New Brighton's Free Heritage Bus Service is Reintroduced

The first new service introduced after the takeover of First Chester & Wirral by Stagecoach comes in the form of the reintroduced free summer heritage bus service 15 which runs at a 20 minute frequency on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from Saturday the 8th June 2013 through to Sunday the 1st September 2013. The service is supported by Merseytravel and Wirral Borough Council.

Stagecoach in Wirral Volvo Olympian/Alexander RL R294 HCD (16294) at
Harrison Drive on the first day of the reintroduced 2013 summer season.

This new service 15 compliments the 2012 version of the service which was marketed as a Park & Ride service and numbered 15PR, it was operated by the vast collection of vehicles from the Wirral Transport Museum as well as the 201 Bus Group for one weekend too but sadly this time around Stagecoach in Wirral have gained the tender instead.

A view of Wallasey Beach from the top deck of Olympian R294 HCD

I was fortunate enough to be free on the first day that the service was reintroduced, I was delighted to find that what was previously speculated by contributors amongst the blog (yes there is a fair few of us) that it could possibly be one of the two previously stored Volvo Olympians that were hidden inside the shed at the Rock Ferry depot.

The Lakeland Experience Branding on Olympian R294 HCD

Having checked the times of buses from where I live to New Brighton, as I live on the Wirral I thought it'd make a nice treat to have breakfast at The Master Mariner situated on Marine Promenade which had opened on the 23rd April of this year. Seeing that I hadn't already visited there before it was an ideal place to relax and have something to eat before a lovely trip or two along the promenade to Harrison Drive.

With breakfast taken care of I decided to walk along the promenade towards Harrison Drive, the sun was blazing down at this time, I managed to get halfway towards Harrison Drive roughly just past The Pierrot or New Brighton Clown as it's more commonly known when the green open topper passed me en route to Harrison Drive laden with passengers already which is always a good sight to see for a newly introduced service.

A good hour had passed as I was trying to obtain a decent photograph of the bus passing along the promenade at various places, with thanks to the very kind driver I then had a few rides up and down the promenade sampling from both the lower saloon and the open top deck above. Arriving at the Floral Pavilion, Tripod a previous contributor from North Wales and his friend Cymru Coastliner boarded the free service for a few trips as well.

A busy scene at New Brighton with plenty of buses.

The route is hail and ride along the full length of the route. This means bus drivers will pick up and drop off anywhere along the route - but only where they think it is safe to do so. In the timetable booklet, it advises passengers to give a clear hand signal to the bus driver where you want the bus stop and tell the bus driver in good time when you want to get off. passengers are also advised to avoid main road junctions, crossings and bends in the road.

Click here to view the timetable.

The timetable booklet states that the service will be run by heritage vehicles, the vehicle is in fact Stagecoach Cumbria Lakeland Explorer Volvo Olympian with Alexander RL bodywork registered R294 HCD (16294) which is still branded with Cumbrian logos and fleet names. It moved from Cumbria in February along with similar Volvo Olympian N393 LPN (16393), both of which have been noted in storage at both Chester depot and Rock Ferry depot at various times however 16393 has since moved up to Scotland with Stagecoach in Lochaber for their Fort William service 42.

The 2012 free heritage bus service run by former Birkenhead Corporation FBG 910

Anyone wishing to have a free trip along New Brighton's scenic promenade the first service of the day departs from New Brighton's Floral Pavilion at 12:09 noon with a regular 20 minute service provided until the last departure from the Floral Pavilion at 16:49, with the first service departing Harrison Drive at 12:00 and the last departure from Harrison Drive commencing at 16:40.

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Revamped bus exchange or just a collection of cheap shelters?

For as long as I remember I've visited the historical city of Chester, with it's great Victorian architecture, medieval rows, city walls to trendy bars and restaurants to shopping malls it really does have it all. Or does it?

Until recently the Chester City Bus Exchange was something that was basically in the background serving it's purpose without much recognition, it was a collection of sheltered bus stops which protected passengers from the elements on a wet or windy day, albeit with a dated appearance dating back to the 1980's to accommodate buses that used to terminate at the front of Chester Town Hall.

Cheshire West and Chester Council undertook a so-called necessary refurbishment of Chester Bus Exchange during February and March starting on the 11th February 2013 with the view that the new shelters would improve the area for passengers arriving and waiting for their bus. They will be easier to maintain and clean and will just give this important gateway to the city a much needed facelift until the Northgate scheme arrives.

An Arriva North West MAN EcoCity at the revamped Bus Exchange

This has seen the old brick bus stands replaced with new bus shelters, giving passengers a greater perception of security particularly in the evenings. There was disruption to passengers during the period of the works and some services were diverted to temporarily start and finish at Gorse Stacks.

Local councillor Samantha Dixon, who slammed the council for failing to consult anybody over the works, said: 

“The new layout leaves large gaps between shelters which do not prevent pedestrians from stepping out into the path of oncoming buses.

There is insufficient shelter to accommodate the numbers of passengers waiting who will get soaked during wet weather. The new shelters offer no protection against the full force of the winds coming across from the Welsh Hills.

Last week the wind ripped the roof off one of the new shelters and threw it against the back wall of the library. It could have seriously injured someone.”

The council has apologised for the delays. The six remaining bus shelters were delivered yesterday and the bus exchange is scheduled to be fully operational on or before May 20.

The demolition of the old bricked bus shelters commenced on 11/02/13

Spokeswoman Shirley Wingfield said bus shelters did not require planning consent. The bright yellow colour was chosen because it is: ‘the preferred colour for people with visual impairment.’

Mrs Wingfield accepted there was no consultation with the public or disability groups about the structure but explained that they are “only temporary anyway” and will be removed if the Northgate Development is forthcoming.

She said there was no consultation over the timing of the works but explanatory notices were put up at the bus exchange and leaflets handed out.

Mrs Wingfield said the supplier was ‘surprised’ the roof of one shelter had blown off during high winds because there had not been any other instances. She explained that walkways would be marked out and railings fitted to improve pedestrian safety.

The bus exchange was shut down in two phases to facilitate the removal of the dismantling of the old shelters and the installation of the new shelters, the first phase stands one and two were closed whereas stands three and four were closed during phase two with the rest of the services diverted to Gorse Stacks.

Only this week have I managed to inspect as it were these new look bright yellow shelters that have been installed as a temporary measure in the case the Northgate scheme pulls through, but upon arrival from Liverpool on my Stagecoach bus there was an evident hazzard yet to be corrected in the means of railings, this saw some young girl wandered out of a shelter directly into the path of our arriving bus to the exchange forcing our bus to perform an emergency stop.

A closer look at the new shelters shortly after installation.

There has been good and bad press about the revamped bus exchange, overall my view of the new-look bus exchange is pretty much the same as most local passengers, even though this may be a temporary solution to the bus exchange surely the council could have retained the old brick built shelters but given them a small facelift until the time they were surplus to requirement.

Time will tell for what additional improvements will be made around the dazzling bright yellow bus shelters at the former former Bus Exchange, as for my own opinion it now lacks just one of the period features that I enjoyed about visiting Chester.

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Demonstrators at Impera Bus & Coach

Over the last two months Impera Bus & Coach have have trialled three different vehicles, two of which have been integral products byScottish bus building company Alexander Dennis, with the third being that of Netherlands-based VDL Bus & Coach for the chassis and bodywork byWrightbusof Ballymena which is believedto be on demonstration from Arriva Bus & Coach.

The first to arrive was an Alexander Dennis E20D with Alexander Dennis Enviro200 bodywork registered YX62 FDG which was complete with a high specification interior which included leather seats, LED down lighting under the seating, tinted bonded glazed windows to name but a few. Sadly I never got the chance to catch up with this example, that said I have ridden the earlier example that was trialled locally by Arriva North West and Helms of Eastham so I doubt there's overly much different in specification.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance by georgeupstairs, on Flickr

The second bus to arrive was a VDL SB200 with Wright Pulsar 2 bodywork registered YJ59 AZA suplied by Arriva Bus & Coach which is still here at the time of writing. It is complete with an unusual grey-stock interior with yellow grab poles and matching moquette along with bonded glazing which is eaquilly uncommon for a Pulsar 2 body, overall it's pretty much standard kit which is very familiar in Arriva fleets around the country although whilst on demonstration to Impera this example has been somewhat problematic to say the least.

VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2 YJ59 AZA at Birkenhead Bus Station

The third bus to date which has recently arrived is an Alexander Dennis Trident 2 with Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 bodywork registered SN61 DFK, which has "done the rounds" of operators as covered by Andy's Bus Blog when it was on trial with Norfolk Green in June of last year.

As with the Enviro200, the Enviro400 comes complete with a high specification interior which included leather seats, LED down lighting under the seating, tinted bonded glazed, with extras such as onboard FM radio and 'mood lighting' of which coloured LED's cycle through various colours when the night time running lights are not required.

Alexander Dennis Trident 2/Enviro400 SN61 DFK at Birkenhead Bus Station

The Impera Bus & Coach fleet mainly consists of Dennis or Alexander Dennis Dart SLF's mainly with Plaxton Pointer II bodywork, with a few Volvo Olympian's with Alexander RH or Royale bodywork which are primarily used on Merseytravel school tendered services. So begs the question, why are Impera trialling brand-new vehicles?

Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer II Y671 NLO at Woodside Ferry

One possible theory could be that Impera Bus & Coach are looking to enter an operating lease, which is effectively an off balance sheet finance package which generally excludes the provision of routine maintenance, and is treated by the lessee as their own whilst in their custody, but in which they have no residual value risk. At the end of the agreement, they simply hand the vehicle back.

Either way as an enthusiast, I'm quite delighted at the sudden and temporary invigorating fleet additions for evaluation purposes to the local bus scene around the Wirral and Liverpool area, I'm sure something positive or even I hope something may come out of the evaluation of these vehicles and sees an investment of newer vehicles to the Impera Bus & Coach fleet over time.

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