Something remarkable is happening in the South West of England: a growing coach business is bucking the trend when it comes to getting its name out there. Richard Sharman paid a visit to Plymouth to find out more
The South West of England is an extremely popular destination for coach holidays from all over the UK and even Europe, but on the flip side, the population of Devon and Cornwall also love travelling by coach for school and sports trips, days out and private hire. This means that there are opportunities for a number of coach operators in the area, and even a new one, but the first thing we need to talk about here is the significant history surrounding Plymouth Citybus and its coach divisions.
Coaching since the 1980s
Like many municipal bus companies of the 1980s, Plymouth Citybus had its own coaching unit, appropriately named Plymouth Citycoach. The early livery featured an off-cream base with red and orange added to lower panels, and between decks on double deckers.
A popular model for bus companies with coaching units in that era was the East Lancs-bodied Volvo B10M-50 Citybus, with high-backed coach style seating, a fancier shaped window line than its regular service bus counterparts, and a full width rear mudflap to give it that coach effect!
The coach division purchased two of these brand new in October and November 1984, 175 ‘Ark Royal’ and 176 ‘Invincible.’ They were also kitted out with exact fare boxes so they could be used on service work when not required by the coach unit.
It wasn’t all dual-purpose double-deckers though, a wheelchair accessible Leyland National, Plaxton Supremes and Van Hool Alizees were operated.
In just two years a significant amount of money was invested in the Citycoach fleet, and the previous livery also disappeared in favour of a white base with a simple black and red stripe behind the rear axle.
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