National Express 1 (C182 RVV) in Mildenhall - 2 May 1988

Bank Holiday Monday 2 May 1988 (approx. 0655) – Originally the vehicles operating on the National Express network were provided by National Bus Company subsidiaries and later by outside contractors. For a time National Express Limited never owned any coaches itself and did not have its own operators licence. In order to remedy the latter it came to own a nominal four vehicles of which this is number 1 (C182 RVV), one of a pair of Caetano bodied Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3RZs acquired in May 1986, the other being number 2 (C183 RVV). This small fleet was administered and maintained by Midland Red at Digbeth, Birmingham. It was Midland Red that operated the Birmingham-Norwich service 308 which, upon arrival at Norwich then worked a Norwich-Newmarket evening trip on service 747. The following day it worked back to Birmingham firstly by operating the 0635 Newmarket-Norwich service 747 - on which it is seen here – and then the Norwich-Birmingham service 308.