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sur la ligne 6 à destination de Place de Verdun, avenue du Luxembourg, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
Ligne illico 3 du réseau Yélo en provenance de Lagord P+R Les Greffières et à destination de La Rochelle Bongraine - Normandin longeant l'espace Encan.
Ligne exploitée par la RTCR (Régie des transports communautaires Rochelais)
sur la ligne Illico 2 à destination de Mireul – Cimetière Paysager (La Rochelle), arrêt Place de Vedun, place de Verdun, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
sur la ligne Illico 2 à destination de Mireul – Cimetière Paysager (La Rochelle), cours Louis Guillet, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
Ligne BUS VELO 51 du réseau Yélo en provenance de Sablanceaux-Plage et à destination de Place de Verdun démarrant sa course.
sur la ligne D3 à destination de Les Minimes (La Rochelle), avenue du Général de Gaulle, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
sur la ligne Illico 2 à destination de Villeneuve – Fabre d’Églantine (La Rochelle), avenue de la Résistance, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
Lined up outside the workshop building at Yelo's Lagord depot are three more members of the fleet, showing various vintages of Heuliez low-floor. On the left, Heuliez GX317 no. 540 was new in 2004. On the right, green GX327 no. 552 arrived in 2007, while yellow GX327 no. 563 was a 2010 delivery. So nice of the staff to leave them lined up like this!
This year for our hols we returned to the same place as last year - the area around the beautiful coastal town of La Rochelle, on the west coast of France.
As well as generally relaxing and enjoying some time off work, I was looking forward to seeing what, if anything, had changed with the local bus fleets in the twelve months since our previous visit. The answer, it turned out, wasn't very much - the local Yelo bus fleet had only a couple of new acquisitions since last year but still it was good to get re-acquainted with the fleet.
As I'd managed a visit to the depot last year on a bank holiday (when there was little out on service) I thought I'd done a pretty good job of recording the whole Yelo fleet. However I'd obviously missed this one - Heuliez GX427 artic no. 355, which from its registration seemed to date from 2013. I suspect on my depot visit day it was doing exactly what it was doing when I caught it here, operating the Velobus service across the bridge to the Ile de Re, which operates every day and is particularly busy on weekend and holiday days.
Here the bus takes a brief pause at the Sablanceaux transport interchange, just on the Re side of the impressive toll bridge which leads across from the mainland.
⚪️ Yélo ⚪️
La Rochelle
Réseau 🎫 : Yélo
Exploitant 📋 : RTCR
Véhicule 🚐 : Heuliez Gx 337 Elec
Numéro de Parc ️ : 456
Ligne 🚦 : Illico 1b en direction de ZA Aytré-Belle Aire
Photo : 20/04/2024 Avenue du Général Leclerc
Appareil : Canon EOS 250 D
Hashtag #️⃣: #heuliezbus #heuliez #cnhindustrial #GX #GX337 #gx337E #gx337Elec #heuliezgx337 #heuliezgx337E #gxelec #heuliezbusgx337 #yelo #Larochelle #buslarochelle #rtcr #yelobus #bus #busspotter #busspotting #busfan #busphotograph #busphotography #likebus #bustransport #transportencommun #publictransport #tcdefrance
sur la ligne Illico 2 à destination de Mireul – Cimetière Paysager (La Rochelle), arrêt Place de Vedun, place de Verdun, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
sur la ligne Illico 3 à destination de Lagord – P+R Les Greffières, quai Louis Prunier, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
One from last year here...
The far corner of the RTCR Lagord depot seems to be the place where vehicles with no further useful purpose get dumped until the time comes when they meet their maker. In 2015, the occupant of this corner was Heuliez GX317 low-floor no. 521, new to the fleet in 2001. I think of this as a relatively young bus, however it's easy to overlook the fact that it is fourteen years old. Clearly I'm just getting on a bit. 20 of its kind had already passed through the fleet and departed before this one.
521 is clearly not going to see further service - the inscription written on the windscreen translates as "withdrawn wreck". It has been reduced to the status of spare parts bank for the surviving members of its type.
A year since my last visit and to my surprise 521 is still decaying in the corner of the yard. It seems to have been shuffled away from the fence a bit but otherwise is in much the same condition as it had been twelve months earlier. With no new rigid buses added to the fleet in the last year no others have been withdrawn since, so presumably no pressure to dispose of this one.
Modèle : HEULIEZ BUS GX 327
Numéro de parc : 569
Immatriculation : BQ-639-XS
Mise en service : juillet 2011
Exploitant : RTCR
Réseau : Yelo
Ligne : Ligne D1
Destination : LA ROCHELLE La Pallice
Lieu : LA ROCHELLE Place de Verdun
Infos complémentaires : VJ1PS09D100002861
Yelo 374, one of the Heuliez GX427BHNS artics used on the busy Illico route, pauses to pick up passengers. A Heuliez GX327 rigid, and the impressive clock tower of La Rochelle station, are visible behind.
The GX427BHNS (BHNS standing for 'Bus a Haut Niveau de Service' - High service level bus) is a somewhat blinged-up version of the standard GX427 artic intended for flagship services or Bus Rapid Transit-type schemes. The wheel spats, to give a tram-like appearance, are particularly notable. Yelo have eight of them for this route, delivered between 2009 and 2011.
Ligne Illico 3 du réseau Vélo en provenance de Lagord — P+R Les Greffières et à destination de La Rochelle Bongraine - Normandin sur le Quai Valin.
⚪️ Yélo ⚪️
La Rochelle
Réseau 🎫 : Yélo
Exploitant 📋 : RTCR
Véhicule 🚐 : Alstom Aptis
Numéro de Parc ️ : 4️⃣5️⃣1️⃣
Ligne 🚦 : 4 en direction Puilboreau P+R Beaulieu
Photo : 02/09/21 a l’arrêt Porte St-Nicolas
Appareil : Canon EOS 250 D
Hashtag #️⃣: #Alstom #Aptis #AlstomAptis #electrique #yelo #Larochelle #buslarochelle #rtcr #yelobus #bus #busspotter #busspotting #busfan #busphotograph #busphotography #likebus #bustransport #transportencommun #publictransport #tcdefrance
The latest members of the Yelo fleet at the time of my visit were several Heuliez GX337s, which to me looked pretty similar to the preceding GX327 model with just a remodelled rear end to tell them apart. There may be more differences I just haven't spotted yet.
Here, second-to-last no. 583, a 2014 delivery, loads in the town centre.
Ligne Illico 4 du réseau Yélo en provenance de Puilboreau Beaulieu P+R et à destination de La Rochelle Les Minimes sur le Quai Valin.
Ligne 11 du réseau Yélo en provenance de Place de Verdun et à destination de Nieul-sur-Mer - L'ouaille démarrant sa course.
A seasonal occupation for the older artics in the La Rochelle fleet is to operate the VeloBus service. This links La Rochelle with the Ile de Re, across the impressive Pont de Sablanceaux toll bridge, and carries passengers' bicycles as well. The Ile de Re is criss-crossed by cycle routes and cycling is strongly encouraged as a way to get around the island.
Here Irisbus Agora L no. 333 (new in 2003) loads at the transport interchange at Sablanceaux, ready to return across the bridge to town.
More bank holiday buses at rest at the La Rochelle depot, this time drawn from the Yelo fleet of articulated buses. Artics form a minority of the La Rochelle fleet and, aside from the busy Illico route and seasonal VeloBus and Park & Ride duties, tend to be used mainly at peak times. There have also been a few second-hand purchases, rare for the fleet but probably reflecting the cost of such vehicles and the limited mileage they cover.
Here a selection of Yelo artics rest up for the bank holiday. 354, nearest, is a Heuliez GX427 new in 2012. Next is 333, an Irisbus Agora L new in 2003. 339 and 337, Irisbus Citelis 18s new in 2009 and 2007 respectively, are next. Then 370, a Heuliez GX427BHNS new in 2009, and finally 335, another Agora L new in 2005.
When I posted my last few pics of French buses, I fully intended to scan and post a load more and give a sort of guide to the classic French bus. Well, since then a few other projects, along with work, have got in the way and I've scanned no more...
Still, with summer now approaching thoughts turn to holidays and a return across the channel. Hopefully they're not too anti-Brit after recent events.
This year, unusually for us, we're going back to a previously visited location. In fact we'll be staying precisely where we did last year, a few miles outside the picturesque port town of La Rochelle.
Seems like a good opportunity to post some pics of La Rochelle buses then. I first visited the town in 1987, then again in 1998. The local bus fleet is pretty modern, and indeed in 2015 all the buses that had been in the fleet in 1998 had since been replaced.
Most of the buses are operated by municipal operator RTCR, which some years ago re-branded itself as Yelo, with a new, er... yellow livery. Older members of the fleet retained the old RTCR green and white livery.
Here, 2011-built Heuliez GX327 no. 567 departs the central bus terminal at Place de Verdun.
Ligne Illico 1b du réseau Vélo en provenance de La Rochelle - Laleu Aéroport et à destination de Aytré Z.A. Aytré - Belle Aire sur le Quai Valin.
sur la ligne D3 à destination de Les Minimes (La Rochelle), avenue de Colmar, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
sur la ligne Illico 4 à destination de Les Minimes – Plage des Minimes (La Rochelle), Musée Maritime, quai Louis Prunier, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)
sur la ligne 6 à destination de Lagord – Lycée Vieljeux (La Rochelle), avenue du Président John Fitzgerald Kennedy, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime (17), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, FR)