First Eastern Counties is using Ensign’s new two-axle Excellence demonstrator (see News p9) for a week on its flagship Norwich-Peterborough half-hourly X1 route.
Currently operated by high-spec ADL Enviro400s, First is looking at potential replacements.
In the Spring it ran a three-month trial with a Scania ‘decker (with E400 bodywork), and in April ran a Scania Touring tri-axle coach on the route for a week for clearance and performance evaluation.
Vehicles on the service cover around 100,000 miles a year each.
