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Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - buses7675 - 18/02/2018 13:24
Today marks the 18th anniversary of the purchase of MTL by Arriva!
Very significant day locally for bus services, it resulted in the creation of Glenvale Transport too and latterly Stagecoach Merseyside.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - Metroline1511 - 18/02/2018 14:48
Apart from Glenvale (GM) later in 2001-05, it also marked the passing of the final independent PTC into the larger groups.
It led to a huge revamp of services in April 2000, which I believe was one of the biggest ever set of overnight changes to buses in Liverpool.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - MPTE1955 - 18/02/2018 17:49
It also led to lots of inadequate darts replacing decker which until 2011 we all had to put up with
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - Raawwwrrr! - 18/02/2018 19:36
(18/02/2018 17:49)MPTE1955 Wrote: It also led to lots of inadequate darts replacing decker which until 2011 we all had to put up with
To be fair that started to happen a lot earlier when MTL started buying Dennis Darts from Marshall for key routes such as the 79.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - MPTE1955 - 18/02/2018 19:56
True it did, then stagecoach compounded it when they replaced deckers with darts as well. Thing is MTL started with the marshals because they were skint and probably couldn't afford deckers.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - DEM777Y - 18/02/2018 23:12
I know that MTL would have gone under if it were for Arriva purchasing the business, but today also marks the 18th anniversary of Arriva ruining a bloody good job.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - Bevan Price - 18/02/2018 23:27
(18/02/2018 23:12)DEM777Y Wrote: I know that MTL would have gone under if it were for Arriva purchasing the business, but today also marks the 18th anniversary of Arriva ruining a bloody good job.
the start of the ruin came over 40 years ago when local municipal operators were dragged into the PTE. The next phase was the 1986 deregulation. A few busy routes may have got better bus services since then, but if you were not on one of those "busy" routes, your service is usually a lot worse than you had in the "municipal" era - or non-existent in some locations.
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - Y458 KNF - 21/02/2018 18:52
Seeing as its been 18 years since the take over how many buses are remaining in the fleet (both training and normal service) that were originally ordered by MTL as Im curious I thought the Renowns were the last to be ordered by MTL before the takeover by Arriva as they took over the order for them but I might be wrong
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - SK15 GZG - 21/02/2018 19:08
(21/02/2018 18:52)darylyates17 Wrote: Seeing as its been 18 years since the take over how many buses are remaining in the fleet (both training and normal service) that were originally ordered by MTL as Im curious I thought the Renowns were the last to be ordered by MTL before the takeover by Arriva as they took over the order for them but I might be wrong
There's 8 ex MTL buses left in the fleet - 6301/3, 6514/9, 6522/9 and 6909/13 which were acquired from Liverbus by MTL before the Arriva takeover. If Arriva still has the mobile sewing room used at the old bodyshop facility in Bootle then you can also add 6607 to that list
In recent years I think things have improved massively on Merseyside with the large investment in double deckers for Green Lane, Bootle and Speke. It would be good to see Green Lane and Speke receive more deckers in the future to convert them to near and full decker allocations respectively - although I think the latter is more likely than the former. Time will tell!
RE: Happy 18th Birthday Arriva Merseyside - RedPanda - 21/02/2018 19:27
(21/02/2018 18:52)darylyates17 Wrote: Seeing as its been 18 years since the take over how many buses are remaining in the fleet (both training and normal service) that were originally ordered by MTL as Im curious I thought the Renowns were the last to be ordered by MTL before the takeover by Arriva as they took over the order for them but I might be wrong
Wasn't it the Marshall Darts the last lot of buses to be delivered new to MTL? Following that the order made by MTL for 72 Plaxton/Alx200 Darts but delivered new to Arriva?
Then the order for the DAF220 and B10BLE made by Arriva?
Please don't call this info accurate as its based on what I've learnt in five years or so.