Metro Fleet News 2012

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23/12/12 - More new B9TL/Wrightbus are 2372 (LFZ 9372 - Newtownabbey), 2373/7 (GVS) and 2379 (Short Strand), all entering service on the 19th.

16/12/12 - B7TL 2884 has moved from Newtownabbey - Falls, and 2923/4 from Newtownabbey to Short Strand. Ultra's 2705/8/11/27/9/45 have all gone to Hamill, Ahoghill for scrap.

11/12/12 - Volvo B9TLs 2369/70/1 (LFZ 9369-71) are now in use from Newtownabbey depot.

04/12/12 - the final B7RLE of the present batch, 930 (KFZ 9930) entered service at Falls on 3rd December. Ultras 2715/7/20 have gone to Hamill for scrap.

02/12/12 - the 14 B9TL/Wrightbus on order will take fleetnumbers 2369-2382 (LFZ 9369-9382). Delivery of all 14 sould be during December and allocations should be Newtownabbey (2369-72), GVS (2373-5), Falls (2376-8) and Short Strand (2379-82).

25/11/12 - B10Ms 1533/4 have been sold to Marbill, Beith for further service.

11/11/12 - Recently arrived B10M 1650 has gone to Reserve, whilst sister 1645 has returned to Ulsterbus. Scania 781 has moved from GVS to the Driving School, B10BLE 2762 from Falls to GVS, whilst 4 loan arrivals from Ulsterbus are B10BLEs 2765 (Short Strand), 2768 (Falls), 2785 (Newtownabbey) and 2820 (GVS). The end of October also saw the demise of the final Ultra in the fleet, this being GVS based 2743. Volvos 2888/90/912/28 have all been fitted with wig-wag lights.

04/11/12 - Volvos 2972 and 2897 have received unusual fully illuminated adverts in the offside T-frames.

21/10/12 - B7RLE 925 entered service at Falls on 2nd October. Scania 731 has moved from Falls to GVS, whilst an unusual arrival from Ulsterbus is short B10M/Caetano 2511.

10/10/12 - 3 more B7RLEs entered service on 1st October, these being 927/8/9 (KFZ 9927 etc, all at Falls). Short Strand based B10M 1534 was moved to Reserve at the end of September, along with Ultras 2705 (Short Strand), 2711/2/39/50 (GVS) and 2717/8/21/34 (Falls). This leaves GVS based 2743 as the final Ultra left in the fleet. B10BLE 2801 has moved from Falls to Short Strand.

18/09/12 - B7RLEs 907/19 entered service at GVS on 7/9; 920 (GVS - 11/9), 921 (GVS - 14/9); 922/3 (Falls - 14/9) and 924/6 (Falls - 20/9). Other arrivals are 3 more B10M/Plaxton from Ulsterbus, with 1645/9/50 going to Short Strand. Scanias 701/2 have moved from Falls to Short Strand with similar 788/9 returning to Ulsterbus GVS. Ultras 2701/3/9/10 have gone to Hamill for scrap. 14 more B9/Wrightbus are on order for delivery in Spring 2013.

18/09/12 - B7RLEs 907/19-21 have entered service at Great Victoria Street and 922/3 at Falls Park.

15/09/12 - 2208 will be the third Vodaphone advert and should be ready early next week.

14/09/12 - Volvo B9 2205 is the second to carry an overall advert for Vodaphone. The third should be a Falls or GVS based bus. B7RLE's 907/19/20 are now delivered.

09/09/12 - Volvo B9 2206 has gained an unusual super side advert for Visit NI 2012.

06/09/12 - Volvo B9 2336 is the first Gemini to gain an allover advert, in this case the initial one of 3 for Vodaphone. Details of the new Volvos are as follows:

901-4/12-16	KFZ 9901	Volvo B7RLE	Wrightbus B45F+27	Short Strand	01/09/12
905/6/8/17/8	KFZ 9905	Volvo B7RLE	Wrightbus B45F+27	GVS	01/09/12
909/10	KFZ 9909	Volvo B7RLE	Wrightbus B45F+27	Falls	01/09/12
911	LFZ 2911	Volvo B7RLE	Wrightbus B45F+27	Falls	01/09/12
2355-7	KFZ 9355	Volvo B9TL	Wrightbus H45/29F	Short Strand	01/09/12
2358-60	KFZ 9355	Volvo B9TL	Wrightbus H45/29F	Falls	01/09/12
2361-3	KFZ 9355	Volvo B9TL	Wrightbus H45/29F	GVS	01/09/12
2364-8	KFZ 9355	Volvo B9TL	Wrightbus H45/29F	Newtownabbey	01/09/12

Solos 1829/30/49 returned to use on 1st September after the school holidays, as did B9TL 2215 after accident damage repair. Vehicles detaxed were the final Tiger in the fleet, 1478 (Short Strand), B10M 1533 (Short Strand) and Ultras 2715/24/5 (Falls), 2722/49 (Short Strand). Mercedes 2100-5 and 3100/2 have gone to Ulsterbus, along with B7/ALX's 2876-83, 2976-8, B10BLE 2815 and Scanias 705/6. Buses on the move are: 703/40 (Newtownabbey - Falls), 2208/9 (Short Strand - Falls), 2346/7 (Newtownabbey- GVS), 2711/2/39/43/50 (Short Strand - GVS), 2885 (Short Strand - Newtownabbey), 2948/9 (GVS - Falls), 2965 (Short Strand - GVS).

29/08/12 - Seemingly the DVA has decided to retain the booked registration number for 911/22 (KFZ 9911/22), so these pair will now carry LFZ 2911/22. Volvo B7 2978 has been painted blue at Duncrue Street, and is the first of a number to go to Ulsterbus for the start of the new school term.

26/08/12 - Ultra 2720 has been withdrawn after suffering an engine failure. A few Ultra's may survive beyond the end of the month, pending delivery of new buses.

15/08/12 - Solo 1831 returned to use at Short Strand on 10th July, whilst Ulsterbus Scania L94's 705/6/88/9 were loaned to Metro from the start of August based at GVS (705/6) and Short Strand (788/9). Ultra 2727 (Falls) was withdrawn at the end of July with accident damage, whilst 2708/45 (Short Strand), 2731/2 (GVS) are now in Reserve; it seems that the end of August will see the remainder of these taken out of use. With substantial numbers of new buses available from September the 6 Mercedes O.405's should also leave the Metro fleet and transfer to Ulsterbus. 2714 has been sold to Hamill for scrap. One service change coming up at the start of September is the splitting of core service 4A, with a new 4B route serving Coopers Mill at Dundonald twice an hour, rather then Ballybeen. The existing 4B journeys to the Ulster Hospital are renumbered 4C.

10/07/12 - The list of Metro Volvo B9's making the trip to the UK is as follows:

On hire to FirstGroup: 2339/40/44/9/50/1/2
On hire for LOCOG contract: 2335-8/41/2/3/5/6/7/8/53/4

05/07/12 - Despite the school holidays Metro still seems to be perpetually short of buses, with no less then 4 blue vehicles on core route 1 today (B9TLs 2221/31 and Scanias 493/2477). 493 is hardly a suitable bus for urban operation. Mercedes artics 3100/2 were returned to use on 22nd June at Short Strand to help out with the events transport at the end of the month. Tiger 1476 has returned from Ulsterbus Coleraine and is now back in Reserve, as is Ultra 2729, previously at Falls. Only 4 buses were detaxed for the school holidays, these being Solos 1829-31 and surprisingly Park and Ride branded 1849. A shuffle round of buses at the start of July saw Scanias 792/3 move from Newtownabbey to Short Strand, Ultras 2705 (GVS - Short Strand), 2717 (GVS Active Reserve - Falls), 2718 (GVS - Falls); B9TLs 2208/9 (Falls - Short Strand); B7TLs 2921/2 (Newtownabbey - Short Strand) and 2948-50 (Falls - GVS). Tigers 1474/7 were sold to Dodds, Troon during June.

01/07/12 - The first examples of both the B7RLE and the B9TL's on order are now complete. The Gemini's will feature a slightly revised livery compared to their older sisters, featuring greater areas of magenta.

27/06/12 - The 14 Volvo B9/Wrightbus on order will be fleetnumbers 2355-2368 (KFZ 9355-68) and the 30 B7RLE/Wrightbus take numbers 901-930 (KFZ 9901-30). Translink has also been allocated £5.8 million of government money to purchase a further 42 new buses, although which type and for which company is not yet known.

26/06/12 - B10BLE 2801 has been fitted with a set a wig-wag lights, although this seems to have been at the expense of an operational destination display. Volvo B7 2898 is to receive an overall advert for 'Digital TV switchover'.

24/05/12 - Ultra 2716 has gone to Hamill for scrap.

16/05/12 - B9TL 2335 has lost all fleetnames, branding and numbers, whilst 2338 has lost it's swoops. Presumably this is the start of 'anonymising' vehicles for use at the Olympic Games this summer. B7 2882 has now lost it's overall advert for the Northern Ireland Fire Service and is back in fleet livery.

09/05/12 - Tiger 1476 (Reserve) has transferred to Ulsterbus Coleraine where it has replaced fire damaged B10BLE 2851. Another Ultra to be put in to Reserve is Short Strand based 2714, whilst B9TL 2215 is detaxed from GVS with accident damage.

06/03/12 - Solo 1855 (Short Strand) was put into Reserve at the end of February, following the cessation of little used route 76 (Carryduff - Tesco Newtownbreda) on 27th February. Route 30A was modified on the same date to allow for a couple of mid-day jouirneys to run via Annadale rather then the Ormeau Road. Scania 790 has moved from Short Strand to Newtownabbey, with Solo 1869 going from GVS to Short Strand. Ultra 2706 has been sold to Hamill for scrap.

16/02/12 - Former RELLs 2521 (XOI 2521) and 2573 (BXI 2573) had gone to Wigley, Carlton 11/11 for scrap, ex South Lancs Travel, Atherton.

08/02/12 - Tigers 1477/9 (both GVS) were taken out of use at the end of January, leaving just 1478 in use.

08/01/12 - Tigers 1474/6 (both Short Strand) were taken out of use at the end of December.

01/01/12 - Seasons Greetings and a Merry New Year from Irish Transport Heritage.

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