South East Bus Festival 2022
Saturday the 2nd of April 2022 saw the annual South East Bus Festival return to the Kent County Showground at Detling, with a total of 136 buses & coaches in attendance with a huge variation of classic cars, fire engines and tractors to compliment the good turnout.
Starting at 10am, preserved and service vehicles turned up in their numbers including the Arriva Tunbridge Wells feeder service consisting of Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Geminis 6136 & 6151, DAF DB250 Alexander ALX400 6007, DLA 33, recently preserved 1628 (former PDL77) and Scania N113 East Lancs Cityzen OSJ 1X from Autocar.
It was nice to see a small selection of people go out of their way to provide a decent transport link to the event, with the only other public transport link being the Arriva 334 which ran every 30 minutes to the event, with the bus stop outside the showground not exactly being suitable to a high influx of people.
Unique.
In attendance at the event was the only Volvo B7TL ADL Enviro 400 ever made.
SN56 AWX was new to Bluestar in 2007 and was a member of their fleet up until the end of 2018 where it then made a move to EnsignBus and subsequently sold for preservation to the ever growing Bromley Bus Preservation Group.
fastrack: AZ
On the 25th of August 2021, Go-Coach won a temporary contract to operate the new 24 hour ‘fastrack’ amazon service between Dartford and Gravesend, serving the new Amazon LCY3 distribution centre in Dartford and the 2nd of April 2022 was the last day of operation before it would transfer to Arriva Kent Thameside.
Former Abellio London 9509 ADL Enviro 400 was one of the examples Go-Coach purchased for the service and attending the South East Bus Festival in the ‘amazon’ livery/advert.
Left: Preserved former London General Mercedes Citaro G BX02 YYZ. Recently painted out of the Eden Project livery and looking rather smart.
Right: Preserved former Stagecoach London TA1 / S801 BWC – Also recently preserved and repainted.
the future?
Brand new Volvo BZL demonstrator made an appearance at SEBF.
Still unregistered and on trade plates, the BZL demonstrator has seen use with Go-Coach for trials on the fastrack AZ.
abellio London
were late to the party, showing up around mid-day with a brand new BYD Enviro 400EV featuring the highest-spec interior a London bus has ever soon – about time the capital caught up to the rest of the UK.
3415 (LC71 KWY) navigates the showground displaying the N68 to Coulsdon on LED displays which are slowly phasing out the traditional London roller blinds.
A total of 29 brand new electric Enviro 400s operate the Route 63 between King’s Cross and Honour Oak Station and have ‘game-changing’ features such as sky lights, USB charging ports, mobile phone holders and an improved iBus system.
Image Credit: @ADLBus on Twitter
LT24 accompanied the BYD to SEBF featuring a recent repaint and internal refurbishment.
It is good to see that doubts over the future of these vehicles are no longer, despite what it may have cost TFL over the years.
50 years of EnsignBus
In 2022, EnsignBus are celebrating their 50th year and in celebration they have painted Volvo B9TL Wright Gemini 2 LX15 GPY into a special gold livery.
EnsignBus specialise in used bus sales and also operate a number of bus services in the South East of England.
The Platinum Jubilee: Queen Elizabeth II
Above: 2022 marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth the second was crowned the Queen of England and several bus companies have repainted vehicles to commemorate the special event.
Stagecoach South 10945 is one of a few Stagecoach vehicles in this adaption of the new livery and attending South East Bus Festival.
Right: Go-Coach were the other operator to attend to SEBF with a Platinum Jubilee liveried vehicle.
EnsignBus 405 LX19 EAW attended South East Bus Festival alongside 130 and is one of a few BCI Excellences that exist in the UK.
The rather unique build is powered by an 8.9l Cummins ISL and 6 speed ZF EcoLife. For a modern vehicle, the BCI is an absolute monster. Powerful, comfortable and little rattles which are 3 components a lot of modern-day vehicles miss.
Above: Autocar Scania N113DRB East Lancs CityZen. New to Autocar in December 2000.
Below: Almost brand-new Arriva the Shires 3967 Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora. Nice to see investment from Arriva.
Above: Arriva Kent Thameside 6203 in the new Arriva Sapphire livery. Ex-Leicester
Below: Arriva Kent Thameside DAF DB250 ALX400 6007 still going strong at the Tunbridge Wells depot looking very smart.
Above: Go Coach 9001 in the London County heritage livery. Former Epsom Coaches DD01
Below: Arriva Kent & Surrey Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 6136, rumoured to be withdrawn in the near future. Former Arriva London VLW 52
Above: Preserved Eastern National S731 TWC.
Above: Preserved Metrobus Y379 HMY
Above: Preserved Stagecoach AE51 VFX
and now we wait until South East Bus Festival 2023….
This years event was rather enjoyable with a good variety of both service and preserved vehicles in attendance complimented by wonderful weather all day, good food and tonnes of stalls selling bus-related items.
Thanks for reading, Dylan.
