Norwich buses are pretty in pink - and lilac too!
Steve DownesA toned down army of freshly-painted park and ride buses is servicing the streets and suburbs of the city. The vehicles have been given new pastel shades as part of a revamp that coincided with the beginning of the new contracts for the service.Steve Downes
A toned down army of freshly-painted park and ride buses is servicing the streets and suburbs of the city.
The vehicles have been given new pastel shades as part of a revamp that coincided with the beginning of the new contracts for the service.
And passenger-carrying capacity has been boosted by the introduction for the first time of double deckers on two of the routes - airport and Postwick. Double deckers were already used at Harford and Thickthorn.
Norfolk County Council transport chiefs are hopeful that the new look and extra space will attract more users, after passengers numbers dipped slightly during the recent recession.
The previously bright colours have been replaced with the toned down shades. The new colours are:
t Airport - light blue (changed from yellow because it was clashing with other city bus services)
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t Costessey - light green
t Harford - blue
t Postwick - red
t Sprowston - lilac
t Thickthorn - pink.
Chris Limbach, assistant operations manager at Norfolk County Council, said: 'We used the re-tendering exercise as an opportunity to refresh what we were offering. Some of the old liveries had faded.
'We've retained the identity, but the colours are more pastel shaded.' He said the Thickthorn buses had changed from 'Barbie pink to salmon pink'.
He said: 'Numbers have fallen because of the recession, but they are holding up. We are confident that we are well placed to deliver a good service in the future.'
Mr Limbach said the the double deckers provided increased capacity, reduced the need to stand at peak times, and allowed for future growth, including the planned expansion of the car park at Postwick.
All vehicles meet the Euro Three emission standards required by the Low Emission Zone in Castle Meadow.
The changeover to the different liveries and vehicles started in April when new five-year bus service contracts began. Buses to Costessey, Harford and Thickthorn are operated by Konectbus Ltd and the Airport, Postwick and Sprowston by Norse Group.
The contracts were let last autumn, saving the county council �720,000 by reducing the bus operating subsidy to around �1. 6m and the overall council support for Norwich park & ride to �2.9m.
Around 3 million passenger journeys a year are made on Norwich park and ride services.
