Arriva Leicester

[pete tierney]

RE: Arriva Leicester
MMC 4530 in service.

This now leaves only 4535 to enter service

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Leicester

(31/07/2016 09:13)pete tierney Wrote:  There is only one left to arrive, 4535, the last one, (unless it arrived in the last couple of days!!) They have been put into service very quickly, often the next day after delivery.
They are easy to see, all the routes they are on pass through or by the Haymarket bus station in Leicester centre.
As I said in an earlier post, if you stand outside of the bus station at the junction of Belgrave Gate, Charles Street & Abbey Street the majority of the Leicester routes will pass by. This includes First & Centerbus as well as Arriva & Roberts on one of the P&R services. (plus Stagecoach working in from Nuneaton & Northampton & De-Courcey from Coventry) Other routes and National Express can been seen at the St. Margerets bus station which is @ 150mts along Abbey Street from the Haymarket bus station.

As an aside, if you want the other two Roberts P&R routes, a short 5min walk along Vaughan Way from St Margerets bus station to St Nicholas Circle will be the best place. Also a trip from Haymarket to the Beaumont Centre will net you the four new Solo's for Centrebus which work the "outer circle" service, these four don't come into the centre. Be prepared to wait awhile though whilst they come round. The Beaumont centre is generally busy, bus wise, most of the day.
Hope this is of some help.
Pete

Thank you for your detailed explanation of the area around Leicester Haymarket. I am encouraged that Arriva Midlands have evidently allocated all these Enviro 400-MMCs to Leicester routes. Long story, but I nearly arranged to come to Leicester on a daytrip from Coventry where I spend 2 nights early in September. I have now decided to come on a daytrip. Depending on Leeds & Liverpool travels I shall probably come on a daytrip in October.

I have incidentally seen that it a cheaper daytrip by train from Stockport to Leicester via Stoke & Derby and splitting the ticket at Uttoxeter than getting a through ticket. Admittedly it takes longer than via Sheffield, and possibly longer than via Birmingham too.

[pete tierney]

RE: Arriva Leicester
MMC 4535 noted in service on the 5/5A route about an hour ago.

That means that all of the batch, 4501-4535, are here & in service.

4527 is branded for routes 5/5A

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Leicester
Hi Pete

Thank you for all your updates on the Arriva-l of Enviro400-MMCs to Leicester!

I am wondering whether to come to Leicester on the August Bank Holiday. I appreciate it will probably be Sunday services. As well as an Enviro400-MMC I hope to ride Sapphire Volvo B7/9TLs on the Oadby routes. Are both types used on Sundays too?

Thanks!

[pete tierney]

RE: Arriva Leicester

(06/08/2016 20:23)Metroline1511 Wrote:  Hi Pete

Thank you for all your updates on the Arriva-l of Enviro400-MMCs to Leicester!

I am wondering whether to come to Leicester on the August Bank Holiday. I appreciate it will probably be Sunday services. As well as an Enviro400-MMC I hope to ride Sapphire Volvo B7/9TLs on the Oadby routes. Are both types used on Sundays too?

Thanks!

I'm afraid I can't help you with this one, I simply don't know. I live out of Leicester near to Melton Mowbray & on Sundays/Bank Holidays we get two buses a day to Leicester, on the 5A, timings of which to be honest are not a lot of use. (until a few months ago we didn't have any buses at all). Basically with family commitments my Sundays are tied up & I don't travel. Sorry.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Leicester

(07/08/2016 14:20)pete tierney Wrote:  I'm afraid I can't help you with this one, I simply don't know. I live out of Leicester near to Melton Mowbray & on Sundays/Bank Holidays we get two buses a day to Leicester, on the 5A, timings of which to be honest are not a lot of use. (until a few months ago we didn't have any buses at all). Basically with family commitments my Sundays are tied up & I don't travel. Sorry.

That's understandable Pete. Like you say, you have family commitments. You would have fewer buses to see anyway! Given that I haven't been to Leicester since 2000 (but have passed through by train twice since) it probably makes sense to go on a Saturday when there are more buses to see. A claim to fame is that my maiden voyage on a Volvo B7TL was with First Leicester in 2000!

[pete tierney]

RE: Arriva Leicester

(07/08/2016 18:37)Metroline1511 Wrote:  That's understandable Pete. Like you say, you have family commitments. You would have fewer buses to see anyway! Given that I haven't been to Leicester since 2000 (but have passed through by train twice since) it probably makes sense to go on a Saturday when there are more buses to see. A claim to fame is that my maiden voyage on a Volvo B7TL was with First Leicester in 2000!

You will see lots of changes since 2000 (obviously,) but I would recommend a weekday or Saturday visit. At least there will be a full compliment out.
As an aside, if you plan a weekday visit, let me know & we could perhaps meet up if you want.
Whichever have a great visit
Pete

[pete tierney]

RE: Arriva Leicester
Just to tidy up the last few MMC 400 in service, 4524/5/6/7/8/9/30/1/2/3 are branded for routes 5/5a.

4523/34/5 are unbranded.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Leicester
Alas I am no longer coming to Leicester this month. I have such a backlog of travels planned for Merseyside & London that I did Liverpool last Saturday and am doing London (South East side) later this month. As it is, I would prefer it to be light until 7pm or 8pm for my Leicester day trip. This makes April '17 seem more likely. Mind you, I am starting a new job on Monday and may have holiday to use up by the end of the year. In that case I might come and spend a night and extra day in Leicester.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Leicester
Well, I finally made it to Leicester today! I came via Stoke & Derby, splitting my ticket at Uttoxeter as planned.

As a majority of my buses were Arriva, I shall cover my daytrip here. I am pleased to say that I did not let the side down, in that my day in Leicester did indeed start with an Enviro 400-MMC. Anyway, my Arriva buses in chronological order were as follows:-

Enviro 400-MMC 4503 (52)
Sapphire Volvo B9TL 4209 (X3)
Sapphire Volvo B7TL 4009 (31a)
Bendibus 5000 (80)
Enviro 400 4425 (49a)

Meanwhile, my First buses were:-

Streetlite 63352 (25)
Volvo B7RLE 69451 (38)
Streetdeck 35181 (54)

I also rode CentreBus Solo SR 314.

Had time permitted, I might have done Arriva Volvo B9TL with green seats and a Streetlite, more CentreBus stock and maybe some Kinch buses too.

As day turned into evening, I started to notice Arriva Enviro 400s on other Volvo routes notably the 44 and 49a. Also, I saw a few First buses in Pastel instead of Olympia livery for the first time in a while!