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2011 was quite an important year for bus services on Merseyside, with many new deliveries to various operators, many withdrawals of older buses, the departure of one of the local operators and as already noted the many many rent-a-buses and demonstrators used. I shall try to summarise the major events of 2011 below!
The first new buses delivered to an operator on Merseyside in 2011 were a fleet of 22 Alexander Dennis Enviro300s to Stagecoach Merseyside, back in March 2011. An example of one is show below, 27717 PO11 BCV, showing its newly applied 10A branding in May 2011.
These buses replaced the ex CMT Volvo B10Ls (however they remain with Stagecoach with a view to them being used during the 2012 Olympics when other buses from Merseyside will go to London) along with remaining Volvo B10Ms, converting the service fleet at Stagecoach Merseyside to be entirely low floor. At the very end of 2011 it seems more new Enviro300s will enter service with Stagecoach Merseyside in early 2012, however these will have the revised bodywork with a mid body emergency exit door and a Plaxton Centro style interior!
Following on from these, some of the independent operators also received new buses just after the begining of 11 reg in March, with ACE Travel receiving two Alexander Dennis Enviro200s, 725 MX11 CZL & 726 MX11 CZK, of which I managed to photograph 725 on the once weekly 79C operated by ACE Travel, at 6.24 on the morning of Saturday 11/06/2011.
Other operators locally who received 11-reg buses were Arriva NW&W received 2 Optare Versa V1100s at Chester, HTL Buses received 8 Optare Solo M710SEs, Network Warrington received 6 Optare Solo M780s and Supertravel received 3 Wright Streetlite 8.8Ms.
HTL Buses 61 YJ11 EKL, one of their 8 Optare Solo M710SEs.
Network Warrington 203 YJ11 EKC, one of their 6 Optare Solo M780s
Supertravel 021 MX11 EGE, one of their 3 Wright Streetlite 8.8Ms.
Arriva’s new deliveries for 2011 in Merseyside began from September, thus all were 60 reg with deliveries of further VDL SB200/Wright Puslar 2s for Green Lane and Southport depots as well as others outside of Merseyside. Seen in September 2011 is Green Lanes 3066 MX61 AWW, on the route they were bought for, route 15 (Liverpool – Huyton).
The most anticipated delivery of the year was of course the delivery of 44 VDL DB300/Wright Gemini 2s for Speke depot, primarily for use on routes 79 and 82. While route 82 had been largely double deck anyway, these replaced the older Olympians and allowed some of the ALX400s to be cascaded to other depots, while route 79 had previously been operated in the main by single deck buses such that the introduction of these new larger buses is very much welcomed!
Seen on route 79 with another example similar behind it, is 4459 MX61 AXW.
The only other operator of 61 reg buses in Merseyside, as far as I am aware, is Hattons Travel, who have a pair of Enviro200 Darts, registered MX61 KOD/E.
Within Arriva, in addition to these brand new buses, a large number of other buses arrived from London, while the Welsh depots gained a number of Dart MPDs, many depots within the entire of Arriva NW&W gained ex London DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400s, all of which have quite neatly been converted to singled door (compared to the previously converted ones!) and repainted into the new Arriva livery.
Seen in Southport in July, but still operated by Skelmersdale depot which closed at the end of that month, is Arriva NW&W 4073 S243 JUA.
Much newer cascades from London were a set of 6 Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Geminis which have been allocated to Birkenhead depot and while they seem to be given priority to work Mersey Ferries contracts, when these are not operating they can be seen on any route, such as the pioneer of the fleet (indeed the first double deck bus built by Wrightbus at all!), 4200 Y581 UGC seen on route 464 in September.
The most notable transfers up North to the Arriva fleet in Merseyside have been the Mercedes Citaro G O.530s, of which 11 are now in service at Speke depot. These buses are currently just used on 3 routes, route 500 (Liverpol City Centre – Liverpool John Lennon Airport), route 501 (Liverpool South Parkway – Liverpool John Lennon Airport) of which two are in a dedicated livery, and route 699 (Carnatic Halls – Liverpool University).
An example of one in 501 livery is 6014 BX04 MXM (the other is 6005 BX04 MXB) seen in Liverpool South Parkway in August 2011.
Seen in standard livery on route 699 (and very packed too!) is 6032 BX04 NDD seen near to the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool.
The final set of ex London cascades into Liverpool is for Stagecoach Merseyside who have received 9 Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX400s which have been converted to single door and re-registered, for use on route 86, such 17283 KLZ 2316 as seen below.
As a result of all these new deliveries and cascaded in buses, this has meant the withdrawal of many older types from the streets of Merseyside with all of the Volvo B10B/Wright Endurances withdrawn, all of the N reg Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine IIs withdrawn, many of the Scania L113/Wright Axcess Ultralows withdrawn and even some newer types are beinging to be withdrawn such as some R reg Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine IIs and even some early Dart SLFs!
Arriva NW&W 6606 N606 CKA is one of the Volvo B10B/Wright Endurance withdrawn during 2011.
The final N reg Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine II to be in service was quite unusually at Bootle depot (surprising as most remained at Birkenhead their entire lives) with 3288 N288 CKB seeing outs its final days towards the end of 2011 on routes 61 and 68 as well as some schools use.
As a result of the newer buses too, some notable cascades within the local depots have been made, such as the ex Speke DAF SB220/Plaxton Prestige and DAF SB220/Alexander ALX300 to Green Lane.
Recent transfer to Green Lane, 2402 R152 GNW is seen glistening in the new Arriva livery in December 2011.
Now fitted with LED destination displays and refurbished internally, 2415 V415 ENC should make a good impression on any travellers using it.
During 2011, the largest loss to the local bus industry was that of Supertravel who closed down late 2011 with very little notice. During 2011 the company had gained a number of contracts for Wirral services early in the year (which is why the Wright Streetlites were delivered) however a number of Liverpool contracts were subsequently surrendered and transferred to other operators.
Seen in Birkenhead Bus Station on route 154 is 001 MX56 AAV Optare Solo M920.
A classic photo from happier times is of Supertravel’s first low floor bus, T6 STM a Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Plaxton Pointer 2, seen in Queen Square Bus Station in 1999.
A1A Travel also ended its operation of stage bus services in 2011, the last remaining routes they operated were routes 107/207 (Liverpool City Centre – Mossley Hill Hospital/Penny Lane) which were taken on by Stagecoach on 13/09/2011, subsequently being replaced by similar routes 83/84.
Seen on the final day at Penny Lane terminus is A1A Travel 2 Y11 JBA Mercedes Benz Vario O.814/Plaxton Beaver 2.
2011 also marked the end for one of the local Arriva NW&W depots, with Skelmersdale depot which closed in late July 2011, with its services being moved to other Arriva depots.
Finally although not a closure, First Chester & Wirral which has previously been part of First Potteries was reallocated within FirstGroup to become part of First Manchester during 2011. Although very little has changed in that time, a small number of ex Manchester buses have been transferred to the depots at Rock Ferry and Chester.
Seen on a rare working on route 71 (Liverpool – Heswall) is First Manchester 65739 YN05 WKH Scania L94UB/Wright Solar, seen in Liverpool on 22/12/2011.
Finally, as this review has been a lot longer than expected, a photo of some of the rarest workings of 2011, those on Christmas Day, where in Liverpool ACE Travel operated most of the services, including route 201X (Speke – Liverpool) with 730 V192 ERG Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Plaxton Pointer 2 seen operating on the route, a bus which has only arrived at ACE Travel in the last few months from Go-North East.
I’m sure there are some bits I may have missed out of this review but I hope it gives an insight to the huge number of changes to the local bus operators in 2011 – Lets hope 2012 is just as interesting!
To see more of my photos from this week along with many other recent ones I have uploaded please view my Flickr page!
Rental buses and Demonstators of 2011
December 30th, 2011 
buses7675 This is the first blog update for a while, but don’t worry all is well I’ve just been busy lately but as the final blog update of the year a little review of 2011 seemed quite apt!
This year has certainly been a year with lots and lots of loan buses used on Merseyside, some demonstrators and some on loan to cover for new contracts, buses on loan to Malta or late delivered buses. Today’s update is sole about those loan buses, while another update shortly will cover all of the other stories from the past 12 months!
Back in January one of the first demonstrators of 2011, which was used by first HTL Buses and in February by Eazibus was Wright Streetlite demonstrator MX60 GXB. Appologies for the quality of this photo, it was taken on my phone and the only photo I managed to take of it myself!
This one started the ball rolling, followed in April by Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban BK10 MGE at Stagecoach Merseyside as its 80013.
During the summer of 2011, Dawson’s Rentals had a field day in Liverpool with Arriva sending 8 of its own VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2s to Malta (where it seems they are now going to stay) and so 8 buses arrived on loan in July/August to cover for these with 4 going to Green Lane and 4 going to St Helens. All of them returned to Dawsons Rentals during September 2011.
The 8 were as follows:
7901 X471 AHE Scania L94UB/Wright Solar – GL
7902 KM51 BFY Dennis Dart SLF 10.1M/Caetano Nimbus – SH
7903 KU52 RXV Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M/Alexander Pointer 2 – SH
7904 KU52 RYG Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M/Alexander Pointer 2 – GL
7905 KU52 RXR Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Alexander Pointer 2 – SH
7906 HV52 WTA Dennis Dart SLF 10.1M/Caetano Nimbus – SH
7907 KV03 ZFJ TransBus Enviro300 12M – GL
7908 KV03 ZFK TransBus Enviro300 12M – GL
Seen on one of the rarest workings I noted at all on Merseyside all year is 7902 KM51 BFY Dennis Dart SLF 10.1M/Caetano Nimbus very unusually on route 89 (St Helens – Liverpool John Lennon Airport). The St Helens loan buses generally stayed on route 20 in St Helens and as far as I know this is the only occasion one made it to Liverpool.
The highest numbered of the loan buses, the two TransBus Enviro300s were the last of the buses to arrive and ran a variety of routes out of Green Lane and their very bright interiors certainly made them noticeable to the passengers riding them!
HTL Buses have had a large number of buses on loan this year too, in addition to the Wright Streetlite already mentioned, they have had two demonstrators from Optare (both of which were also with Peoplesbus too in 2011), first Solo M710SE YJ60 KFP followed later silver by Solo M880SL YJ10 EYR.
Following demonstration of YJ60 KFP a further 9 Optare Solo M710SEs were delivered while more are on order, along with a few longer ones, initially expected in late 2011, now expected early 2012.
HTL Buses have also had (and at the end of December 2011 still do) a large number of buses on loan from Dawson’s Rentals, largely to cover for newly won contracts. They arrived in between July and October 2011. The full set are as follows:
KX05 KFD Alexander Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M/Alexander Dennis Pointer 2
KX06 LXN Alexander Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Alexander Dennis Pointer 2
KX06 LXO Alexander Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Alexander Dennis Pointer 2
KX07 KOE Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX57 OVR MAN 12.240/Plaxton Centro
KX08 HME Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX58 GVA Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX59 CYV Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX59 CYW Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX59 CYY Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX59 CYZ Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
Of these, KX57 OVR didn’t enter service (it had previously turned up at Arriva and didn’t enter service either!) and the last I heard was on loan to First Glasgow, while KX07 KOE was replaced by KX58 GVA. The rest are all still with HTL as at the end of December 2011.
Seen at Liverpool South Parkway is the longest of the buses currently on loan to HTL Buses, Alexander Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M/Alexander Dennis Pointer 2 KX05 KFD showing a typing error on its destination display – This has since been corrected!
Seen on a relatively rare working on route 174 on Christmas Eve 2011 is Alexander Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Alexander Dennis Pointer 2 KX06 LXN. These MPDs have high backed seats which are very nice and unusually twin bays in the low floor area of the bus, as most MPDs don’t have a ‘proper’ offside bay.
Peoplesbus also joined the ranks of companies with buses on loan in Merseyside from Dawson’s Rentals in 2011, with them hiring 4 Dart MPDs to operate routes 173/4 from July to October while they operated the two routes. Those used by Peoplesbus are shown as follows:
YT51 EAA Dennis Dart MPD 8.8M/Alexander Pointer 2
KU52 RXF TransBus Dart MPD 8.8M/TransBus Pointer 2
KU52 RXG TransBus Dart MPD 8.8M/TransBus Pointer 2
KU52 RXS TransBus Dart MPD 8.8M/TransBus Pointer 2
On Sundays, as route 173 didn’t run, only 2 of these were required to run route 174, so the other two could be seen on route 168 on occasion, as seen here with KU52 RXS.
The final company to hire buses in Merseyside during 2011 from Dawson’s Rentals was A2B Travel, who hired the following in October 2011 to cover for contracts gained after the demise of Supertravel:
KX04 HPP Optare Solo M990
KX08 HMA Enterprise Bus Plasma EB03/Plaxton Primo
Both of which were soon replaced by the follwing, which remain with A2B at the end of December 2011
KX07 KOE Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
KX58 GTF Alexander Dennis Dart 4 8.9M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200
Two other very significant demonstrators came to Liverpool this year two, those both being CNG powered MAN N273F Ecocity/Caetanos, of which Stagecoach Merseyside operated WX61 FXO in the summer for around 6 weeks as seen below: (According to my Flickr stats, this is the most popular photograph on my Flickr account from 2011!)
Followed by Arriva NW&W who received WX61 HSL in December, which will be here for around six months apparently, seen in almost exactly the same position as the Stagecoach demonstrator:
Finally two other demonstrators have been used by Arriva NW&W in December, the those being YX61 EKO an Alexander Dennis Dart 4 10.7M/Alexander Dennis Enviro200 demonstrator (a mk2 version with a mid body emergency exit and a Plaxton Centro style interior) and Wright Streetlite CRZ 2495, both of which were operated out of St Helens depot. The Enviro200 only stayed around a week and was later reported with Helms of Eastham while the Streetlite stayed until mid December.
In addition to all of these, a few other buses were loaned to companies, such as Optare Solo MX05 ELW which was loaned from A2B Travel to Eazibus for a few weeks in August, as seen below.
Cumfybus also operated a Wright Streetlite MX11 EGY briedly while Avon Buses borrowed Dart/ALX200 Y263 KNB for a few days so I think that certainly gives a view of just how many buses have been on loan to Merseyside operators during the last year!
To see more of my photos from this week along with many other recent ones I have uploaded please view my Flickr page!
Older Posts
More hired in buses, contract changes and new deliveries!
October 27th, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
Speke’s Geminis take to the roads
October 14th, 2011 H101GEV Older Posts
More Merseytravel Contract Changes!
October 9th, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
MAN EcoCity Gas Bus at Stagecoach Merseyside
September 23rd, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
New Arriva 61 reg Pulsar 2s
September 9th, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
Doomed buses!
August 22nd, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
More bendibuses and loaned buses!
August 9th, 2011 buses7675 Older Posts
Dawson’s Rentals in St Helens
August 2nd, 2011 buses7675 