I’ve just
come across the following news story - Arriva has purchased up to 30 brand new
hybrid buses for their Liverpool service.
From Arriva
If you think you know rail
replacement buses, think again; a dedicated
fleet of up to 30 brand new Arriva hybrid buses will be taking Merseyrail passengers
cross-river during the Wirral Loop Line
track renewal works, between January
and June 2017. This comes as part of a £340m
investment in the Liverpool City Region's railways, which will see Network
Rail’s engineers working day and night, 40 metres underground, replacing the
track and concrete.
The brand new hybrid buses from Arriva will have WiFi, USB charging points
and e-leather seats as standard. Buses will meet people at Birkenhead North
and Birkenhead Central and take them on a direct, express service to Moorfields
and Lime Street for Liverpool Central. Keeping customers moving in 21st century
style and comfort is all part of the service.
Howard Farrall, Arriva
Merseyside’s managing director – said: “We are very proud to be a part of the
renewal project and our main aim during this time is to offer passengers a
seamless travel experience. We appreciate this may be a frustrating time for
rail travellers, which is why we will be running brand-new environmentally
efficient buses to keep people on the move.”
Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde,
Merseyrail’s managing director, added: ‘Over the last year, we have worked
closely with Network Rail and Merseytravel to put in place robust travel
arrangements to keep our passengers moving. Rail replacement buses are a key
part of these plans, and we believe that they will be the best option for many
of our passengers during the work.’
A dedicated social media team
will be keeping passengers up to date with the latest travel
information and time tables.
Once the track renewal works are
complete, the new buses will all go into service on Arriva bus routes across
the Liverpool City Region – joining a further 50 new ‘Eco’ buses from Arriva.
This investment by Arriva of
over £21* million for 51 Hybrid, 12
electric and 9 gas buses has been made possible through the Liverpool City
Region Bus Alliance – a formal
partnership between Merseytravel, Arriva and Stagecoach to provide local
people with improved, more efficient and better value services for the benefit
of existing passengers and to attract new ones. The signing of the Bus Alliance
agreement in September released Government (OLEV) funding for new, greener
buses.
*includes £5 million OLEV
funding
Nice to see
bus companies in England embracing new technology to help reduce diesel emissions that contribute to global warming.
And here’s a
news update from LOTS:
Although delivered, the new ADL E20Ds at
Abellio did not venture out on the first day of the U9’s new contract although
they should do so soon. More of the same are due to replace older buses on
Abellio H26 in the next week or so. Next weekend (7th January) is due to see
the first operator change of 2017 in London when new E20Ds (DEL 2244-2265)
at Metroline are to take over route 235 (Brentford- Sunbury) from Abellio.
As always, I
invite you to follow me on Twitter
and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92
