Welcome to the French Bus Page!

SVTU (Phébus), Versailles no. 132 (9492 TK 78) - October 2002 
Still with us, but for how much longer? The Phébus fleet in Versailles is now the last fleet in the Ile-de-France area running Renault SC10Rs in service. 1988-built no. 132 is one of 14 survivors, and was photographed ticking over between duties at its owner's depot. Despite still wearing the pre-1995 blue livery it still looks reasonably presentable. Anyone that has heard or travelled on an SC10 in service will know just what distinctive-sounding machines they are - the range of sound effects has to be heard to be believed. I just had to travel on one while in Versailles - my trip on no. 120 will probably be my last on this breed. Versailles, and indeed cities all over France, just won't be the same without them.

Welcome!

On this site you'll find historical notes about the sorts of buses likely to be found operating in most French towns, plus pictures taken on my travels around the country. Unless otherwise credited, all the pictures were taken by me, so any praise / abuse regarding their quality should be directed this way. For those interested, all the photos were taken on 35mm film – I haven't taken the plunge and gone digital yet – mostly using a Canon EOS 1000, and scanned in using a Canon CanoScan FS2710 film scanner.

A few quick words about me - as you may have guessed due to the fact that this page is not written in French, I'm English. I've been interested in buses for as long as I can remember, but my interest in the French bus scene really dates back to around 1993, when I spent several months studying in France. Although I'd visited France before on holiday, I'd never paid much attention to French buses. However, faced with the prospect of being deprived of double deckers for almost a year, I began to take much more notice of the local buses and found them much more interesting than I'd expected.

Back then I was a student without the means to see much of the country. More recently, having a job and a bit more cash has allowed me to return to France and explore many of the areas of the country that I hadn't previously visited. I still come home after every visit feeling I haven't taken nearly enough photos, but that's life, I suppose! There are still many areas of the country that I haven't even touched, so plenty of scope for future travels!

SEMURVAL, Valenciennes no. 210 (8044 XD 59) - May 2000 
Bright colours and bold designs are very much a feature of French bus company liveries. A personal favourite is this bright green scheme used by SEMURVAL in the town of Valenciennes, here modelled by one of their Renault PR118s.

A few years back I discovered the Buses Worldwide association, and the magazine column, fleet lists and booklets compiled by French sub-editor Brian Rowney have been invaluable. Thanks, Brian! Bus enthusiast publications are rather less common in France than in the UK, however another recent discovery has been the magazine ordering service supplied by Ted Relton at Rapid Transit Publications. Ted has now retired from the scene, however Andrew Braddock at ABOUT has now taken over the service. He can also supply many other books and magazines related to overseas transport – drop him a line here to find out more.

Although I'm an interested observer, I certainly don't count myself as an expert on the French scene. If you find anything on these pages that you know or suspect to be inaccurate, please get in contact with me and I'll look into it. Hopefully, I'll be able to improve the site that way. 

Transpole, Lille no. 4014 (7412 QM 59) - May 2000 
Rather more subdued is the scheme used by the large Transpole fleet serving Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing. The Transpole image was introduced in 1994 to replace a red and white diagonally-striped livery and the name TCC. Renault PR100.2 no. 4014 dates from the TCC days and looks smart enough in its new garb, but the rust streak at the lower edge of the windscreen indicates that it's far from being in the first flush of youth. In fact the bus was new in 1987, and the type is now being phased out of service in Lille as new gas buses are introduced.

I'm always on the lookout for more information as well - if you happen to have any fleetlists or lists of observations for French fleets, please let me know...

TCAT, Troyes no. 194 (2194 MX 10) - September 2001.
Troyes' brightly-decorated fleet includes a number of Renault R312s, including no. 194 photographed outside Troyes station.