Suzy, Drinker Of Coffee

On the way home from work tonight (on the last Stagecoach Strathtay 76 out of the Technology Park), we had a Dundee based bus (33260 - ex 310) and driver, after the Arbroath based vehicle (32477 - ex 302 - the same one I had for the last two nights) had suffered a broken window (and I later found out it was the windscreen, and unfortunately, the driver ended up injured too). One thing I did notice was the huge - and plain - "Dundee 76" on the front, in big orange LED's. It's not quite the Dundee City Centre 76/via Harris Academy, via Roseangle etc. that (until now) flip around. Turns out that the huge number of variations in services etc. have generated a very large list, and the new management have decided to simplify things. I would have personally preferred a plain "Dundee City Centre 76" instead of just Dundee. Tomorrow is the day that it all goes live, at least of those that have already been updated. Cameras out...

For those interested in Travel Dundee, be prepared to increase your jottings! Until now, Travel Dundee (Tayside Buses, Tayside Regional Council, Dundee Corporation) have given every vehicle a number, and these are in blocks for batches of vehicles etc. These are usually low, 1 upwards (well, 01 currently). At the moment, there are 01-18 (Volvo/Gemini deckers), 59-63 (X-City Direct Volvo B6's), 64-66 (ex WM Scania's), 67 (the B7L), 114 (Scania MaxCi), 115 (ex WM Volvo B10L), 122-151 (native Volvo B10L's), 152-161 (original Volvo B10BLE's),. 162-164 (original B6LE's), 165-179 (second batch of B10BLE)'s, 200-201 (ex WM Solo's), 202-208 (ex London [211] Optare Excels), 209-212 (ex London [U3] Optare Excels). Then, you have the W numbers for the Wishart's unit vehicles, and the TC numbers for the coaches, and the SB numbers for the three yellow school buses. That is how it has been - and until now, there was a "glass ceiling" at 315 - so there was never a Dundee/Tayside bus numbered above 315. Reason - the fuel filler cards (in the old days) were pre-printed grid, which ran from 1 to 315... in any case, the fleet is a fraction of that size now. Computers have made the last restriction irrelevant now, but it was never broken, even given the chance. Until now. See, all vehicles in the Travel Dundee bus and coach fleets are being given 7xxx numbers. For those with bad memories (i.e. me), it's not too bad, because all you have to do is to add seven thousand to the number i.e. 7018 instead of 18. Why, you may wonder? Travel London are being renumbered (again) in a 8xxx or 9xxx series. Travel West Midlands & Travel Coventry vehicles can occupy the remainder of the series... and there you have it, a tidy little National Express Group Bus Division national series! For those who are wondering, apparently there are no plans to reunite old batches i.e. the Solo's which are now in London, Dundee, and the Midlands...