Latitude Coach Special

This morning saw the exodus of thousands of festival goers from Latitude, which took place in Henham Park over the weekend. Getting the hoards to and from the park requires great planning, and Andrew Pursey of BorderBus was the man charged with that task. One of the main cogs in the transport wheel was the Diss Station to Latitude coach link, which involves operators from across the region. This morning I stationed myself in Bungay to get pics of some of the coaches being used. Some of these pics are not perfect as my camera has decided to reduce my screen to the top right quarter only, so judging is a little difficult. A new camera will be acquired asap.

First up is Simonds Van Hool bodied Volvo B10M TVG 397

Another Van Hool bodied B10M but this time an Alizee body is R16 BUS

Simonds third coach in use was one I haven't seen before, and thanks to a lamppost completely wrecking my first attempt to photo it - no idea where it appeared from - I luckily got a second chance, but the pic, altough cropped is from longer distance. 166 UMB is a Van Hool T9 bodied Volvo B12M

Simonds Volvo B12M 166 UMB

Another company with multiple coaches in use was Belle Coaches. They had a trio of Setras in action, two of them running together.

Belle Coaches Setras LIL 9456 and WJI 9245

Belle Coaches Setra LIL 9713

 Coach Services of Thetford were also in evidence.

Coach Services Plaxton Premiere bodied Volvo B10M W262 UBC

Unliveried Coach Sservices Plaxton Excalibur bodied Volvo B10M W387 PRC

At this point I must apologise to Lamberts Coaches whose Van Hool Volvo B10M I made a complete mess off so we conclude with Sanders, who provided the best looking coach on view today.

No not ths one but Van Hool bodied VDL SB4000 538 FN (ex East Kent reg) doesn't look bad.

This one! Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B9R PVF 377 is surely the best in show! Nearly made a mess of it!

I think congratulations are in order to Andrew Pursey for once again superbly organising and scheduling the Latitude buses. I have heard no adverse comments whatsoever, and roll on next year!

And finally, not on Latitude duties but just passing was Angian optare Excel 229, which is apparently scheduled for withdrawal in September. A shame as she still looks and sounds good. Today saw her on her normal route between Yarmouth and Diss

Anglian 229 Optare Excel W229 WRB on the 80 to Diss