Iveco 49-10 Minibuses

As a way of expanding the operating area at De-regulation in 1986 Badgerline entered into a number of joint ventures with neighboring bus companies such as Wilts & Dorset, Portsmouth Citybus and Southern Vectis Ltd. These new ventures were in main run with vehicles supplied by Badgerline. Some of these buses were older surplus Badgerline fleet vehicles such as Bristol RE single deckers. However, the majority of them were Iveco 49-10 19-seat minibuses, which were leased from Ryder Truck Rental. By summer 1988 these joint ventures had end and the then recently acquired Midland Red West subsidiary had a requirement for minibuses for its West Midlands operation. A number of the now surplus Iveco minibuses were moved north to Midland Red West. The vehicles continued to be operated on a contract hire bases and were initially operated from the National Carriers Depot at Aston in Birmingham. The first vehicles allocated in August 1988 to Midland Red West came from the Badgerline batch that were registered in the series D490-21HOU. By October 1989 vehicles from the second batch registered E422-942KEU were substituted for the slightly older vehicles which were returned back to Badgerline. At the time the West Midlands tendered bus network was fairly changeable and so Midland Red West were able to respond quickly by moving additional vehicles into it’s West Midlands operation on short term basis. This can be seen from the fleet lists below where some of the Iveco minibuses only spent a matter of months in the Midland Red West fleet. By 1991 Centro was becoming increasingly concerned about the reliability of the Iveco minibuses on their contracted services. In return for the letting of some longer term contracts in October 1991 Midland Red West agreed to swap the Iveco minibuses with a corresponding number of Mercedes 609D minibuses from the 1412-39 (E412-39KUY) batch, which at the time were based at their Hereford Garage. All the remaining Iveco minibuses (numbers 1922-1925 & 1927-1931) moved to Hereford Garage. The vehicles continued to be used at Hereford until 1993 when they were replaced by a corresponding number of Mercedes L608D minibuses from Bristol Omnibus Company. During their time at Midland Red West none of the Iveco minibuses were ever repainted and were always operated in livery that they arrived in just with Midland Red West makings added. In the Midland Red West fleet all the vehicles carried 19xx fleet numbers that corresponded with the vehicle registration mark – the vehicles had all been numbered in the 49xx series with Badgerline

On Loan from Badgerline Ltd

Fleet Number

Registration Number

Vehicle Type

Seat Capacity

Date New

Date into MRW Fleet

Date Withdrawn

Disposal

1910

D910HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4530

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1911

D911HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4504

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1912

D912HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4506

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1913

D913HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4502

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1914

D914HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4500

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1915

D915HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4538

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1917

D917HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4539

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

1921

D921HOU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4554

B19F

Jun-87

Aug-88

Oct-88

To Bristol OC via Badgerline 10/88

Acquired from Badgerline Ltd

Fleet Number

Registration Number

Vehicle Type

Seat Capacity

Date New

Date into MRW Fleet

Date Withdrawn

Disposal

1922

E922KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4566

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1923

E923KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4573

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1924

E924KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4406

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1925

E925KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4407

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1927

E927KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4691

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1928

E928KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4693

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

July-90

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-90

1929

E929KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4694

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1930

E930KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4695

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1931

E931KEU

Ford Iveco 49-10 4697

B19F

Jul-87

Aug-88

August-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

Acquired from Pathfinder (UK) Ltd - Red Admiral (Southampton)

Fleet Number

Registration Number

Vehicle Type

Seat Capacity

Date New

Date into MRW Fleet

Date Withdrawn

Disposal

1944

E944LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5014

B19F

Nov-87

Jul-89

Nov-90

To Western National 11/90

1945

E945LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5016

B19F

Nov-87

Jul-89

Aug-93

To Badgerline Ltd Aug-93

1951

E951LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5035

B19F

Nov-87

Jul-89

Sept-93

To Badgerline Ltd Sep-93

Acquired from Portsmouth Citybus Ltd

Fleet Number

Registration Number

Vehicle Type

Seat Capacity

Date New

Date into MRW Fleet

Date Withdrawn

Disposal

1952

E952LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5036

B19F

Nov-87

Oct-89

Sept-93

To Badgerline Ltd Sep-93

Acquired from Bristol Omnibus Company Ltd

Fleet Number

Registration Number

Vehicle Type

Seat Capacity

Date New

Date into MRW Fleet

Date Withdrawn

Disposal

1950

E950LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5034

B19F

Nov-87

Apr-90

Sep-90

To Bristol OC 9/90

1953

E953LAE

Ford Iveco 49-10 5078

B19F

Nov-87

Apr-90

Sep-90

To Bristol OC 9/90