National Express Coventry operate a mixture of mini, midi and full size single deck buses on its network within Coventry, some of which are in the new livery. These comprise of 45 Mercedes-Benz O 405 N. Twenty of these buses have come from Lea Hall & Pensnett Garages in 2008 to help convert the core network to full low floor operation. Other vehicles in this collection include eight Volvo B6 with Wright Crusader bodywork which have been at Coventry from new. Also eight Optare Solo's transfered from Other Garages between the year 2001 and 2008.

These fifteen Scania Omnilink vehicles were new in early 2009 for the upgrade of the Foleshill Road bus showcase service and were the first new vehicles to appear with the recently introduced National Express Coventry brand. These vehicles are to be route branded for the services which they are operational on and this is expected to take place around the end of June 2009.

There are now only six Metrobuses in regular service operation Coventry garage compared to the 110 at that were in service around 12 years ago. These buses are soon to be completely withdrawn from service and replaced by some second hand low floor double deck vehicles thought to be from Birmingham Central garage. This will convert Coventry services to 100% full low floor operation and will also remove one of the longest standing versions of the company livery that has been in place for many years. To view many of the Metrobuses that have been in operation at Travel Coventry, please see the Former Coventry vehicles collection below.

This section shows the complete fleet of Alexander bodied vehicles in operation with National Express Coventry. The first 22 of these new in 2001 were delivered in Travel West Midlands livery and later repainted into Travel Coventry livery. A further nineteen Tridents and ten Volvo B7TL were delivered in late 2002 for the launch of Travel Coventry. These vehicles are now starting to appear in the new National Express livery with 4421 premiering the scheme with 4405 following. A further five of this vehicle type are expected to join the fleet in summer 2009 to allow the withdrawal of all Metrobuses from Coventry converting the fleet to 100% low floor.

These ten Volvo B7TL with Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini bodywork in operation with National Express Coventry, were delivered in Summer 2005 for the Binley Road bus showcase scheme upgrading service 13 to low floor. Six of the vehicles carry route branding for the service but often venture out on Rail Replacement work between Coventry and Nuneaton during weekends. None of these vehicles are yet in the new National Express livery.

Articulated buses were first introduced into Coventry in 2003 with using a fleet of ten brand new Mercedes-Benz Citaro G’s. They were purchased as part of a package of service enhancements promised with the introduction of the Travel Coventry brand. Initially they were in operation on services 17 & 27 and carried branding for the routes bus 6019 has since been repainted in the new livery. Following their success, during 2004 a further ten articulated buses were introduced onto service 21 upgrading the service to low floor operation. These Mercedes-Benz O. 405 GN vehicles were new to Perry Barr garage in 1999 for service 67.

This collection looks at the many vehicles that have been in operation at Coventry garage since the Travel Coventry brand was introduced back in the year 2002. Many of the vehicles in this collection have simply been scrapped because of their age, or sold on for further use with other operators. Other mid life vehicles have simply been transferred to other garages within the company for further service due to the influx of new vehicles at Coventry garage or have become surplus to requirements due to service changes. The main focus in the collection as you will see are the many Metrobuses that have been in service at Coventry.

National Express West Midlands is the largest operator in the West Midlands which boasts the largest bus market outside of London. With its 1,800 buses in operation from ten garages, National Express provides over five hundred bus services with a very modern fleet. This collection looks at the single deck fleet operated by the company which is 100% low floor. A large quantity of these vehicles now painted in the new livery with the others being gradually done. The fleet consists of a large number of Volvo and Mercedes-Benz buses. The latest purchases however are of a large number of Scania Omnilink buses.

National Express West Midlands is the largest operator in the West Midlands which boasts the largest bus market outside of London. With its 1,800 buses in operation from ten garages, National Express provides over five hundred bus services with a very modern fleet. This collection looks at the double deck fleet which is on its way to becoming fully low floor and should be complete by the end of the year 2010. A considerable number of these buses are sporting the new National Express livery with more being painted week by week. The fleet consists of a large number of Alexander ALX400 bodied vehicles on both Trident and Volvo chassis. Other large quantities are of Wrightbus Geminis and Enviro 400 manufactured by Alexander Dennis.

In this collection are photographs of the National Express and Eurolines coach fleets, some of the vehicles are operated in house from National Express’ own depots and others which are operated on behalf of National Express by preferred and trusted operators from across the UK and Europe. National Express provide Britain’s largest scheduled coach network serving over 1000 destinations per day. The current fleet comprises of numerous types of modern coaches which include the NX magic floor developed in conjunction with Caetano coach builders. This was Britain’s first wheelchair accessible coach. National Express are on target for a fully accessible fleet by 2012 for the Olympic Games taking place in London.

This collection looks at the many vehicles that have visited Coventry garage from other operators or manufacturers for various reasons. Probably the most interesting of these is the Wright Streetcar which visited Coventry back in 2006. Other photographs in this collection include various shots showing the preparation of the twenty Mercedes-Benz single deck buses which transferred to Coventry from Lea Hall and Pensnett garages. There are also many other shots which you may find of interest that I would like to share with you but are relevant to any other collection.

Travel de Courcey is a medium sized independent bus and coach operator based in Coventry. They provide mainly rural bus services and also vast amounts of school contract work using ex West Midlands Metrobuses and recently purchased Leylands from Scotland. The company have also recently branched out into local service work in competition with National Express Coventry by launching similar services to which their articulated buses run on. A new livery has also been introduced in a similar style to that of Brighton & Hove buses. The fleet is made up of MAN Evolutions for service work and there are also two wheelchair accessible coaches in operation with a third due later this year.

Included in this collection are many shots of the various vehicles in the Arriva Midlands fleets operating in the Leicester and Staffordshire areas. The fleet includes a mixture of low floor and mid life step entry vehicles of all shapes and sizes. The most recent vehicles to be delivered are Optare Versa and Scania Omnilinks. One positive item I find about the Arriva fleet is their consistency in vehicle presentation and livery designs creating a very strong brand image across the United Kingdom. This is a good business practice, especially in the Leicester where Arriva are in competition with two other large operators.

First is the largest operator of overground public transport networks within the United Kingdom. This collection specifically focuses on the main two operations which are local to Coventry. Most of this collection looks at the operations based at Leicester which is now fully low floor and is housed in a large brand new depot just outside the city centre. First have a very strong partnership with Wrightbus and Volvo and have extremely large quantities of their vehicles across England and Scotland. Interesting vehicles featured in this collection are a very early batch of low floor Dennis Lance which are operational in the Worcester area.

Stagecoach in Warwickshire operate a network of local and rural services in Coventry and the towns of Warwickshire. The fleet comprises largely of Dennis Darts in corporate livery most of which are branded for the services they operate. The latest batch of vehicles to be delivered to this operator are MAN / Enviro 300 which are based at Nuneaton depot and are branded for Matrix services that in operation between Coventry and Nuneaton in competition with National Express. The Warwickshire towns fleet is now fully low floor and is also home to the Goldline service which operates between Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick using leather seated Optare Solo’s.

Rotala Group was set up in 2005 with the aim of acquiring several public transport business within the bus and coach market. So far under the groups ownership in the west midlands are Flights Hallmark which operates prestigious coaches and luxury car hire service. Rotala also operate around 280 local service buses within the West Midlands. They operate under two brand names, one of which is Diamond Buses and the other being Connect Connect. The Diamond Bus brand is split into two divisions, Red Diamond operating Redditch and Black Diamond for the West Midlands. Both brand names are becoming a common sight within the West Midlands as the company strives to increase its presence and build a stronger brand personality in the area.

During the year 2007 Plaxton Coachbuilders celebrated its 100th Anniversary by holding an open weekend at its premises in Scarborough, Yorkshire. There were several new vehicles on display which the company now produce and also many older vehicles which have been produced by Plaxton since its existence in 1907, which are in preservation. Vehicle workshops were also open to the public for viewing the vehicles currently in build. There are over one hundered photos in this collection from the day which was extremely enjoyable for those lucky enough to attend.

Aswell as my local environment of the West Midlands, myself and other friends of mine have visited several other locations across the United Kingdom looking at the public transport operations of other cities including Blackpool, Nottingham and probably my favourite visit, of Oxford. In this collection there are many photos from our visits which have demonstrated to me, the exemplary standards that should be in operation within all public transport sectors. Aswell as buses there are also many photos of trams that are in operation in England. Looking at the heritage system in operation in Blackpool and the exemplary integrated transport network in operation the Midlands city of Nottingham.

This collection looks the many former Coventry and other vehicles, which are now in preservation. Most of this collection focuses on a former Coventry MCW Metrobus which is now fantastically preserved in its as new condition. The Metrobus is my all time favourite vehicle for which I feel privileged to have driven in service with National Express Coventry. 2462 is a perfect example of how preservation should be and I look forward to many more Metrobuses being restored to their original condition including tracline 65 guided bus 8110 which is currently being restored at Aston Manor Road Transport Museum.

Showbus is an annual event that takes place around September every year and is the Worlds biggest bus rally. It takes place at the Imperial War museum located at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. This collection looks at the many vehicles that attended the event in 2008. The show is designed and organised primarily for bus enthusiasts and there usually in excess of 100 vehicles on display ranging from preserved buses to the latest models currently still in service from across the country, and sometimes further a field. This years event will take place on Sunday 27th September.

Eurobus Expo is a professional exhibition which takes place every two years at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. The show is primarily designed for manufacturing businesses within the public transport sector to display and market their products to prospective clients. Operators from all over Europe attend this exhibition to look at the latest technology and services available in the industry. Aswell as Eurobus Expo, Coach & Bus Live also takes place at the NEC which is a similar event and takes place every two years in between Eurobus Expo. This collection looks at the offerings from the 2008 event.

This collection contains many photograph’s from the current and ever changing scene of the London bus market which is lead and organised by Transport for London. This visit in May 2009 shows many new vehicles including Enviro 400’s put into service by Travel London just before its sale, also a look at the iBus technology which is now fitted to all London buses. There are also many photographs of the articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses which are soon to be withdrawn from service.