Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

• I have now finished all of my University coursework for this semester, so should now be able to do quite a few more updates before Christmas! Thanks to everyone who has continued to sent in useful information, photos etc over the last few weeks, glad to see the support! Thanks to to the person who reported the dodgy entries in the guestbook yesterday, with reference to the quote 'don't like your website go have some i.t lessons', this is exactly why there have been fewer updates than normal, as I am in my IT and Mathematics 3rd year degree lessons!

• There has been quite a few developments over the past few weeks within Merseyside Buses, one very interesting one being the use of Mistral leased Dart MPD's by First on the Wirral to cover for its ailing fleet of electric Technobuses. Those noted so far have been V255 BNV and V256 BNV, neither of which currently have fleetnumbers, whilst both are in overall white livery. Although these were leased especially to run the route E1, they have recently been seen on other Wirral routes, following an inspectional by the Ministry at Firsts Rock Ferry Garage, resulting in some other buses being taken of the road temporarily. Noted recently too by Neil Hilton in the Huyton area has been Wright bodied Dart SLF R532 YRP being operated by Norbus.

• Stagecoach have now national embarked upon a renumbering system, similar in part to FirstGroups system, where each bus is given a 5 digit fleetnumber, which in theory it should keep for its entire life with Stagcoach. This system seems to be a bit tidier than FirstGroups system, with most buses that have been renumbered so far just keeping the last three digits of their current fleetnumbers. On this note, so far no Stagecoach Manchester buses have been noted with new numbers, but almost all First Manchester buses have their 5 digit numbers, so that fleetlist will have a large update quite soon!

• Rather important new too now is that all new Darts are now meant to be branded as TransBus Darts, instead of Dennis Darts, and likewise Plaxton Pointers are now TransBus Pointers, working similarly with all other Alexander/Plaxton/Dennis products all now being TransBus branded. Therefore for clarity in the fleetlists, all new Darts will be shown as TransBus, as will Plaxton Pointers, but those Pointers built in Falkirk still branded as Plaxton will be noted as Alexander Pointer 2s to distinguish them more clearly from the Scarborough built Plaxton Pointers. According to a quote in Buses Focus on TransBus International, TransBus do not intend to supply any Dart chassis to MCV (Marshall Bus UKs buyer), though in the main Buses magazine, it says that the remaining 5 Darts for Warrington Borough Transport are under construction at MCV, so perhaps as these were existing orders we shall have to wait and see if any new Dart/MCV orders are made. On the Merseyside Darts front CMT still haven't received any of their second delivery of TransBus Dart/TransBus Pointer 2 SPDs yet, and as for Halton Transports Dart/ELC Myllenniums, they seem to be nonexistent, certainty to the extent that they weren't delivered in August as was suggested, weather they really were ordered is no certain now, though according to Buses mag, they were ordered from ELC anyhow!

• Some odd workings noted today, first noted on site for a while have been Arriva B10BLE 2708 X708 DBT on the 39 in place of a B6BLE, and most unusually both Volvo Olympian 3331 R331 WVR and DAF DB250 3608 N608 DWY on the 10B! The latter two have happened as a result of the inter working of various Speke and Huyton services of late, due to a driver shortage at Speke. Also noted today was Arriva Dart 2244 X244 HJA on the 62 (Penny Lane - CrosbY), this Dart being on loan to Bootle from Manchester, whilst similar 2237 X237 ANC is on loan to Manchester, as this is camera fitted.

• Further news that has been missed from this update in the last few weeks is in some of the fleetlists, including a full list of Arriva camera fitted buses in the Arriva Dart and Modern fleetlists (no Older Buses have cameras!). Finally I must thank all of you who have helped with this website over the last few years, all your information is of a very high quality, some of which couldn't be known without the 'insiders' that contribute! Thank you :-)

• Even though there has been nearly two weeks since the last news update, not a lot has really happened in between! Due to me having quite a lot of Uni work, news updates, until Christmas, and maybe later next year will only be every two weeks or so until I finish all my coursework etc - For more news check out the Merseyside Buses Yahoo Group and the Dennis Dart Yahoo Group as I, as well as many others are able to post info to this much more quickly than getting it onto the website - There is also quite a bit of news on some of the fleetlists, so as not to keep repeating the same info, check those out for more info too!!! Thanks to everyone who has sent in their 'Bus Preservation' info, this article should be added shortly, hopefully sometime this, or next week!

• Norbus have now added another Dart to its fleet, this time being a longer 10.7M Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dart, T342 PNV which internally seems to be very similar to S377 TMB which was used by CMT recently, with two wheelchair bays, so is probably also B41F! A1A Travel also have a new Dart MPD now, which just entered service last week, registered SG52 VFP, which is currently in unbranded overall white livery, currently carrying no fleetnumber, thanks to Mike Bennett for this info! None of CMT Buses, Halton Transport, Supertravel or Warrington Borough Transport who were all expected to get Darts delivered around now have received any yet, though another operator Nip-On is expecting a short Caetano Nimbus bodied Dart for Kirkby services - Thanks to Christopher Walsh for the Nip-On info!

• Due to similarities with the Dart I have also decided to include the TransBus Enviro300 to the Dennis Dart Fleetlists, this applying to Stagecoach Manchester 52 RV52 OGL as the Dennis built chassis mechanically is almost identical to the Dart (other gearboxes available too), just wider a 2.55M and longer at 12M (12.5M optional), in fact the Manchester one apparently even has an Alexander's builder plate on the bodywork! Details of the Dennis (Dart) 12M or 12.5M/TransBus Enviro300 (Later an Enviro200 body will replace the Plaxton Pointer and the ALX200 on the standard Darts, ALX200 production already having had stopped), to the Dart Facts page.

• Two years old today! You can a replica of the index page from two years ago (with the adverts, as original 20m server!) here and last years actual index page here - All links on these pages go back to this site! Counter is now over 20,000 visitors, giving an average 10,000 per year, but really the last 10,000 have been since Wednesday 20/03/02, so the last 10,000 have only taken 8 months - The Dennis Dart Yahoo Group is doing really well now too, with the total number of members close to 120, so let me thank each and every one of you who are reading this for doing so and making the site such a success! I would also like to thank everyone who has emailed any amount of information into the site, big or small, and all the photographers photographs whose work is shown on the photographs pages! Thank You!

• Following an MBC trip to Various local bus garages on Saturday, some more GTL names are as follows, 7411 K872 LGN is RHIANNON, 7412 K582 MGT is CHELSEY, 7413 K584 MGT is IAN and 7414 K585 MGT is SIAN! Also whilst at Arrivas Skelmersdale garage is was discovered that Dart SLF/Marshall Capital 7650 V650 DVU is now out of service, being used as a seat store - Not sure exactly what is wrong with it, but their is a sign by the water filler for the buses reminding the drivers to ensure that they put the water in the water filler, not the fuel filler on the 'new' Darts, so maybe this is the one that the driver got the wrong way around! Hopefully it will be repaired and re-enter service shortly!

• Not a great deal else happened this last week, so I will remind you that I am going to add another article to the site similar to last years 'Your Favourtes!' page, but this time the question to the readers of the site is:

'Which bus, of any type and with any operator, that is currently in service would you like to see eventually preserved?'

• Also let me know if you have an answer to my dilemma, as to weather or not to add Stagecoach Manchester's TransBus Enviro300, 52 RV52 OGL to its Dennis Dart Fleetlist, as really the chassis, which has no name is mechanically identical to the current Euro 3 Dart SPD, and is built by Dennis at Guildford, the main difference being that the Enviro300 is 12M long and 2.5M wide, where as the SPD is 11.3M long, 2.45M wide! - Let me know if you have any ideas!

• Not a great deal of news to report this week, not many new buses entering service at the moment, as the operators probably want to wait until after Hallow'een before putting their new buses on the road, save having them vandalised so much when branded new- I think this is the case with Halton Transports new ELC bodied Darts, so I would expect to see the first three on the road not long after Guy Fawkes night, which incidentally is also this sites 2nd birthday! Neil Hilton has kindly provided some photos of quite a lot of interest, so I have included these in todays news.

• Arriva Midlands North though, have just added some more Dart MPDs to its collection, those being BF52 NZN, BF52 NZO & BF52 NZP, which are for Oswestry depot - These currently show no external fleetnumbers, so if anyone knows what their numbers are, please let me know!

• Stagecoach Manchester are the first North West operator to operate a vehicle from the new TransBus Enviro range, as they have started using TransBus Enviro300, which has a great matching registration/fleet number 52 RV52 OGL - This is a Stagecoach group demonstrator, likely to visit many other group companies, and so is in new Stagecoach swoops livery, with corporate interior!

• Further Glenvale Transport Darts are now entering service, with 7405 K577 MGT - NEIL, now in service, a photo of which, taken by Neil Hilton at Gillmoss can be seen here. A line up of the following Darts at Gillmoss, 7416 K591 MGT ERIN, 7414 K585 MGT, 7412 K582 MGT, 7407 K857 LGN, 7410 K870 LGN DEBBIE, 7408 K859 LGN JUDE, 7417 K592 MGT, 7415 K587 MGT REECE & 7409 K868 LGN can be seen here.

• First in the Wirral seem to be having quite a few problems of late with its electrically powered Gulliver Technobuses, a lot of journeys on the E1 have been operated by other First vehicles, including this one, 50062 H359 JRE a Mercedes Minibus, with PMT Ami bodywork, taken by Neil Hilton at Woodside. Also taken by Neil on the Wirral was one at the new 12 Quays development, where many buses from TransBus Alexander (Belfast) and Wrightbus are delivered to mainland UK, and this photo shows some Stagecoach London Tridents with Alexander ALX400 bodywork (most ALX400s seem to be built in Belfast now, as most production at Falkirk is on Plaxton Pointers), and also a Go North East Scania L94UA/Wright Solar, an Arriva DAF SB120/Wright Cadet (or is it A DAF SB200/Wright Commander?) and furthest to the right, a Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini, for London.

• Final photo is of one of the recently applied UNI QLO adverts, of which two Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine IIs, have had applied, Birkenhead allocated 3277 and Speke 3336. This view shows 3277 - Just have to wait how long it lasts before any windows are broken!

• Following from last weeks story of Arriva Dart 7570 R570 ABA operating on some Speke routes, this week 7537 P537 MBU has been noted - This is apparently not from vehicle loans, but because a certain number of Speke operating diagrams have been transferred to Huyton, those being most (if not all) 192s, along with some 73s and 75s - Most interesting bus to see on these routes would be an ex Liverbus B10B!

• As part of the 2nd anniversary of this site, next Tuesday 5th November, I am going to add another article to the site similar to last years 'Your Favourtes!' page, but this time the question to the readers of the site is:

'Which bus, of any type and with any operator, that is currently in service would you like to see eventually preserved?'

For this you could list which particular bus from a few operators that you might like, such as one from Arriva, another from GTL etc. If you would like to contribute to this page, which I hope you do, please email your thought to me on buses7675@dennisdart.co.uk, or fill out the form above!

• Another operator of the Dart MPD now on Merseyside is Matthews Travel, who have a new MPD, noted by Michael Bennett as SK02 TYS, which is in a blue/green 'Neston Rider' livery, with branding for the 272 (Neston - Arrowe Park). As this Dart has only just appeared on Merseyside, but isn't 52 reg, it could have been an ex TransBus demonstrator, registered when built at Alexander's Falkirk works, hence the Scottish SK registration - If anyone knows this is correct, or if I've got the wrong end of the stick altogether please let me know!

• CMT Buses, who are due another 5 Dennis Dart SPD/Plaxton Pointer 2s very soon, are now expected to get an extra 7 buses as well (this may possibly include those SPDs, so it could be 2 extra, this is not yet confirmed), for an increase in frequency on the 10A - Weather the exrta ones will be brand new or second hand, or even the vehicle type is not yet confirmed, but personally I would say they would either just be more new Dart SPDs, or nearly new 2nd hand Darts from somewhere.

• Halton Transport are now starting to fit its buses with a Smart timecheckers, presumably for route 14 (Liverpool - Runcorn), as this follows the entire of route 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) which is being upgraded to Smart status. The first noted by me with the timechecker was 29 DG02 WXV noted on the 14 yesterday morning, another today was 24 Y207 PFM. Probably only those buses with full wheelchair access, (i.e. 18 - 33) will be fitted with these timecheckers, as Darts 79 - 90 and 1 - 17, aren't fitted with wheelchair ramps, or a proper bay with a backrest for the wheelchair to go in, and so wouldn't count as 'Smart buses'! (Likewise for the Lynxes, as they are obviously not low floor!) - All new buses being built now must comply with DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) requirements, so it would be quite safe to say that the ELC bodied Darts which are expected to enter service sometime next month will be fully compliant, and might have these timecheckers fitted prior to entering service.

• Arriva NW&W have had another vehicle loan this week too, Dart SLF 7570 R570 ABA, has been noted operating from Speke, when this bus is normally allocated to Huyton.

• As part of the 2nd anniversary of this site on the 5th November, I am going to add another article to the site similar to last years 'Your Favourtes!' page, but this time the question to the readers of the site is:

'Which bus, of any type and with any operator, that is currently in service would you like to see eventually preserved?'

For this you could list which particular bus from a few operators that you might like, such as one from Arriva, another from GTL etc. If you would like to contribute to this page, which I hope you do, please email your thought to me on buses7675@dennisdart.co.uk, or fill out the form above!

• Just a couple more recent photos to add today, two from the Wirral Bus and Tram show, as below - Next update should be next week!

• Just as short news update, as there isn't much to report! - After a very short time allocated to Runcorn, Arriva NW&W are already returning Dart SLF 7535 P535 MBU back to Huyton, as soon as all the Darts used on Rail Replacement work are returned to Runcorn. Also the recently delivered ex Arriva London Darts (those being 1330 - 1333, M160 SKR - M163 SKR, formerlyDP160 - DP163 of which 1330 & 1331 are allocated to St Helens, 1332 & 1333 to Skelmersdale) have now started to enter service, with Skelmersdale allocated 1332 M162 SKR operating on the 311 (Liverpool - Ormskirk) today, featuring new Arriva moquette seat covers!

• I was unable to get down to Sandhills at any point in the last week to see the Rail Replacement work, but it seems that quite a few Darts were used on these services, including many Arriva NW&W Dart SLFs, some from Runcorn garage, at least 7531 N531 DWM, being allocated to Southport to operated the services (ironic really as it has a Southport WM registration, yet this is the first time it has been to Southport garage!), and also some Arriva Manchester X reg Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointers were noted (2242 X242 HJA being one of them), though its not clear from which garage these operated from!

• I've now got my computer a bit more 'together', so this update should cover most of the outstanding news - Once again thanks to all who have helped or offered to help - Your kindness is much appreciated!

• A slight anomaly has been noted recently with the GTL Dart registrations, as GTL appear to have swooped the numbers on a few of them, and then swooped back. 7301 was initially H543 XGK, and at the time named 'JORDAN' - It seemed to lose this name after a short time, but this would have been because H552 XGK then became 7301, and later H543 XGK became 7301 again! - Although I haven't a pic of it when first repainted with the name 'JORDAN' on it, I have a pic taken in the middle section, when H552 XGK was 7301, click here, and a later one, taken by Neil Hilton a few weeks ago, with 7301, as H543 XGK click here!!!

• Currently, with the Arriva Trains Merseyside service between Sandhills - Aintree and Sandhills - Kirkby not operating, as the line was completely closed for track renewal from last Sunday (12th) up to this Sunday (20th) Arriva Merseyside are providing a replacement bus service, using some of its own buses, and many from Arriva Midlands North. Currently noted on the services from Arriva Midlands North as follows: The Scania L113/Plaxton Paladins (really Northern Counties, as built at Wigan, but given Plaxton branding), have coach seating and are branded for the X73 (Birmingham - Nottingham), but now with Arriva Merseyside lettering.

• I intend to make it up to Sandhills at the weekend, so will inform you of any changes on Monday if I know of any! Photos should finally be updated at some time over the weekend, if not Monday, by which time I should have got the rest of my photos together too!

• This weeks news update is very much delayed for several reasons - Initially that I had loads of Uni work during the week, and also when I attempted to update last Friday night, my hard drive was corrupted, most annoyingly after getting all the files ready earlier in the day - I still haven't got all of my files back yet, but I am making good progress - Big thanks must go to Neil Hilton and Karl Sutton who had some of my files on their computers, as I had sent them to them to see what they thought - They have saved me a lot of time and work by not deleting them - Thanks again!

• Glenvale Transport are continuing to acquire further Darts, ex London Central, with there fleet now at 21 (7301 - 7303 and 7401 - 7418) - For more details see the Glenvale Transport Dart Fleetlist. Happy Als now also three new Dart MPDs, 28 VU52 UEH, 33 VU52 UEJ & 34 VU52 UEK, noted by Michael Bennett, John Cooper, and Peter Ferrigan. Quite a few odd workings noted last week included seeing Arriva NW Mercedes Benz 709D/Alexander (Belfast) 159 P179 FNF operating on the 345 (Liverpool - Lydiate) - I intend to add a separate page to be updated each week, solely for the odd workings as there are a lot of interesting ones, which I believe would be better displayed in a table - This should be added either later this week or next week, depending on the state of my computer (also lost the broadband internet connection settings, so can't go online at home) and the amount of Uni work I have!

• Following the collapse of Citybus, some of its routes have now been re tendered. Route 101 (Vauxhall Circulars) is now operated by Norbus, usings its fleet of Dart MPDs, those noted by me so far have been W363 ABD and W967 JNF. On route 201 (Liverpool Royal Hospital - Speke) has very unusually passed to Halton Transport, when I traveled on this route last Wednesday, Dart 28 DG02 WXT was operating the route, with no number or destination set at all, assumedly because the electronic blind control system must have a destination and number before it can be set.

• On that note, also rather interestingly is that Warrington Borough Transport are now to get its remaining Marshall bodied Darts after all, as MCV Bus and Coach, who bought the assets of Marshall Bus (UK), along with all the copyrights etc, is to restart production of the Capital very shortly, with Warrington being one of the first customers - Warrington Borough Transport is also to start a new service later this month, linking Warrington Bank Quay, Warrington Central and Warrington Bus stations, using MetroRider 119 S119 GUB, which is in a special livery for this service, not too dissimilar in colour to the Golden Jubilee Dart 16 V216 JLG!

• Other Arriva NW news is that a three vehilcle move around between three depots has taken place, with Volvo B10B/Wright Endurances 6537, 6541 & 6591 moving from Speke to Runcorn, Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointers 7533, 7534 & 7535 moving from Hutyon to Runcorn, and finally DAF SB120CS/Wright Cadets 2427, 2428 & 2429. The end result of this was to get the three DAFs at Runcorn back at Speke, with the rest of those, so I would expect them to lose their Airlink 82A (Liverpool - Airport) branding quite quickly, as this route isn't even operated by Speke - Along these links, I saw 2427 X427 AJA operating on the 80 during the last week, still with 82A branding and Arriva North West legal lettering!

• Rail Replacement work is due to start on part of the Merseyrail Northern line very shortly, the replacement contract again to be operated by Arriva NW. Already many buses from Arriva Midlands North have arrived including some Olympians and Volvo Citybuses (further details to be added shortly), along with many of a batch of R-reg Scania L113/Northern Counties Paladin IIs, some of which are believed to have been acquired by North West, and therefore will be staying on Merseyside - These are amongst the last Northern Counties Paladins built, and although still built at Wigan, this batch had Plaxton Paladin branding from new. Most of these buses are currently operating out of Green Lane.

• I intend to update again tomorrow (with a bit of luck), but here are a few of my recent photos taken recently at different rallies - Although there is also a pic of Arriva MN 2200 and First Calderline S001 on the last news update, these photos are better!

• Merseyside has now lost THREE bus companies in the last week, as Citybus (JC&AJ Bleasedale T/A Liverpool City Coaches) and Wingates Tours (T/A Coachmaster) have both been closed down following various problems including poor maintenance, and in Citybus's case, though less seriously, failure to use low floor buses on 101 (Vaxhall Circular), whilst M-Travel on the Wirral has surrendered all contracts as of today, probably because they too were due to go to court on Friday for problems including running, punctuality, maintenance records etc, as well as the owner being ill. Although no M-Travel fleetlist is kept on this site, the Citybus Dart, Modern and Older fleetlists, and Wingates Older Fleetlist will remain as they are on the site until next week, so as to allow anyone to keep a copy if they wish, and the relevant Buses added to the Former Darts Fleetlist - I may keep the Citybus lists in the archive fleetlist section anyway, probably as one big combined list, but I'll do that next week. Will be interesting to see who gets Citybus contracts on for the 101 (Vauxhall Circular) and 201 (Royal Liverpool Hospital - Speke), personally I would expect either CMT, Norbus or Supertravel to share the contracts between them, as Arriva don't tend to bother with too many contract services now, but we'll see!

• Before hearing of the above news, I had already made stacks and stacks of changes to the fleetlists this morning, so all the changes are for other companies. CMT Buses has now decided to repaint all of its fleet, that are either not in fleet livery (i.e. those in ABC, Greenbus or Harrogate and District livery), as well as some of the other buses that are looking tatty, as they have had a new spray paint facility fitted - First to be repainted is Volvo B10B/Alexander Strider 2071 M389 VWX, which has large CMT logos, unlike the other repainted one 2070.

• LMS, who also have been to court recently, but appear to be 'off the hook' so to speak, now have a Leyland National Greenway, NIW 6508, original registration GUA 821N, which is ex Arriva Fox County, noted by Dave Root and Neil Hilton, whilst another older bus now being used on Merseyside, by Napier Point is Volvo Citybus/Northern Counties G105 NDN, which is ex Metroline London - When I noted this again today, seeing the nearside, I can confirm too that it is still in dual door format.

• Arriva North Wests Runcorn garage is now also part of Arriva Merseyside, as the 79C (Liverpool - Runcorn) is still registered as an Arriva Merseyside service, as it was just extended further from its original terminus of Netherley, and so still counts as the same route - If Arriva were to reregister it as a proper Arriva North West route, they would be likely to lose there bays at Paradise Street and Queen Square Bus Stations, as apparently other operators, mainly GTL, are queuing to get bays, and if reregistered to Arriva North West it would count as a new service, and so they would be at the back of the queue - As a result all of the buses on the 79C should now either have Arriva Merseyside legal lettering, or an 'On loan to Arriva Merseyside' card in the first nearside window - Once I heard of this news, almost every bus on the route does seem to have either, so Merseytravel must be checking up!

• Some sad news to report is that Arriva Merseyside Scania L113/Wright Axcess Ultralow 5304 P304 HEM, has been destroyed by fire, reportedly by 'children' soaking the rear two rows of seats with lighter fuel and throwing a match in - You can imagine the result. It is now believed to be stored at Green Lane under a large tarpaulin, awaiting a visit from the insurers - This is the first Smart bus to be written off (and if it isn't I seriously will be amazed, as based on the photo from the Echo, its going to need a new body and engine at least), even though Neoplan 6408 is out of service, it probably could be fixed within a short time, as its just been used as a donor bus for the other Neoplans. I am still working on my complete list of all Smart buses, and intend to get it online in time for this sites second birthday, Tuesday 5th November 2002.

• I went to the 'Wigan 100' rally on Sunday, and was pleased to see Arriva Merseyside Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse 2800 Y228 CJW there, so my photos from that event should be on the site in a few weeks, if I finish the film at this Sundays Wirral Bus & Tram show! Although the photos section is updated today with a few pics, I haven't got around to adding my own Showbus Photos properly, so I have liked a few of them here!

• Thats about it for this week - As I now have a lot more University work than previously, ther will now probably only be one news and fleetlists update per week on average, and the photos done every other week!

• I spent a good day on Sunday at Showbus, and have put a film in today for processing, (took around 40 pics!), so I should be able to get at least a few online tomorrow! Highlights included seeing Arrivas so called 'Bus of the Future' Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse LF02 PVA, which is currently at Arriva Midlands North as its 2200 - This to me did seem very impressive, seemingly having more legroom and more comfortable seats than some of the modern coaches on show!

• Other highlights included seeing two First Student Bluebird AAREs (One from First Chester, the other First Calderline), whilst the gold bus parade was very memorable! Sadly the expected Kowloon Motor Bus TransBus Enviro500 didn't appear, but instead a brand new unregistered KMB Tri-Axle Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX500 took its place.

• Surprisingly, given where that the event was in Duxford near Cambridge, close to where Marshall Bus was based, there was only one modern Marshall bodied bus, Volvo B6/Marshall C37 L660 MFL from Regal Busways, the closest others being Phoenix Student Travel Duple Dartline bodied Dart G29 TGW, and only just the ex New World First Bus, Hong Kong Plaxton Pointer Dart SLFs that were rebuilt to single door by Marshalls - As a result this year, there was no prize for best modern Marshall Bus, as there was last year! Neil Hilton has informed me that the Wirral Transport Museums Routemaster, RM1101 KFF 367 did very well at Showbus, and won the award for 'Best Council Owned Bus' - Well Done to all involved at the the Museum and Taylor Street!

• Other news to report is that Arriva Speke garage appear to have ex North Western Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer 1177 M177 YKA, seen on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) on Monday, numbers defiantly set to 79, destination set to blank - Also noted on Monday, this time on the 79C (Liverpool - Runcorn), which is operated by Runcorn garage was ex MTL Dart Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 0805 S875 SNB, whilst rather unusually on CMTs 79 today is DAF SB220/Northern Counties Paladin II 6019 N600 ABC, which has now finally lost its route 284 branding, which is still wore when I saw it in St Helens in August, though considering its not been on the 284 for a good while now, its not before time that its been de branded! Finally, noted on the 39 (Alder Hey - St Helens) yesterday was Arrivas only other Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse 2800 Y228 CJW, the 'Bus of the Future' being the other!

• I have also been informed that both Happy Als and A1A Travel are expected to receive some more MPDs each soon, those at A1A expected to replace at least MetroRider 51! Avon Coaches now have an ex MTL Leyland Olympian/Alexander, F243 YTJ, the former MTL 0243 - This is in Avon fleet livery, thanks must go to Neil Hilton and co, for helping identify this bus! Dave Root has informed me too that Maghull Coaches Cavern City Tours division has received another Bedford VAL, this time with Plaxton Elite II bodywork is SCK 56K - This one is believed to have been reregistered at some point, as it isn't listed is a list Dave has of VAL registrations! Finally another bus to grace the streets of Merseyside (This time seen by me!) is Volvo Citybus/Alexander G149 TYT, which is operated by Napier Point - Without researching this buses history, it must have belonged to part of Arriva at some point, as the seats are covered in Arriva blue fabric!

• Production of the TransBus Enviro300 is now underway, with Truronian receiving the first two 12M production models, whilst a Stagecoach liveried demonstrator has been noted recently too - So far as I know, the prototype, seen in Buses mag, is the only 12.5M one built so far! These are very similar mechanically to the Dennis Dart SPD, having the same engine, gearbox (though a ZF box is available, on the Dart SPD, just the Alison and Voith are available), rear axles, retarder etc, though there are some big improvements, such as fitting disk brakes all round, and ABS. Although this is being sold as an integral bus, really it has a Dennis chassis, with an Alexander body - Also on this subject, according to TransBus's own website the Alexander ALX200 body is not built at all now - For a while, both the Pointer 2 and ALX200 were built at Alexander's Falkirk works, although even then the ALX200 was only available on longer Darts, the MPD wa Plaxton only, even though in the past mini ALX200s had been built, such as those with Supertravel, A1A Travel and Happy Als.

• Finally some interesting news on Glenvale Transport is that as of the 13th October they intend to start operating ex Liverbus route 212 (Liverpool - Huyton) every day, and the following day, start the 274/275 (Liverpool - Huyton) Mon to Sat - Liverbus lives!

• Only the news is updated today, although fleetlists and photos need to be done, I've been busy this week talking to all the people I haven't seen all summer in Uni, so haven't got around to an update - As lectures restart again next week, should be able to update more often - Although I'm starting 3rd year now, I still haven't got a clue what I want to do for next year, so long as I pass everything!!!

• Lots of news to get through today, most interestingly, GTL now have another four DRL Dennis Darts from London Central, K859 LGN, K868 LGN, K870 LGN & K872 LGN, fleetnumbers are currently unconfirmed - More GTL Darts are named too now, details will be added when fleetlist is updated next!

• Citybus are apparently currently in difficulties, so may not be trading for very much longer - In the immediate time, they are also having bus shortages, with three buses apparently currently off the road, including Marshall bodied Dart SLF S512 KTL, which has apparently sustained serious front end damage. As a result, route 101 (Vauxhall Circular) has had some rather strange buses of late, including Leyland Lynx E262 WSD, and even stranger Alexander bodied Lynx HXI 3009, neither of which comply with the Merseytravel low floor policy for that route!

• It has now been discovered by Peter Ferrigan that the reason for CMT using that white Dart was whilst SPD 2088 PN02 KCE went back to TransBus/Plaxton/Alexander's (whatever!) to be cured of many rattles - Following the improvements, the rest of the batch will now have similar treatment! Quite a few of these have been on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley) throughout the week, probably to see how capable they are, before the 79 gets converted to Smart status - I think when this happens, later batches on SPDs will be mainly used on the 79. Arriva are apparently eventually meant to be getting new buses for the 79C (Liverpool - Runcorn), to replace the East Lancs EL2000s which mainly operate this route now, though an unidentified DAF SB120CS/Wright Cadet (One of 2427 - 2429) was on it today, and various Dart SLFs do sometimes work it too!

• On the electric buses in St Helens, these are apparently to be operated by Selwyns of Runcorn, (Not sure how they'll make it to and from St Helens every day on batteries), but according to the Merseymart, they are to be in standard Smart Eco livery! Many Arriva buses (mainly Bootle ones) are being fitted with timecheckers, that aren't used on Smart routes, another one I noticed the other day was in Alexander ALX200 bodied Dart SLF 2264 X264 OBN.

• First PMT are now starting to receive Marshall bodied Darts from First London for the Stoke area garages, those apparently moving are P117 NLW - P127 NLW and P138 NLW - P141 NLW! - Neil Hilton has managed to get some photos, here is P118 NLW in Barbie 1 livery, and P126 NLW in First London red, both taken in Stoke on the 7th September!

• Next update will probably be on Tuesday, as I'm off to Showbus at the weekend (going by train tomorrow, so as I don't have to get up at 4 to go with the MBC on Sunday!), but local buses that are expected to go are the Wirral Transport Museums Purple/Gold RM 1101 KFF 367 (Exhibit no 15) is traveling down tomorrow in order to get there early, and the MBC are taking Aintree Coachline Iveco Eurorider/Beulas Y5 ACL (Exhibit no 821) down on Sunday morning! First Manchester are sending down stacks of buses, First Chester are sending a Bluebird AARE down too! - Bye!

• Route 79C (Liverpool - Runcorn) is still throwing up surprises, the most interesting one being Volvo B10B 6614 N614 CKA operating it yesterday, this bus being on loan to Runcorn from Speke. 'Trixmax' informs me that the reason for this loan is to cover for First Crosville, who themselves haven't got enough vehicles for their part of the 21 (Runcorn - Chester), a route shared between Arriva (Runcorn) and First (Chester), and it was decided that Arriva would cover more than its own number of journeys to keep the service going. It was decided to send this vehicle out on the 79C instead of the 21, and use other buses for the 21!

• Loads of photos are added today, but two of of significant note - One if of the first 52 reg bus to appear on this site, DG52 TYT operated by DG Coaches, but owned by Stoke Council, and taken by Ian Simspson last Saturday - Click Here to see this photo - The other is one by me, taken of Citybus Alexander bodied Lynx HXI 3009 - Click Here to see this photo - Both of these photos, along with many more new ones are on the Photos Page!

• Further news is that apparently Merseytravel are to introduce another electric bus system next month, in the St Helens area, using 6 similar vehicles to those in Birkenhead, but bigger versions, called the Technobus Pantheon. These are meant to be operated like Smart buses, but due to the way in which funding is being provided, are to be in an green based AlterEco livery! I'm not yet sure on routes, operators, garages or any further details, but some other info can be found at the Merseytravel Website!

• The Arriva NW&W Dart fleetlist is completely updated today, with all the new September allocations for the Darts, and there are a lot of them - The Older Buses and Modern Buses fleetlists will be treated similarly shortly!

• Further news on the CMT operated Dart S377 TMB it is in fact B41F, quite high for a 10.7M Dart, and it doesn't feel too cramped inside either, as I have traveled on this a few times on the 79 (Liverpool - Netherley), the route it seems to spend most of its time on now. Looking through my old messages, this one was reported at the Eden Project site during the summer, but apparently CMT have it whilst Dart SPD 2090 PN02 KCG is cured of an oil leak!

• Reported running around the Wirral yesterday, along Gorsey Lane in Wallasey on Trade Plates, was a First liveried Volvo B7TL or Dennis Trident with Alexander ALX400 bodywork - This could have been delivery from Alexander Belfast, via 12 Quays - Anyone any idea which fleet it is due for?

• Further Arriva renumberings this week are of ex London Dual Door Scanias 1071 - 1084 which are now 2041 - 2054, leaving just the ex MTL Scanias 5301 - 5320 to be numbered in the 20xx Low Floor Scania series!

• Another bus now noted fitted with a Smart timechecker is Arriva Dart SLF 2217 X217 ANC - Could this be a Smart spare for Bootle, or is it about to be repainted in full Smart livery?! Arriva NWs 79C (Liverpool - Runcorn) got underway on Monday, and for the whole of Monday, the route was operated entirely with EL2000 bodied Darts, but by Tuesday Dart SLF 0808 S878 SNB had kept on, and with this being a B28F Dart, it is possibly the lowest capacity bus to operate on the 79, even the CMT Greenbus Dart 2085 V484 LCW that operated on a Saturday in the summer is B29F, even though it is 0.4M shorter!

• Loads of other odd workings noted this week, mainly on Monday include CMT DAF SB220/Northern Counties Paladin II 6019 N600 ABC on the 79 - This is the first time I have ever seen this on this route, as it spends most of its life on the 319 (Southport - St Helens)!

• Arriva Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse 2800 Y228 CJW, on the 10 (Liverpool - St Helens) also on Monday - This appears to have a FirstGroup style interior spec, just in Arriva colours, with the same seats, bonded glazing (I think double glazed too), though all finished off in Arriva blue.

• Arriva Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown 2727 Y727 KNF was on the 300 (Liverpool - Southport) on Monday, so this one at least has been reallocated to Southport from Green Lane - 2729 has also moved to St Helens, but at least 2725 was still at Green Lane. Arriva Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 0802 S872 SNB was on the 82A/32A (Liverpool - Airport - Runcorn) on Monday, with these short Darts, along with the DAF SB120CS/Wright Cadets now meant to be normal buses for this route.

• Some interesting news today is that CMT Buses are currently operating an overall white (Apart from small CMT logos immediately below the front windscreens) 10.7M Plaxton Pointer/Dart SLF reg S377 TMB with no fleetnumber! Peter Ferrigan alerted me to this vehicle, and I saw it on the 53 today, it appears to be B39F, though interestingly it has TWO full wheelchair bays (One each side at the front), each having a proper backrest for a wheelchair. Currently I have no further details of this bus, anyone who does is welcome to send them to me! CMT Volvo B10BLE 2052 W468 CRN has now also had a Smart Timechecker fitted, probably for use on either service 79 or 284 - Both of which are expected to become commercially operated Smart services soon, the 79 at least now has had almost all of its stop flags/shelters replaced in the last two months or so!

• Arriva have also now started to reallocate its Scania/Northern Counties, with at least 1054 and 1057 moved from Skelmersdale to St Helens, both on the 10/10A (Liverpool - St Helens) yesterday! Still no sign of any 52 reg buses on Merseyside (Halton must have kept their ones in store), but Blue Bus of Horwich did get one of their Ikarus Polaris DAFs in service on 01/09/02 with an 52 reg!

• Just a quick note too, following some plagiarism on other Yahoo groups, I have set up a new Halton Transport Yahoo Group! - Please feel free to join! Also the Free Email boxes have now been totally removed from this site - This is because of the poor quality service that everyone.net gave, and the fact they wanted to charge me for it! All my addresses (even the dennisdart.every1.net one) still work though, as they all forward to my main email account, from which all my email is sent, so keep those contributions coming in!

• Most interesting piece of news noted this week is that Halton Transport already have had its first three East Lancs bodied Darts delivered, and they are reported as having ELC Myllennium Spryte bodies! They are apparently currently stored in Halton Councils depot (Not the bus depot), and were initially expected to enter service in November, though I suspect they may possibly enter service as early as tomorrow - The earliest opportunity to give the 52 registrations - We shall see! Another interesting development at Halton Transport too is that Marshall bodied Dart 83 P345 OEW has now had in internal refurbishment, with the whole ceiling replaced with a new Marshall curved ceiling, with curved grab pole to match - Other modifications include recovering all seats with new moquette, repainting all grab poles yellow (originally green) and repainting the seat frames and heaters black!

• Some odd workings noted by Peter Ferrigan have been Arriva Marshall Dart 7661 V661 DVU very unusually on Smart 5 on Tuesday 27th, whilst last weekend both 7641 V641 DVU and DAF 2403 R153 GNW were on the 86 (Liverpool - Garston) on Bank Holiday Monday. Finally last Saturday an Arriva Northern Counties Scania L113 on service X5 crashed into the back of a car on Speke Boulevard, just past the matchworks heading into town. There were major delays due to the Creamfields event, but it appeared to have almost no damage as it was driven back to Runcorn Depot!

• A few important bits of info missed from yesterdays notes are that Volvo B10Bs 6507, 6524, 6547 - 6552 are moving from Southport to Speke, and Scanias 5321, 5322, 1003, 5324 and 1005 - 1034 are to be renumbered 2001 - 2034, these having originally been numbered 1001 - 1034 anyway. The step entrance, ex London and ex MTL Scanias are not being renumbered as of yet, but the low floor ex MTL and London may be done in the near future. (I also got yesterdays day wrong, put Sunday instead on Monday!!!)

• 'Trixmax' has advised me too that the Replacement for route 79C (Liverpool - Netherley), which is currently operated by Speke, will still have the same number, but simply be extended to Runcorn from some time in September, and become operated by Runcorn garage - Sad news is that it is expected that most of the buses on this route will be East Lancs EL2000 Dennis Darts! Runcorn route 32A (Runcorn - Airport) is now expected to go low floor at the same time, using short B28F Dart SLFs 0802 - 0809 S872 SNB - S879 SNB, as well as the DAF Cadets that currently operate it.

• Further to the news that Supertravel are selling off its Marshall Minibuses, Neil Hilton has advised me that they currently only have one remaining (013 R113 VLX, on the 202/204 today!), which is used as a spare bus, in case any of the Darts, cannot enter service. Not sure exactly when the Dart SPDs are due at Supertravel, but six are due in any case, and I would personally expect them by the end of the year! Other local companies due 52 reg buses so far are Halton Transport, who are due 3 ELC Spryte (Possibly Myllennium Sprytes) 11.3M Dennis Dart SPDs in November, with another 8 due later, though no date is set, and also CMT who are due another 5 Dennis Dart SPD/Plaxton Pointer 2 in October.

• Dave Root noted further use of Arriva Spekes Volvo Olympians on other work this weekend, with at least 3331 - R331 WVR, 3335 - R335 WVR and 3337 - R337 WVR on loan for the Flower Show circuits. This now means that some of these Olympians have been on loan to three different places this summer, Manchester for the Commonwealth Games, Arriva Midlands North for V2002 and the Southport Flower Show - Olympian 3337 - R337 WVR, currently Arriva Merseyside's newest double decker has reportedly been to all three of these events!

• Arriva are about to have a huge number of reallocations, some of these have even changed since a put notes on the fleetlist the other day! There are so many it is hard to list them here, so they will all be done next week, as they are meant to all move in early September, but here is an overview!

B10Bs 6582 - 6585, 6599, 6601, 6603 ~ St Helens to Green Lane
B10Bs 6613 - 6622 ~ St Helens to Speke
B10BLEs 2722 - 2728 ~ Green Lane to Southport, for route 284
B10BLEs 2729, 2730 ~ Green Lane to St Helens
Citybuses 3679, 3692 ~ Skelmersdale to St Helens
Citybuses 3695, 3699 ~ Skelmersdale to Birkenhead
Citybuses 3680, 3682 ~ Bootle to Southport
Darts 1118, 1119 ~ Rhyl to Llandudno
Dart 1124 ~ Wythenshawe to Skelmersdale
Darts 1189 1190 ~ St Helens to Skelmersdale
Darts 1715, 1716 ~ Pool at Wrexham to Skelmersdale
Darts 1258, 1259 ~ Green Lane - Skelmersdale
Dart SLFs (Marshall) 7635 - 7650 and 7673 - 7676 ~ Speke to Skelmersdale
Dart SLFs (Plaxton) 7563 - 7566 ~ Green Lane - Llandudno
Dart SLFs (Plaxton) 7567, 7568 ~ Speke to Skelmersdale
Lynx 1719 ~ Aberystwyth to Skelmersdale (For Schools)
Lynxes 1712, 1713 ~ Aberystwyth to Southport (For Schools)
Lynx 1714 ~ Pool at Wrexham to Southport (For Schools)
Lynx 1741 ~ Llandudno to Bangor
Scanias 1008, 1011, 1024, 1026, 1030, 1032 ~ Skelmersdale to Green Lane
Scanias 1033, 1035, - 1040, 1050 - 1061, 1065 ~ Skelmersdale to St Helens

• There are a few more but this is the main idea - Interesting ones are that both Green Lane and Speke are loosing all of their Darts, whilst Southport is getting some Lynxes for school contracts, including an ex Halton Transport one, acquired by Arriva Cymru from Devaway! More proper news tomorrow!

• Just a quick news update today - I will update the fleetlists, photos and odd workings news on Tuesday!

• Two new types of bus are about to operate/have just started to on Merseyside, as Arriva Merseyside are currently operating Arriva demonstrator Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse Y228 CJW, which is numbered 2800 and is operating from St Helens garage - It is suggested that this may be for driver familiarisation, as St Helens may be due a batch of at least 10 new Volvo B7Ls in September, though this does need to be confirmed. More new bus news is that Halton Transport have apparently ordered another 11 11.3M Super Darts, to be delivered in three batches, one 3 and two 4s, but unlike previous deliveries, these will have ELC Spryte bodywork (Possibly ELC Myllennium Spryte, we shall have to wait and see!), instead of Marshall Capital bodywork, following the demise of Marshall Bus (UK), and as a result, Halton 33 DF02 EKC may be the last bus body built by Marshall bus!