• The website has now been hosted on new servers at CS New Media hosting for a good few weeks now, all is running well!  The site now seems to be faster (especially on pages with many photos or with mySQL database searches) but crucially far more webspace and bandwith, allowing the site to expand somewhat, such that all the photo galleries are now up to date and sorted, with far more pics being added every week!  So far this month there are already three 'news' 'galleries as well as some themed galleries.  The themed galleries section contains collections of photographs that aren't really 'news' photos, but are nevertheless very interesting, many of these are of classic photographs, but some are much more modern collections, hence I renamed the galleries section from classic photographs!  All new photos added to the site now too are also 'dartslf.com' watermarked in order to reduce the possibility of photo theft, as last month some of Mark Haldons photos were taken and used on a fotopic site, the owner of the site claimed they had taken them themselves when it was clear they were from this site with the copyright notice cropped out. Fotopic kindly closed down the site within days of it being reported to them. All older pics will be branded in the next few weeks too!  I am personally more than happy for people to save copies of any photographs to their computer to view, but using photographs online (especially after cutting out copyright notices!) without first obtaining permission from the photographer, is in theory theft!

• On the 14/05/2007 somewhat surprisingly, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton Coachbuilders (again, almost!) thus bringing together almost all of what was TransBus International, with the exception of the now closed Alexander (Belfast) and Northern Counties/Plaxton (Wigan) factories.  Quite what fate now lies for the Plaxton products and brand I'm not sure, but Alexander Dennis have apparently made a pledge to update the Plaxton coach range and I do hope keep the Plaxton name, at least on the coaches.  As for the Plaxton Centro and Plaxton Primo buses, I tend to think the Plaxton Primo may well be developed into an Alexander Dennis Enviro100 at some point (I did read it was based on designs for a TransBus Enviro100 anyway in the first place!), the Plaxton Centro though could end up being replaced by the Enviro200 body eventually, as the Enviro200 body is available on the MAN 14.240/A66 chassis, it could probably be easily adapted to cover the chassis the Centro build on, the Volvo B7RLE, VDL SB180 and VDL SB200, though seeing as the VDL buses were initially intended to compete with the Dart by being mechanically almost identical, it is somewhat ironic that Alexander Dennis are now building bodies for them!

• On the subject of Plaxton Primos, ACE Travel have recently been using Mistral demonstrator MX07 BAA [photo:Mark Hodge] on its services in the Wirral, though this was returned to Mistral a few weeks ago, but has since reappeared with Eazibus [photo:Neil Hilton], though only for around a week to cover for one of the Solos that is unavailable.  Eazibus also have Optare Solo MX55 WCW on loan from Mistral, [photo:Neil Hilton] to cover for another of its Solos with much more serious damage, following an RTA last week.  Raddoneur too have begun operating Primos in the Wirral recently too, with MX07 BCZ [photo:Dave Root] (which was strangely delivered in Southhampton City Clipper yellow, though quickly repainted white) and MX07 NTN [photo:Mark Haldon] both in use in overall white.

• I managed to get a ride on the Eazibus EBL Plasma/Plaxton Primo MX07 BAA on the 167 (Garston Circular) on Monday and being honest, the Primo didn't seem a bad bus to me really, (insides weren't all that different to that Enviro200Dart demo I went on at Christmas other than the Urban 90 seats!) though my main complaint with it seems to be the almost total absence of any proper suspension, which when coupled with the Urban 90 seats and plenty of speed bumps isn't such a good idea! If ADL go on to develop this as an Enviro100 or something with a Dennis chassis, I do hope they at least similar suspension to the Dart SLFs!  Although on these the chassis is officially built by Enterprise Bus Limited (EBL), this is apparently division that TransBus had set up in Hungary, were they build the chassis and a lot of the body frame for the Primo in a factory in Budapest.  What I'm not sure of is is EBL is totally independent or was largely financed by Plaxton, so what happens to it now that Plaxton is owned by Alexander Dennis?

• Avon Buses have recently purchased another two new Alexander Dennis Dart SLF/MCV Evolution, this time 9.2M B32F examples, 107 AE07 DZS [photo:Mark Haldon] and 207 AE07 DZT [photo:Mark Haldon].   These are the first Euro4 engined Darts to be owned by an operator on Merseyside (in the pic of 207 AE07 DZT the AdBlue filler cover is visible under the emergency exit door) but it does bring the confusion as to what is meant to be the difference between the Euro4 Dart SLF chassis and the Euro4 Enviro200Dart chassis, other than the Enviro200Dart chassis has the dashboard attached to the steering column!  The Enviro200Dart chassis has been bodied by other manufacturers too, East Lancs have recently built on examples of both Euro4 Dart chassis - Perhaps the only difference is the dashboard, and it is more an option, rather than a truly different chassis?

• Arriva continue to have more VDLs delivered, the latest examples being VDL SB200/Wright Pulsars, destined for Rhyl and Llandudno.  Some of these have recently been delivered to depots in Wales, though some remain stored at Green Lane, probably pending visits to Bootle to have ticket machines etc added, before being picked up and taken to their new home.  Seen at Green Lane in the last week of May by Karl Wilton were a number of these, including 2652 CX07 CUC [photo:Karl Wilton], one of many in the depot at the time.  The fleetnumbers of these new Pulsars are believed to be 2642 - 2659 and much like the Commander design, they are B44F, and as seen in this interior pic, [photo:Karl Wilton] the only noticeable change internally is the offside centre emergency exit door rather than rear, and the seat directly behind the driver now faces forward instead of sideways!

• Arriva have been reinstated and some unusual vehicles lately, due to increased vehicle requirements while buses from Speke are in Manchester on Metrolink Rail Replacements.  Amongst the odd vehicles reinstated are Dennis Lance/Plaxton Verde 1900 L205 YAG which is now operating from Bootle depot, whilst at Birkenhead, they have DAF SB220/Ikarus Citibus 1790 K130 TCP, 1792 K132 TCP, 1793 K250 CBA & 1794 K510 RJX.  A very unusual arrival at Speke to cover for missing ALX400s now too is DAF SB220/Northern Counties Paladin II 1799 M849 RCP [photo:Karl Wilton], apparently for general use, though I've not seen it out yet, whilst more 'standard' buses also here on loan are Volvo B10B/Wright Endurance 6525 M525 WHF, 6529 M529 WHF, 6531 M531 WHF, 6541 M541 WHF, 6586 N586 CKA & 6592 N592 CKA and DAF DB250RS/Northern Counties Palatine II 3615 V715 LWT, 3616 R201 CKO, 3617 R202 CKO, 3618 R203 CKO.  I'm not sure exactly which of the Volvo B7TL/Alexander Dennis ALX400s are at Bolton for Metrolink work, but Dave Root spotted 4112 CX55 EBF & 4125 CX06 EBG [photo:Dave Root] at Bury Interchange last week, along with new VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet 2636 CX07 CRZ [photo:Dave Root].

• Arriva have now rebranded the buses for the 6/7 (Liverpool - Huyton/Warrington) yet again, this time with the latest Le bus style branding.  This is now the 4th set of branding the 22xx X2xx ANC reg Darts have received since new, initially with 6/7 (Liverpool - Huyton) branding [photo:Simon Ackers], which was latest altered to add Warrington on, then the purple Le bus 6/7 (Liverpool - Huyton/Warrington) [photo:Andy Rigby], followed by the generic orange Le bus (Liverpool - Huyton - St Helens - Warrington) [photo:Andy Rigby] and now red Le bus 6/7 (Liverpool - Huyton/Warrington) [photo:Karl Wilton]!  Interestingly though, two additional Darts, previously Le bus 14 branded, have been branded for the 6/7, 2282 P182 LKL & 2286 P420 HVX [photo:Karl Wilton].

• Arriva Southport Olympian 3365 S45 SNB has a rather unusual accident the last week, outside Canning Road depot, it was struck by a piece of railway track which somehow fell of a lorry that was passing! As can be seen in this report on the Southport Forums damage is limited to the rearmost panels, so should be reasonably easy to fix!

• Stagecoach Merseyside have now acquired Mercedes-Benz 709D/Alexander Sprint 40645 N645 VSS [photo:Karl Sutton] from Stagecoach North West and have had it converted to a staff rest van by Stagecoach North West at Carlisle.  This is apparently to help with driver shifts and rotas once Aintree depot closes, which I believe is now planned for the weekend of 16th/17th June 2007.  Vlvo B10L/Wright Liberator 21073 R873 LHG [photo:Karl Sutton] has now been given an overall advert (expect front) for B&Q Aintree, though as can bee seen as the advert is entirely contravision, the offside rear grille [photo:Andy Rigby] remains in Stagecoach colours!

• The final Dennis Dart SLF/Marshall Capital left at Gillmoss depot 33173 T611 JBA [photo:Karl Sutton] finally moved to pastures new at Stagecoach North West in May.  This vehicle, like the others that left, was treated to an interior refurbishment [photo:Karl Sutton] prior to its departure, and even if its sad to lose the MTL moquette, they do look very smart with Stagecoach moquette.

• A very unusual vehicle to appear at Gillmoss recently for maintenance was Stagecoach Yorkshire MCW Metroliner 50001 YTC 858 [photo:Karl Sutton] showing its recently applied megabus livery.  Considering the rate at which megabus services are being converted to running with Volvo B12B/Plaxton Panthers, how long does this coach have left in proper service with Stagecoach?

• This years Lord Mayors Parade had a good turn out of buses, amongst the entrants was ACE Travel Leyland PD2/40/Weymann 0654 CWM 154C for Age Concern Liverpool [photo:Karl Wilton], Arriva Leyland Atlantean/Alexander 3980 (or 1449 to everyone else)  GKA 449L [photo:Andy Rigby], MTT AEC Regent V/MCW A267 VKB 900 [photo:Andy Rigby] and Arriva Capital of Culture Leyland Olympian/Northern Counties 8200 H107 GEV [photo:Andy Rigby].

• For more photos from this news update, see the May 2007 • 2, May 2007 • 3, June 2007 • 1, June 2007 • 2 & June 2007 • 3 galleries!  Thanks again to everyone who sent in photos, they are always greatly received and the quality of them all is excellent!  I get more pics sent in all the time so please regularly check the photo galleries page which should at the present rate, have a new gallery added at least every fortnight or so!

• Thank you to all the people who gave feedback about the revised layout of the news page with regards to photographs!  The consensus seemed to be mixed, with around ¾ of the people liking the idea, ¼ not.  One person did give some very useful feedback was that although they liked the idea in principle, in the parts were I had three photos in a row this appeared untidy on the page.  This could well be as I view this in 1280x1024 resolution to it appeared fine here, but as a lower screen resolution they wouldn't all appear on the one row as intended!  I have taken this thought on and in this update all the pics are either within paragraphs or no more than two together on a row!

• This update should have been earlier, but with all the changes I've been making recently the site used up all its allocated 2Gb bandwidth by last week, so in order to not go too far over and annoy my hosting provider, I've waited until the first day of May!  Not that I'm complaining of course, the more visits to the site the better, and I intend to change the hosting plan/provider in the summer anyway to one with much more bandwidth!  We also exceeded a quarter of million main page 'hits' last week - Thank you to everyone who has visited in the last 6½years!

• I have also sorted out all the the photograph galleries during the past few weeks such that every set of photos used in the news (even today's!) along with lots of extra recent photographs already has a gallery of thumbnails with links to larger images.  In addition, I've added a 'Themed Galleries' page, which presently has two galleries in it with photographs from Phil Halewood.  If anyone else would like to submit a set of classic photos from the local area, please get in touch!

• Arriva have bizarrely refurbished a few Volvo B10B/Wright Endurance for use on the extended 48A (Southport - Liverpool John Lennon Airport) service.  So far two have been reported like this, 6615 N615 CKA [photo:Karl Wilton] and 6616 N616 CKA.  Of these 6615 N615 CKA is quite significant as this had a major accident at Bolton Town Hall in December and looks very good for it. The refurbishment includes adding in LED destinations all round and Arriva moquette seats [photo:Karl Wilton].  On the day the service started, neither 6615 or 6616 were available for use, so 'normal' B10Bs were used for all diagrams, but the two have now entered service, with 6615 N615 CKA [photo:Mark Haldon] seen in Paradise Street Interchange Bus Station (for its full title!) on Wednesday 3rd May.

• Dennis Darts are now finally making some headway in the preserved bus world, something when this website started seemed decades away, with I believe 4 Dennis Darts now preserved, those being an unregistered Dennis Dart 9M/Duple Dartline from 1989 (chassis no 9SDL3002/102), an ex First PMT Dennis Dart 9M/Reeve Burgess Pointer 40077 J910 SEH, Stagecoach Heritage Fleet (kept at Stagecoach South) Dennis Dart 9.8M/Alexander Dash 32501 J501 GCD (preserved in Stagecoach stripes as this was Stagecoach's first Dennis Dart I believe) and the newest member to the club is a local example, ex Warrington Borough Transport Dennis Dart 9M/Carlyle Dartline 214 H842 NOC [photo:Andy Rigby].  How long before someone preserves a Dennis Dart SLF! lol

• Arriva have now converted Leyland Olympian/Northern Counties 3107 H107 GEV [photo:Thomas Harrison] into the official Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 bus.  This bus has a rather rare claim to fame in that it was single door when new to London, yet has been converted to dual door now it is up here (albeit after a while in service in Manchester and the Wirral) for its new job!  It is now touring Liverpool in its rather bright livery parking up at various places during the day and using its centre door for access to the vehicle to allow people to see the various attractions within it.  It was also reported last week that Arriva have 'cleverly' renumbered this vehicle 8200!

• A1A Travel have recently bought two of the smallest Optare Solos available.  The pair are Optare Solo SE M710s, the Solo SE being the 'budget' version of the Optare Solo.  They are 7.1M long and 2.3M wide (notably the rear axle doesn't 'stick out' as it does on normal slimline Solos and fitted with a whole host of cost-saving features!  The standard seat for this model is the good old Urban 90 whilst the door is a single leaf quite narrow door (probably the minimum allowable by the DDA), similar to that in the Plaxton Centro and all have the Mercedes engine and shorter rear bustle.   The two at A1A Travel are 47 MX07 JOA [photo:Mark Haldon] 48 MX07 JNZ [photo:Mark Haldon] which are the first Euro4 Optare Solos on Merseyside.  Of these,47 MX07 JOA escaped into Liverpool on Wednesday 3rd May and operated was seen on the 207 (Liverpool - Penny Lane) [photo:Mark Haldon].  In that photo too you can see the filler for the AdBlue, under the emergency exit door.  Thanks to Mark and Andy for alerting me to this rather unusual working by SMS on Wednesday!

• Arriva have finally begun to use some of the stored 07 reg VDLs, albeit initially on Aintree Grand National P&R work and now on Rail Replacements!  There have been two main rail replacement contracts recently, during the last week of April the Merseyrail between Southport and Hallroad, using a variety of buses including the ex MTL DAF SB220/Ikarus Citibus, ex Blue Bus Dennis Lance/Plaxton Verde 1900 L205 YAG (both the Lance and Ikarus had been stored for about six months!) and at least one new VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet 2638 CX07 CRU [photo:Charlie Foxtrot].

• During the same week and until the bank holiday weekend I believe, the Liverpool Loop is also closed, so a smaller Rail Replacement contract is operated by Arriva, though just as a shuttle between Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool James Street.  I'm not quite sure why Moorfields is missed out, but Liverpool Central is missed off because the road outside, Ranleagh Street is still closed for major building work!  This service appeared to be operated entirely with new VDLs, noted by Karl Wilton was Wright Cadet 2639 CX07 CSU [photo:Karl Wilton] during the first week of operation, whilst during the second week Mark Haldon saw 2638 CX07 CSO [photo:Mark Haldon] which notably seems to have had a front end repair already, thus the front W is in blue, rather than black.

• Not all the buses have made it out though, as seen by some of the REC members on their recent Wirral depot tour, was 2633 CX07 CRK [photo:Andy Rigby] in Laird Street depot, Birkenhead, this one is many that never have been used yet, as the interior [photo:Andy Rigby] still has all the protective covers on the floor and seats.  It is a shame that so many new buses have been in store, but it is all meant to be due to the protracted problems of Arriva operating extra services to compete with ChesterBus, which were meant to have started in January.  I've still not seen VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2620 CX07 COJ anywhere myself and I'm not sure which depot it is stored at, but since its delivery last November more similar vehicles have been delivered for use in Wales.  I believe these have been delivered to Bootle depot in recent weeks for ticket machines and other bits to be fitted prior to moving to Wales, though I've not yet seen any photographs to confirm this.

• On the subject of Rail Replacements, (but this time Tram replacements!) Speke have sent Volvo B7TL/Alexander Dennis ALX400 4126 CX06 EBJ on loan to Manchester depot for training duties pending the temporary transfer of a number of these to Manchester to cover for the Metrolink whilst almost all the trackwork between Altrincham and the City Centre and Bury and the City Centre is replaced.  During this time too, service 700 (Manchester City Centre - Liverpool John Lennon Airport) is being transferred to Runcorn depot (though apparently mainly with Speke drivers!) so as their is sufficient space and drivers at Manchester for the Tram Replacement services.  The three Mercedes Citaros are also moving to Runcorn for this time too, (though frighteningly the Cadets have apparently had the information for the 700 added to their LEDs!), but the service is being altered slightly due to funding from Halton Council, so as travel via Widnes.  This will also have the advantage of missing out Tarbock Island which is subject to major roadworks too I believe for at least 12 months!

• Arriva are updating its driver trainer fleet again (at Speke depot at least) with Volvo B10B/Alexander Strider 6302 L302 TEM currently being converted into a driver trainer, which now includes adding ABS brakes!  All three Striders are expected to be converted similarly, replacing the Leyland Lynx trainers.  To cover for the loss of 6302, Volvo B10B/Wright Endurance 6525 M525 WHF is now at Speke, which now boosts the Endurance allocation at Speke to 3!

• The Hybrid Solos continue to attract attention in the newspapers, a recent report suggesting that part if not all of routes S2/S3 would become a Free Liverpool City Centre Circular service for at least 2008, the Liverpool Echo noting that two hybrid buses are presently on trial on the route.  I wonder if they are aware that they are 2 years old and at present only two of six have been re-engineered!  Karl Wilton managed to catch up with Solo 654 MX05 MKL [photo:Karl Wilton] last weekend, the Wright badge visible to the right of the Optare badge reading 'Powered by Wright Hybrid Technology'.  As can be seen in this rear shot [photo:Karl Wilton] there are many extra vents in the back of this one compared to how they were originally and compared to the rebuild of 655 by Traction Technology.  Which one really is better though I don't yet know.

• There are many more photos from this month and last month in the April 2007 • 1, April 2007 • 2 and May 2007 • 1 pages on the Photographs section, including some of DublinBus Leyland Olympian 93-D-10174 (the vehicle that is now Peoplesbus L80 BUS) in its former guise, as well as some photos from Phil Halewood of former Liverbus B10Bs in Birmingham along with photos from Karl Wilton taken at Green Lane including a repainted Dart SLF 2282 P182 LKL and former Liverline Open Top Scania N113DRB/Northern Counties 3995 H35 GKY presumably stored at Green Lane for the winter!  On the subject of open top buses too, Charlie Foxtrot managed to get a photo of a brand new Volvo B9TL/East Lancs Visionaire on delivery for Arriva London from the ELC factory too, see in the May photographs!

• If you notice some changes to the news over the next few days I'm trailing a newer way of showing the photos on the news page.  The original scheme simply using links (so you only had to download pics if you wanted) was ideal a few years back when very few people had broadband, but as more and more people have it these days I'm trying to incorporate thumbnails of all the photos used into the news, which you can then click on to see the larger version!  Please let me know what you think of the results so far!

• ACE Travel have acquired another four Optare Solos M920s recently, those being  704 MX56 NLR which is new to ACE Travel whilst 705 MX54 WMK & 706 MX54 WMJ are ex Speedwell, Glossop.  The final one, 707 I am at present not sure what its registration is, so any information would be grateful!

• Arriva and Merseytravel have now finally began to get its hybrid Optare Solos back in use again, which following delivery in spring 2005 were all withdrawn before the start of 2006 due to the original hybrid engineering apparently not being all that reliable.  Two of the six are now in use again on the S2/S3 (City Centre Circulars) those being 654 MX05 MKL & 655 MX05 MKM [photo:Dave Root].   These two have been re-engineered separately as a trial, whichever of the two is deemed more successful I would assume would then re-engineer the remaining Solos similarly.  654 MX05 MKL has been re-engineered by Wrightbus, (so is probably not much different to an Electrocity mechanically now) and even sports a 'Powered by Wright Hybrid Technology' badge on the nearside of the front Optare badge, while 655 MX05 MKM has been re-engineered by Traction Technology Limited.  654 MX05 MKL can be easily spotted from the back too as it has two large vents added onto the rear panel right through the Merseytravel branding, were as 655 MX05 MKM looks no different externally.  The original mechanics on these buses was supplied by Eneco, the product being the Eneco Epack.  Optare assumedly supplied complete Solos, just minus any engines for Eneco to work on.

• Arriva have now started to brand the Volvo B7TL/Alexander Dennis ALX400 with Le bus 86 (Garston - Liverpool) branding.  Seen in Speke depot is a offside shot of 4107 CX55 EAW [photo:Karl Wilton] and a nearside shot [photo:Karl Wilton].  As all of the low floor double deckers in the Arriva NW&W fleet are now allocated to Speke, Dave Root very luckily managed this this scene [photo:Dave Root], in which Dennis Trident/Plaxton President 4000 Y46 ABA, being followed by an unidentified Volvo B7TL/Alexander Dennis ALX400 is itself followed by an unidentified DAF DB250RS/Alexander ALX400! Any similar photos would be welcome!  Despite all the low floor deckers being allocated to Speke, Mark Haldon managed this photo of DAF DB250RS/Alexander ALX400 4026 S266 JUA [photo:Mark Haldon] in the Wirral at the weekend, when they were operating rail replacement services for Merseyrail.

• Arriva Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointer 1338 P838 RWU [photo:Mark Haldon] which is a float vehicle, so often moves between depots, recently turned up at Green Lane for a short time, seemingly to cover for a greater than normal number of buses that were VOR.  Despite as seen in the pic getting an advert for Liverpool City Council, this bus has apparently already moved onto a Welsh depot!

• Arrivas stored 56 reg VDL SB120s and SB200s have now all been re-registered with 07 plates, which are all listed in the Arriva North West & Wales Fleetlist.  Quite were these will be allocated still remains a mystery, although some suggestions have been made that 2620 CX07 COJ would be allocated to Speke, while other sources suggest a Welsh depot.  It has as yet not turned up anywhere for service yet to my knowledge!

• HTL Buses have been making good use of its cheque book recently, in the last few months they have bought five second hand longer Dennis Darts.  Two of these are 10.7M, those being UVG UrbanStar 67 P17 FUG [photo:Karl Wilton] & Plaxton Pointer 2 S253 XUY which was only acquired this week and is expected to be numbered 40.  The other three are all the longest length, Dart SPD 11.3Ms, two are Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied, similarly registered 46 V903 EWP & 41 V930 EWP both with Allison gearboxes and Alexander ALX200 bodied 45 Y196 KNB [photo:Mark Haldon] which has a Voith gearbox.  These longer Darts seem to be mainly on the 10B (Huyton - Liverpool) and recently started route 74 (Halewood - Liverpool).  All are in service now bar S253 XUY which will probably enter service in a few weeks after repaint.

• Peoplesbus now have another newly acquired vehicle, this time an ex Dublin Leyland Olympian/Alexander L80 BUS [photo:Karl Wilton] seen on its new Fri/Sat evenings only route 86 (Liverpool - Garston).  As with all Peoplesbus vehicles, it sports a pink Wayfarer ticket machine which seems to complement the livery quite well!  Of note is that they have a flat fare of £1 for adults, 50p for children, which is quite a bit lower than Arrivas newly introduced Liverpool Zone flat fare of £1.40 adults, 70p children.  Although no fleetnumber appears to be shown on this, I guess is is 0805 but I shall try and confirm this as soon as possible.

• Sad news at Stagecoach is that the former CMT Buses depot in Aintree is closing at the end of April with all services to then be operated from Gillmoss depot. CMT Buses as such stems back to 1974 when Jim and Margaret Grant having sold their taxi business retained a minibus for private hire work, the operators name registered as C&M Travel.  Following deregulation in 1986 they began to take on some odd Merseytravel contracts and some commercial work, gradually building up a fleet of largely Leyland Nationals and quite a significant route base.  During the 90s they began a fleet replacement scheme, first buying B10Bs and step entrance Darts, and later moving onto Dart SLFs and VOlvo B10L/BLEs along with second hand B10Bs and Leyland Lynx.  CMT did also buy ABC Travel in 1999 and IIRC in around 2001 the two were merged properly into the larger depot at Aintree that is still used today.  In June 2003 CMT Buses was acquired by GTL Glenvale Transport but kept largely separate but the whole company was subsequently sold to Stagecoach plc in 2005.  Ironically in between the time GTL bought the company and selling it to Stagecoach, CMT's newest bus, Dennis Dart SPD 11.3M/Alexander Pointer 2 2090 PN02 KCG was VOR along with two Volvo B10Ls and one Optare Solo (all of which are now fixed by Stagecoach), I can only guess that GTL were struggling by this point to repair the newer buses.  One of the final repaints for the depot is Volvo B10M/Alexander PS 20700 K700 DAO [photo:Karl Sutton] looking very smart for a bus of its age!

• Supertravels newly acquired narrow Optare Solo M780SL MX05 OSW [photo:Mark Haldon] as reported in the previous update managed to escape its usual route for at least one day in March being noted on the 165 (Belle Vale Circular) on 20th March being notable as it is the only Solo at Supertravel to not have LED destination equipment. A hitherto unreported contract for Supertravel too is the Runcorn Campus Shuttle for which Optare Solo M1020 025 MX55 BXP [photo:Mark Haldon] is branded.

• Town & Country Travel of Runcorn also have a new Optare Solo M850SL DK06 OXD [photo:Mark Haldon] for its Access Shuttle 200 contract in Runcorn which replaced a previous leased Dart MPD on this route.  Although the branding on this is more detailed than that on the Dart MPD, its nothing on the turquoise & purple scheme that Arriva had on its Dart when it operated the contract a few years back!