Trident 341 is now in the paint shop and is to be the first bus in the much rumoured new livery. This is understood to retain the pool colours of yellow and black with a black skirt "swooping" up to the rear of the bus in a wave effect topped off by silver and red relief. Black and yellow harks back to the Handybus livery of 1987, reversed in 1998 - adopted for Line 2 in 2001 but abandoned before any repaints took place and then chosen for pool livery in 2003.
Despite the multitude of colour variants, the Metro livery style has now been in place for nine years - the first buses entering service in it in April 2001. This has been on of the longest lived livery designs of recent years:
December 1969 - new all cream livery launched on Swifts and later adopted on PD3s.
August 1977 - new green and cream livery launched on Atlanteans and later adopted on Swifts (1979) and PD3s (1982)
March 1987 - post deregulation livery launched (later modified with black relief)
November 1994 - unified livery launched in Fylde style
April 2001 - Metro livery launched
Route branding is expected to continue, though possibly restricted to some of the busier routes.
Also following the recent arrival of the ex South Lancs Trident, the five Volvo single deckers are understood to be from Anglian Bus and Coach of Beccles, Suffolk. They have recently advertised their 401-405 AU06BOV, AU06BPE/F/K/O for sale - 44 seat Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLEs and it is presumed these are the chosen vehicles. All remain in use, however and their purchase has not been fully confirmed.
