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Pictures of Liverpool
Now that Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year is officially over, Omnibuses2.0’s Northern Correspondent felt it safe to return, to find a thriving city...(Hover over each picture for more information. Pictures by Northern Correspondent)
Arriva
Recession? What recession? Liverpool city centre’s still teeming with shoppers and there are remarkably few casualties in the shape of empty shops.
For
the hub of a city region of 1.3mil people, it has to be said that the
centre was once mediocre in terms of shopping capacity & choice. The
hugely colourful and brand new 125-strong Liverpool One development’s
remedied that. Since over 60 per cent of shoppers are reported to arrive
in central Liverpool by bus, this central shopping bolt-on will do no
harm for the local bus service, especially as Liverpool One is
advertised to stay open till 2000hrs. The once marginalised new Paradise
Street bus station is now within feet of Liverpool One but, strangely,
the terminus still has something of a deserted feel about it, even more
so than the slightly more northerly old one that languished darkly
beneath a now vanished multi-storey car park. 
The
parallel land reserved for the
doubtful
tram interchange has temporarily been taken over by fencing while
Liverpool One’s Hilton is finished off. The tram was never much
liked by bus operators neither Arriva nor
Glenvale’s
successor, Stagecoach,
with scathing accusations of public money wasted that could otherwise be
invested. 
Arriva
North West has wasted no money in its continued fleet upgrade,
as part of a £45mil commitment to ensure 100 per cent low floor
accessibility by 2011. Thirty 55- and 06-reg Volvo B7TL/Alexander Dennis
ALX400 double decks worth £4.5mil joined from January 2006,
initially for the 82 and 86As. Double decks had previously been ruled
out on the grounds of anti-social behavioural, but loadings above 44
were such that Arriva felt it had no option, though it
trialed an articulated Citaro in 2004. An interesting experiment in what
might have been—but concerns over revenue losses and major
infrastructure upgrades held sway. 
The
B7TLs were followed in the spring that year by some 34 VDL SB200/Wright
Commander 44 seat single decks.
Representing
a £1.8mil investment, new 44-seat VDL SB200/Wrght Pulsars for the
famed 18A (Liverpool-Croxteth Park) arrived from November 2008,
replacing
England’s
first super low floor buses,
the former Merseytravel ‘Smart’ Neoplans once cascaded to the
18A. There followed further Pulsars this month, for the 52/52A
Liverpool-Netherton. 
The
most exciting arrivals have been 23 all-Alexander Dennis 80-seat
Enviro400s for the Wirral-Liverpool cross-river 432/3/7s. To semi-dual
purpose standards with medium-backed seats and the first in the north
west to carry Arriva inter-urban livery, they update
the established Crossriver Express brand and largely replace the 1996
batch of Leyland Olympian/North Counties Palatine IIs also specifically
delivered (for MTL as Silver Service) for the same
suite of services. In spite of their length and wheelbase, they offer no
problems in the old Birkenhead tunnel. Upper deck vision is excellent,
through the wide panoramic window. 
Of
interest to the north are the four Alexander Dennis Enviro300s in
service from July 2008 on Sefton Council's Southport park & ride
service. Cream is rare on buses but just like the pre-1974 erstwhile
days of the Southport Corporation, red goes well with it. Someone at
Sefton has a sense of history. 
Stagecaoch
Stagecoach, too, has invested heavily since 2005, after it took over troubled Glenvale’s ageing fleet of MCW Metrobuses, Leyland Titans and Ensignbus dealer step entrance midibus cast-offs, some even appearing in Glenvale service in Stagecoach stripes livery!
Stagecoach
subsequently
infused
some £6.5mil in 75 new midibuses. Its all-single deck operation—save
for buses on the X2 from Preston—though supplemented this Christmas
from elsewhere has nevertheless seen its PVR reduce by about one third.
There are charges against Stagecoach of peak
over-crowding owing to the small capacity of its single deck midis when
compared to the former double decks, but this phenomenon is not confined
to Stagecoach, though Arriva has
favoured 44 seat conventional single decks. 
The
Stagecoach rationalisation saw several loss-making
competitive services against Arriva withdrawn in what
became known as a peaceful co-existence, and there was even some
speculation of alleged deals in smoke-filled rooms as Arriva
reciprocated by all but withdrawing from the Stagecoach
Kirkby heartland. In a veiled attempt to see off the remaining high
frequency Arriva 14s (Liverpool-Croxteth), last September Stagecoach
introduced its Magic Bus brand on the 14C shorts
(Liverpool-Broadway); the move at the same time left the 79s
(Liverpool-Netherley) to Arriva. Arriva’s,
incidentally, is within the
Le
Bus clutch of services so named from 2004 in recognition of the
2008 Capital of Culture. The once perhaps insipid Le Bus decals are now
replaced by something much more striking.
Magic
Bus states “£1 to town”, a clear reference to
the typically high short-hop fares charged throughout Liverpool (said to
combat chronic over-riding). Magic Bus lacks city
centre penetration and in particular its inability, owing to
Merseytravel rationing, to join Arriva and standard
Stagecoach 14s at Queens Square bus station is a major
impediment. Magic Bus relies on the standard high
floor Stagecoach Volvo B10M/Alexander PS but painted
in stark Magic Bus all-over blue. |
Some Others
There are three working examples of the four US army surplus General
Motors CCKW 2.5 ton 6x6 DUKW 30-seat amphibians. A steep climb by ladder
reaches the passenger area. The aptly named Beatle-esk Yellow
Duckmarines run hour-long city centre tours, including direct entry to
the Mersey at Albert Dock.  |
The most colourful buses operating are undoubtedly those on the two open top sightseeing tours. Ace Travel of Aintree operates the pretty much ubiquitous Citysightseeing version using three 1980-vintage MCW Metrobuses. At £2 cheaper, the opposition in the shape of Maghull Coaches might offer a more interesting ride, the usual vehicles being a Metrobus certainly, but also an ex-Arriva London tri-axle MCW Metroliner DR130. There's reported to be a rare Massey-bodied Leyland Antlanean of 1968 vintage in reserve.
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And then there's the Liverpool municipal buildings toilet controversy. It was time for a market test. Said I to the lady behind the reception desk, "May I use the toilets?" She looked me up and down and then politely pointed me to my right. No sign now of any notice barring Arriva staff, either within or without. I was the sole occupant. Thence to the town hall at the other end of Dale Street. No reception area here so I asked the man hovering at the door. Again, he gave me the once over before radioing a colleague, who collected me and led me down two wood panelled corridors to a disabled lavatory. He waited discretely some distance outside to see me back to the entrance. No signs of any anti-Arriva notices here, either, but you get the impression that the only person really welcomed might be the lord mayor himself.
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