Red or Black?

Classic Bus North West Routemaster RM1568 awaits departure time from the Sands Venue stop on Seafront 12 to St. Annes. 1568 ran with London Transport from 1963 ending up with MTL London Northern on privatisation. Withdrawn in 1997 it passed into non psv use but was bought back by Transport for London for refurbishment by Marshall of Cambridge. From 2001-2005 it ran with Soverign Bus and after withdrawal spent a brief period in Oxford before passing via a non psv firm to Classic Bus in 2008

At the same location, Blackpool Transport Excel 221 loads for Lytham on route 11. 221 was one of three Excels purchased from Go North East in 2004

Bank Hey Street and Classic Bus Dart 162, branded for "Catch 22" loads for Meresied

Blackpool Transport 309 also heads to Mereside on route 14

CBNW 269 passes Blackpool's first boarding house - which opened as "Crewe's Original Boarding House" in 1886, starting a trend by providing meals for guests - previously overnight guests at hotels were expected to source their own food.

A generation newer in design, but just two years newer in build, Blackpool Excel 215 heads onto the Promenade on New Bonny Street.

St. Annes Scenes

The view from the top of Classic Bus North West  701 showing the traditional ECW 3+1 front seating and the characteristic Sand Dunes of St. Annes

Classic Bus 701 (XAU701Y) is their latest bus, purchased privately from Blackpool Tranpsort in 2012 after withdrawal on 28 October 2010 it was intended for preservation but has been drafted into the CBNW fleet instead. An all-over advert for the Hot Ice Show is graced by a NBC Poppy Red/white front in a nod to its Trent origins, rather than the usual London Red CBNW fleet colours.

A new Aldi store is under construction on the site of the former Conservative Club. Here Trident 339 heads to Lytham on route 7 past the building works. 

Excel 225 enters St. Annes from Blackpool - the boundary being at the junction behind - Squires Gate Lane. The site of Pontins is to the right - the vantage point being one of the vast number of seats atop CBNW Metrobus 69

Meanwhile back in St. Annes Trident 349 passes the former Blackpool, St. Annes and Lytham Tramway waiting shelter. This has since served as a Tourist Information Centre and now a Cafe. The original shelter is the right of the two buildings - that on the left is a 1980's addition. 

Blackpool Transport's newest buses are the 9 2010 built Plaxton bodied Volvo B7RLEs. Here 531 turns from St. Annes Square heading for Grange Park on the 11

Pontin's Then and Now

For the nimble, the sand dunes on Clifton Drive North have provided a grandstand view of the Pontin's Holiday Camp - or generally the buses passing in front. The camp closed in October 2009 and has been partially demolished with the remainder now derelict. Here Classic Bus Metrobus 69 heads towards Cleveleys on Seafront 12.

Blackpool Transport DAF 359 passes the stripped remains of the camp chalets on route 11

New to Reading Excel demonstrates the cosmopolitan make up of the Blackpool fleet with second hand vehicles from seven sources.

Trident 318 is one of three Tridents still to receive its first repaint, retaining its original Metro livery from 2003.

Happier Times, in August 1987 Routemaster 525 heads past on route 12 with the displays showing the former scale of the Pontin's empire. 525 is now back in London with Tower Transit who recently took over the First London operations.

Final DAF Debuts

Trident 371 in Talbot Square operating to Grange Park on route 11

The final pair of ex Isle of Man DAFs, 371 (J800BTS) and 372 (J900BTS) have now entered service with 371 debuting on 8 August and 372 the following day. All 30 ex Bus Vannin double deckers are now in service - a process which lasted 588 days from the debut of Trident 343 on 30 December 2011.

The 30 buses have replaced 36 others with 21 Olympians and 15 Solos so far withdrawn.

Manx Trident Arrivals

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Arrived	Status
343	H1FBT	53	EMN53Y	21067	34305	c2/12/11	30/12/11
344	E11BTS	50	EMN50Y	21055	34303	lt/1/12	24/3/12
345	E12BTS	48	EMN50Y	21045	34301	ea/2/12	9/3/12
346	E13BTS	51	EMN51Y	21066	34304	ea/2/12	8/3/12
347	E14BTS	52	EMN52Y	21068	34306	15/3/12	21/4/12
348	E15BTS	49	EMN49Y	21046	34302	by23/3/12	21/4/12
349	E16BTS	71	MAN93F	31303	36802	ea/4/12	1/5/12
350	E17BTS	75	GMN324F	31308	36805	12/4/12	2/5/12
351	E18BTS	74	FMN540E	31307	36804	13/4/12	2/5/12
352	E19BTS	73	FMN412E	31304	36803	lt/4/12	5/5/12
353	E20BTS	72	FMN158E	31299	36801	26/4/12	21/5/12

Manx DAF Arrivals

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Arrived	Service
354	L50BTS	97	FMN835J	009267	38310	6/7/12	10/9/12
355	L100BTS	95	FMN622J	009266	38309	17/7/12	5/9/12
356	L200BTS	93	FMN621J	009261	38304	27/7/12	5/9/12
357	L300BTS	94	FMN620J	009264	38307	27/7/12	5/9/12
358	L400BTS	96	FMN623J	009262	38305	30/7/12	6/9/12
359	L500BTS	98	FMN836J	009265	38308	31/7/12	4/10/12
360	L600BTS	89	FMN299J	009259	38302	30/7/12	3/10/12
361	L700BTS	90	FMN503J	009260	38303	22/8/12	12/10/12
362	L800BTS	92	FMN619J	009263	38306	?/8/12	3/10/12
363	L900BTS	91	FMN618J	009258	38301	30/8/12	4/10/12
364	J70BTS	54	FMN181P	009431	41101	25/9/12	17/12/12
365	J90BTS	81	FMN804T	009830	41109	25/9/12	17/12/12
366	J200BTS	78	FMN501T	009651	41106	23/10/12	17/12/12
367	J300BTS	56	FMN498T	009617	41103	9/10/12	17/12/12
368	J400BTS	79	FMN502T	009652	41107	11/01/13	8/6/13
369	J600BTS	76	FMN500T	009650	41105	29/01/13	8/6/13
370	J700BTS	77	FMN505T	009831	41110	unknown	8/6/13
371	J800BTS	57	FMN499T	009649	41104	27/3/13	8/8/13
372	J900BTS	55	FMN497T	009616	41102	24/4/13	9/8/13

Talbot Road Views

The remodelling of the Town Centre has transformed some established scenes. Here Classic Bus B10M 898 turns from Dickson Road onto Talbot Road, a once common manoeuvre prior to the late 1970s when Dickson Road became one way

One of Stagecoach's new Scanias for the 61 crosses Dickson Road to head along Talbot Road  

Blackpool Trident 308 follows suit

DAF 365 at the junction with Cookson Street, this junction for many years had continental running traffic using the right had carriageways in each direction, rather than the normal left!

Solos depart

276 is the final of the second trio of Solos sold to Halton to leave, departing Blackpool on 26 July, preceded by 274 on 24th and 273 earlier in the month. 267 and 268 are the sole survivors of the original 15 Solos in Blackpool, both stored awaiting disposal, 268 at least partly cannibalised.

Meanwhile Excel 219 has now gone for DDA conversion following 216 and 220.

Going Both Ways

Saturday 20th July saw the implementation of a new road layout in Blackpool Town Centre. The redevelopment of the area next to the Bus Station as Talbot Gateway has already seen a redesign of the inner ring road with New Larkhill Street created between the Railway Station and Grosvenor Street, while Buchanan Street was upgraded to replace the old Larkhill Street. This is involves two way operation, while from 20th July, Dickson Road, Springfield Road, Talbot Road and Cookson Street became two-way after around four decades of one way operation.

As a result bus routes have been changed:
2/2C to Poulton; 11 to Grange Park and 20 to Marton Mere now operate along Talbot Road past the old Bus Station, right into Cookson St, left into George Street and right onto Grosvenor Street to Caunce Street or Church St. Buses back into Town run as before via Church St, Topping Street, Deansgate, Cookson Street and Talbot Road. The 16 from North Station joins the same route from North Station at Cookson Street.

Buses on the 3 and 4 from Cleveleys to Mereside approach Town via Dickson Road and turn right onto Talbot Road to reach Clifton Street, then follow the route of service 2/2C as above.

The 5, 7, 9 and 14 can now use Talbot Road in both directions without the need for the former one way systems, ending the use of the bus stop on Topping Street.

Repaints and Disposals

Excel 220 has now been repainted into the standard fleet livery with 305 currently in the paint shop. 

Solos 273, 274, 276 have been sold to Halton Transport while 275 left to Partons on 15 July 2013.

Delta trainer 970 is being replaced by a second hand low floor DAF with East Lancs body, W471MKU which was new to Yorkshire Terrier but latterly ran for Stagecoach Sheffield. This is the first bus to be purchased as a dedicated driver trainer. W471 has been purchased from Partons in part exchange for the Delta.

Round Up

Stagecoach has recently introduced a batch of new Alexander Dennis Enviro bodied Scania double deckers to the interworked 61 (Blackpool to Preston) and 59 (Preston to Blackburn). 9 have been allocated to Preston depot and several have received route branding.

BTS has introduced a new timetable on service 14 from Monday, while CBNW will extend their Seafront 12 to St. Annes from 22 July.

BTS Solo 273 has left Blackpool and is understood to have rejoined sisters 269/71/2 at Halton Transport.

Buses have reappeared in St John's Square which has been reopened due to congestion associated with Town Centre regeneration work at Talbot Guideway. Here is nearly new (well to Blackpool anyway) Trident 368 on the 20.

Newly outshopped in green and cream, training Delta 969 poses on the tram depot fan

The Resort Hopper Solos are getting around with examples noted on the 5 and 16 recently as bigger buses have seen use on the 20 to cope with heavy loads at busy times. The four all-over advert Tridents are now occasionally seen away from their regular haunt on route 1; three out of four managing to work on the 2/2C on the same day recently.

Fleetwood scenes

Cumfybus is a regular sight in Fleetwood, though its batch of hybrid Solos are much less common. Here YJ12GXG heads past the church on Lord Street heading towards Blackpool on the 74.

With the backdrop of a gutted fish curers, BTS Trident 316 heads for Mereside on route 14 

Sister 325 heads for Fleetwood Ferry at Fisherman's Walk. 325 is one of three of the former Line 11 Tridents to retain roller blinds.

On the Prom

The MCV bodied Volvo B7RLE has unusually seen service on route 20

The Blackpool Council Metrorider, 1064 (ex BTS 512) is in regular use in its new role as a mess van for the tramway track gang. It is seen here parked at the tramway side at Bispham

Classic Bus Olympian 915 frames BTS Volvo 522 operating on service 1

The demonstrator once again (JM)

CBNW's colourful open top Metrobus heads south past the Tower tram stop

Delayed DAF Debuts; Demonstrator Drops By; DDA Developments [updated]

DAFs 368-370 made their service debut on Monday 8th June. 368 appeared on the road (but not in service) on 5th June, over six months after it arrived from Bus and Coach World.  369 is registered J600BTS, as J500BTS is privately owned on a Land Rover! It is presumed 370-2 are J700/800/900BTS respectively.

With DAF refurbishments complete, Bus and Coach World have been contracted to modify the Optare Excels to meet Disability Discrimination Act requirements as applied to buses. Other than the Olympians, these are the only Blackpool Transport Buses which do not meet the regulations. All new buses since 2001 have been so specified by law; the ex Manx buses have been modified and the Excels need to be to ensure continued operation after 2015. 

MCV bodied Volvo single deck Demonstrator BF12KWT is currently paying a visit. This spent six months on trial with National Express West Midlands during 2012 and has latterly been with Whitelaws Coaches in Lanarkshire. It is understood to have operated on route 20 yesterday.

DAF Trainer 969 has been repainted during June, emerging in an unusual hybrid match of past liveries. It retains the Metro style but in traditional green and cream shades! 

Manx DAF Status

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Arrived	Service
354	L50BTS	97	FMN835J	009267	38310	6/7/12	10/9/12
355	L100BTS	95	FMN622J	009266	38309	17/7/12	5/9/12
356	L200BTS	93	FMN621J	009261	38304	27/7/12	5/9/12
357	L300BTS	94	FMN620J	009264	38307	27/7/12	5/9/12
358	L400BTS	96	FMN623J	009262	38305	30/7/12	6/9/12
359	L500BTS	98	FMN836J	009265	38308	31/7/12	4/10/12
360	L600BTS	89	FMN299J	009259	38302	30/7/12	3/10/12
361	L700BTS	90	FMN503J	009260	38303	22/8/12	12/10/12
362	L800BTS	92	FMN619J	009263	38306	?/8/12	3/10/12
363	L900BTS	91	FMN618J	009258	38301	30/8/12	4/10/12
364	J70BTS	54	FMN181P	009431	41101	25/9/12	17/12/12
365	J90BTS	81	FMN804T	009830	41109	25/9/12	17/12/12
366	J200BTS	78	FMN501T	009651	41106	23/10/12	17/12/12
367	J300BTS	56	FMN498T	009617	41103	9/10/12	17/12/12
368	J400BTS	79	FMN502T	009652	41107	11/01/13	8/6/13
369	J600BTS	76	FMN500T	009650	41105	29/01/13	8/6/13
370	tbc	77	FMN505T	009831	41110	tbc	8/6/13
371	tbc	57	FMN499T	009649	41104	27/3/13	awaited
372	tbc	55	FMN497T	009616	41102	24/4/13	awaited

The missing DAF and Service Update

As previously noted the arrival of 372 completed the influx of 30 second hand buses from Isle of Man based Bus Vannin. This comprised a batch of 11 Tridents, a batch of 10 DAFs and 9 out of a second batch of 10. The final bus of that third batch, BV 80, followed its sisters to Bus and Coach World and has been refurbished as a demonstrator/sale vehicle for its converter as shown here. DAFs 368-372 remain in store pending deployment - unusual as the first arrived back in January.

Minor service changes have taken place recently. CBNW have extended weekday journeys on service 12 to the full route (Cleveleys-Pleasure Beach) rather than the interim terminus at the Tower. Their first open top Metrobus 69 (F69SYE) is due to enter service this month in a new all-over advert for the Pleasure Beach Wallace and Gromit themed ride. Olympian 269 has also been similarly wrapped to match.

From 9 June Cumfybus and Coastal Coaches tendered services 74-76 have been re-routed and now only serve Victoria Hospital on journeys to Blackpool - taking the direct route from Layton to Wades Farm on the way back. While saving time and improving reliability this makes for a lengthy journey home for anyone wishing to get back from the Hospital! Buses on these routes now terminate at Abingdon Street rather than North Station and the 74 has also reverted to an earlier route in Cleveleys following the completion of road works. Finally Blackpool Transport route 3 has been diverted via Anchorsholme Lane rather than Victoria Road West with effect from 3 June.

Cleveleys Bus Station

Classic and modern. CBNW RM1568 poses alongside a new loading platform while in the foreground the former shelter remains as the entry point to the new loading areas.

The refurbished Cleveleys Bus Station reopened back in December after a prolonged refurbishment which commenced in July. While the traditional passenger area has been retained, it is effectively superfluous now raised boarding areas have been produced on the former bus apron.

The Bus Station was built in 1932 by Thornton  Cleveleys Urban District Council and was initially used by Ribble Motor Services with Blackpool Corporation buses not serving it until April 1940 when it paid an annual rent of £133 (c£6,300 in today's money). From early photos it appears shelters were provided on the apron, but in 1959 the station was closed between January and the end of May with new stands - Blackpool Transport using stands 4 and 5 for the 9a/9b services - its sole services to Cleveleys back then. This is likely to be the layout retained until 2012.

By 1970 the 8 stands were split with Blackpool Corporation running their 7C from stand 1 and 25A from stand 2 using its new AEC Swift, while crew operated 22/22A used stands 7 and 8. The other four stands were occupied by Ribble services with no less than 17 different service numbers! 

Annual rent had risen to £1,200 by 1980 (actually a fall to £4,364 in current prices v 1940). Deregulation brought more variety with operations from Fylde and independents such as Carriages joining Blackpool and Fylde. Occasional periods of disused took place. 

Today the Bus Station is served by up to 16 buses per hour from four operators:
Stand 1: Blackpool Transport 7 (Cleveleys-Lytham every 15 minutes)
Stands 2 and 3: Blackpool Transport 9 (Cleveleys-Blackpool every 10 minutes)
Stand 4: Classic Bus 12 (Cleveleys-Pleasure Beach every 20 minutes) and Cumfybus 74 (Blackpool-Larkholme every hour)
Stand 5: Cumfybus 74 (Larkholme-Blackpool every hour) and Elite 87 (Cleveleys-Poulton every 90 minutes)

Significantly Stagecoach's main local service 84 passes the Bus Station on its way to Poulton but does not call in, serving stops on Rough Lea Road instead.

Southport based Cumfybus serves Cleveleys on hourly service 74 from Larkholme to Blackpool via several points in between. MX09MJO leaves Stand 4.

MX08DHE is operated by Elite Minibus Service of Carleton on the 90 minute frequency tendered service 87 to Poulton.

  

Blackpool Transport service 9 uses the double stand 2/3 - ex London 339 poses here. Prior to the refurbishment buses faced the "Bus Station"  sign with a clear risk as passengers cross the area to the left of the Trident which conflicted with bus movements. Despite two crossing areas, people still freely wander over the apron.

  

New to Blackpool 328 loads on stand 1 - departure point for route 7

328 was soon joined by Olympian 374 - the one Olympian still commonly seen on the local network. On Stand 4 is Classic Bus North West Volvo B10M 899

CBNW 899 heads for the Pleasure Beach past 374 and 328

Unusual signage - intended to direct non bus users to the other pavement to cross Rough Lea Road more closely. 374 awaits another trip to Blackpool on the 9

For many years buses approached the Bus Station via Princess Road (the road onto which 899, 328 and 374 face in the picture above) but this generally required buses to face outwards - realistic with rear loaders but less so with front entrance buses. Ribble tended to swing round and face the departure points as they used the stands nearer the sea front. Since the 1990s buses have continued up Victoria Road and turn into Rough Lea Road as demonstrated by 528 here. This is now one-way as buses need to use the "wrong" side of the road to enter the bus bays.

528 has now entered the Bus Station and awaits departure from Stand 2.

Green Trident 305 has also joined the fray, oddly in Stand 1 normally the domain of route 7

305 soon departed - perhaps needing to get back in front of 528 clearing the way for Excel 222 to load for route 7

222 and 528 and joined by CBNW Volvo 898 on the 12 and a Cumfybus Solo on the 74

The sequence ends with 898 leaving for Pleasure Beach turning onto Princess Road to reach Rough Lea Road

Cleveleys Bus Station historical shots can be seen here.