Arriva North West

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Arriva North West
logo
image
Wright Gemini 2s in Speke
Parent Arriva
Founded 2009
Headquarters 73 Ormskirk Road
Aintree
Liverpool
L9 5AE
Locale North West England
Service area Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire
Service type Bus
Hubs Bolton, Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester, Runcorn, St Helens, Southport, Widnes
Operator Arriva
Web site Arriva North West website

Arriva North West is a division of Arriva that operates bus services around North West England. It consists of two companies: Arriva North West Ltd and Arriva Merseyside Ltd.

Arriva North West as an operating division (distinct from the registered company Arriva North West Ltd) came into being in its present form in January 2009, when Arriva Buses Wales was separated out from Arriva North West and Wales,[1] although it had existed as an operating division between 1997 and 2002.

Arriva North West has a fleet of buses numbering just under 1,000.

Contents

[edit] History

Arriva North West was originally formed following the split of Ribble Motor Services in readiness for privatisation in 1986,[2] with the operations in Merseyside, West Lancashire and Wigan operating as North Western. The name was taken from the former North Western operations, which ran between 1923 and 1976. The current North Western operations were taken over by Drawlane (who would later be re-named as British Bus) in 1988, who would also took over the operations of the Bee Line Buzz Company, who ran services in Greater Manchester. In 1996, British Bus was bought by the Cowie Group, which subsequently became Arriva, with services re-named as Arriva North West in 1998.

In February 2000, the company acquired MTL Trust Holdings, which created a larger presence in the Merseyside area and more than doubling the size of the company. In 2002, Arriva North West merged with Arriva Cymru and re-named as Arriva North West and Wales. Three former Arriva Midlands depots in Crewe, Macclesfield and Winsford were transferred into the North West & Wales operation, although the depot at Crewe was closed in December 2005.[2][3]

Arriva expanded more in July 2005 by taking over Blue Bus of Bolton,[4] which almost doubled their presence in Greater Manchester. In January 2009, the Wales operation was split from Arriva North West as Arriva Buses Wales with the Arriva North West name resurrected for the North West England operations.[1][2]

Although the company is officially known as Arriva North West, some operations were originally registered under alternative Arriva names. Former Bee Line operations were registered as Arriva Manchester, some Liverpool operations and, slightly confusingly, the former Blue Bus operations were registered as Arriva Liverpool. As of Autumn 2011 a large proportion of services in Merseyside remain registered under the separate Arriva Merseyside Ltd licence.

[edit] Operating centres

The company has depots in:

Past depots, now closed or sold, have included:

  • Crewe - Delamere Street (closed December 2005)
  • Gillmoss - East Lancashire Road (sold to Glenvale Transport in July 2001, in response to a Competition Commission requirement)
  • Huyton - Wilson Road (closed 2006)
  • Skelmersdale - Neverstitch Road (closed 23 July 2011)
  • Warrington - Athlone Road (closed February 2002)

[edit] Routes

[edit] Main route network

As of January 2012

[edit] Cheshire

[edit] Greater Manchester

[edit] Lancashire

[edit] Merseyside

[edit] Night bus network

[edit] Fleet

The fleet consists of approximately 958 operational vehicles as at September 2011,[5] consisting of a wide variety of makes and types. The fleet is about 81% single-deck and 92% low-floor. Arriva stated its intention to make its main routes serving Liverpool completely low-floor by 2008, and the whole of Merseyside by 2011.[6]

The Dennis Dart SLF, along with its smaller variant the MPD, still makes up a significant part of the fleet, accounting for just over 200 vehicles. The last step-entrance Dennis Darts have been withdrawn. More recently, the VDL SB120 and SB200 have become the standard single deck types, the majority featuring Wright Cadet, Commander and Pulsar bodywork; between them, these types now make up over a third of the fleet. Other new deliveries since 2007 have included ten Alexander Dennis Enviro300, four Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts and fifteen Optare Solos.

On the double-deck side of the fleet, a total of 47 new VDL DB300s with Wright Gemini 2 bodywork are being delivered to Speke and Winsford depots, the bulk of the order, 44 buses, intended for the former. 35 Alexander Dennis Enviro400s entered service in 2009, mainly displacing Volvo Olympians. Twenty-three of the Enviro400s are for routes through the Mersey Tunnels, these being the first vehicles in the fleet to carry the interurban (now standard) variant of Arriva livery, apart from a solitary demonstrator. Previously, 30 Volvo B7TL with Alexander ALX400 bodywork had entered service on services between Liverpool and Garston in 2006. The low floor double-deck fleet has been boosted by over 50 DAF DB250 with Alexander ALX400 bodywork from Arriva London, as well as six Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvos also from London, and three Dennis Tridents with Plaxton President bodywork that were acquired with the Blue Bus business in Bolton. The dwindling fleet of step-entrance double-deckers consists mainly of Northern Counties bodied Volvo Olympians.

Unusual vehicles in the fleet include the Ikarus 481 and Polaris bodies on DAF SB220 chassis, acquired with the Blue Bus fleet. The seven Polaris bodies account for a majority of those imported. Until October 2008, twelve Neoplan N4016 were operated on service 18A from Liverpool to Croxteth Park, and were the only vehicles of their type in Britain.

Some Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses joined the fleet from Arriva London in 2011. Speke received two vehicles for use on AirLink service 501 in June 2011,[7] and from September 2011, further examples found use on service 699 between the University of Liverpool and its south Liverpool halls of residence. In November 2011, articulated vehicles were first used on the AirLink 500 service between Liverpool city centre and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

[edit] Fleet summary

Double-deck, low-floor
Chassis Count Body type(s) Image(s) Allocated to
DAF DB250
49
 Alexander ALX400 Arriva NWW DAF DB250 Alexander ALX400 1.jpg Birkenhead (8), Bootle (3), Manchester (9), Southport (9), Speke (17) and Winsford (3)
VDL DB300
47
 Wright Gemini 2 ANW 4445 and 4442 at Speke.jpg Speke (44) and Winsford (3)
Volvo B7TL
36
 Alexander ALX400
Wright Eclipse Gemini		 CX06EBG3.jpgArriva Birkenhead Volvo Wright Gemini 4200.jpg Birkenhead (6), Southport (8) and Speke (22)
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
35
 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Enviro400 ANW 4400.jpg Birkenhead (23) and Bootle (12)
Dennis Trident 2
3
 Plaxton President Arriva North West 4000.JPG Birkenhead (3)
Double-deck, step-entrance
Chassis Count Body type(s) Image(s) Allocated to
Volvo Olympian
30
 Northern Counties Palatine
Northern Counties Palatine II
East Lancs Pyoneer		 Arriva NW Volvo Olympian Palatine 1.jpgArriva North West and Wales 3274.jpgArriva NW East Lancs Pyoneer 3365.jpg Bolton (9), Bootle (9), Speke (3) and Winsford (9)
DAF DB250
5
 Northern Counties Palatine II Arriva NW DAF Palatine 2.jpg Bolton (5)
Leyland Atlantean
1
 Alexander AL Type (open top) Arriva open top Atlantean 3980.jpg Southport (1)
Single-deck, low-floor
Chassis Count Body type(s) Image(s) Allocated to
VDL SB200
VDL SB200CS
277
 Wright Commander
Wright Pulsar
Wright Pulsar 2		 Arriva NWW Commander 1.jpgWright Pulsar ANW 2919.jpgANW VDLSB200 3009.JPG All depots except Winsford
Dennis Dart SLF/SPD/MPD
210
 Plaxton Pointer
Plaxton Pointer 2
Marshall Capital
Alexander ALX200		 Arriva North West 2280.JPGArriva North West & Wales 7551.jpgArriva Marshall Capital 1.jpgArriva NWW Dart ALX200 1.jpg All depots except Speke
DAF SB120
VDL SB120
109
 Wright Cadet
Plaxton Centro		 Arriva North West and Wales 2449.jpgArriva NWW Plaxton Centro 2.jpg Birkenhead (17), Bolton (4), Bootle (4), Runcorn (34), Speke (22), St Helens (8) and Winsford (7)
DAF SB220
54
 East Lancs Myllennium
Alexander ALX300
Plaxton Prestige
Ikarus Polaris
Ikarus 481		 East Lancs Myllennium DAF.jpgAlexander ALX300 1.jpgDAF SB220 Plaxton Prestige 1.jpg
Ikarus 489 Polaris Shudehill.jpgIkarus 481 DAF.jpg		 Birkenhead (15), Bolton (7), Green Lane (7), Manchester (5) and Speke (14)
Volvo B10BLE
32
 Wright Renown Arriva NWW Wright Renown 1.jpg Bolton (2), Green Lane (3), Southport (7), Speke (3) and St Helens (17)
Optare Solo
15
 Optare Solo Arriva NW Solo 679.jpg Manchester (11) and St Helens (4)
Alexander Dennis Enviro300
10
 Alexander Dennis Enviro300 Arriva NW Enviro300 2745.jpg Manchester (10)
Mercedes-Benz Citaro G
10
 Mercedes-Benz Citaro Arriva Merseyside Citaro Artic BX04 MXB.jpg Speke (10)
Scania L113
9
 Wright Axcess-Ultralow ANWScania5305.JPG Green Lane (9)
Volvo B6BLE
8
 Wright Crusader 2 ANW Wright Crusader 2.jpg Manchester (6) and Southport (2)
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
4
 Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart Southport Park and Ride Enviro200 Dart 2.jpg Southport (4)
MAN 14.220
4
 East Lancs Myllennium Arriva NW MAN Myllennium 2828 a.jpg Bolton (4)
Volvo B7L
1
 Wright Eclipse Arriva NWW Volvo B7L Wright Eclipse 1.jpg Bolton (1)
Single-deck, step-entry
Chassis Count Body type(s) Image(s) Allocated to
Scania L113
21
 Northern Counties Paladin ANW Scania Paladin 1.jpg St Helens (20), Runcorn (1)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Arriva names managing director for Arriva Buses Wales". Arriva press releases. http://www.arriva.co.uk/arriva/en/media_centre/press_releases/2008/2008_11_10/. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c "Arriva North West - History - About Arriva - Arriva buses". Arriva. http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/content.aspx?id=797. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
  3. ^ Arriva news ukbusinesspark.co.uk
  4. ^ Nicholas Lawley. "Blue Bus - A Short History". Freewebs. http://www.freewebs.com/blue-bus/history.htm. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
  5. ^ "Arriva North West & Wales fleetlist". Wirral Bus Companies. http://busoperatorswirral.webs.com/fleetlists.htm. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 
  6. ^ "Arriva calls for support to deliver its vision for Merseyside". Arriva press releases. http://www.arriva.co.uk/arriva/en/media_centre/press_releases/2006/2006-03-01/. Retrieved 18 November 2007. 
  7. ^ "Arriva Mercedes Artics on route 501". Merseyside Dennis Dart Website. http://dartslf.com/2011/06/07/arriva-mercedes-artics-on-route-501/. Retrieved 2 July 2011. 

[edit] External links

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