The Fifteen in Fourteen

Plymouth bus services have seen more changes in the last twelve months than they have for many years, and it seems this trend is set to continue in the new year. First Devon & Cornwall have a change planned for February on the 15: 

19 December 2013

PH0004983/396 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted: Operating between Plymouth City Centre and Woolwell, School Drive given service number 15 effective from 17-Feb-2014. To amend Route and Timetable.

Previously the route has been registered as operating between Plymouth City Centre and Roborough, so it looks like the service will be terminating at Woolwell instead in future. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that this is to shorten the route slightly giving them more running time to improve connections with the Tavistock services. There have been quite a few complaints on Facebook about this connection not working very well so this might just be a fix for that problem. No sign of any other changes yet to other services although there is often a time lag on VOSA.

The 15 was of course the survivor of the great Ugo initiative back in August 2009 when First launched an all out attack on Plymouth Citybus which had just been placed on the market by the City Council. Launched with a smart ‘new’ fleet of Volvo B7RLEs and even a Sunday service it had its first success when it pushed Citybus out of Mainstone as there was clearly not enough custom for both operators there. The Sunday service itself only lasted until August 2010 and slowly over time the service to Mainstone was reduced to half hourly before being withdrawn from Mainstone altogether back in October. The smart Volvo B7RLEs didn't last long either being replaced by Enviro 200s to begin with before even they were sent packing leaving Plymouth in the hands of Dart and B6BLEs. The full history of the 15 can be found on my sister Plymothian Bus Services site HERE