12 years for service buses, this Excel was new in 1997. I'm not sure whether this ruling applies also to private hire or school only vehicles, if not then it could continue in use on other duties.
Midland -
R987EWU and R744BUJ have been sold, R-EWU was numbered 154 at Longton as part of the D&G fleet and had been used until suffering a gearbox failure, it was sold alongside stored former 144 R744BUJ. S3CLA (153) remains in use at Longton, 6002 S2CLA and 6743 R743BUJ are in use with Midland in the Wolverhampton area, 6002 now fitted with Mobitec electronic destination display equipment.
Nottingham Transport -
550 FD51EYS is believed to have been withdrawn during the summer, by 07/10.
P&O, Dover - Above is an image of former demonstrator X538NWT, showing it's dual door layout and luggage racks inside, neither of which are believed to have been fitted when the vehicle was in use with other operators.
Richard Bros, Cardigan -
N205LCK arrived on 09/10/10, likely to be for spares. The last operator of this bus was Cumfybus.
P508NWU had also arrived from Trent Barton by 08/10.
Smith's of Keith -
Another one for scrap, seen above on 31/10/09, one of very few series 1 Excels which was new to a Scottish operator, P813OET (HCO514), sold by 08/10.
South Wales Transport -
S926LBL and S930LBL moved here from Vale Travel of Aylesbury via Southdown PSV, by 07/10. Our previous news report shows that by April, R916SJH was in use and possibly S930LBL.
Stagecoach Yorkshire -
On the subject of ex Blackpool Excels, unfortunately 35016 N207LCK is also reported as having been scrapped by 09/10 after having failed on the way to a new life with Stagecoach Bluebird. N208LCK is believed to remain in use. 35018 P222ABC was also expected to move to Bluebird but did not and remains withdrawn. N207LCK had entered service at the Chesterfield depot in March 2007 after returning to Optare for attention. Both this and N208LCK had moved south from Stagecoach Western in February 2007 having been aquired with the operations of Docherty of Irvine in 2004.
Chesterfield depot operate; 35000 YN51VHH, 35001 YN51VHJ, 35002 YN51VHK, 35003 YN51VHL, 35004 YN51VHM, 35005 YN51VHO, 35006 YN51VHP, 35017 N208LCK, 35019 P333ABC, 35020 R11ABC, 35021 R641MBV, 35022 R643MBV, 35023 JAZ9851, 35025 P937SSK.
Thompsons Tours of Christchurch -
P321KAR was a surprise return to service, by 08/10 and seen above at Ringwood on 11/08/10 in South Gloucestershire livery. Thanks to Peter Cook H&DW&D for the photos.
It joins P429AHR (P446SWX) which had returned to service earlier in the year at the expense of N204LCK which is believed to have been scrapped. During it's early years as an Optare demonstrator P446SWX spent a long time on hire to Harris Bus covering for their own Excels which had returned to the Optare factory. It operated very briefly in Blackpool too, no other locations are known.
P429AHR on 21st April 2010, thanks to Ant for the photo.
TM Travel, Halfway - None of the Mark 1 Excels are believed to have sold at their depot auction on 03/07/10, though may have been all sold since, these vehicles were 1126 P505OUG, 1133 R374DJN, 1134 R379DJN, 1135 R211DKG, 1136 R213DKG and 1140 V389KVY.
W213PRB and W214PRB were already in TM livery, W215PRB had joined them having entered previously service in unbranded livery - it had been repainted by 09/10 when it attended Showbus at Duxford as shown in Mark Youdan's photo taken on 26/09/10 which provides a comparison between the Excel and Versa stylings. Which one do you prefer?
Trent Barton and Notts & Derby - In July Volvo B10M/ Plaxton Interurban coaches 59 and 60 appeared to be transferring from TransPeak duties to Red Arrow spares, later joined by coach 62, which saw TransPeak 157 S157UAL and 158 S158UAL continue in service, others in the same livery are series 2 vehicles 224 W224PRB, 231 X231WRA and 232 X232WRA in the same livery.
By October, 261 Y261DRC and 263 Y263DRC are in Trent Barton red and operating from Sutton Junction, whilst 262 Y262DRC is in a red livery advertising some of Trent's services.
Now reinstated is 264 Y264DRC, painted in a mint green livery for recently won tender for the 409 service, Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was previously in the red Skyline livery.
L1180 258 Y258DRC by 07/10, plus 221 W221PRB and 222 W302PRB by 08/10 moved from Trent Barton to Notts & Derby, joined by 223 W223PRB, 230 W998PRB, 259 Y259DRC by 09/10.
P508NWU to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 08/10. P152CTV left, to M Travel.
Tyneside Travel - Previously missed, P503OUG is operating here, by 04/10, ex Stafford Bus Centre.
For Sale - There is a P or R reg at Stafford Bus Centre, they're open to offers or they may break it according to their website.
Ceased operators - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Enthusiasts, as always you can email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com to request to be emailed when this news page is updated, the same email address can be used to submit information, sightings and photographs.
Operators, if you're viewing this and you would like to provide information or advertise a vehicle for sale, or if you have information to the contrary for anything that is stated please email me to organise a change in the listings. Info shown here is always information which is already in the public domain or has been released by operators, but compiled in to one area to allow anybody interested to keep a track of a fleet as their careers continue.
Huge thanks for help to - Ant, GGC, Jenky, Simon Coates, Peter Cook, Martin Dillon, Adrian Healey, Gary Mitchelhill, Paul Turner, M.Williams, Mark Youdan, Meridian Bus, Midland Bus, East Yorkshire Motor Services
3rd October 2010
A brief note to point out that a news update is forthcoming, it's also getting to that time of year again to check the status of all the vehicles, so if you know of any Excels which have changed ownership recently or become stored or conversely returned to traffic you can let me know at slc9t9@yahoo.com
Also if you're fed up with checking the site and seeing it hasn't been updated, please also email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com and ask to be kept in touch when the site is updated - I email the site viewers every time a news update has taken place due to the infrequency of the updates and the large amount of info that is compiled in each one.
In the mean time, above is a photo taken at the recent Blackpol Transport open day (copyright of Shaun C.) on 26th September 2010 showing their new standard fleet livery applied to T211HCW.
11th June 2010
Changes
Arriva Milton Keynes - operate V392/3KVY, Arriva was taken over by Deutsche Bahn on 22/04/10.
Blackpool Transport - Blackpool Transport operate 210-8 T210-8HCW, 219-21 T880/1/4RBR, 222-6 T932-6EAN, they are currently mainly used on route 7 from Cleveleys to Lytham, with one or two per day appearing on route 14 from Fleetwood-Blackpool/St Annes (see spotting report below) - from 26th July 2010 as part of a set of route changes route 7 will become Optare Solo operated, with the Excels likely to move to the new route 11 which will operate from Lytham to Grange Park Estate. More on this once the services begin.
All except T932-6EAN at Blackpool Transport have been fitted with Cummins ISBe engines.
East Yorkshire Motor Services - R253PRH and R254PRH have been re-registered to A16/17EYC, by March 2010, moved from Pocklington and Hull depots respectively to Elloughton.
All of their Excels now except 288 have been fitted with the Euro 3 Cummins ISBe engine, S288RAG still has a Euro 2 Cummins 6BT.
Edwards, Llantwit Fardre - acquired R209DKG during April from Stafford Bus Centre, this is believed to have been up-seated to 43 with removal of its wheelchair areas, and is fitted with seat belts throughout. It sees some operation on their rouite 400E which operates through Llantwit Fardre to Cardiff Greyfriars Road.
Go Goodwin, Eccles - R373DJN is still registered WSV550, it had been for sale, presumably still at Go Goodwins as they own the private registration. R375DJN was however sold by them last year.
Go South Coast - HJ02WDG (above, photo copyright of Ant) which had seen use for a short time on the Isle of Wight with Southern Vectis, now operates at Ringwood outstation of Wilts & Dorset, mostly on service 36 to Bournemouth. Other Excels are at Poole and Salisbury.
JP Coaches, Forfar - previously reported was the acquisition of R991/2EWU, R990EWU also joined this from National Express Dundee in April (previously Travel Dundee). R991/2EWU have been re-registered to RUI9480/1 (the fourth Excel of this batch in Dundee was R985EWU which moved to McColl's of Balloch last year).
JP Travel, Middleton - previously reported and shown in photograph in April with this company was 171 - S928LBL which had arrived there ex New Adventure in Cardiff, also with JPT is 170 - S927LBL from the same company. 171 is named 'Gav jb' after someone on their Facebook site, and 170 is named 'Heavenly Harriet'. The two are easy to tell apart from a distance as they have differing destination equipment. Both have been re-upholstered and carry the yellow and blue fleet livery.
Lucketts of Fareham - 666VMX (above, photo copyright of Ant) was previously a registration used on a double deck coach, but is now on former P913SUM which is used on shuttles to Lakeside North Harbour as the livery suggests. Lucketts took over this shuttle from Roadliner, see 'Roadliner' below for info on K155ELF (T790KNW) which was previously in this livery and operating this service.
Midland - as previously reported have at least R743BUJ and S2CLA (11.5 metres long, above, photo copyright of Shaun C), operating, no report yet of R744BUJ. S3CLA was last known of at Crewe with R987EWU.
National Express West Midlands - repainted in the current National Express West Midlands livery which includes a red front (a bit confusing from a distance when a Midland bus comes along) are at least the following; R402HWU, R405HWU, R409HWU, R410HWU, and T714NOE. The R-HWUs were repainted after moving south from National Express Dundee (previously Travel Dundee).
Ogden, St Helens - from North West Bus Sales are X961/3BPA, ex Reading. Ogden have operated Excels in the past, including T342FWR which was later scrapped.
Richard Bros, Cardigan - have P508NWU, previously fleet number 900 in the Trent Barton fleet.
Roadliner - went out of business and K155ELF (T790KNW) has remained with Cavendish Liner who took over Roadliner's business
and is now in Cavendish Liner's grey livery.
South Wales Travel - by April, R916SJH was in operation in white, and S930LBL was in use in white with green stripes. Both are ex Reading buses.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - withdrawn according to Buses magazine are 35016 N207LCK and 35018 P222ABC.
Thompson's, Ringwood - operating P429AHR which had been with Adam Barham (dealer). Various parts from N204LCK are believed to have been used to make one good bus, so we could soon see the end of the former Blackpool vehicle.
TM Travel - 214 W214PRB was in TM Travel livery by the start of May. 213 W213PRB is also in TM colours. 215 W215PRB had its Cotgrave Connection branding removed and entered service in April with a small TM Travel logo on the front end. They previously operated 1135 R211DKG, R213DKG, R379DJN and V389KVY, though R374DKG had been in use recently and 1126 P505OUG still is.
Some of the withdrawn examples may be working shuttle services for Notts & Derby this week for the 'Download [music] Festival 2010' at Donington Park, there are shuttle buses running from both Derby and East Midlands Parkway from Wednesday 9th June to Monday 14th June 2010.
Trent - 231 and 232 (X-WRA) to Transpeak livery (ex Mickleover), replacing 157 and 158 (S-UAL).
261 Y261DRC is now in generic Trent Barton red and allocated to Derby as a spare vehicle. 264 Y264DRC expected to go into Route 1 Derby - Ashbourne livery later in the year when the service increases from hourly to half hourly.
A number of Excels seem to have had accidents recently. 227 X227WRA and 243 Y243DRC being amongst those, both have been repaired.
Notts & Derby - 258 and 259 (Y-DRC) now in rainbow livery for Derby College Student Shuttle. 161 S161UAL is still operating in that livery, but is likely to be withdrawn soon.
221 W221PRB, 222 W302PRB and 230 X998WRA now in Unibus blue/white/orange livery, ex Mickleover.
263 and 264 (Y-DRC) are still operating with Notts and Derby, 264 being a recent reinstatement possibly in connection with the Download Festival Shuttles.
Ceased operators; - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Sales - not a lot of Excels appear available for sale at the moment, S160UAL is though still available at Ventura sales.
Refurbishment - Optare offer a refurbishment programme at their Blackburn plant, obviously Excels are not produced any more but I would assume Excels would be able to be refurbished there as a non Optare product is depicted.
Sightings
Viewers are invited to send in their sightings of Excels on service or details of routes that they operate. Click the 'email' button on the left if you would like to contribute.
T717NOE (717) parked outside Wolverhampton's former bus station waiting time to move on to a temporary bus stop in a nearby street. The bus station will reopen in the same location, it is currently being rebuilt.
photo copyright of Shaun C
07/06/10 - At least 35 National Express West Midlands Excels were noted in the space of three hours at Wolverhampton on this date, the following provided for reference;
Bus Registration - Route number
R418HWU - 503
T714NOE + T715NOE - 503W
S693YOL + S701YOL + S706YOL + S707YOL + S710YOL - 504/5/7/7A
R409HWU + R412HWU + R419HWU - 511
S697YOL + S702YOL - 512
T713NOE - 513
R403HWU - 514
R414HWU - 515
S703YOL - 525
S688YOL - 526
R405HWU - 528
T717NOE - 528E
S692YOL - 532
S686YOL + S170YOL - 533
S689YOL + S705YOL + T718NOE - 535
R408HWU + S687YOL + S695YOL - 543
R401HWU R402HWU R415HWU S691YOL - 598
R410HWU - seen 'not in service' after a school run.
Also seen in use were Midland's R743BUJ and S2CLA.
08/06/10 - Blackpool Transport;
Further to the notes in the fleet news above, route 7 had the following buses working on it on this date;
T211/5/6/8HCW(211/5/6/8), T881RBR(220), T932/4/6EAN(222/4/6) and V reg. Solo 263 plus F reg. Olympian 371.
Another Excel, T880RBR(219), was on route 14 workings from Fleetwood through to St Annes, a route which is being chopped in half as part of the forthcoming service changes.
Site notes - *note that none of the info shown here above or in the February and April news updates have been ammended on the Owner Index or Reference List, the news here is an update/supplement to those lists which are periodically updated*
However, the Lost Summary page has been updated, which records which registrations have been lost, for example those buses which have been scrapped or buses which have been re-registered and exported.
Operator names in the 'former operators' section only includes since the site started in 2008 and have been left in place for reference, there are no plans to add other previous Excel operators from before this date as it would take too much time to add all the relevant details though notes are kept about these.
Thanks very much for help with this update go to; Buses magazine (with permission), East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ant, GGC, Will Figg, Adrian Healey, Paul Turner.
1st June 2010
Delving into the archives, here is 'The Revolutionary Excel' as T790KNW described itself when in use as a demonstrator for builder Optare.
It is seen between the former Odeon Cinema in Blackpool and North railway station in use with Blackpool Transport on 17th February 2001. It was quite revolutionary as it was the first Excel to be fitted with a Mercedes engine rather than the usual Cummins power unit, and was in fact the only series 1 Excel ever fitted with a Mercedes engine though that would later become standard on the series 2. Only a small number of the later build vehicles had Cummins engines (Reading's four X-BPA are noteable series 2 vehicles with Cummins engines).
Two months later the bus was sold by Optare for the first time to Ipswich from where it was withdrawn in January 2009. It has since moved to Dorset and is registered K155ELF!
photo copyright of GGC
Just a quick note to see that a full news round-up will be compiled within a few days, it had been a quiet six weeks here for Excel news hence no update.
News, photographs, questions and comments can be submitted to me at slc9t9@yahoo.com thanks.
15th April 2010 - which is further to the news update four days ago (see further down the page)
A page has been created to show the Excels converted for non-PSV use, click here to have a look, P315FAW is one of three converted for Rochdale Council - here I found it in Middleton town centre briefly on 15th April 2010, though it was only there for 15 minutes. Judging by the destination blind though it can probably be found in Middleton quite often. Sister P316FAW mentions Rochdale on its front end, and carries number 509 in the windscreen. Both were bought from Stafford Bus Centre (dealer) who had received them from Arriva. The headlight on both of them is smaller than usual Excels and presumably just one single light rather than a pair.
photo copyright of Shaun C.
I was in Middleton at the time to have a ride on S928LBL, which was working route 17 shorts from Middleton Bus Station to Manchester's Shudehill. It has fleetnumber 171. Although repainted it's still fitted with the Reading route and destination blinds!
photo copyright of Shaun C, 15/04/10
From the archive, S928LBL in Reading days. In the meantime, it has operated for New Adventure Travel in Cardiff who bought S925/7-9/31LBL from a dealer. S928LBL definitely operated whilst in Wales, whilst I was sat at the back of the bus immediately in front of me there was graffiti which said 'Daniel ov Merthyr'!
photo copyright of Shaun C
-
Information used here will acknowledge contributors, or where viewed on websites will provide details of that website.
Data supplied here is protected by the Open Licensing Agreement which protects all internet content, according to which information shown here may be used elsewhere ONLY under the condition that the source of the information is acknowledged - this being http://sulzerpower.com/excel
Contributions and corrections welcome to slc9t9@yahoo.com (copy and paste email address)
9th December 2010
A-Line, Pelaw -
by 08/10 - R29MFM acquired and in service, ex M Travel.
Bennetts of Kilwinning -
RUI9480 (R992EWU) and RUI9481 (R991EWU) work services 27 or 29 from Irvine. They've been joined by sister R990EWU, all three having come from JP Minicoaches and previously National Express.
Blackpool Transport - 215 T215HCW above on new route 17 from Blackpool to Lytham on 29th July 2010. 215 was the last Excel painted in to this livery. 211 T211HCW was the first Excel painted in the new Blackpool black and yellow livery (see last update), entering service in early August 2010. Service changes which coincided with the new livery in July lead to Excels operating on different routes, previously they were used on 'line 7' which operated from Cleveleys to Lytham, and extending to Wesham on evenings and Sundays. New routes that the Excels have been operating on are covered below;
221 T884RBR stands at Poulton on route 2 which runs from here to the centre of Blackpool. Previously operated by Solos, the route used to extend south beyond Blackpool to South Shore and even further via the old tram route along Whitegate Drive.
221 T884RBR (seen above on 01/12/10), 222 T932EAN, 223 T933EAN, 225 T935EAN, 226 T936EAN retain 6BT engines, all other Blackpool Excels have the newer ISBe version. 224 T934EAN is the latest vehicle to be away for fitment of an ISBe.
Every other route 2 from Blackpool extends north to Knott End, on the other side of the River Wyre to Fleetwood, the service operating as the 2C. The 2 and 2C are now usually operated entirely by Excels. 226 T936EAN in the former 'line 7' purple livery stands at Knott End Ferry on 1st December 2010.
Another route which sees Excels is route 17 which ran in July from Blackpool to Lytham via St Annes (as shown in the 215 pic), though now only runs to St Annes with a route 18 operating the rest of the way. Neither route are as direct as other services between the towns. 223 T933EAN is at St Annes Square amongst Christmas lights on 01/12/10 before running back to Blackpool, it's destination box steamed up in below freezing weather conditions.
Route 5, which was the home of 210-8 T210-8HCW in the early millennium, and route 1 from Blackpool town centre to Fleetwood has seen occasional Excel operation recently, route 1 having 212 T212HCW, 216 T216HCW and 225 T935EAN in use on one day in place of new vehicles. Line 1 used to be worked by double deckers.
Blackpool images were taken by the editor.
Carters Coaches, Kings Lynn - P192SGV carries fleetnumber 292, seen at Colchester on 04/12/10. Thanks to Wayne Bell for the image.
(ex) Cumfybus of Southport -
N205LCK moved to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 10/10. The other two former Cumfybus Excels ended up with Wealden PSV Sales in Northfleet by 02/10 - pioneer of the fleet TIL2099 (N330EUG) and N202LCK.
Edwards of Llantwit Fadre -
R209DKG here (photographed by Glyn Williams on 4th August 2010) had previously operated with Red Arrow, Huddersfield.
East Yorkshire Motor Services -
S288RAG is believed to still be fitted with the original Euro 2 Cummins 6BT engine as reported at the June update, others all have the new ISBe unit. S287RAG was seen on 30th March 2008.
East Yorkshire's website includes an excellent enthusiast section which is worth a look and can be seen by clicking here.
Galleon/Trustline of Harlow -
This operator used P501OUG, P504OUG, P506OUG and P508OUG briefly, since this P504OUG and P508OUG are believed to have moved at some point to Rowe & Tudhope in Kilmarnock.
GHA Coaches, Ruabon -
N201LCK and N206LCK are numbered SB35 and SB36, though 201 is currently off the road at Ruabon depot.
JP Travel, Middleton -
V210ENU is the third Excel with this company, though now carries their private plate V2JPT and fleet number 172. It last operated with Hunt's of Alford.
King of the Road (Pilkington), Accrington -
S289RAG and S291RAG are still owned, obtained from EYMS on the 12th August 2006. Only S289RAG is currently available for service, though before this summer it had not been used for some time.
King, Kirkcowan -
R280EKH moved to Moseley (dealer) 02/10, and sold onward to a new owner in Loughrea in Galway, Ireland in July, it operates a service for a local night club.
Lodge Coaches, Chelmsford -
V118LVH is one of two Excels operated by Lodge, seen at their depot open day on 29th August 2010.
Also present was their other Excel, V936VUB. Thanks to Simon Coates for both photographs.
Meridian Bus -
DAZ4301, now P347LEY (ex P201BNR and WAZ8276 though!), from Kimes of Folkingham and Trent is now with Meridian. It was awaiting a gearbox overhaul when purchased and will be painted before being put into service. A repainted R845FWW has still been operating, though sister R846FWW is still waiting to return to the road.
M Travel -
P152CTV had entered service by the start of September 2010 having moved in July, R29MFM having moved to A Line of Pelaw. Their Excels are 028 R28MFM, 029 R29MFM, 079 V79JKG, 152 P152CTV and 273 P273NRH.
Malta -
FBY805 remains in use, this sole example of the type operating in Malta was the first low floor vehicle to operate on the island, though when Arriva Malta take over this could ironically be withdrawn as the Maltese government are believed to have requested a maximum age of 12 years for service buses, this Excel was new in 1997. I'm not sure whether this ruling applies also to private hire or school only vehicles, if not then it could continue in use on other duties.
Midland -
R987EWU and R744BUJ have been sold, R-EWU was numbered 154 at Longton as part of the D&G fleet and had been used until suffering a gearbox failure, it was sold alongside stored former 144 R744BUJ. S3CLA (153) remains in use at Longton, 6002 S2CLA and 6743 R743BUJ are in use with Midland in the Wolverhampton area, 6002 now fitted with Mobitec electronic destination display equipment.
Nottingham Transport -
550 FD51EYS is believed to have been withdrawn during the summer, by 07/10.
P&O, Dover - Above is an image of former demonstrator X538NWT, showing it's dual door layout and luggage racks inside, neither of which are believed to have been fitted when the vehicle was in use with other operators.
Richard Bros, Cardigan -
N205LCK arrived on 09/10/10, likely to be for spares. The last operator of this bus was Cumfybus.
P508NWU had also arrived from Trent Barton by 08/10.
Smith's of Keith -
Another one for scrap, seen above on 31/10/09, one of very few series 1 Excels which was new to a Scottish operator, P813OET (HCO514), sold by 08/10.
South Wales Transport -
S926LBL and S930LBL moved here from Vale Travel of Aylesbury via Southdown PSV, by 07/10. Our previous news report shows that by April, R916SJH was in use and possibly S930LBL.
Stagecoach Yorkshire -
On the subject of ex Blackpool Excels, unfortunately 35016 N207LCK is also reported as having been scrapped by 09/10 after having failed on the way to a new life with Stagecoach Bluebird. N208LCK is believed to remain in use. 35018 P222ABC was also expected to move to Bluebird but did not and remains withdrawn. N207LCK had entered service at the Chesterfield depot in March 2007 after returning to Optare for attention. Both this and N208LCK had moved south from Stagecoach Western in February 2007 having been aquired with the operations of Docherty of Irvine in 2004.
Chesterfield depot operate; 35000 YN51VHH, 35001 YN51VHJ, 35002 YN51VHK, 35003 YN51VHL, 35004 YN51VHM, 35005 YN51VHO, 35006 YN51VHP, 35017 N208LCK, 35019 P333ABC, 35020 R11ABC, 35021 R641MBV, 35022 R643MBV, 35023 JAZ9851, 35025 P937SSK.
Thompsons Tours of Christchurch -
P321KAR was a surprise return to service, by 08/10 and seen above at Ringwood on 11/08/10 in South Gloucestershire livery. Thanks to Peter Cook H&DW&D for the photos.
It joins P429AHR (P446SWX) which had returned to service earlier in the year at the expense of N204LCK which is believed to have been scrapped. During it's early years as an Optare demonstrator P446SWX spent a long time on hire to Harris Bus covering for their own Excels which had returned to the Optare factory. It operated very briefly in Blackpool too, no other locations are known.
P429AHR on 21st April 2010, thanks to Ant for the photo.
TM Travel, Halfway - None of the Mark 1 Excels are believed to have sold at their depot auction on 03/07/10, though may have been all sold since, these vehicles were 1126 P505OUG, 1133 R374DJN, 1134 R379DJN, 1135 R211DKG, 1136 R213DKG and 1140 V389KVY.
W213PRB and W214PRB were already in TM livery, W215PRB had joined them having entered previously service in unbranded livery - it had been repainted by 09/10 when it attended Showbus at Duxford as shown in Mark Youdan's photo taken on 26/09/10 which provides a comparison between the Excel and Versa stylings. Which one do you prefer?
Trent Barton and Notts & Derby - In July Volvo B10M/ Plaxton Interurban coaches 59 and 60 appeared to be transferring from TransPeak duties to Red Arrow spares, later joined by coach 62, which saw TransPeak 157 S157UAL and 158 S158UAL continue in service, others in the same livery are series 2 vehicles 224 W224PRB, 231 X231WRA and 232 X232WRA in the same livery.
By October, 261 Y261DRC and 263 Y263DRC are in Trent Barton red and operating from Sutton Junction, whilst 262 Y262DRC is in a red livery advertising some of Trent's services.
Now reinstated is 264 Y264DRC, painted in a mint green livery for recently won tender for the 409 service, Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was previously in the red Skyline livery.
L1180 258 Y258DRC by 07/10, plus 221 W221PRB and 222 W302PRB by 08/10 moved from Trent Barton to Notts & Derby, joined by 223 W223PRB, 230 W998PRB, 259 Y259DRC by 09/10.
P508NWU to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 08/10. P152CTV left, to M Travel.
Tyneside Travel - Previously missed, P503OUG is operating here, by 04/10, ex Stafford Bus Centre.
For Sale - There is a P or R reg at Stafford Bus Centre, they're open to offers or they may break it according to their website.
Ceased operators - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Enthusiasts, as always you can email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com to request to be emailed when this news page is updated, the same email address can be used to submit information, sightings and photographs.
Operators, if you're viewing this and you would like to provide information or advertise a vehicle for sale, or if you have information to the contrary for anything that is stated please email me to organise a change in the listings. Info shown here is always information which is already in the public domain or has been released by operators, but compiled in to one area to allow anybody interested to keep a track of a fleet as their careers continue.
Huge thanks for help to - Ant, GGC, Jenky, Simon Coates, Peter Cook, Martin Dillon, Adrian Healey, Gary Mitchelhill, Paul Turner, M.Williams, Mark Youdan, Meridian Bus, Midland Bus, East Yorkshire Motor Services
3rd October 2010
A brief note to point out that a news update is forthcoming, it's also getting to that time of year again to check the status of all the vehicles, so if you know of any Excels which have changed ownership recently or become stored or conversely returned to traffic you can let me know at slc9t9@yahoo.com
Also if you're fed up with checking the site and seeing it hasn't been updated, please also email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com and ask to be kept in touch when the site is updated - I email the site viewers every time a news update has taken place due to the infrequency of the updates and the large amount of info that is compiled in each one.
In the mean time, above is a photo taken at the recent Blackpol Transport open day (copyright of Shaun C.) on 26th September 2010 showing their new standard fleet livery applied to T211HCW.
11th June 2010
Changes
Arriva Milton Keynes - operate V392/3KVY, Arriva was taken over by Deutsche Bahn on 22/04/10.
Blackpool Transport - Blackpool Transport operate 210-8 T210-8HCW, 219-21 T880/1/4RBR, 222-6 T932-6EAN, they are currently mainly used on route 7 from Cleveleys to Lytham, with one or two per day appearing on route 14 from Fleetwood-Blackpool/St Annes (see spotting report below) - from 26th July 2010 as part of a set of route changes route 7 will become Optare Solo operated, with the Excels likely to move to the new route 11 which will operate from Lytham to Grange Park Estate. More on this once the services begin.
All except T932-6EAN at Blackpool Transport have been fitted with Cummins ISBe engines.
East Yorkshire Motor Services - R253PRH and R254PRH have been re-registered to A16/17EYC, by March 2010, moved from Pocklington and Hull depots respectively to Elloughton.
All of their Excels now except 288 have been fitted with the Euro 3 Cummins ISBe engine, S288RAG still has a Euro 2 Cummins 6BT.
Edwards, Llantwit Fardre - acquired R209DKG during April from Stafford Bus Centre, this is believed to have been up-seated to 43 with removal of its wheelchair areas, and is fitted with seat belts throughout. It sees some operation on their rouite 400E which operates through Llantwit Fardre to Cardiff Greyfriars Road.
Go Goodwin, Eccles - R373DJN is still registered WSV550, it had been for sale, presumably still at Go Goodwins as they own the private registration. R375DJN was however sold by them last year.
Go South Coast - HJ02WDG (above, photo copyright of Ant) which had seen use for a short time on the Isle of Wight with Southern Vectis, now operates at Ringwood outstation of Wilts & Dorset, mostly on service 36 to Bournemouth. Other Excels are at Poole and Salisbury.
JP Coaches, Forfar - previously reported was the acquisition of R991/2EWU, R990EWU also joined this from National Express Dundee in April (previously Travel Dundee). R991/2EWU have been re-registered to RUI9480/1 (the fourth Excel of this batch in Dundee was R985EWU which moved to McColl's of Balloch last year).
JP Travel, Middleton - previously reported and shown in photograph in April with this company was 171 - S928LBL which had arrived there ex New Adventure in Cardiff, also with JPT is 170 - S927LBL from the same company. 171 is named 'Gav jb' after someone on their Facebook site, and 170 is named 'Heavenly Harriet'. The two are easy to tell apart from a distance as they have differing destination equipment. Both have been re-upholstered and carry the yellow and blue fleet livery.
Lucketts of Fareham - 666VMX (above, photo copyright of Ant) was previously a registration used on a double deck coach, but is now on former P913SUM which is used on shuttles to Lakeside North Harbour as the livery suggests. Lucketts took over this shuttle from Roadliner, see 'Roadliner' below for info on K155ELF (T790KNW) which was previously in this livery and operating this service.
Midland - as previously reported have at least R743BUJ and S2CLA (11.5 metres long, above, photo copyright of Shaun C), operating, no report yet of R744BUJ. S3CLA was last known of at Crewe with R987EWU.
National Express West Midlands - repainted in the current National Express West Midlands livery which includes a red front (a bit confusing from a distance when a Midland bus comes along) are at least the following; R402HWU, R405HWU, R409HWU, R410HWU, and T714NOE. The R-HWUs were repainted after moving south from National Express Dundee (previously Travel Dundee).
Ogden, St Helens - from North West Bus Sales are X961/3BPA, ex Reading. Ogden have operated Excels in the past, including T342FWR which was later scrapped.
Richard Bros, Cardigan - have P508NWU, previously fleet number 900 in the Trent Barton fleet.
Roadliner - went out of business and K155ELF (T790KNW) has remained with Cavendish Liner who took over Roadliner's business
and is now in Cavendish Liner's grey livery.
South Wales Travel - by April, R916SJH was in operation in white, and S930LBL was in use in white with green stripes. Both are ex Reading buses.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - withdrawn according to Buses magazine are 35016 N207LCK and 35018 P222ABC.
Thompson's, Ringwood - operating P429AHR which had been with Adam Barham (dealer). Various parts from N204LCK are believed to have been used to make one good bus, so we could soon see the end of the former Blackpool vehicle.
TM Travel - 214 W214PRB was in TM Travel livery by the start of May. 213 W213PRB is also in TM colours. 215 W215PRB had its Cotgrave Connection branding removed and entered service in April with a small TM Travel logo on the front end. They previously operated 1135 R211DKG, R213DKG, R379DJN and V389KVY, though R374DKG had been in use recently and 1126 P505OUG still is.
Some of the withdrawn examples may be working shuttle services for Notts & Derby this week for the 'Download [music] Festival 2010' at Donington Park, there are shuttle buses running from both Derby and East Midlands Parkway from Wednesday 9th June to Monday 14th June 2010.
Trent - 231 and 232 (X-WRA) to Transpeak livery (ex Mickleover), replacing 157 and 158 (S-UAL).
261 Y261DRC is now in generic Trent Barton red and allocated to Derby as a spare vehicle. 264 Y264DRC expected to go into Route 1 Derby - Ashbourne livery later in the year when the service increases from hourly to half hourly.
A number of Excels seem to have had accidents recently. 227 X227WRA and 243 Y243DRC being amongst those, both have been repaired.
Notts & Derby - 258 and 259 (Y-DRC) now in rainbow livery for Derby College Student Shuttle. 161 S161UAL is still operating in that livery, but is likely to be withdrawn soon.
221 W221PRB, 222 W302PRB and 230 X998WRA now in Unibus blue/white/orange livery, ex Mickleover.
263 and 264 (Y-DRC) are still operating with Notts and Derby, 264 being a recent reinstatement possibly in connection with the Download Festival Shuttles.
Ceased operators; - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Sales - not a lot of Excels appear available for sale at the moment, S160UAL is though still available at Ventura sales.
Refurbishment - Optare offer a refurbishment programme at their Blackburn plant, obviously Excels are not produced any more but I would assume Excels would be able to be refurbished there as a non Optare product is depicted.
Sightings
Viewers are invited to send in their sightings of Excels on service or details of routes that they operate. Click the 'email' button on the left if you would like to contribute.
T717NOE (717) parked outside Wolverhampton's former bus station waiting time to move on to a temporary bus stop in a nearby street. The bus station will reopen in the same location, it is currently being rebuilt.
photo copyright of Shaun C
07/06/10 - At least 35 National Express West Midlands Excels were noted in the space of three hours at Wolverhampton on this date, the following provided for reference;
Bus Registration - Route number
R418HWU - 503
T714NOE + T715NOE - 503W
S693YOL + S701YOL + S706YOL + S707YOL + S710YOL - 504/5/7/7A
R409HWU + R412HWU + R419HWU - 511
S697YOL + S702YOL - 512
T713NOE - 513
R403HWU - 514
R414HWU - 515
S703YOL - 525
S688YOL - 526
R405HWU - 528
T717NOE - 528E
S692YOL - 532
S686YOL + S170YOL - 533
S689YOL + S705YOL + T718NOE - 535
R408HWU + S687YOL + S695YOL - 543
R401HWU R402HWU R415HWU S691YOL - 598
R410HWU - seen 'not in service' after a school run.
Also seen in use were Midland's R743BUJ and S2CLA.
08/06/10 - Blackpool Transport;
Further to the notes in the fleet news above, route 7 had the following buses working on it on this date;
T211/5/6/8HCW(211/5/6/8), T881RBR(220), T932/4/6EAN(222/4/6) and V reg. Solo 263 plus F reg. Olympian 371.
Another Excel, T880RBR(219), was on route 14 workings from Fleetwood through to St Annes, a route which is being chopped in half as part of the forthcoming service changes.
Site notes - *note that none of the info shown here above or in the February and April news updates have been ammended on the Owner Index or Reference List, the news here is an update/supplement to those lists which are periodically updated*
However, the Lost Summary page has been updated, which records which registrations have been lost, for example those buses which have been scrapped or buses which have been re-registered and exported.
Operator names in the 'former operators' section only includes since the site started in 2008 and have been left in place for reference, there are no plans to add other previous Excel operators from before this date as it would take too much time to add all the relevant details though notes are kept about these.
Thanks very much for help with this update go to; Buses magazine (with permission), East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ant, GGC, Will Figg, Adrian Healey, Paul Turner.
1st June 2010
Delving into the archives, here is 'The Revolutionary Excel' as T790KNW described itself when in use as a demonstrator for builder Optare.
It is seen between the former Odeon Cinema in Blackpool and North railway station in use with Blackpool Transport on 17th February 2001. It was quite revolutionary as it was the first Excel to be fitted with a Mercedes engine rather than the usual Cummins power unit, and was in fact the only series 1 Excel ever fitted with a Mercedes engine though that would later become standard on the series 2. Only a small number of the later build vehicles had Cummins engines (Reading's four X-BPA are noteable series 2 vehicles with Cummins engines).
Two months later the bus was sold by Optare for the first time to Ipswich from where it was withdrawn in January 2009. It has since moved to Dorset and is registered K155ELF!
photo copyright of GGC
Just a quick note to see that a full news round-up will be compiled within a few days, it had been a quiet six weeks here for Excel news hence no update.
News, photographs, questions and comments can be submitted to me at slc9t9@yahoo.com thanks.
15th April 2010 - which is further to the news update four days ago (see further down the page)
A page has been created to show the Excels converted for non-PSV use, click here to have a look, P315FAW is one of three converted for Rochdale Council - here I found it in Middleton town centre briefly on 15th April 2010, though it was only there for 15 minutes. Judging by the destination blind though it can probably be found in Middleton quite often. Sister P316FAW mentions Rochdale on its front end, and carries number 509 in the windscreen. Both were bought from Stafford Bus Centre (dealer) who had received them from Arriva. The headlight on both of them is smaller than usual Excels and presumably just one single light rather than a pair.
photo copyright of Shaun C.
I was in Middleton at the time to have a ride on S928LBL, which was working route 17 shorts from Middleton Bus Station to Manchester's Shudehill. It has fleetnumber 171. Although repainted it's still fitted with the Reading route and destination blinds!
photo copyright of Shaun C, 15/04/10
From the archive, S928LBL in Reading days. In the meantime, it has operated for New Adventure Travel in Cardiff who bought S925/7-9/31LBL from a dealer. S928LBL definitely operated whilst in Wales, whilst I was sat at the back of the bus immediately in front of me there was graffiti which said 'Daniel ov Merthyr'!
photo copyright of Shaun C
-
9th December 2010
A-Line, Pelaw -
by 08/10 - R29MFM acquired and in service, ex M Travel.
Bennetts of Kilwinning -
RUI9480 (R992EWU) and RUI9481 (R991EWU) work services 27 or 29 from Irvine. They've been joined by sister R990EWU, all three having come from JP Minicoaches and previously National Express.
Blackpool Transport - 215 T215HCW above on new route 17 from Blackpool to Lytham on 29th July 2010. 215 was the last Excel painted in to this livery. 211 T211HCW was the first Excel painted in the new Blackpool black and yellow livery (see last update), entering service in early August 2010. Service changes which coincided with the new livery in July lead to Excels operating on different routes, previously they were used on 'line 7' which operated from Cleveleys to Lytham, and extending to Wesham on evenings and Sundays. New routes that the Excels have been operating on are covered below;
221 T884RBR stands at Poulton on route 2 which runs from here to the centre of Blackpool. Previously operated by Solos, the route used to extend south beyond Blackpool to South Shore and even further via the old tram route along Whitegate Drive.
221 T884RBR (seen above on 01/12/10), 222 T932EAN, 223 T933EAN, 225 T935EAN, 226 T936EAN retain 6BT engines, all other Blackpool Excels have the newer ISBe version. 224 T934EAN is the latest vehicle to be away for fitment of an ISBe.
Every other route 2 from Blackpool extends north to Knott End, on the other side of the River Wyre to Fleetwood, the service operating as the 2C. The 2 and 2C are now usually operated entirely by Excels. 226 T936EAN in the former 'line 7' purple livery stands at Knott End Ferry on 1st December 2010.
Another route which sees Excels is route 17 which ran in July from Blackpool to Lytham via St Annes (as shown in the 215 pic), though now only runs to St Annes with a route 18 operating the rest of the way. Neither route are as direct as other services between the towns. 223 T933EAN is at St Annes Square amongst Christmas lights on 01/12/10 before running back to Blackpool, it's destination box steamed up in below freezing weather conditions.
Route 5, which was the home of 210-8 T210-8HCW in the early millennium, and route 1 from Blackpool town centre to Fleetwood has seen occasional Excel operation recently, route 1 having 212 T212HCW, 216 T216HCW and 225 T935EAN in use on one day in place of new vehicles. Line 1 used to be worked by double deckers.
Blackpool images were taken by the editor.
Carters Coaches, Kings Lynn - P192SGV carries fleetnumber 292, seen at Colchester on 04/12/10. Thanks to Wayne Bell for the image.
(ex) Cumfybus of Southport -
N205LCK moved to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 10/10. The other two former Cumfybus Excels ended up with Wealden PSV Sales in Northfleet by 02/10 - pioneer of the fleet TIL2099 (N330EUG) and N202LCK.
Edwards of Llantwit Fadre -
R209DKG here (photographed by Glyn Williams on 4th August 2010) had previously operated with Red Arrow, Huddersfield.
East Yorkshire Motor Services -
S288RAG is believed to still be fitted with the original Euro 2 Cummins 6BT engine as reported at the June update, others all have the new ISBe unit. S287RAG was seen on 30th March 2008.
East Yorkshire's website includes an excellent enthusiast section which is worth a look and can be seen by clicking here.
Galleon/Trustline of Harlow -
This operator used P501OUG, P504OUG, P506OUG and P508OUG briefly, since this P504OUG and P508OUG are believed to have moved at some point to Rowe & Tudhope in Kilmarnock.
GHA Coaches, Ruabon -
N201LCK and N206LCK are numbered SB35 and SB36, though 201 is currently off the road at Ruabon depot.
JP Travel, Middleton -
V210ENU is the third Excel with this company, though now carries their private plate V2JPT and fleet number 172. It last operated with Hunt's of Alford.
King of the Road (Pilkington), Accrington -
S289RAG and S291RAG are still owned, obtained from EYMS on the 12th August 2006. Only S289RAG is currently available for service, though before this summer it had not been used for some time.
King, Kirkcowan -
R280EKH moved to Moseley (dealer) 02/10, and sold onward to a new owner in Loughrea in Galway, Ireland in July, it operates a service for a local night club.
Lodge Coaches, Chelmsford -
V118LVH is one of two Excels operated by Lodge, seen at their depot open day on 29th August 2010.
Also present was their other Excel, V936VUB. Thanks to Simon Coates for both photographs.
Meridian Bus -
DAZ4301, now P347LEY (ex P201BNR and WAZ8276 though!), from Kimes of Folkingham and Trent is now with Meridian. It was awaiting a gearbox overhaul when purchased and will be painted before being put into service. A repainted R845FWW has still been operating, though sister R846FWW is still waiting to return to the road.
M Travel -
P152CTV had entered service by the start of September 2010 having moved in July, R29MFM having moved to A Line of Pelaw. Their Excels are 028 R28MFM, 029 R29MFM, 079 V79JKG, 152 P152CTV and 273 P273NRH.
Malta -
FBY805 remains in use, this sole example of the type operating in Malta was the first low floor vehicle to operate on the island, though when Arriva Malta take over this could ironically be withdrawn as the Maltese government are believed to have requested a maximum age of 12 years for service buses, this Excel was new in 1997. I'm not sure whether this ruling applies also to private hire or school only vehicles, if not then it could continue in use on other duties.
Midland -
R987EWU and R744BUJ have been sold, R-EWU was numbered 154 at Longton as part of the D&G fleet and had been used until suffering a gearbox failure, it was sold alongside stored former 144 R744BUJ. S3CLA (153) remains in use at Longton, 6002 S2CLA and 6743 R743BUJ are in use with Midland in the Wolverhampton area, 6002 now fitted with Mobitec electronic destination display equipment.
Nottingham Transport -
550 FD51EYS is believed to have been withdrawn during the summer, by 07/10.
P&O, Dover - Above is an image of former demonstrator X538NWT, showing it's dual door layout and luggage racks inside, neither of which are believed to have been fitted when the vehicle was in use with other operators.
Richard Bros, Cardigan -
N205LCK arrived on 09/10/10, likely to be for spares. The last operator of this bus was Cumfybus.
P508NWU had also arrived from Trent Barton by 08/10.
Smith's of Keith -
Another one for scrap, seen above on 31/10/09, one of very few series 1 Excels which was new to a Scottish operator, P813OET (HCO514), sold by 08/10.
South Wales Transport -
S926LBL and S930LBL moved here from Vale Travel of Aylesbury via Southdown PSV, by 07/10. Our previous news report shows that by April, R916SJH was in use and possibly S930LBL.
Stagecoach Yorkshire -
On the subject of ex Blackpool Excels, unfortunately 35016 N207LCK is also reported as having been scrapped by 09/10 after having failed on the way to a new life with Stagecoach Bluebird. N208LCK is believed to remain in use. 35018 P222ABC was also expected to move to Bluebird but did not and remains withdrawn. N207LCK had entered service at the Chesterfield depot in March 2007 after returning to Optare for attention. Both this and N208LCK had moved south from Stagecoach Western in February 2007 having been aquired with the operations of Docherty of Irvine in 2004.
Chesterfield depot operate; 35000 YN51VHH, 35001 YN51VHJ, 35002 YN51VHK, 35003 YN51VHL, 35004 YN51VHM, 35005 YN51VHO, 35006 YN51VHP, 35017 N208LCK, 35019 P333ABC, 35020 R11ABC, 35021 R641MBV, 35022 R643MBV, 35023 JAZ9851, 35025 P937SSK.
Thompsons Tours of Christchurch -
P321KAR was a surprise return to service, by 08/10 and seen above at Ringwood on 11/08/10 in South Gloucestershire livery. Thanks to Peter Cook H&DW&D for the photos.
It joins P429AHR (P446SWX) which had returned to service earlier in the year at the expense of N204LCK which is believed to have been scrapped. During it's early years as an Optare demonstrator P446SWX spent a long time on hire to Harris Bus covering for their own Excels which had returned to the Optare factory. It operated very briefly in Blackpool too, no other locations are known.
P429AHR on 21st April 2010, thanks to Ant for the photo.
TM Travel, Halfway - None of the Mark 1 Excels are believed to have sold at their depot auction on 03/07/10, though may have been all sold since, these vehicles were 1126 P505OUG, 1133 R374DJN, 1134 R379DJN, 1135 R211DKG, 1136 R213DKG and 1140 V389KVY.
W213PRB and W214PRB were already in TM livery, W215PRB had joined them having entered previously service in unbranded livery - it had been repainted by 09/10 when it attended Showbus at Duxford as shown in Mark Youdan's photo taken on 26/09/10 which provides a comparison between the Excel and Versa stylings. Which one do you prefer?
Trent Barton and Notts & Derby - In July Volvo B10M/ Plaxton Interurban coaches 59 and 60 appeared to be transferring from TransPeak duties to Red Arrow spares, later joined by coach 62, which saw TransPeak 157 S157UAL and 158 S158UAL continue in service, others in the same livery are series 2 vehicles 224 W224PRB, 231 X231WRA and 232 X232WRA in the same livery.
By October, 261 Y261DRC and 263 Y263DRC are in Trent Barton red and operating from Sutton Junction, whilst 262 Y262DRC is in a red livery advertising some of Trent's services.
Now reinstated is 264 Y264DRC, painted in a mint green livery for recently won tender for the 409 service, Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was previously in the red Skyline livery.
L1180 258 Y258DRC by 07/10, plus 221 W221PRB and 222 W302PRB by 08/10 moved from Trent Barton to Notts & Derby, joined by 223 W223PRB, 230 W998PRB, 259 Y259DRC by 09/10.
P508NWU to Richard Bros of Cardigan by 08/10. P152CTV left, to M Travel.
Tyneside Travel - Previously missed, P503OUG is operating here, by 04/10, ex Stafford Bus Centre.
For Sale - There is a P or R reg at Stafford Bus Centre, they're open to offers or they may break it according to their website.
Ceased operators - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Enthusiasts, as always you can email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com to request to be emailed when this news page is updated, the same email address can be used to submit information, sightings and photographs.
Operators, if you're viewing this and you would like to provide information or advertise a vehicle for sale, or if you have information to the contrary for anything that is stated please email me to organise a change in the listings. Info shown here is always information which is already in the public domain or has been released by operators, but compiled in to one area to allow anybody interested to keep a track of a fleet as their careers continue.
Huge thanks for help to - Ant, GGC, Jenky, Simon Coates, Peter Cook, Martin Dillon, Adrian Healey, Gary Mitchelhill, Paul Turner, M.Williams, Mark Youdan, Meridian Bus, Midland Bus, East Yorkshire Motor Services
-
3rd October 2010
A brief note to point out that a news update is forthcoming, it's also getting to that time of year again to check the status of all the vehicles, so if you know of any Excels which have changed ownership recently or become stored or conversely returned to traffic you can let me know at slc9t9@yahoo.com
Also if you're fed up with checking the site and seeing it hasn't been updated, please also email me at slc9t9@yahoo.com and ask to be kept in touch when the site is updated - I email the site viewers every time a news update has taken place due to the infrequency of the updates and the large amount of info that is compiled in each one.
In the mean time, above is a photo taken at the recent Blackpol Transport open day (copyright of Shaun C.) on 26th September 2010 showing their new standard fleet livery applied to T211HCW.
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11th June 2010
Changes
Arriva Milton Keynes - operate V392/3KVY, Arriva was taken over by Deutsche Bahn on 22/04/10.
Blackpool Transport - Blackpool Transport operate 210-8 T210-8HCW, 219-21 T880/1/4RBR, 222-6 T932-6EAN, they are currently mainly used on route 7 from Cleveleys to Lytham, with one or two per day appearing on route 14 from Fleetwood-Blackpool/St Annes (see spotting report below) - from 26th July 2010 as part of a set of route changes route 7 will become Optare Solo operated, with the Excels likely to move to the new route 11 which will operate from Lytham to Grange Park Estate. More on this once the services begin.
All except T932-6EAN at Blackpool Transport have been fitted with Cummins ISBe engines.
East Yorkshire Motor Services - R253PRH and R254PRH have been re-registered to A16/17EYC, by March 2010, moved from Pocklington and Hull depots respectively to Elloughton.
All of their Excels now except 288 have been fitted with the Euro 3 Cummins ISBe engine, S288RAG still has a Euro 2 Cummins 6BT.
Edwards, Llantwit Fardre - acquired R209DKG during April from Stafford Bus Centre, this is believed to have been up-seated to 43 with removal of its wheelchair areas, and is fitted with seat belts throughout. It sees some operation on their rouite 400E which operates through Llantwit Fardre to Cardiff Greyfriars Road.
Go Goodwin, Eccles - R373DJN is still registered WSV550, it had been for sale, presumably still at Go Goodwins as they own the private registration. R375DJN was however sold by them last year.
Go South Coast - HJ02WDG (above, photo copyright of Ant) which had seen use for a short time on the Isle of Wight with Southern Vectis, now operates at Ringwood outstation of Wilts & Dorset, mostly on service 36 to Bournemouth. Other Excels are at Poole and Salisbury.
JP Coaches, Forfar - previously reported was the acquisition of R991/2EWU, R990EWU also joined this from National Express Dundee in April (previously Travel Dundee). R991/2EWU have been re-registered to RUI9480/1 (the fourth Excel of this batch in Dundee was R985EWU which moved to McColl's of Balloch last year).
JP Travel, Middleton - previously reported and shown in photograph in April with this company was 171 - S928LBL which had arrived there ex New Adventure in Cardiff, also with JPT is 170 - S927LBL from the same company. 171 is named 'Gav jb' after someone on their Facebook site, and 170 is named 'Heavenly Harriet'. The two are easy to tell apart from a distance as they have differing destination equipment. Both have been re-upholstered and carry the yellow and blue fleet livery.
Lucketts of Fareham - 666VMX (above, photo copyright of Ant) was previously a registration used on a double deck coach, but is now on former P913SUM which is used on shuttles to Lakeside North Harbour as the livery suggests. Lucketts took over this shuttle from Roadliner, see 'Roadliner' below for info on K155ELF (T790KNW) which was previously in this livery and operating this service.
Midland - as previously reported have at least R743BUJ and S2CLA (11.5 metres long, above, photo copyright of Shaun C), operating, no report yet of R744BUJ. S3CLA was last known of at Crewe with R987EWU.
National Express West Midlands - repainted in the current National Express West Midlands livery which includes a red front (a bit confusing from a distance when a Midland bus comes along) are at least the following; R402HWU, R405HWU, R409HWU, R410HWU, and T714NOE. The R-HWUs were repainted after moving south from National Express Dundee (previously Travel Dundee).
Ogden, St Helens - from North West Bus Sales are X961/3BPA, ex Reading. Ogden have operated Excels in the past, including T342FWR which was later scrapped.
Richard Bros, Cardigan - have P508NWU, previously fleet number 900 in the Trent Barton fleet.
Roadliner - went out of business and K155ELF (T790KNW) has remained with Cavendish Liner who took over Roadliner's business
and is now in Cavendish Liner's grey livery.
South Wales Travel - by April, R916SJH was in operation in white, and S930LBL was in use in white with green stripes. Both are ex Reading buses.
Stagecoach Yorkshire - withdrawn according to Buses magazine are 35016 N207LCK and 35018 P222ABC.
Thompson's, Ringwood - operating P429AHR which had been with Adam Barham (dealer). Various parts from N204LCK are believed to have been used to make one good bus, so we could soon see the end of the former Blackpool vehicle.
TM Travel - 214 W214PRB was in TM Travel livery by the start of May. 213 W213PRB is also in TM colours. 215 W215PRB had its Cotgrave Connection branding removed and entered service in April with a small TM Travel logo on the front end. They previously operated 1135 R211DKG, R213DKG, R379DJN and V389KVY, though R374DKG had been in use recently and 1126 P505OUG still is.
Some of the withdrawn examples may be working shuttle services for Notts & Derby this week for the 'Download [music] Festival 2010' at Donington Park, there are shuttle buses running from both Derby and East Midlands Parkway from Wednesday 9th June to Monday 14th June 2010.
Trent - 231 and 232 (X-WRA) to Transpeak livery (ex Mickleover), replacing 157 and 158 (S-UAL).
261 Y261DRC is now in generic Trent Barton red and allocated to Derby as a spare vehicle. 264 Y264DRC expected to go into Route 1 Derby - Ashbourne livery later in the year when the service increases from hourly to half hourly.
A number of Excels seem to have had accidents recently. 227 X227WRA and 243 Y243DRC being amongst those, both have been repaired.
Notts & Derby - 258 and 259 (Y-DRC) now in rainbow livery for Derby College Student Shuttle. 161 S161UAL is still operating in that livery, but is likely to be withdrawn soon.
221 W221PRB, 222 W302PRB and 230 X998WRA now in Unibus blue/white/orange livery, ex Mickleover.
263 and 264 (Y-DRC) are still operating with Notts and Derby, 264 being a recent reinstatement possibly in connection with the Download Festival Shuttles.
Ceased operators; - No onward movement is known for any vehicles formerly of Essex County Buses or McKindless of Wishaw.
Sales - not a lot of Excels appear available for sale at the moment, S160UAL is though still available at Ventura sales.
Refurbishment - Optare offer a refurbishment programme at their Blackburn plant, obviously Excels are not produced any more but I would assume Excels would be able to be refurbished there as a non Optare product is depicted.
Sightings
Viewers are invited to send in their sightings of Excels on service or details of routes that they operate. Click the 'email' button on the left if you would like to contribute.
T717NOE (717) parked outside Wolverhampton's former bus station waiting time to move on to a temporary bus stop in a nearby street. The bus station will reopen in the same location, it is currently being rebuilt.
photo copyright of Shaun C
07/06/10 - At least 35 National Express West Midlands Excels were noted in the space of three hours at Wolverhampton on this date, the following provided for reference;
Bus Registration - Route number
R418HWU - 503
T714NOE + T715NOE - 503W
S693YOL + S701YOL + S706YOL + S707YOL + S710YOL - 504/5/7/7A
R409HWU + R412HWU + R419HWU - 511
S697YOL + S702YOL - 512
T713NOE - 513
R403HWU - 514
R414HWU - 515
S703YOL - 525
S688YOL - 526
R405HWU - 528
T717NOE - 528E
S692YOL - 532
S686YOL + S170YOL - 533
S689YOL + S705YOL + T718NOE - 535
R408HWU + S687YOL + S695YOL - 543
R401HWU R402HWU R415HWU S691YOL - 598
R410HWU - seen 'not in service' after a school run.
Also seen in use were Midland's R743BUJ and S2CLA.
08/06/10 - Blackpool Transport;
Further to the notes in the fleet news above, route 7 had the following buses working on it on this date;
T211/5/6/8HCW(211/5/6/8), T881RBR(220), T932/4/6EAN(222/4/6) and V reg. Solo 263 plus F reg. Olympian 371.
Another Excel, T880RBR(219), was on route 14 workings from Fleetwood through to St Annes, a route which is being chopped in half as part of the forthcoming service changes.
Site notes - *note that none of the info shown here above or in the February and April news updates have been ammended on the Owner Index or Reference List, the news here is an update/supplement to those lists which are periodically updated*
However, the Lost Summary page has been updated, which records which registrations have been lost, for example those buses which have been scrapped or buses which have been re-registered and exported.
Operator names in the 'former operators' section only includes since the site started in 2008 and have been left in place for reference, there are no plans to add other previous Excel operators from before this date as it would take too much time to add all the relevant details though notes are kept about these.
Thanks very much for help with this update go to; Buses magazine (with permission), East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ant, GGC, Will Figg, Adrian Healey, Paul Turner.
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1st June 2010
Delving into the archives, here is 'The Revolutionary Excel' as T790KNW described itself when in use as a demonstrator for builder Optare.
It is seen between the former Odeon Cinema in Blackpool and North railway station in use with Blackpool Transport on 17th February 2001. It was quite revolutionary as it was the first Excel to be fitted with a Mercedes engine rather than the usual Cummins power unit, and was in fact the only series 1 Excel ever fitted with a Mercedes engine though that would later become standard on the series 2. Only a small number of the later build vehicles had Cummins engines (Reading's four X-BPA are noteable series 2 vehicles with Cummins engines).
Two months later the bus was sold by Optare for the first time to Ipswich from where it was withdrawn in January 2009. It has since moved to Dorset and is registered K155ELF!
photo copyright of GGC
Just a quick note to see that a full news round-up will be compiled within a few days, it had been a quiet six weeks here for Excel news hence no update.
News, photographs, questions and comments can be submitted to me at slc9t9@yahoo.com thanks.
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15th April 2010 - which is further to the news update four days ago (see further down the page)
A page has been created to show the Excels converted for non-PSV use, click here to have a look, P315FAW is one of three converted for Rochdale Council - here I found it in Middleton town centre briefly on 15th April 2010, though it was only there for 15 minutes. Judging by the destination blind though it can probably be found in Middleton quite often. Sister P316FAW mentions Rochdale on its front end, and carries number 509 in the windscreen. Both were bought from Stafford Bus Centre (dealer) who had received them from Arriva. The headlight on both of them is smaller than usual Excels and presumably just one single light rather than a pair.
photo copyright of Shaun C.
I was in Middleton at the time to have a ride on S928LBL, which was working route 17 shorts from Middleton Bus Station to Manchester's Shudehill. It has fleetnumber 171. Although repainted it's still fitted with the Reading route and destination blinds!
photo copyright of Shaun C, 15/04/10
From the archive, S928LBL in Reading days. In the meantime, it has operated for New Adventure Travel in Cardiff who bought S925/7-9/31LBL from a dealer. S928LBL definitely operated whilst in Wales, whilst I was sat at the back of the bus immediately in front of me there was graffiti which said 'Daniel ov Merthyr'!
photo copyright of Shaun C
