Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

[CX54 DKD (Moderator)]

RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot
I thought the same Chris particularly, given that the 356 duty is, as I've said before, one of the only late duties in the depot not to be allocated a newer bus straight out. An SR graced the 37/38 on their first day of operation but on the duty which runs in around half 6. I also agree that the current allocation to the 35/A is surprising but with 678 still being over the pits and 680 on loan in Wythenshawe, that only leaves two standard Solos in service anyway and one of those, 676, is up in Speke today leaving just the 1! As the Darts do actually seat more than the B35F SRs, I'd guess that's why they're allocating the Darts to the like of the 36/A which can get full.

The 33/As are seeing pretty much a full contingent of Solo SRs now, which is a good thing given that's what they were primarily bought for, although the 32/As are still hanging on to some Pulsars. From what I've seen though, displaced Pulsars seem to be making their way onto 89s as opposed to anything else.

I want to stress that this is just what I've heard and I'm not guaranteeing it's 100% accurate or that the situation will play out this way but, supposedly, head office want everything on R, S and T registrations (with the exception of deckers) out by the end of the year. For St Helens alone, that would involve the withdrawal of a further 7 vehicles from the current fleet diminishing the Dart quota to 16. With that, I'd assume some replacements would arrive and allocations would see another minor shake-up on local routes.