De Lijn contractor - Gruson Autobus 357137 (RNY 755) at Poperinge Zwijnland- 3 Sep 2004

Friday 3 September 2004 (1450) – Gruson Autobus, based at Ieper, Belgium was owned by Connex at the time of this photograph. The Gruson family had operated service 69b between Ieper, Poperinge and Abele for many years initially under contract to Belgian Railways transferring to NMVB which later became De Lijn. 550140 (JDW 242), a Jonckheere Transit 2000 bodied Volvo B7R-LE new in December 2002, was seen at Poperinge (Zwijnland), the terminus of the 1425 service from Ieper. The service operates hourly between Ieper and Poperinge (Grote Markt). Seven of the trips extend via Zwijnland to Abele on the French border. Two more trips extend to, and turn round at, Zwijnland. My wife and I had just travelled on this bus and we then walked back to town via ‘Quitens Wanderling’, a footpath on the former trackbed of the old railway. When this section of the railway between Poperinge and Abele was closed Belgian Railways provided a substitution bus service in the form of the 69b.

De Lijn (Vlaamse ervoersmaatschappij De Lijn) was created in 1991 from the northern part of NMVB (Nationale Maatschappij van Buurtspoorwegen). The company operates its own large bus and tram fleet which carry four digit fleet numbers but the buses operated by contractors carry six digit fleet numbers – the first four digits relate to the De Lijn contract number with the final two digits are the operators own fleet number.