Dennis Dart - Low Floor

40805/33/7/8  R312GHS & R670/4/5DUS   

Following a tendering exercise by Worcestershire County Council, First Midland Red was successful in securing the contract to operate Worcester's first permanent Park & Ride service. The new Worcester North Park & Ride commenced operation on 17 April 2001. To fulfil the contract, First Midland Red leased five new Caetano Nimbus-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs (351–354 and 356, Y351–Y354 AUY and Y356 AUY). The buses were delivered to Worcester garage on 11 and 12 April 2001, carrying an attractive purple and orange "Worcester North Park & Ride" livery. In preparation for the new operation, fifteen volunteer drivers attended a three-day training course covering customer care and disability awareness. These specially trained drivers worked a dedicated rota covering all Park & Ride duties. To assist with driver familiarisation and engineering training before the new vehicles arrived, W809 VMA, at the time the only other Caetano Nimbus-bodied Dennis Dart within FirstGroup, was loaned to Worcester during March and April 2001. Four of the five buses were required each day to operate the service between the Perdiswell Park & Ride site, to the north of Worcester, and Worcester Bus Station, providing a bus every ten minutes throughout the day. The fifth vehicle was retained as the operational spare. Following the introduction of FirstGroup's national fleet numbering scheme, the vehicles were renumbered into the 42xxx series. In November 2006, all five buses were upgraded with electronic destination displays, replacing the original roller blinds. When First Midland Red ceased operating the Worcester North Park & Ride service, the vehicles were repainted into the company's standard 'Barbie' livery and transferred for use on conventional local bus services. In their later years they became allocated to Hereford depot, where they remained until the closure of the depot on 5 September 2015, when all five vehicles were withdrawn from the First Midland Red fleet. Several subsequently found further service with First Potteries, extending their operational careers beyond the West Midlands.

Livery Key : Barbie 3 - is the new corporate Firstgroup livery for all vehicles which is a modified version of the original Barbie livery (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was repainted) 

42401/2/3/4/5/6   P401/2/3/4/5/6MLA

42455  R445CCV

42455 (R455 CCV) arrived at First Midland Red in early November 2008 from First Devon & Cornwall. It had originally been one of a batch of eighteen Dennis Dart SLFs (R447–R464 CCV) delivered new to Western National during 1997 and 1998. In later years, several vehicles from the batch were transferred to First Eastern Counties for operation from Great Yarmouth. Prior to its move to the Midlands, 42455 was based at Camborne, where it operated local services throughout Cornwall. Following its arrival at Worcester, the vehicle entered service during November 2008. It later transferred to Kidderminster depot, where it remained until March 2013, when the depot was sold to Diamond Bus. The vehicle passed to the new owner as part of the sale and subsequently transferred to Redditch depot, which had also come under Diamond Bus ownership. It was from Redditch that 42455 eventually ended its operational career.

42641   N341EUY

46641 (formerly 341, E341 EUY) was one of the Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs ordered by Midland Red West in 1995. As the fourteenth vehicle in the order, it was among the company's earliest low-floor buses. The vehicle entered service at Kidderminster depot towards the end of April 1996. Registered E341 EUY, it was purchased with financial support from Shropshire County Council, which funded the additional cost of specifying a low-floor vehicle instead of a conventional step-entrance bus. As an early low-floor Dennis Dart, 341 was virtually unique in being certified to carry two wheelchairs, whereas later low-floor buses were normally limited to a single wheelchair space. Initially, the bus was dedicated to a number of Shropshire County Council-supported services, including the 712 (Monday to Saturday), 538 (Tuesdays), 141/142 (Wednesdays), 491/492 (Thursdays), 713 (Saturdays) and selected journeys on service 297. These contracts continued until the summer of 1999, after which the vehicle was employed on general Kidderminster depot duties. In September 2000, 341 found a new role as the spare vehicle for the two low-floor Dennis Darts 370 and 371 (X370/X371 CUY), which were operating the tendered 303 service. It also saw regular use on the newly introduced X33 service between Redditch and Kidderminster. When First Midland Red lost the contracts for these services to Pete's Travel on 8 April 2002, 341 returned to general service work at Kidderminster. As part of network revisions in January 2003, the vehicle transferred to Worcester depot alongside low-floor Dennis Darts 327, 329 and 330 from Redditch. Although 341 did not qualify for First's corporate low-floor 'Barbie' livery, as it retained the earlier style interior rather than the standard corporate seating and fittings, it was nevertheless repainted to match 327, 329 and 330. This allocation proved short-lived and, on 4 September 2003, 341, together with 327, 329 and 330, returned to Kidderminster following First Midland Red's successful bid to regain the X33, 300 and 303 contracts from Pete's Travel. Following the introduction of FirstGroup's national fleet numbering scheme, 341 was renumbered 46641.

Livery Key : Barbie 3 - is the new corporate Firstgroup livery for all vehicles which is a modified version of the original Barbie livery (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was repainted) 

42889/90-4 VX54MUC/O/P/UV & VX05JWW

In November 2004, FirstGroup announced a major order for 125 new low-floor buses from Alexander Dennis at a cost of £15 million. As part of this investment, First Midland Red received 46 new vehicles, including six 10.7-metre Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. On Friday 26 November 2004, First Midland Red took delivery of the first batch of new vehicles from Alexander Dennis, comprising two Dennis Darts and three double-deck buses. The Darts were delivered to Worcester depot and initially placed into storage. They were joined by a further three vehicles over the following few days. The first of the new Darts entered service at Kidderminster on 17 December 2004. At the same time, 42217, 42219 and 42220 were transferred back to Worcester depot for use on Worcester city services, allowing the new vehicles to take over their duties at Kidderminster. The sixth and final vehicle in the batch, 42894, was delivered to Worcester during February 2005 carrying the registration VX54 MUW. As it had not been registered before the introduction of the new registration series on 1 March 2005, it was instead issued the registration VX05 JWW before entering service at Kidderminster during the second week of March 2005. The fleet remained split between Kidderminster and Worcester for a number of years. In March 2013, 42889–42891 transferred to Diamond Bus as part of the sale of the Kidderminster depot and continued operating from there under their new owner. The remaining three vehicles, 42892–42894, stayed with First Midland Red at Worcester. However, as they were regarded as non-standard within the fleet, they were transferred to First Potteries in October 2013. Following service changes in the Potteries area during April 2017, a requirement arose for slightly larger vehicles at Worcester. As a result, 42892–42894 returned to Worcester in exchange for Alexander Dennis Enviro300s 67647–67649, which transferred to First Potteries. During August 2021, 42893 (VX54 MUU) was withdrawn after suffering excessive chassis corrosion. A replacement vehicle, 43876, was transferred from First Potteries' Stoke depot to maintain fleet strength at Worcester.

Livery Key : Barbie 3 - is the new corporate Firstgroup livery for all vehicles which is a modified version of the original Barbie livery & New Urban is the latest version of the corporate livery (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was repainted) 

43475 R475CAH

Following a reduction in services operated by First Eastern Counties during the spring of 2012, a number of vehicles became surplus to requirements. While many of these buses were withdrawn and sold for scrap, R475 CAH was selected for transfer to First Midland Red. The vehicle arrived at Kidderminster depot and entered service there in April 2012, operating on local services alongside the depot's existing Dennis Dart fleet. When Kidderminster depot was sold to Diamond Bus in March 2013, R475 CAH transferred to the new owner as part of the sale and continued its service from the depot under Diamond Bus ownership.

43869-74 EG52FFL/T/V/U/J/Y

As part of FirstGroup's programme to replace low-floor Dennis Darts that did not comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), a number of short-wheelbase Dennis Dart SLFs were purchased from Ensign Bus. The vehicles had previously operated on Jersey, where they had been built to a special narrow-body specification to suit the island's restricted road network. They arrived with FirstGroup still carrying their States of Jersey registration marks before being re-registered in Great Britain with 52-plate registrations. Prior to entering service, all of the buses underwent refurbishment, including repainting into FirstGroup's then-current corporate urban livery. Six of the vehicles were allocated to Worcester depot and entered service during June 2013, operating alongside the Optare Solos on Worcester city services. During June 2014, it was discovered that 43871 and 43872 had been incorrectly registered when imported from Jersey by Ensign Bus, with their registration marks having been transposed. The error was corrected during the same month. Subsequent changes to bus services in Worcester resulted in the vehicles being progressively transferred to Hereford depot. By the time the depot closed on 5 September 2015, all six vehicles were allocated there. Following the closure, the buses were initially placed into storage at the former Hereford depot before being transferred to First Kernow in Cornwall for further service.

Livery Key : First Urban - is the new corporate Firstgroup livery for all vehicles (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was repainted) 

315 SN03LGA

Over the weekend of 29–30 May 2004, First Midland Red took delivery of what was then its fourth short-wheelbase low-floor Dennis Dart, SN03 LGA. The vehicle was an Alexander Dennis demonstrator, having first been registered in May 2003. The demonstrator was loaned to First Midland Red for use on the Worcestershire County Council-supported Flexi-Link services 914 and 915, which provided a demand-responsive link between Kidderminster and Stourport-on-Severn. Unlike the rest of the fleet, SN03 LGA carried no external First Midland Red branding during its period on loan. The vehicle entered service on Tuesday 1 June 2004 and was equipped with a radio telephone, enabling drivers to communicate directly with the Worcestershire County Council control centre. This allowed bookings and passenger pick-up requests to be relayed in real time, an essential feature of the demand-responsive Flexi-Link operation. The Alexander Dennis demonstrator remained on loan until March 2005, when it was replaced by two new Optare Solo minibuses (see the Optare section, vehicles 1722 and 1723), which had been purchased specifically for the Flexi-Link services. Following the arrival of the new Solos, SN03 LGA was returned to Worcestershire County Council, bringing its short but successful period with First Midland Red to an end.

371/2 X371/2CUY

Using Government funding to improve public transport links to hospitals in Worcestershire, service 303 between Kidderminster and Worcester was extended from 4 September 2000 to serve the three sites of Worcester Royal Infirmary at Castle Street, Ronkswood and Newtown. The enhanced service was funded by Worcestershire County Council and operated under its easyLINK branding. To meet the requirements of the contract, First Midland Red leased two new short-wheelbase Dennis Dart SLFs, X371 CUY and X372 CUY, from Mistral Group PLC. As the contract was initially awarded for only a limited period, FirstGroup was unwilling to purchase new vehicles specifically for First Midland Red, making leasing the most cost-effective solution. The two buses entered service on the enhanced route, providing improved accessibility through their low-floor design and becoming regular performers on the easyLINK-branded 303 service. They also saw use on the associated X33 service between Kidderminster and Redditch, which formed part of the same Worcestershire County Council initiative. From Monday 8 April 2002, the contracts for both the 303 and X33 services were awarded to Pete's Travel. As a result, X371 CUY and X372 CUY were withdrawn from First Midland Red service on Saturday 6 April 2002 and returned to their leasing company, bringing their period with the company to an end.