Eleven new buses for the 10B Liverpool to Huyton service

Today saw Arriva North West introduce eleven brand new double deckers which represents part of a £10 million investment in new buses that will hit the road early this year.  The launch of the 11 new ADL Enivro 400's took place on Saturday December 13th 2014 in Huyton Town Centre.

These new vehicles will be used on the 10B service from Liverpool City Centre to Huyton and the route was previously operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2.

The arrival of these new buses to Green Lane will be the first brand new double deckers delivered to the depot since 1988 when the depot received Alexander bodied Leyland Olympians.  The depot was then run by Merseybus.  Two of which are still in use today as open tops at Arriva Bus Wales Rhyl depot.  The last double deckers based at Green Lane were a batch of former MTL North Millennium Fleet Volvo Olympians.

As I mentioned previously the new vehicles are Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on an ADL E40D chassis.  They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox with Euro V emissions.  They also have a higher spec from the previous vehicles used on the route.  They are not to Arriva Max or Sapphire standard but never the less are done to a high standard.

Internally the vehicles have Esteban Civic V2 seats with the lower deck featuring three tip up seats and around twenty modular seats which are found over the wheel arches and the back seats of the lower and upper deck.  All the 78 seats are covered by a navy blue e-leather whilst both decks have a bright and airy feel to them due to the LED lighting.  They also feature on board free WiFi which is provided by Icomera's Moovbox.  Front, rear and side LED destination equipment is also fitted.

Speaking of the new buses due to Green Lane and St Helens, Howard Farrell the area Managing Director for Arriva Merseyside said "Arriva is committed to providing the best possible service for our customers, and we continue to invest in our fleet.

“New buses not only make a huge difference to our passengers in terms of comfort and reliability, but also have an impressive environment impact.  The 10s are an important group of services which link St Helens, Prescot, Page Moss, Huyton and Liverpool and are part of the Quality Bus Network, so it's great that we are able to invest in new buses for the route."

This batch of Enviro400s follows on from the deliveries made to Arriva North West's Speke depot for service 86/A and to Arriva North West's Southport depot for services 375/385.

For anyone who may be interested the details of the vehicles are 4584 SL64 JCX, 4585 SL64 JCY, 4586 SL64 JCZ, 4587 SL64 JDF, 4588 SL64 JDJ, 4589 SL64 JDK, 4590 SL64 JDO, 4591 SL64 JDU, 4592 SL64 JDX, 4593 SL64 JDZ and 4594 SL64 JEJ.

The arrival of these Enviro400s will also see some of the newer VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar 2s delivered during 2013/14 depart from the North West fleet and onto other Arriva operating areas in UK.