A YEOMANS OPTARE SOLO SR ENTERS HEREFORD CITY BUS STATION
Hereford, the county city of Herefordshire, has 5 bus stations, the main ones being at Tesco (The City Bus Station) for city services and the Country Bus Station on Commercial Road.
The main operator in the city is Yeomans Travel, an independent bus and coach company established over 100 years ago, who also are the local National Express sub-contractor. Lugg Valley Travel of Leominster are also part of the Yeomans group and operate a city service and 5 different country routes from Hereford.
Stagecoach also operate a number of services in the city from their Ross-on-Wye, Gloucester, Cwmbran and Merthyr Tydfil depots, along with Sargeants operating some city services and a longer distance bus service to Llandrindod Wells; and DRM who operate some country routes into Hereford from surrounding towns.
Nick Maddy Coaches and Celtic Travel also operate market-day buses into Hereford.
Most service buses, when on layover, park at the Country Bus Station on Commercial Road or at the Railway Station, whilst coaches visiting the city usually park at Merton Meadow Car Park, near the football ground, however Hereford doesn't usually have a lot of coaches visiting.
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Variety |  The two main operators in the city, Yeomans and Sargeants, both mainly operate Optare buses in their service fleets, with a few exeptions such as Yeomans' tri-axle Scania OmniLink and Sargeants' Wright Eclipse Gemini. DRM Bus use mainly Scanias, along with their MCV-bodied Volvo B8RLE and ADL Enviro 200 MMC. Stagecoach use a variety of vehicles, using MCV-bodied Volvo B8s on the T14 and mainly ADL Enviros on their other services. |
| Operator Variety |  The city services have three operators, most of them operated by Yeomans, with Lugg Valley on the 76/76A and Sargeants operating some other city routes. Yeomans took on most of the routes left by First Group when they closed their depot in the city in September 2015. Country services are operated by the same three operators along with DRM Bus, Stagecoach and Nick Maddy Coaches, with Celtic Travel and First Worcester operating one market day (Wednesday) only route each. Yeomans also operate the city's only National Express service. |
| Quantity of Buses | Like most places, Hereford has seen a lot of cuts to bus services over the last 10 years. The closure of First Group's depot in the city in 2015 also had an effect of the levels of services. However, things are now starting to look up. More recently, Sargeants have started to operate their own city services and Herefordshire Council are now funding more Sunday bus services across the county. |
| Photograph Opportunities |  Hereford City Centre has plenty of different locations to photograph buses, with a many country services serving different parts of the city centre on their way through, so if one part of the city is too busy with traffic and pedestrians, there are plenty of alternative locations. |
Yeomans Travel's 94, an Optare Solo SR, arrives into Hereford after operating the 449 circular route to Madley, crossing the bridge on Bridge Street
Stagecoach's 28722, a Scania ADL Enviro 300, on Bridge Street as it arrives into Hereford on an X3 service from Cardiff
Stagecoach's 21360, a Volvo B8RLE with an MCV Evora body in TrawsCymru livery, passes the Cathedral on Broad Street as it makes its way out of the city on a T14 service to Brecon
Stagecoach's 15871, an Ross on Wye-based, ADL Enviro 400-bodied Scania N230UD, on King Street whilst operating a 33 service to Gloucester
A Lugg Valley Travel Optare Solo, 111, parked up in between journeys during a busy period in the City Bus Station
Sargeants Optare Solo SR YJ67 GEK pulling out of a layover bay to commence an 'A' city service to Hampton Park
Yeomans Canyon Travel's 92, an Optare Solo SR new to Yeomans as part of a batch of 4, departing the City Bus Station on a 75 service to Belmont West
Sargeants 2012 Optare Solo SRs YJ62 FZO & FZR and Yeomans' 2018 Solo SR parked in the layover section of the City Bus Station between trips
Sargeants Optare Solo SR YD63 VDZ on layover waiting to operate an 81B service to College Green
Yeomans Travel's 48, on of their Caetano Levante 2s in National Express livery, picking up at its stand for a National Express 444 service to London
Stagecoach's 22781, an MAN ADL Enviro 300, departing the Country Bus Station on a 39 service to Hay-on-Wye
Lugg Valley Travels' 109, an Optare Solo M990, parked in the layover area, next to the car park at the back of the bus station. This area is usually busy with buses on Wednesdays and Saturdays
A DRM Scania OmniLink, YN07 LDY, enters Hereford Country Bus Station, making its way to its stand to operate its next service, the 476 to Ledbury
An ADL Enviro 400, VX13 FLA, operated by Stagecoach West as 15874 enters the Country Bus Station on a 33 service to Gloucester
First Worcester's 43876, a Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Mini Pointer body, parked up in the bus station's layover area on market day
A Lugg Valley Optare Solo, 116, approaching its stand in the Maylord Orchards for the 76A service to Bartonsham
A Sargeants Optare Spectra, YJ03 UMK, serves the Maylord Orchards en route for Llandrindod Wells via Kington
Yeomans Travel's 11, an Optare Solo M950, passes through the Maylord Orchards as it works a 437 service
Boultons of Shropshire's YJ13 HUP loading passengers at the bus stop at Hereford Railway Station for a rail replacement service to Shrewsbury
Owen's Travelmaster of Oswestry's E12 OWN, a Plaxton Panther-bodied Volvo B12B, loading passengers at the railway staiton bus stop for a direct rail replacement service to Shrewsbury
Lugg Valley Travel's 112, a Mercedes-Benz-powered Optare Solo M850, departs Hereford Railway Station on to Station Approach
DRM Bus' MCV-bodied Volvo B8RLE, DM66 DRM, departing its Shire Hall stand to operate a 476 service to Ledbury
Nick Maddy Coaches' YJ55 YGZ, an Optare Solo, making its way along Union Street towards the Shire Hall to operate the 436 service to Breinton
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