New Buses for Service 15 Liverpool to Huyton

Sunday May 2^nd 2015 saw Arriva Merseyside introduce the latest batch of seven brand new double deck buses into traffic at Green Lane.   The other seven of this batch entered service on Tuesday May 4th.  These follow on from the eleven new double deckers introduced earlier this year on the 10B.

The route these vehicles will serve is the 15 between Liverpool and Huyton.  Previously the route was operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2 although on occasions other vehicles types were used on these routes.

The vehicles that will be operating on service 15 are brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on the Alexander Dennis Enviro40D chassis.  They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox - featuring Euro V emissions.  The new Enviro400s feature a higher specification from the vehicles that previously operated this service although they aren't quite to Arriva MAX or Arriva Sapphire specification.

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.  They vary slightly from the batch delivered earlier in the year as this batch has a CCTV screen fitted to the top of the stairs.

This batch of Enviro400s follows on numerically from the batch delivered to Arriva Bus Wales Chester depot for services 10 and 10A. For our readers who may be interested the details of these vehicles they are as follows: 4646 SK15 GYC, 4647 SK15 GYD, 4648 SK15 GYE, 4649 SK15 GYF, 4650 SK15 GYG, 4651 SK15 GYH, 4652 SK15 GYJ, 4653 SK15 GYN, 4654 SK15 GYO, 4655 SK15 GYP, 4656 SK15 GYR, 4657 SK15 GYS, 4658 SK15 GYT, 4659 SK15 GYU.

I sampled two vehicles on their first day in traffic, 4655 and 4647.  I found 4655 the better of the two and I was pleased to find the vehicles to be very warm and the complimentary WiFi powered by Icomera's Moovbox worked very well on both vehicles.  As with the Enviro400's at St Helens, I found the e-leather seating to very comfortable for each journey. 

I look forward to reporting on the launch of even more brand new double deckers for Arriva Merseyside’s Green Lane depot over the coming weeks when the remainder of the thirty five that are due for services 12 and 13 that operate between Liverpool and Stockbridge Village have been delivered.