Old and New Order on the 3 and 4

Brand New Enviro 200 number 222 approaches Mereside turning circle on its way to Tesco on 25 June (Brian Turner) 

Two together at Tesco terminus 230 and 232 on their first day in service (Brian Turner)

Direct to the door? Solo 238 gets closer to the Tesco checkouts than normal, this was one of two buses used for launch events - 229 at Cleveleys was the other (Brian Turner)

Solo 240 leaves the temporary stop on Abingdon Street on a service 4 to Mereside on 21 June (Brian Turner)

286 turns from Dickson Road into Talbot Road. Solos have dominated the 3 since it launched in April 2001 - 17 years of continuous allocation has concluded. (Brian Turner)

Sister bus 287 at Northumberland Avenue, Cleveleys Park (24 June) (Brian Turner) 

291 at the 3 and 4 stop on Abingdon Street on 21 June (Brian Turner)

Debut Day

The 18 new Enviro 200s made their debut today. 221-8, 230-7 all ran on the 3 and 4 while 229 and 238 acted as launch buses at Cleveleys and Mereside Tesco resp. 

Pictures can be seen on Mike Rhodes Flickr site here.

436-455 now have ticket machine bases fitted, some are still on rail replacements but others entered regular service today.

Update: 443-55 are now in the normal service fleet, 436-42 remain dedicated to rail work.

Its a wrap for 857

Green and Cream in Rigby Road - Trident 332, B7RLE 524, Atlanteans 362 and 364 taken from outside Totally Models today (Paul Turner)

Open top Olympian 857 made an appearance at Lytham Club Day in an all-over wrap for Lytham Festival. It will be the shortest lived bus advertising livery as its only for this one day! A picture is here on the festival's Facebook page. It has also recently put in an appearance at RVPT's Morecambe event on Sunday 26th May alongside ex Fylde Atlantean 71, Lytham PD2 10 and Blackpool PD3 512.

Further Solo and DAF withdrawals have taken place with DAFs 360, 361 and 362 now out of use and Solos 241 and 295 have joined 288 and 297 in store.

Blackpool Transport's rail replacement commitment has been extended again, but is reduced to around 7 buses. 

This weekend is Totally Models at Rigby Road - Atlantean 362 and Swift 554 are on the free bus service today, with RVPT's Ribble PD3 1775 and Bristol VR 1995 allocated for Sunday.

Solos Sold

Solos 249 and 257 have been sold locally to Archway, of Fleetwood. 257 was the last of the 2003 Solos to operate and was withdrawn on 23 May. Trident 345 is now reported with Abbey Coachways in Goole. DAF 358 left Blackpool last Friday and is under refurbishment for Dekkabus of Poole. Sisters 354-7 are now in store, with the last Manx Trident 353.

Service Changes and round-up

More details of the BTS summer services are now available from 24th June - the 1, 6, 7, 14 and 20 are involved and 8 more vehicles are needed v the winter timetable with a requirement for 98 buses. 

• Service 1 - Increased to every 20 minutes Monday-Friday from 30 mins (8 PVR v 5)
• Service 6 - Sunday daytime service increased to every 20 minutes
• Service 7 - Monday to Friday increased from every 20 to every 15 minutes (13 PVR v 10)
• Service 14 - Monday to Friday increased from every 12 to every 10 minutes (13 PVR v 11)
• Service 20 - withdrawn between Zoo and Preston New Road. Will run every 30 minutes Tower to Zoo 0945-1745 from Tower and 915 to 1815 from Zoo - meaning the first two outward journeys from the Zoo are before it opens at 1000! It remains weekends and school holidays only. 2 buses v 3 currently.

Not previously reported is that the service 5 school bus from Halfway House to Victoria Hospital has been cancelled, presumably from the March timetable change. Monday 11th June will see the 5, 6 and 7 stop on the Promenade rather than Market Street for a period as part of the tram extension work. The 17 will use Corporation Street instead.

The Rail Replacement contract has been further extended until 24 June due to well reported reliability issues. This gives a further stay of execution to the ex Manx DAFs, many of which are likely to be withdrawn when the E400s are cascaded onto the 7 and 11. 

All 18 of the Enviro 200s had arrived by the end of May, registration details are on the fleetlist page. Branding has started and some photos are here on Alistair Liddle's page. One is reported by BTS to be featuring in the Pride parade on Saturday 9th June. 

Trident 343 was reported back at Rigby Road on 31 May, presumably ready for collection by Tanat Valley. 

Preston Bus has confirmed the disposal of former Blackpool Delta K128UFV for scrap after use as a driver trainer. This was the last new to Blackpool Delta to survive, but sadly suffered a major engine failure which has rendered preservation proposals uneconomic. Their Blackpool outstation was home to:

• Volvo Coaches 11519/23-5
• Mercedes Coach 12000
• Ford Transit 15041
• Solos 20771/2/80, 20802/31
• Dennis Tridents 40007, 40583/8
• Scania double decker 40030
• DAF double decker 40201