First Potteries Scania Omnicity 65039 in Stafford

These Scania Omnicity buses have been the mainstay of the Hanley-Newcastle-Stafford 101 Service for a number of years, indeed 65039 is twelve years old now which had it been a Midland Red bus in BMMO days it might well have been due to be withdrawn shortly. There seems to be an irony in the fact that modern buses bolted together seem to last even longer than many of the old straighforward ones with solid bodywork built by craftsmen and which were so reliable. Also in the old days buses were usually kept inside a garage overnight whereas today they are stuck outside in all weathers. The problem in the past was the pace of innovation and the need for bigger buses whereas just at the moment it's just about keeping the weight and cost down so they don't have to 'throw them out' till they fail.