Ipswich Buses Service 13

Service 13 is a high profile bus route operated by Ipswich Buses. Operating between the centre of Ipswich and Tesco Copdock, it is one of Ipswich Buses busiest services.

History

Vehicle types

Dennis Falcon single deckers with East Lancs or Northern Counties bodywork were the mainstay of service 13 throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although a few Optare Deltas and Dennis Lances would appear on the route from 1991 onwards.

Various types of single deck bus have been trialed on route 13 in recent years. 18m articulated buses have been considered several times mainly to conquer continued overcrowding, but this has never managed to materialise.

In 1997, service 13 was upgraded with a set of new buses. 7 Optare Excels were purchased for the route, which at the time was interworked with service 8 to provide a cross town link to the Whitehouse estate and Asda store in the north west of Ipswich. It was one of Ipswich Buses first routes to be converted to low floor, easy access bus operation.

Competition

Deregulation had opened the way for competition, and in 1987 Felixstowe Omnibuses would launch an attack on Ipswich Buses route 13 operating three complete morning journeys Monday to Friday and seven journeys on Saturday. Various Bristol single deckers were used and the venture lasted for several months.In December 1989, there was a reoccurence of this competition when one daily journey in the afternoon peak would be completed by the same company now operating under the name of Blue Bus Services. Ipswich Buses made a retaliatory move by registering a service where Blue Bus Services already ran. A Route 142 would operate on the Ipswich-Woodbridge corridor for three months to the end of March when Blue Bus Services decided to withdraw their route 13, to be followed almost immediately by Ipswich Buses ending it's route 142.

13A

Route 13A was a variation of route 13 that operated for a few years in the early 1990's. As the original 13 used to terminate at Ellenbrook Green/Belmont Road, this route would serve the newly developed Pinebrook estate and Tesco on an hourly basis Monday to Saturday. On completion of Ward Road in the Pinebrook area, route 13 was extended to Tesco and the 13A was withdrawn.

Route

Service 13 operates between Ipswich Town Centre and Tesco (Copdock) via Ipswich Rail Station, Chantry, Brookwood and Pinebrook estates.

Route from Tower Ramparts Bus Station: Crown Street, Museum Street, High Street, Princes Street, Ranelagh Road, Ancaster Road, Gippeswyk Avenue, Birkfield Drive, Hawthorn Drive, Bridgwater Road, Belmont Road, Shepherd Drive, Ward Road, Cottingham Road, Scrivener Drive to Tesco (Copdock).

Return route is same as above to Princes Street, then Civic Drive, St Matthews Street, Crown Street to Tower Ramparts Bus Station.

Frequency

Mondays to Saturdays

During the day, service 13 operates every 10 mins. This reduces to 2 buses per hour (every 30 mins) in the evening. End-to-end journey time varies from 19-28 minutes.

undays

Buses operate every 30 mins throughout Sunday between 08:00 and 23:00.

Fleet

Service 13 is currently operated by a dedicated fleet of 6 Scania OmniCity single deckers. These were delivered in January 2007 and are to a high specification with 36 leather seats, air-conditioning and double glazing. They also wear a unique pearlescent paint scheme livery with Route 13 branding.

The Peak Vehicle Requirement is 6 buses, therefore if one of the OmniCity's is out of service, it is likely that standard East Lancs-bodied Dennis Darts or Optare Excels will be seen substituting on this route. Double deckers cannot be used due to a low railway bridge on Ancaster Road.

ources

http://www.ipswichbuses.co.uk/timetable_13.html