Centrebus 326 on (now withdrawn) 6
Well it’s a return of the curious case of the matching registrations! Following directly on from the three Barton E-DAU Paramounts, here’s a much newer ‘DAU’ in the shape of Centrebus Optare Solo SR 326, pictured in Bottesford on 17.10.24
News that somehow passed me by completely is that Centrebus withdrew the 6 during summer 2025, presumably because competition from the Central Connect 93 meant it was unviable. To be honest the timetable for the 6 was pretty haphazard and infrequent, but it’s sad to see THE original and longstanding Grantham to Bottesford (and beyond) route fade into obscurity – at one stage in the 2000s it ran the entire stretch from Grantham to Nottingham!
However, the future of the entire bus service in that area hangs in the balance. The East Midlands part of Central Connect is withdrawing from commercial stage carriage work, which includes the 93. BSIP funding took it beyond Bingham to run all the way to Nottingham, but I knew that bit was unlikely to last due to extremely low patronage. What I didn’t expect was the plug to be pulled on the whole route.
So what now? The Melton to Bottesford Centrebus 23 has already succumbed to withdrawal in favour of the ‘Fox DRT’, leaving the 93 as the only conventional bus route though the village. Grantham, Bingham and Bottesford all lie in different counties (Lincs/Leics/Notts), so hope of a replacement tendered route being set up would rely on some joined-up thinking, or perhaps the EMCCA could demonstrate its usefulness in this unique cross-border situation?
I think that would be the ideal situation, with the contract being picked up either by Central Connect again (to keep work for their drivers) or perhaps Centrebus. Those two are the only operators I can think of that would be likely, as anyone further afield probably wouldn’t be interested... Marshalls, maybe? The other, uglier outcome would be if the sizable village just became one more stop on a banal DRT service, with the existence of Bottesford station being used as an excuse not to run regular buses.
Of course if you follow my Robertson Buses model fleet, the very first route was to Bottesford, and in 1/76 scale it’s a very well connected place and wouldn’t be in this mess! HOWEVER I do now own a full size bus soooo... (yeah, unlikely)
YJ16 DAU
Centrebus 326 on (now withdrawn) 6
Well it’s a return of the curious case of the matching registrations! Following directly on from the three Barton E-DAU Paramounts, here’s a much newer ‘DAU’ in the shape of Centrebus Optare Solo SR 326, pictured in Bottesford on 17.10.24
News that somehow passed me by completely is that Centrebus withdrew the 6 during summer 2025, presumably because competition from the Central Connect 93 meant it was unviable. To be honest the timetable for the 6 was pretty haphazard and infrequent, but it’s sad to see THE original and longstanding Grantham to Bottesford (and beyond) route fade into obscurity – at one stage in the 2000s it ran the entire stretch from Grantham to Nottingham!
However, the future of the entire bus service in that area hangs in the balance. The East Midlands part of Central Connect is withdrawing from commercial stage carriage work, which includes the 93. BSIP funding took it beyond Bingham to run all the way to Nottingham, but I knew that bit was unlikely to last due to extremely low patronage. What I didn’t expect was the plug to be pulled on the whole route.
So what now? The Melton to Bottesford Centrebus 23 has already succumbed to withdrawal in favour of the ‘Fox DRT’, leaving the 93 as the only conventional bus route though the village. Grantham, Bingham and Bottesford all lie in different counties (Lincs/Leics/Notts), so hope of a replacement tendered route being set up would rely on some joined-up thinking, or perhaps the EMCCA could demonstrate its usefulness in this unique cross-border situation?
I think that would be the ideal situation, with the contract being picked up either by Central Connect again (to keep work for their drivers) or perhaps Centrebus. Those two are the only operators I can think of that would be likely, as anyone further afield probably wouldn’t be interested... Marshalls, maybe? The other, uglier outcome would be if the sizable village just became one more stop on a banal DRT service, with the existence of Bottesford station being used as an excuse not to run regular buses.
Of course if you follow my Robertson Buses model fleet, the very first route was to Bottesford, and in 1/76 scale it’s a very well connected place and wouldn’t be in this mess! HOWEVER I do now own a full size bus soooo... (yeah, unlikely)
YJ16 DAU