YRC 182 ‘trentbarton’ No. 62 red arrow. Volvo B10M / Plaxton Interurban on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
‘Scene’ in Retrospect;
‘trentbarton’s (tb) red arrow Part 1
This service currently runs from Derby to Nottingham. It has always been (tb)’s flagship route starting operating in October 1995, making it 30 years old this year.
As far as I know, it has never had a route number. Always being the red arrow or simply the arrow.
Originally the service ran on from Derby to terminate in Chesterfield. Time keeping was regularly a problem so the decision was taken in 2015 to split the service in two with the Derby-Nottingham service retaining the red arrow name with the Derby-Chesterfield service becoming the comet.
For decades, the Derby-Nottingham services had been a battleground over which ‘Trent Motor Traction’ and ‘Barton Buses’ competed fiercely.
The merging of the two companies in 1989 brought that to an end. Thus allowing the new express service to use the mainly dual carriageway A52 to provide a Derby-Nottingham timing of just under half an hour
While it lasted, the extension to Chesterfield added another 40 minutes to that end of the service.
Rolling stock initially were former Barton DAF / Plaxton Paramount coaches which proved that the route worked well.
A batch of Volvo B10M / Plaxton Interurbans dedicated to the route arrived in 1996.
They were followed in 2004 by Scania K94 / Irizar Century coaches.
An interesting addition came when it was found necessary to refurbish these coaches.
A Volvo B7R with Jonckheere bodywork was bought (albeit temporarily) to cover for the time the Scania’s were away.
Unusually, for a temporary cover, it received the full livery.
In 2010 another batch of Scanias, this time K320 / Irizar i4 coaches joined the fleet.
The current fleet, bought in 2015, comprises Volvo B11RT / Plaxton Elite coaches with the odd working being provided by one of the surviving 2010 batch.
At the time of their introduction, the service was reduced to Derby-Nottingham only.
That is the story so far. The Volvo / Plaxtons are in their eleventh year and the decision to replace them with Yutong GT12s has been made.
An order being placed for their delivery in Spring 2025.
I know that the Yutongs will be fine coaches that will serve the company well but I will very much miss the Volvo/Plaxtons.
P.S. If anyone has an image of a DAF/Plaxton coach in red arrow livery and or branding, that I could use, they would see it posted on the blog together with big thank you from me.
Now who could resist that??
The registration YRC 182 is a cherished registration owned by (tb) and used on a variety of vehicles over the years. The coach was delivered registered R62 RAU.
The livery shown is a later livery than that when delivered.
Image taken 25/07/2013 in Derby bus station.
YRC 182 ‘trentbarton’ No. 62 red arrow. Volvo B10M / Plaxton Interurban on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
‘Scene’ in Retrospect;
‘trentbarton’s (tb) red arrow Part 1
This service currently runs from Derby to Nottingham. It has always been (tb)’s flagship route starting operating in October 1995, making it 30 years old this year.
As far as I know, it has never had a route number. Always being the red arrow or simply the arrow.
Originally the service ran on from Derby to terminate in Chesterfield. Time keeping was regularly a problem so the decision was taken in 2015 to split the service in two with the Derby-Nottingham service retaining the red arrow name with the Derby-Chesterfield service becoming the comet.
For decades, the Derby-Nottingham services had been a battleground over which ‘Trent Motor Traction’ and ‘Barton Buses’ competed fiercely.
The merging of the two companies in 1989 brought that to an end. Thus allowing the new express service to use the mainly dual carriageway A52 to provide a Derby-Nottingham timing of just under half an hour
While it lasted, the extension to Chesterfield added another 40 minutes to that end of the service.
Rolling stock initially were former Barton DAF / Plaxton Paramount coaches which proved that the route worked well.
A batch of Volvo B10M / Plaxton Interurbans dedicated to the route arrived in 1996.
They were followed in 2004 by Scania K94 / Irizar Century coaches.
An interesting addition came when it was found necessary to refurbish these coaches.
A Volvo B7R with Jonckheere bodywork was bought (albeit temporarily) to cover for the time the Scania’s were away.
Unusually, for a temporary cover, it received the full livery.
In 2010 another batch of Scanias, this time K320 / Irizar i4 coaches joined the fleet.
The current fleet, bought in 2015, comprises Volvo B11RT / Plaxton Elite coaches with the odd working being provided by one of the surviving 2010 batch.
At the time of their introduction, the service was reduced to Derby-Nottingham only.
That is the story so far. The Volvo / Plaxtons are in their eleventh year and the decision to replace them with Yutong GT12s has been made.
An order being placed for their delivery in Spring 2025.
I know that the Yutongs will be fine coaches that will serve the company well but I will very much miss the Volvo/Plaxtons.
P.S. If anyone has an image of a DAF/Plaxton coach in red arrow livery and or branding, that I could use, they would see it posted on the blog together with big thank you from me.
Now who could resist that??
The registration YRC 182 is a cherished registration owned by (tb) and used on a variety of vehicles over the years. The coach was delivered registered R62 RAU.
The livery shown is a later livery than that when delivered.
Image taken 25/07/2013 in Derby bus station.