Dennis Lances

Livery Key :  Barbie 2 - Non low floor corporate Firstgroup livery known as "Barbie2"  & 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 last repainted) 

67238-56   M238-56MRW

To complete the replacement of the ageing Leyland National fleet at Worcester Garage, Midland Red West purchased a second batch of 18 Dennis Lance single-deck buses during the summer of 1995. Numbered 238–255 (M238–M255 MRW), the vehicles entered service between May and July 1995. Prior to their arrival, driver familiarisation and engineering training was undertaken using L235 AAB, which was temporarily loaned to Worcester from Digbeth Garage. As with the first batch of Dennis Lances introduced in 1994, responsibility for maintenance of the new vehicles rested with Worcester's engineering staff. Although mechanically almost identical to the earlier batch, the second group incorporated several detail improvements. The most noticeable external differences were at the rear, where they featured a revised rear window arrangement and omitted the high-level secondary stop lamps fitted to the first batch. During January and February 2003, four of the Worcester-based Dennis Lances were temporarily loaned to First Airport Services at London Stansted Airport. 67252 and 67255 (then fleet numbers 252 and 255) were loaned during January, followed by 67243 and 67251 (243 and 251) in February, providing additional capacity for airport staff transport services. The introduction of the newly branded 146 Shuttle service between Redditch and Birmingham on Monday 28 April 2003 resulted in six Dennis Lances being allocated to Redditch Garage. Although physically based at Redditch, the fleet was thereafter shared on paper between all First Midland Red garages with the exception of Hereford, allowing vehicles to be transferred more easily as operational requirements changed. Later in 2003, FirstGroup introduced its nationwide fleet numbering system, with the Worcester Dennis Lances receiving 67000 prefixes to their existing fleet numbers. As a result, fleet numbers 238–255 became 67238–67255.

During October 2005, vehicles 67253 and 67255 were converted from 49 to 51 seats in preparation for the installation of lap seat belts. The modifications enabled the buses to operate Worcestershire County Council and Warwickshire County Council contracted school services from Evesham Garage, both authorities requiring seat belt-equipped vehicles for dedicated school contracts rather than conventional local bus services carrying schoolchildren. At the time, a significant proportion of First Midland Red's business involved transporting school pupils under block-contract agreements with Worcestershire County Council. The seating conversion programme continued during November 2005, with 67254 becoming the first of several additional Dennis Lances to be uprated to 51 seats. The increased capacity allowed the remaining coaches at Evesham Garage to be withdrawn from school service work, enabling a more standardised single-deck fleet to be used. At around the same time, 67241 was selected for operation on the Green School Bus network serving King Edward VI Five Ways School at Bartley Green, South Birmingham. To reflect its dedicated role, the vehicle was repainted into the distinctive Green School Bus livery during April 2005, becoming one of the most recognisable Dennis Lances in the fleet. The gradual repainting of the Dennis Lance fleet into FirstGroup liveries also marked the end of an era. In December 2006, 67242 became the last operational Dennis Lance to lose the distinctive red and cream Midland Red West livery introduced following the privatisation of the company in December 1986, bringing to a close twenty years of one of the West Midlands' most familiar bus colour schemes.

Livery Key :  Barbie 2 - Non low floor corporate Firstgroup livery known as "Barbie2" and Barbie 3 - New corporate Firstgroup livery known as "Barbie3"   (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was last repainted)

257  P453BPH

P453 BPH was loaned to First Midland Red in November 1996 and remained with the company until 13 January 2000. During its three-year spell, the vehicle operated from Digbeth, Worcester and Evesham garages, providing additional capacity across a variety of services. Although outwardly similar to the Dennis Lance buses inherited from Midland Red West, P453 BPH differed in several respects. Most noticeably, it featured a split entrance step arrangement rather than the standard layout found on the Midland Red West vehicles, and it was fitted with 51 seats, giving it two more seats than the 49-seat examples already in the fleet. Following the end of its loan period in January 2000, the vehicle was transferred to Yorkshire Rider, where it received fleet number 1202. However, its stay in Yorkshire proved to be extremely brief and, by March 2000, it had returned to First Midland Red's Worcester Garage while its owner, Plaxton, arranged its disposal. The vehicle was subsequently sold to Diamond Bus (The Birmingham Coach Company), where it continued its operating career as part of the company's expanding fleet. It has since been withdrawn and has left the Diamond Bus fleet.

67301  M221EAF

First Midland Red acquired M221 EAF, a 40-seat Dennis Lance SLF fitted with Wright Pathfinder 320 bodywork, in November 2002. The vehicle had been built new in 1992 for Western National, where it was intended for use on Service 82. However, it proved unsuitable for the route and was soon transferred to Yorkshire Rider in Leeds, where it operated on service 2B. Following the expansion of FirstGroup, the vehicle later joined First London, being allocated to Uxbridge Garage for operation on service 335. It remained at Uxbridge until being transferred to First Midland Red, arriving at Worcester Garage on Monday 9 December 2002. Before reaching Worcester, the bus spent a short period at First Southampton, where it was repainted into the then-new Barbie 2 version of the company's corporate livery. After its arrival at Worcester, the vehicle was placed into storage until February 2003, when it was allocated fleet number 261. Almost immediately afterwards, it was loaned back to First London to assist with rail replacement services during engineering work on the Central Line between Epping and central London. Fleet number 261 returned to Worcester on the afternoon of Tuesday 11 February 2003, but arrived with mechanical problems and was once again placed into storage while repairs were carried out. Following the completion of the necessary work, the vehicle finally entered passenger service with First Midland Red from Worcester Garage on Monday 10 March 2003. Initially, 261 was most commonly seen operating alongside the company's other non-low-floor Dennis Lance buses on service 144 and the network of services linking Worcester with Malvern. However, from 4 September 2003, it was transferred to Kidderminster Garage following First Midland Red's takeover of the former Pete's Travel operated X33, 300 and 303 services. The arrival of new Alexander Dennis Dart buses on these routes soon displaced the Dennis Lance, and 261 subsequently spent much of its time operating the C31 North East Worcestershire College contract between the Bromsgrove and Redditch campuses. The C31 was jointly operated by Kidderminster and Redditch garages. Following the introduction of the sixth new Alexander Dennis Dart, VX05 JWW (42894), fleet number 261—by then carrying the national fleet number 67301 under FirstGroup's nationwide renumbering scheme—was transferred back to Worcester Garage. After almost a decade with First Midland Red, 67301 was withdrawn from service in March 2012. Rather than being disposed of immediately, the vehicle was transferred to First Somerset & Avon, bringing to an end its varied career in Worcestershire after nearly ten years of service with the company.

Livery Key :   Barbie 3 - New corporate Firstgroup livery known as "Barbie3"   (The dates in brackets are when the vehicle was last repainted)

67311-5/8-20-4   ODZ8911-5/8-20-4

On 13 August 2003, First Midland Red acquired the first of a further batch of second-hand Dennis Lance SLF buses fitted with Wright Pathfinder 320 bodywork. The first vehicle to arrive was ODZ 8918, which entered the fleet as 262. Built in 1994, it was one of the first low-floor buses to operate in London and had been constructed with dual entrance and centre exit doors to improve passenger flow. ODZ 8918 was originally one of a batch of 24 vehicles, ODZ 8901–8924 (fleet numbers LLW1–24), supplied new to Uxbridge Buses, a company that later became part of First London. In 2001, vehicles ODZ 8918–8924 were transferred to First Bristol's Lawrence Hill depot, where they were renumbered 8918–8924 and repainted into the distinctive FirstGroup corporate coaching livery, a variation of the standard corporate colours incorporating a greater proportion of blue. A second vehicle, ODZ 8920, arrived at Worcester on 20 August 2003 and was allocated fleet number 264. At the time, First Midland Red had just assumed operation of services 303 and X33 from Pete's Travel and urgently required additional low-floor vehicles. Consequently, both buses entered service during the first week of September 2003 in their acquired condition, retaining the First Bristol coaching livery. Although fitted with centre doors, these were not used for normal passenger boarding and alighting. Instead, they provided access solely to the wheelchair area. The design of these early low-floor Dennis Lance SLFs featured a relatively narrow single-piece front entrance door and restricted space between the front wheel arches, making it impractical for wheelchair users to board through the front entrance. As a result, wheelchair passengers were required to use the centre door. Most of the vehicles seated 34 passengers, although ODZ 8920 had seating for 33. A third vehicle, ODZ 8924, arrived from Bristol in January 2004 and entered service at Worcester on 13 February 2004. Unusually, it initially carried the new national fleet number 67324, rather than receiving the expected First Midland Red fleet number 268. However, by 17 February 2004, the vehicle had been renumbered 266. This strongly suggested that ODZ 8922 and ODZ 8923, which would logically have become fleet numbers 266 and 267, had been deemed beyond economical repair while at First Bristol and were destined for disposal rather than transfer to the Midlands. While allocated to Lawrence Hill depot, these buses had primarily worked services 7 and 8, linking Bristol city centre with Bristol Temple Meads railway station. Their allocation formed part of FirstGroup's commitment to improving bus links with the rail network following the company's acquisition of Great Western Trains. It was also during this period that FirstGroup introduced its national fleet numbering system, with the former LLW fleet becoming the 673xx series. The fleet suffered an early setback following the devastating fire at Worcester Garage on the afternoon of 17 March 2004. Vehicle 67320 sustained extensive damage and was subsequently withdrawn from service. Later in 2004, First Midland Red acquired four further examples from First Somerset & Avon in exchange for several Leyland Lynx buses in Barbie livery from Redditch Garage. These were ODZ 8911–8914 (fleet numbers 67311–67314). Unlike the Bristol vehicles, these buses had previously had their centre doors removed and the additional space converted into seating, increasing capacity from 34 to 38 seats. To prolong the working lives of the Dennis Lance SLF fleet, First Midland Red introduced a comprehensive refurbishment programme. The work included mechanical attention, interior refurbishment and repainting into the latest version of the company's Barbie livery. The first vehicle to emerge was 67313 in December 2006, followed shortly afterwards by 67311. Over the next few years, the remainder of the fleet received similar treatment, giving the vehicles a smart new appearance and extending their service lives well beyond their original expectations.

216, 240, 243, 249, 250 & 251

As part of the service revisions introduced on Monday 28 April 2003 to create Redditch's new Overground bus network, the Pink Line (service 146) was revised to operate solely between Redditch Bus Station and Birmingham City Centre. Although the route was shortened, the timetable between Redditch and Birmingham remained unchanged, while the section between Redditch and Studley was taken over by a revised service 67. The changes also saw service 146 become the first corporately branded route operated by First Midland Red. To support the relaunch, six Dennis Lance single-deck buses were transferred to Redditch, replacing six Leyland Lynx vehicles, which were subsequently reallocated to Kidderminster Garage. In the fortnight leading up to the launch, Kidderminster-based Dennis Lance 216 (L212 AAB) was used in Redditch for driver familiarisation and type training. The six Dennis Lances allocated to the route — 216, 240, 243, 249, 250 and 251 — all carried the company's corporate non-low-floor livery and were specially branded for service 146 on Sunday 27 April 2003. The branding featured a distinctive pink cove-line design with route information, while vinyls on the side and rear windows highlighted the service's 20-minute frequency. Each vehicle also carried a large contra-vision graphic spanning the three centre side windows, depicting the Birmingham city skyline together with Shuttle logos. Following the relaunch, the route was promoted simply as the "146 Shuttle." First Midland Red supported the launch with one of its largest publicity campaigns for many years. On Wednesday 30 April 2003, a complete timetable for service 146 was delivered with every copy of the Redditch Advertiser, ensuring that virtually every household in the town received details of the new service. This was the first time such a distribution had taken place since the introduction of the Reddilink minibus network in April 1986. Two weeks later the campaign was reinforced with a specially produced A5 promotional leaflet, again distributed to homes throughout Redditch via the Redditch Advertiser. Despite the extensive marketing campaign, the enhanced service proved to be short-lived. Bromsgrove District Council altered the terms of its senior citizens' concessionary travel scheme for journeys passing through the Redditch–Birmingham boundary. The revised reimbursement arrangements significantly reduced the route's financial viability, making it uneconomic to maintain the 20-minute frequency. As a result, First Midland Red reduced the frequency of service 146 from every 20 minutes to hourly with effect from 14 September 2003. Following the reduction in service, the distinctive Shuttle branding was gradually removed from the Dennis Lance fleet. Vehicle 216 was the first to lose its pink branding during a service overhaul at Worcester Garage in mid-August 2003, while 250 retained its branding until August 2004. The remaining vehicles were progressively de-branded over the following weeks, bringing an end to one of the most distinctive bus branding initiatives seen in Redditch during the early 2000s.