• Just a quick update today to note a few things!  Firstly, Supertravel Marshall Minibus R101 VLX is confirmed as the former identity of what is now R7 STM, whilst S8 STM and S9 STM are confirmed as SPDs.  I shall try to make a trip down to Belle Vale on Tuesday to see if I can find out any info on capacities of these etc.  Thanks to Neil Hilton and Peter Ferrigan for this info.  Also another Dart which is now named with Glenvale Transport is 7610 T610 JBA, which is named 'LAURA'.  Thanks to Peter Harrison for this info.

• Some odd workings noted recently include the very of sight of a Leyland Lynx on CMT's 102 (Liverpool City Centre - Broadgreen), when one was noted on Wednesday by Peter Ferrigan, who also saw Arriva Scania 1031 N131 DWM, branded for the 320 St Helens-Wigan used on service 10 (Liverpool - St Helens) on 23 March, whilst Supertravel Dart W365 ABD was on the 173/4 on the same day.

• Thats all for now, but I'll try to update the non modern list over the weekend as there are a dew more Titan names to add, but apart from that all that is left to say is Happy Easter, and I hope you like the nice yellow front page, which will be here until Easter Monday!

• Updated today as well as the news section is the Halton Transport Dart Fleet, the Yahoo! Groups page, the Links Page and the Overview Page!  The photos were also updated properly yesterday!

• Not much Dart news to report today, but one very odd working noted by me yesterday on the 79 was of ABC Travel Excel 6025 R11 ABC being used by CMT!  Apart from the Excel II demonstrator, YJ51 JSG used in early September, I think this is possibly the first use of an Excel on the 79!  Interestingly it also had full route 284 branding, which is getting quite rare now as when the windows get smashed, the branding generally isn't replaced!

• If anyone would like to use this on their site as an advert, please be my guest!  Next news update will probably be at the weekend!

• There will be plenty of updates this week as I am off University, so I will be able to update the site thoroughly, including updates to loads of fleetlists, adding more photographs, and updating some of the other pages on the site, such as the Dart Facts page to allow for the new Euro 3 Dart engines.

• More news regarding Supertravel is that two Darts, as yet unidentified have been reregistered S8 STM and S9 STM.  These registrations were previously carried by Mercedes Benz Vario minibuses, which must how have been withdrawn.  Also the Marshall Minibus R7 STM is now know to be either the former R101 VLX or R112 VLX, as the other two have been noted with there current fleetnumbers, personally I would probably say that it is R101 VLX, and I hope to find out soon!  The reregistered Darts on the other hand may be new to Supertravel, as they are known to be white Plaxton Pointer Darts, and unless they are the two large SLF Darts, S726 KNV and T438 EBD, which although possible is unlikely as it would make T438 EBD look older than it really is, then they are probably new additions to the Supertravel fleet, as it is extremely unlikely that they would reregister W365 ABD and KV51 KZC, the only other two white Darts, with S reg plates as it would make them look a lot older than they really are!  Hopefully I will be able to confirm some of this during the next two weeks!

• Other news of odd Dart workings again featuring Supertravel was of Yellow Dart KP51 SXZ,which was yesterday operating the 224 (City Centre Circular), still devoid of its Smart Eco branding and a fleetnumber.

• Just a quick note too that my buses7675@altavista.com email address, which I haven't used for a while properly anyway closes on Sunday, as Altavista are closing its altavista.com email service.  I have contacted everyone who used that address still a few weeks ago, and all have transferred to buses7675@dennisdart.co.uk, but just of you have it in your address book still please change it to one of the other addresses on the main page!

• Another big news update to note today is the introduction by Supertravel of fleetnumbers. They seemed to start to appear last Wednesday, and so far confirmed are the following numbers:

001 - W365 ABD - Dart MPD
002 - T74 JBA - Dart MPD
003 - R114 VLX - Marshall Minibus II
004 - V263 BNV - Dart MPD (Smart Eco)
005 - X11 STM - Dart MPD
006 - V264 BNV - Dart MPD (Smart Eco)
007 - V262 BNV - Dart MPD (Smart Eco)

• As can be seen, the numbering system isn't very logical - Probably they were simply numbered in the order the fitter found them in the garage!  Also one of Supertravel's Marshall Minibuses has been reregistered R7 STM, though which one is not yet known, as it when I saw it it didn't have fleetnumbers. I suppose to find out either we could work it out by elimination, so long as none of the others are reregistered, else try to ride it, as they all still have their ex First Capital fleetnumbers inside, which match there original registration numbers! It is now also thought that all of the Wright Crusader bodied Darts that were on loan to Supertravel, R529 YRP R530 YRP, R532 YRP & T443 EBD have now returned off lease to Mistral, following the delivery of the 51 reg MPD's, though the longer Pointer Darts have been retained for the Garston Circular!

• Interesting news too involving Arriva is that although Darts 1111 - 1112 J311 WHJ - J312 WHJ both left Speke garage for Runcorn last Tuesday, both had arrived back at Speke, along with 1113 J313 WHJ, by Friday, as I had a ride on 1111 on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) on Friday, and I think I saw 1113.  1112 was on the 79 yesterday afternoon!

• Other news to note is that A1A Travel have now disposed of Optare Solo 41 S41 FWY, and Optare MetroRider 51 P450 SWX, whilst MetroRider 51 P451 SWX was expected to leave the fleet, and so was painted out of fleet livery, but has unexpectedly been retained, and so has gained the newer A1A livery.  Thanks to Michael Bennett for this information!

• It is also now suggested that following fire damage, Happy Al's ALX200 MPD, Y302 KNB, may have been temporarily withdrawn while it is repaired and in the mean time either a Wright bodied Dart or a Pointer MPD has been brought in to cover its work!  If it is, as thought the Wright bodied Dart, which is reported to be T-reg, it could well be T443 EBD, which was on loan to Supertravel, earlier this year!

• A bit of news from a few weeks ago that I promised to put online, but forgot to at the time is a sighting by Al of an ex-London DMS Daimler/Leyland Fleetline (like the R-reg ones Fareway operated in the late 1980s/early 1990s) driving around Liverpool city centre on the 01/03/03. 'Rotary Club Millennium Tour' was painted all over it.  Anyone any ideas what it may have been doing here?

• A new website that you may like to view now is a CMT Buses unofficial site, operated by Peter Ferrigan, which can be viewed at http://merseysidebuses.com/.  This site will eventually be a great resource for ABC and CMT Buses information, and I wish Peter the best of luck with his new site! Some news from Peter is that Arriva Olympian, 3322 R332 WVR was unusually on the 18A on 16th March, whilst also noted was that one of the ex Liverbus Northern Counties bodied B10B's, thought to be one of the older K-reg ones, involved in RTA on Kensington on 16th March whilst on the 10B (Liverpool - Huyton), as car had smashed into the back of it with most of the car underneath the bus.

• Some news from Glenvale Transport of more namings is that Leyland Titan 2293 KYN 293X, is now named CARL, thanks to Karl Sutton for this info, whilst Volvo B6 7247 L247 TKA, is named HAYLEY, and Peter Harrison has noted Dart 7603 T603 JBA, bearing the name JESSICA.

• Finally some news from First Manchester, reported by Tim Moss is that Dart SLF, 6044 R244 SBA, which was involved in quite a major crash not too long as has been successfully repaired and is now back on the road with First in Manchester! Other news to report too is that on Monday Dennis Dart / Northern Counties 1120 N620 CDB, was used on driver training duties in lieu of the normal Leyland Tiger / Alexander Belfast!

• Some fleetlist updates are made today, for the Glenvale namings, and a few other bits in the Non Modern Fleetlist, but a full update of fleetlists will be made during next week, as I am off University for a fortnight for Easter, and so I will add all of the Arriva Cymru vehicles to the Arriva Modern Fleet, note all the 'Barbie 2' Darts in First in Manchester's fleet, and also add a few more photos, as well as many other updates!

• We are also very nearly at 10,000 visitors, just 50 to go as I wrote this, so let me thank each and every one of you who are reading this for doing so and making the site such a success!

• Loads of news to report today, the main news being that CMT Buses are no NOT going to receive any Volvo B7L's next month, but instead have ordered some Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2's!  Five will be delivered each April and October for the next four years, until a total of forty have been supplied, though later ones are likely to have the TransBus Enviro200 bodywork, which will replace the Pointer bodywork within a year.  The length of theses Darts is currently also unknown, though I expect that they will either be 10.7M SLF's or 11.3M SPD's.  I personally hope it will be the SPD, as the 10.7M Darts could get very full on their routes, compared to Volvo B10L/BLE's! Thanks to Peter Ferrigan for this info!

• Other buses currently on delivery are at least two more Marshall Capital II bodied Dart SPD's for Halton Transport, which are expected to be delivered in the next few weeks.  Currently all of the last batch of Darts, 23 - 26 have all been up seated from B39F to B42F, by adding three tip-up seats in the nearside wheelchair bay.  Some other Halton news I have found out relates to Halton Lynx 64 J927 MKC, which I reported a few weeks ago as having been refurbished at the rear of the bus.  Apparently the reason for this is as one of the Darts, I think 87 R407 XFL, had suffered an electrical fire, similar to what happened to Dart 1 R712 MEW, and so this was sent, under guarantee back to Marshalls to get its body fixed, and to Dennis to got a new engine.  When it returned, as neither Dennis or Marshall could decided who was to blame for it they did a cheap job on the refurbishment, and didn't replace and of the seats toward the back of the bus that where damaged.  This is where the Lynx comes in, so as to get the Dart back in service as fast as possible, seats where taken from Lynx 64, given new covers and then fitted to the Dart.  Later some seats were found from Halton's stores, but as none of the original fabric was available, as these Lynxes were not to Halton spec as they where bought from from Volvo stock when they announced that Lynx production was due to cease, and so they it had seat covers fitted to the same pattern as the new Darts!

• Some other news on council owned companies regards Warrington Borough Transport, who are 100 years old this year, and so Dart 1 T201 AFM, is due to be painted in to a commemorative livery to mark the event, and possibly gain the temporary fleetnumber 100!

• Other news to report is that Arriva NW Darts, 1111 J311 WHJ and 1112 J312 WHJ have now both left Speke garage, and arrived at Runcorn garage last night, taking the scenic route from Warrington to Rhyl,were they are still due to be allocated!  Thanks to 'Trixmax' for this info!  Dart 1112, was seen by me on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) on Monday, looking very small compared to the normal 12M DAF's and B10B's that normally grace the route!  Some odd Arriva workings noted yesterday were of Alexander ALX200 Dart 2271 X271 OBN operating on Smart 1, noted by Al, and I saw ex Liverbus Volvo Olympian 'ANDY' 3341 L211 SBG on the 79, this bus now also having been fitted with very shiny new Volvo badges on the front and rear!  Just one odd working noted so far today is of Supertravel MPD KP51 SYC on the 173/174 (Belle Vale - Sefton Park/Penny Lane).

• The page counter is also nearly at 10,000 visitors, so I think all of you for visiting the site, and making it such a success!!!  Next news update will probably be on Monday!

• Sorry for the delay between updates this week, this is due to having quite a bit of Uni work to get through!

• One very odd Dart reallocation to report is of Arriva NW 1111 J311 WHJ, which has just been reported by Simon Ackers as being allocated to Arriva Speke depot, having worked on the 75 during the week.

• One odd working noted by me was yesterday of Halton Dart 87 R408 XFL, being towed back to Widnes yesterday all the way from Liverpool City Centre by Halton's Tow Truck!
I also now have info regarding the corrections to the Arriva Darts fleetlist, with received note for a few of the Arriva Cymru Darts!

• Full update should take place on Monday!

• Happy St David's Day to any Welsh folk out there!  As it is the first on the month, and a very good day today, compared to the rain we have had for weeks, I have updated the fleetlists, news and added some photos today too!

• Some interesting news to report is that Halton Dart 23 Y203 PFM has been up seated by added three tip up seats in the nearside wheelchair bay, similar to those on the opposite side if the bus!  This now make its capacity B42F, which isn't surprising, as the notices at the front of the bus have always said 42 seating, but have had the number covered with masking tape, though it was clear enough to notice!  It also appears that these Y-reg Darts were always intended to have the extra three seats as they had holes in the sides, filled with screws, matching those on the opposite sides seat fixings, though in the end these seats are slightly smaller, and so use different holes anyway!

• Other news to report is the departure of First Manchester Dart MPD's 6201 - 6203 to First PMT!  Thanks to Tim Moss for this sad news! Also as of yet, no more news is known on the possible sale of SLT to First Manchester!

• No main fleetlist updates today, as I am still working on the combined Arriva North West & Wales Modern Bus Fleetlist, which will be huge, as it was the largest fleetlist on the site anyway, with just the Arriva North West & Merseyside vehicles! One main piece of info about the fleetlist is that the Arriva Cymru Northern Counties Palatine I Volvo Olympians, 5233 - 5239, R233 AEY - R239 AEY are to be numbered straight after Arriva NW's highest Palatine II, 3341, and so they are to become 3343 - 3349.  Thanks to 'Trixmax' for this info!  Also a correction to the Dart fleetlist is that Darts 1105 - 1108 are still at Huyton, with only 1101, 1104 & 1109 - 1113 moving to Rhyl.

• A big update has been made today on the Merseyside Buses Non-Modern Fleetlist, as there have been plenty of GTL Titan namings including the very odd PRINCESS!

• News from the website level is that he site has moved servers again this morning, as I guess Yahoo were not to happy at me using Geocities advert free, and so the site is now hosted on doteasy, using the domain name http://dartslf.com/ this domain is totally registered to me, and also works for the site as well as http://dennisdart.co.uk/, though with the dartslf.com address, the correct file name stays in the URL, and the page title alters correctly!  Both URL's will always be exactly the same as they use the same files, so you don't need to change any links or bookmarks, this was just done to get more reliable hosting than we had previously!  I have also added proper automatic redirect pages to the 20m, FreeWebz, Liquid2k and Geocites address, so they will always link to the new page!

• Other news includes the continuing merger of CMT and ABC travel with many CMT buses operating on ABC routes, such as Dart 2025 P820 YCW, on service 168 (Bootle - Aigburth) on Sunday 24th, seen by Peter Ferrigan, along with B10BLE 2045 S456 KCW, which ran that evening on the 168 after replacing M777 ABC which had operated the daytime service and sometime also during last week, apparently one of ABC's Metroriders was seen operating a very full evening service on the 10 (Liverpool - St Helens).  Also Peter Ferrigan reports that when the new CMT B7L's get delivered in a few weeks time, they will be fitted with electronic route displays, and not standard blinds!

• One odd working noted by me yesterday was of Halton 64 J927 MKC, which was on an evening 14 (Liverpool - Runcorn).  Not only was this odd, but it would appear that these Lynxes will be around for some time to come, as all of the seats on the rear raised section of the bus had been recovered, and CCTV cameras had been fitted!

• As of 00.01hrs this morning, Arriva Cymru was no more!  Arriva NW assumed control of all its garages and fleet, and so LOTS of renumberings have taken place. Thanks to 'Trixmax' I have already been able to modify the Arriva NW Dart Fleetlist to current numberings, in which EVERY single Arriva Cymru Dart had been renumbered!  I have news for the rest of the fleet, and so will rework the Arriva Modern Fleet during the next few days!  A full news update and further fleetlist updates, including more Ikarus Citibus notes for First PMT will also be added during this week!

• Quite a lot of renumberings and new vehicle to report since the last news update!  Also this site is now hosted on Yahoo! Geocities, as Liquid2k.com seems to have become very unreliable recently.  The address will NOT change though as I own the domain, and also no-ads will appear either, as the site is really always in a full size frame which allows me to change the file store so easily.  As a result Internet Explorer thinks there is errors on some pages, but this in only the advert trying to load, so don't worry!

• Plenty of fleetlist updates again this week, mainly to do with the renumbering of Arriva NW vehicles on to lower numbers, with all short Darts, gaining 08xx fleetnumbers, along with the short Neoplans, which now have 060x numbers.  For full details, see the fleetlists section!  Just to confirm though, 'Trixmax' informs me that Dart SLF 7561 R561 ABA IS indeed allocated to Runcorn, not Wythenshawe, as he was driving it from there the other night!!!

• Also renumbered now, in the non-modern list are Arriva NW Leyland Olympians 701 - 713, which are now 3221 - 3230, theses noted by Dave Root on Southport Rail Replacement work, although they remain officially allocated to Speke. Also in the non-modern list, there are plenty of GTL Leyland Titan names added this week, theses provided by Dave Root and Mel Jackson.

• Other recent GTL namings have been of Marshall Dart SLF 7605 as 'OLIVIA' and Volvo B6 7250 as 'IMELDA', which has also been repainted!

• Just a quick update today, to note all of the changes following the closure of Arriva Warrington garage yesterday!  See the fleetlists section for further details!!!

• Also adding in today's update, but only accessible on this page for now is an MTL fleetlist, which is correct to the day MTL sold to Arriva, exactly two years ago today, the 18th February 2000.  This can be viewed by clicking here!

• Hopefully a more thorough update will take place during this Wednesday, after I hand in my Maths assignment his afternoon!

• I am pleased to announce that on Monday I got an e-mail from the International Association of Website Masters & Designers (IAWMD) informing me that the Merseyside Dennis Dart Website has been awarded a Golden Web Award for 2002 - 2003!  This is now displayed on the main page under the contact information.

• Another big change that has also occurred since Monday is that Dave Root has stepped down as moderator/owner of the Merseyside Buses Yahoo Group, and has allowed me to take on the role!  As a result of this, I am now going to generalise the news section of this site further, and allow for news of any bus types at all from Merseyside, as well as Dennis Dart news from everywhere else!  This also follows the extending of the fleetlists, first into Modern Vehicles, and now into all Merseyside Vehicles, with this info help as part of the Merseyside Buses Yahoo Group.  I must thank Dave Root, and all of the groups members for making it such a success and I hope it is just as successful in times to come!

• Dart news to report, from 'Trixmax', is that as of the end of this week, when Arriva NW's Warrington garage closes, ALL of its Dart SLF allocation, 7531, 7532, 7539 - 7545, 7561, 7872 & 7876 - 7879, are due to move to Runcorn garage.  As a result, five East Lancs Darts will move from Runcorn, probably to Green Lane, thus replacing the Duple/Carlyle Dartline Darts there.

• Some odd Dart workings to report from the weekend are of Supertravel V262 BNV being used on 224 (City Centre Circular) whilst KP51 SYC was used on 173/174 (Belle Vale - Sefton Park/Penny Lane) on Saturday, noted by Peter Ferrigan. These two are both odd, as the 224 is not a Smart route, and really the Vxxx BNV vehicles should be on the 173/174, and not the newer 51 reg Darts!  Also noted, extremely oddly by both Peter and Al was of Volvo Olympian 3315 R315 WVR, on Arriva route 3 (City Centre - Stockbridge Village), in place of a Carlyle Dart!  Also noted on Saturday by Peter was Arriva DAF SB120 2419 X419 HJA, on 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) with branding for service 80/80A, whilst on the 79 all day there were only a few other DAF's, NO Darts, and stacks and stacks of Olympians!

• And now for the first time, non modern, non Dart news!  Many extra buses have been transferred to Arriva NW this this month, which are temporarily being used by Arriva NW on the Rail Replacement workings.  As well as this though, many other Arriva Merseyside vehicles from all garages are being used.  Most of the transferred in vehicles are Olympians, though there are some Volvo B10M's form Arriva Midlands North.  For full details of these, including there temporary Arriva NW fleetnumbers, see the Merseyside Buses Non Modern Fleetlist.

• Other news to report from Dave Root is that Glenvale Titan 2233 GYE 233V, is now named 'TALYA', whilst LMS now have a previously unmentioned MCW Metrorider, K320 FYG, which is is full fleet livery!

• Almost all outstanding fleetlist updates have been made today, as there were loads to get through, and some more photographs will be added to the site too later this week, along with the Former Darts Fleetlist!  All of the disruption to the domain name has now been completed and so the site should now be even more reliable than ever!  A minor alteration to the last news section is that the registration of the Tanner Travel Duple Dartline Dart is G509 VYE, and not G509 YVE as stated!

• Some further news on deliveries of new vehicles to CMT is that the first batch of vehicles, expected to be Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7L's, are due in March/April, and should have '02' registrations, whilst a further batch is due for September/October, and so will have '52' registrations! These will initially replace all the remaining Nationals, and then start to make inroads in to the Lynx fleet, which CMT are apparently having some mechanical problems with.  Thanks to Peter Ferrigan for this information.

• News today is of a further new Dart in Merseyside, with A1A Travel now operating a new Euro 3 MPD, KP51 SXX, new of this provided by Michael Bennett, though it apparently has fleetnumber 54 on the front, and 49 on the back, though it is expected to become 54!  A few additional second-hand Darts now operated around too included 3 Wright Handybus Darts, J604 KCU, J613 KCU & J617 KCU at Avon Coaches.  These are all ex Stagecoach Glasgow, though are thought to have originally been with the Go-Ahead Group!  Another Dart now operating in Merseyside, with Tanner Travel, is G509 YVE, a Duple Dartline bodied Dart, ex London DT9. This is thought to be air-conditioned, and is in overall white with no fleetnames.  Thanks to Jonathan Welch for this information!  Tanner Travel are also due two R-reg Dart SLF's from somewhere soon, probably by the end of the month!

• Some Modern Bus info, from Peter Ferrigan, regarding the CMT/ABC merger is that some CMT Volvo's and Darts have now started to be used on ABC services, noted recently were Volvo B10BLEs 2037 S448 KCW, 2049 W465 CRN and 2052 W468 CRN all on the ABC 284 on Saturday 02/02/02, whilst CMT Dart 2020 P815 YCW was used on ABC service 135.  It is expected that the evening 168 (Bootle - Aigburth), currently operated by ABC Metroriders, will move to CMT vehicles soon! An other odd working noted by Peter was of Arriva Volvo B6 7212 L212 TKA was on service 39A in place of the usual X reg B6BLEs.  In the last few days Supertravel's 173/173 (Belle Vale - Sefton Park/Penny Lane) has had its share of odd vehicles, with Y185 KNB on the route on Monday, possibly the first operation of an ALX200 on this route, whilst on Tuesday and today, KP51 SYC has been operating, still in overall yellow, with no Smart branding.  Both are in place of the usual V-reg MPD's.

• Apologies for the site being offline for a few hours last night, this is due to some test I am doing with the domain, as I am going to try to set it up so as the correct file name appears in the URL box!  During this time, the site will work fully, by going to http://liquid2k.com/dennisdart/.  This may happen again in a few days, but during this time too, the dennisdart.co.uk e-mail service will be down so if you wish to send to me please send to buses7675@yahoo.com.

• Fleetlists and photographs should be updated either tomorrow or Friday!

• Another named Glenvale Dart is 7609 T609 JBA, which now carries the name 'ASHLEIGH' on its front bumper.  Thanks to Peter Harrison for this information!

• Not much else news to report, one odd working noted in the guestbook by Al, was of an Alexander ALX200 Dart operating on the Smart 4 last week, whilst in the Wigan area, a still unidentified SLT Wright Handybus Dart crashed into a wall, sadly injuring its driver and killing a waiting passenger.

• On a web site note, I have now modified the front page slightly by adding the log in box for the dennisdart.co.uk e-mail service next to the original one, with each labeled accordingly.  Over the weekend, I received many more photographs from Dave Root, who has now closed his Southport Transport Website, as he was over committed in running many other sites, and working.  I, like may, appreciate his help in providing many photographs, and news items for this site!

• Further news on LMS's Myllennium shows that this is one of the original design Myllenniums built, as it is fitted with the original rear panel, which has a larger glazed area than those operated by Arriva.

• Other news to report too is that some of CMT's Wright bodied Darts, at least 2015 P810 YCW, and 2016 P811 YCW have been down seated to B34F, from B36F, as the two forward facing tip up seats in the wheelchair bay have been removed, as these were not as robust as newer tip-up seats, and tended to lean down quite a lot below horizontal when they were sat upon!  At least one other Wright Dart at CMT has had these replaced with a different design of tip-up seat, similar to those in Arriva's Myllenniums.

• As of about one months time, this website should become even more frequently updated, as it is likely that I will be getting a blueyonder broadband cable line fitted for it, so I will be online the whole time the machine is one.  The machine is also running faster now anyway, as I have 384Mb RAM and a 1.4GHz Processor, running with Windows 2000.

• Very surprising Modern Bus news is of LMS acquiring a DAF SB220GS/ELC Myllennium from Hurst Green, Lancashire.  Seen by Peter Ferrigan, it is registered X906 RHG, and is currently in allover white, with a light blue skirt, with a dark blue band above, with gaps were the former operators logos used to be. This has been seen recently in the LMS premises and on both the 14 (Liverpool - Croxteth), and 158, both of which are LMS routes.

• Other news from Peter will mark the closure of CMT's ABC Formby garage as of February 1st 2002, with all routes, vehicles and drivers transferring to CMT's refurbished Aintree garage.  This will probably result in many odd workings, with CMT Volvos, Darts etc running ABC routes, and ABC Optares and DAFs running CMT routes!

• The odd news keeps coming too, with news that route 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) is due to be converted to a Smart route, with many shelters replaced with glass Smart Shelters with timecheckers (To allow the local scallies to smash them more often!), and also the traffic lights will be fitted with transponders to allow buses to travel more freely, as they should turn to green as they approach.  Vehicles will probably remain in operators livery, as the route will be like that of route 12/13 were with MTL, whereby the operator just adds Smart logos to the vehicles, and part finance the improvements, along with Merseytravel.

• Dennis Dart H539 XGK, that is currently listed in the Tanner Travel fleet is now also confirmed as being in LMS ownership, and so this will be moved to the correct fleetlist in the next few days!

• News is of confirmation of Marshall Minibus I, P460 EFLs ownership, as it has been seen by John Cooper on Cross River service 150, which IS operated by LMS, so they must be the owner.  Other news from John is that Arriva NW 2257 X257 HJA was noted yesterday Branded for Service 409 - (New Brighton - Wallasey - Liscard - Birkenhead)

• All remaining fleetlist updates should be made by Tuesday, as I will be unable to update over the weekend as my computer is being upgraded to Win 2K, with a 1.4HGhz processor!

• Also of note today is the fact that the Dennis Dart Yahoo Group is one year old today!  Well that is the case in theory, though for I think 3 days after I started it, it actually was an eGroup, before Yahoo took over!  If you are not a member please join by clicking here!

• Interesting news to report, supplied by Peter Ferrigan, is of a Marshall Minibus I, P460 EFL outside the LMS garage on 20/01/02! This is Marshall Minibus body number MM023, and os is one of the oldest Marshall Minibuses around, and was new in 01/97 to Whyatt, Hadfield. Its ownership details are still to be confirmed, but it could well be an LMS vehicle!  Also seen outside LMS's garage was a red Plaxton Pointer Dart, thought to be H539 XGK, and so this Dart is probably owned by them, and not Tanner Travel, which would explain it operating in the Bootle area.  This again needs to be confirmed!

• 'Trixmax' has also sent me information regarding the forthcoming Rail Replacement work that is due to start on Sunday 10th February for 22 days, though this may have a possible extension of a week if the work overruns.  The following services will operate from the following garages:

B1 Southport - Hall Road. Limited Stop (5am to Midnight daily) - Omitting Birkdale and Hightown.

B2 Southport - Hall Road all Stations.

B3 Southport - Ormskirk (Monday to Saturday day time only) - This service operates to, provide a link to the Ormskirk line into Liverpool with a faster route for passengers.

Service B1 will be operated by vehicles and duties based at Green Lane Depot,

Service B2 will be operated by Bootle Depot,

Service B3 will be operated by Southport and Skelmersdale Depots.

• A few odd workings noted yesterday by me were of Halton Transport step entrance Dart, 76 N671 CLV operating an evening 61 (Liverpool - Runcorn), whilst on the daytime Halton 14 (Liverpool - Runcorn), Leyland Lynx II, 60 J923 MKC was seen operating, both of which are VERY unusual!  Another rather odd use for a Halton Dart yesterday, this one being 24 Y207 PFM, which was used on the Gateacre Comp School service 689! - A far cry from the service that used to be operated by 20 year old MTL Atlanteans, though I think it is a bit over the top for a Y-reg low floor Dart to be used on a School Service, though Dave Root did see Citybus's 51 reg MPD, DE51 EWJ on a schools service the other day!

• Not much else was noted yesterday, though from a technical point, the website will hopefully be improving again soon, as I should be able to offer @dennisdart.co.uk e-mail addresses to anyone who wants one, and also the URL for each page should start to show the filename extension too, as well as changing properly when you leave the page using a link, as currently dennisdart.co.uk will stay in the URL bar until you retype something!

• A surprising addition to the Arriva North West fleet shortly will be Ex Arriva Scotland B51F Scania L113CRL Northern Counties Paladin's L588 JSG & M102 RMS.  These are ex Arriva Scotland 501 & 502 respectively, and their current allocation and fleetnumbers are unknown, though they are expected to be allocated to a Merseyside garage.

• Also as a result of the imminent closure of part of the Merseyrail Northern Line, which is closing for at least a month from some time in February between Liverpool and Southport, many extra vehicles are to be temporarily drafted into Southport garage to cover these workings, some that are at least due are the former North Western Dennis Dominators that have only just been transferred away from Arriva NW to Arriva Northumbria! Thanks to 'Trixmax' for this information!

• Not much other news, except that that CMT Buses are expected to have some new buses delivered sometime around March, in order to withdraw all of the remaining Leyland Nationals, these will probably be Volvo B7L's with Wright Eclipse bodywork, as the B10BLE is now out of production, though they may possibly go for the Optare Excel 2! Thanks to Peter Ferrigan for this information!

• Fleetlists that will probably be updated during this week will be the Arriva NW Modern, Arriva Cymru/North West and Wales Dart, Arriva Midlands North Dart and the First PMT Modern Fleetlist.

• Full details of Tanner Travels recently acquired Darts are now online, the main note being a correction to the registration of ex London DR83, which is in fact J383 GKH, and not J383 CKH as stated on Tuesday!  Full capacity, length, body type and entry to service dates are now also online for these two Darts!  To view the Tanner Travel fleetlist, click here

• Not much else to report today, though I do have further details on allocations for First PMT from John Cooper, and also info of further Darts at Arriva Cymru, so both the Arriva Cymru and Arriva North West and Wales fleetlists will be updated, along with both First PMT fleetlists, probably by Monday!

• Some quite interesting news has appeared over the weekend, as Tanner Travel of St Helens has acquired at least one ex Metroline London Reeve Burgess/Plaxton Pointer Dart, J383 CKH, which is in overall white, with rear David Tanner Travel Fleetnames and possible a second one, which isn't confirmed as being theirs, but is thought to be is H539 XGK, which is still in overall London Red.  Thanks to Barry McGuire and James Potter for this info!  These two would have been London DR83, and DR39 respectively.  I shall try to confirm the lengths and capacities if these Darts as soon as possible!

• Another additional Dart added to the fleetlists is Supertravel KP51 SYR, the company's sixth 51 reg Dart MPD, which is quite impressive for a company which operated a fleet, almost entirely of minibuses around 3 or 4 years ago!

• Other news is that Glenvale have named another two of its Darts, 7601 T601 JBA is named 'BENNY', whilst 7608 T608 JBA is named 'JAMES'.  Hopefully one will soon get named 'DENNIS' as a bit of an in joke!  Thanks to Peter Harrison for this information.

• Modern bus news to report is the interesting news that the first batch of Arriva London Alexander ALX400 bodied DAF DB250L is due to move to Arriva NW Speke garage letter this year, after conversion to single door.  When this happens, probably some of the Olympians will then get transferred to Cymru garages, which by then will probably be part of Arriva NW, as Arriva North West and Wales! Note: The Arriva North West/Cymru merger is due to take place at Easter (Eater Sunday is 31st March), whilst the closure of Arriva NW Warrington garage will take place on Sunday 17th February 2002.  For further details of the service alterations due to happen, following the closure of this garage, click here.

• A quick thank you to everyone who had voted in the poll, remember you can vote again and as many times as you like!

• I have now added a new poll to the site, this being on a separate page this time, instead if the main page, as the previous one managed to slow the loading of the main page down to about three minutes!  There is a link to this poll from the main page too, and so you can vote as many times as you like!  Please vote in the poll, the question this time being, Which length of low floor Dart chassis do you think is best?

• Another alteration made today is to the list of companies that could potentially be within the combined Arriva NW/Cymru, as I missed off St Helens Corporation Transport, and has Southport as a Southport District Transport, and not as Southport Corporation Transport, as is correct.  Thanks to Dave Root for this information.  To view the revised list, scroll down to Monday 07/01/02's news.

• Not much Dart news to report today, apart from W365 ABD still operating Supertravel's 202/204 (Alder Hey - Dingle) yesterday, though it was in the company of Marshall Minibus II R101 VLX, instead of another MPD, as per the rest of the week!

• I have noted quite a few odd Volvo B6 workings today, as three Arriva NW B6BLE/Wright Crusader 2's were on the 10/10A (Liverpool- St Helens), numbers 2808 X808 AJA, 2809 X809 AJA and 2812 X812 AJA, along with standard B6/Plaxton Pointer 7224 L224 TKA also on the 10/10A, a usual haven for the B10B / B10BLE's!

• Just a short update today with another odd working if a 51 reg Supertravel Dart, this time of KP51 SYA on the 176 (Liverpool - Halewood) this morning.  I think this is the first working of one of the new Darts on this route. As I live no were near St Helens, the only 51 reg one I have not yet seen is KP51 SYE, so Supertravel aren't too tight on keeping them on the 137/138 St Helens routes that they were bought for!

• Further to the notes yesterday on the new 51 reg Dart MPD's at Supertravel, a few other things to note about them are that the seats are Urban 90 seats, with the tip-up ones being the same type as those in recent Wright bodied deliveries to Arriva, and oddly, much like the ELC Myllenniums for Arriva, the grab poles are smooth plain yellow, and not tactile poles like most other new buses.  As this is a Scottish built Pointer 2, built at the Alexander factory, there are a few bits of the bodywork that have been tidied up or altered, but really this is to do with the revised chassis, as now the first step reaches all the way across the bus, and isn't just in the stairwell as on older MPD's.  Another noticeable feature, though only really when you get off, is that Dennis have strangely altered the steering wheel design, with different supports to normal, and a huge Dennis badge in the centre!!!

• Fleetlist update today is just a few revisions to the First Manchester and First PMT Fleetlists.  More photos should be added to the site later this week, though as I now have Uni exams until next Thursday, I cannot guarantee on which day!

• Main news today is that Arriva Cymru's head office in Llandudno is due to close in February, with the company then to become part of Arriva NW, which will result in some further renumberings in its fleet, so as to avoid clashes with the existing Arriva NW fleet.  From the takeover Arriva Cymru will be registered, as with Arriva North West, Arriva Merseyside, Arriva Manchester and Arriva Liverpool, at 73 Ormskirk Road, Aintree, Liverpool, L9 5AE.

• As a result, I have produced a draft Dart Fleetlist for the combined company (Though the separate ones will also remain until the merger has taken place), which can be viewed by clicking here.  In this fleetlist as the moment, there are only 3 duplicated fleetnumbers, those being 2269, 2271 & 2272.

• Also in Arriva NW, Warrington garage is now also due to be closed, with its services being split between St Helens, Wythenshawe and Runcorn, which will take the majority of the services.  Arriva NW would, following the merger with Arriva Cymru possibly become the largest Arriva fleet, with London either not much bigger or smaller!  It would also mean that the at least the following companies are now all within one fleet or vehicles owned by a part of the company are still in the fleet:

Arriva North West
Arriva Merseyside
Arriva Cymru
Arriva Manchester
Arriva Liverpool
MTL North
Merseybus
MerseyRider
Lancashire Travel
St Helens Rider
Fareway
Liverbus
MTL Manchester
MTL London
Southport and District Buses
Wirral Penninsula Buses
Blue Triangle
Ogdens Coaches (Commercial Fleet)
Village Group Transport
North Western
Liverline
Amberline
Nova Scotia
Bee Line Bus Company
Star Line
Wigan Bus Company
South Lancs Transport (Original)
Devaway Buses
Williams, Dewiolen
Crosville Cymru
Crosville (Original!)
M.P.T.E.
Birkenhead Corporation Transport
Liverpool Corporation Transport
Wallasey Passenger Transport
Southport Corporation Transport
St Helens Corporation Transport

• Some odd Dart workings noted this morning all involve Supertravel Plaxton MPD's as on the 202/204 (Alder Hey - Dingle), which has for some time been home to Marshall Minibuses, had both T74 JBA and W365 ABD operating on it this morning.  Another odd Supertravel working was KP51 SXZ, an unbranded Smart Eco livery MPD's on the 173/174 (Belle Vale - Sefton Park / Penny Lane) which to my knowledge is the first use of one of the 51 reg Smart MPD's on this route, which is normally operated by V reg Smart MPD's.  The internal layout is a bit different to the older MPD's, as there is a buggy bay is on the offside, as well as a wheelchair bay on the nearside as normal.  This is produced by making a total of six tip up seats, instead of the standard three, though the overall capacity remains the same.  On noise levels, the new engine seems to be quite good, as although it sounds at first a bit like an electric motor working hard, though it soon quietens down, and is still a lot quieter than either the Marshall Minibus, or the Optare Solo!  Other odd Supertravel workings were of KP51 SYC on the 188 (Garston Circular), and KV51 KZC on the 163 (Belle Vale - Bridgefield Forum).

• There are stacks of fleetlist updates today, a few are corrections, but the main news is that four of the Arriva NW Carlyle Darts 1134, 1140, 1141 & 1149, have moved to Arriva Midlands North.  Thanks to 'Trixmax' for this info.  Further updates include news of yet another new Plaxton Dart MPD with Supertravel, KP51 SYE this, like most of the recently delivered Darts, is in unbranded Smart Eco livery.  Also added in the fleetlists section are details of the ex First York Darts recently acquired by First PMT.

• Some odd Dart workings noted recently by me have been of Supertravel MPD's operating on odd routes, those being W365 ABD operating on the 202/204 (Alder Hey - Dingle) on Thursday 3rd in place of a Marshall Minibus, KV51 KZC operating the 173/174 (Belle Vale - Sefton Park / Penny Lane) on Thursday also, in place of a Smart Eco MPD, and the same Dart today is on the 202/204 (Alder Hey - Dingle) again in place of a Marshall Minibus.

• Odd modern bus workings noted recently have been of mainly just of DAF SB220 ELC Myllenniums running on odd routes.  On Wednesday 2nd, 2464 Y464 KNF was operating on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley), whilst today, 2473 Y473 KNF was also on the 79, though this DAF has Airlink 81/81A branding!  Quite a few of the DAF DB250 Northern Counties Palatine II's have been on routes other than the 86 recently too, and as all but 3607 is branded for the route this is odd.  This may have something to do with the fact that on at least 3611 N611 DWY & 3613 N613 DWY, adverts have been placed over the branding on the offside, where the advert goes over the staircase area!

• Today also quite a few of the other pages have been updated also, as obviously the main page has returned to blue, as the Christmas Decorations are meant to come down tomorrow!, but also the Archive News page has been corrected, so as it works, as as it was none of the links did anything, and it is now also complete.  On the Fleetlists page, there is now a direct link to Dave Root's Fleetlists, of vehicles not listed on this site, which is part of the merseyside_buses Yahoo Group.  You do not have to join the group before you can view Dave's list, but if you are not yet a member please do join!!!  As a result we aim to have all buses operating in Merseyside listed between the fleetlists on this site and Dave's lists, giving a complete picture of the bus operations of Merseyside!  Also a note too is that if you wish to go directly to any of the pages on this site, you can go to most of the ones straight off the main page by typing the page name after the main URL, i.e.http://dennisdart.co.uk/news for this page, but note that .html is not needed.  If you wish to view the source code for any of these pages, you will need to go to the file store for this site directly at http://liquid2k.com/dennisdart/  This will allow you to view the code, as when using the normal link, the liquid2k page is shown in a frame, and so you cannot view the source code!

• A full update has been done today for the new year, as two photos are added, three fleetlists updated, and this news page is also updated!

• I have not seen many buses today on odd New Years Day services, as I have not been to town, but route 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) has been operated entirely by Arriva NW Speke's Northern Counties Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympians, including ex Liverbus 3341 L211 SBG which is still named 'ANDY'.  In fact I have actually only seen one Dart at all today, a Marshall boded Dart SLF on the 168 (Aigburth - Bootle)!!!  One odd working though that I did see on Sunday was of Arriva NW Marshall Dart 7647 V647 DVU operating the 86 (Liverpool- Garston), which is very rare for Arriva to use any type of Dart on this route, as this is normally operated by DAF DB250's and Volvo B10B/LE's.

• The next update will be in a few days time, when even more photos will be added from Dave Root, with some new ones of my own not far down the line, along with some further fleetlist updates!