Manx Imports Update

Two further Tridents arrived from Bus and Coach World last week with 350 and 351 arriving on 12th and 13th April respectively. They are ex IOM 75 and 74. 352 is now ready at Bus and Coach World.

Manx Trident Status

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Status
343	H1FBT	53	EMN53Y	21067	34305	In Service 30 Dec 11
344	E11BTS	50	EMN50Y	21055	34303	In Service 24 Mar 12
345	E12BTS	48	EMN50Y	21045	34301	In Service 9 Mar 12
346	E13BTS	51	EMN51Y	21066	34304	In Service 8 Mar 12
347	tbc	52	EMN52Y	21068	34306	Arrived Mar 2012
348	tbc	49	EMN49Y	21046	34302	Arrived Mar 2012
349	tbc	71	MAN93F	31303	36802	Arrived Apr 2012
350	tbc	75	GMN324F	31308	36805	Arrived Apr 2012
351	tbc	74	FMN540E	31307	36804	Arrived Apr 2012
tbc	tbc	72	FMN158E	31299	36801	under overhaul
tbc	tbc	73	FMN158E	31304	36803	under overhaul

Manx DAF Status

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Status
tbc	tbc	97	FMN835J	009267	38310	Arr Blackburn Mar 2012
tbc	tbc	93	FMN621J	009261	38304	Arr Blackburn Apr 2012
tbc	tbc	95	FMN622J	009266	38309	Arr Blackburn Apr 2012
tbc	tbc	89	FMN299J	009259	38302	Awaited
tbc	tbc	90	FMN503J	009260	38303	Awaited
tbc	tbc	91	FMN618J	009258	38301	Awaited
tbc	tbc	92	FMN619J	009263	38306	Awaited
tbc	tbc	94	FMN620J	009264	38307	Awaited
tbc	tbc	96	FMN623J	009262	38305	Awaited
tbc	tbc	98	FMN836J	009265	38308	Awaited
tbc	tbc	73	FMN158E	31304	36803	Awaited

In Camera: April 2012

Volvo 530 turns from Station Road into Clifton Street on another trip to Cleveleys

An increasingly uncommon sight is a purple Excel on route 7. Here 216, one of six left in this livery heads into Lytham on Cambridge Drive

The East Lancs Olympians of 1989 are the vehicles of choice for local bus work from the remaining step entrance buses, assisted by Volvo 374.

Trident 313, the first with an all-over advert poses at Starr Gate terminus of route 1

Tridents 322 and 327, both once in Line 11 colours, pass on Clifton Street operating on the combined 7 and 11 rosta

Trident 330 stands at the traditional route 14 terminus of Queens Terrace, Fleetwood

Volvo 521 waits time at Saltcotes Road having arrived on an 11 from Grange Park

Unrelated, but two further DAF double deckers have arrived at Bus and Coach World from Bus Vannin. FMN621/2J - their 93 and 95 were noted there on Friday and join sister FMN835J (ex 97).

Olympians In Service and Trident trouble

Saturday 7th saw two of the venerable ECW bodied Leyland Olympians in use on main services with 405 observed on the 7 and 11, while 417 ran on service 9. The 20 resumed on Good Friday with two Tridents, but Saturday saw Olympian 368 in use alongside another Tridents. Tuesday, pleasantly saw 411 and 415 on the two workings -shades of last year. How long this continues is unknown with Tridents 347-349 awaiting entry into service and 350 now outshopped at Blackburn.

Meanwhile Trident 310 suffered a fire in the engine compartment on Talbot Road on route 9 on Saturday evening which required Fire Brigade attention as shown here in the incident log. How serious the damage is is not yet known.

The Metro Years: 2002

301-309 were the first new double deckers since 1994 and introduced low floor operation to Line 14 in May 2002 . This was only a partial conversion as 16 buses were required and it was not until May 2003 that full Trident operation was achieved.

2002 started with the appointment of a new Managing Director in January, Steve Burd joining from Arriva North East to replace the outgoing Tony Depledge. The Metro network continued to evolve. 8 April saw the merger of Lines 2 and 26 taking the former number but the latter's green identity. Line 2's black and yellow was dropped without appearing on a vehicle. The new route ran every 10 minutes from South Pier to Poulton with 12 Metroriders, reducing to every 20 with 5 buses in the evenings and on Sundays.

After just three weeks the 2 was affected by major changes to tendered services. The 180/2 passed to Stagecoach, while the 8, 9 and 10 were withdrawn. One journey per hour on route 2 was diverted via Hardhorn Road (allowing the 52/54 to be withdrawn), this showed 2A and continued via Carelton replacing the 52/54 in the local housing estates and then onto Thornton and Pheasants Wood to replace the 10 into Cleveleys. A second bus per hour diverted at Royal Oak to Mereside with two variations 2B and 2C providing a 2 hourly service over parts of the 8, 9 and 10 routes. This increased the 2 group to 14 buses, but saved five buses overall.

Metrorider 513 on the extended 2 at Poulton having had its 26 modified for the new route

Still not satisfied, the 2B and 2C were dropped from 3 June with the 2A extended over a consolidated route as far as the Asda store in Marton. The Kirkham Roamer was surrendered in April but resumed in May as the new operator pulled out quickly. The 88 was cut back to run Lancaster to Knott End only as service 89 from 29 April but ended on 22 July with Stagecoach taking over on the 24th.

29 April 2002 also saw Blackpool withdrawn from the Bus Station on commercial services - tendered route 158 continued to use it however. A minor change in September saw the 11 curtailed to Lytham Square in the evenings and on Sundays

Arrivals and Departures
9 Dennis Tridents with East Lancs bodywork were ordered in late 2001 and arrived during May. These were the first new double deckers since 1994 and the first new buses since January 2000. All 9 carried the dark green and yellow Line 14 scheme and entered service on 31 May. They regularly worked 9 of the 10 Fleetwood to St. Annes workings.

Atlantean 324 was one of the 2002 withdrawals - the first of this batch (321) having been sold back in 1994

Six more Solos were delivered in June having been purchased by Blackpool Council for use on the Lifestyle Line. 278/9, 281/2 entered service on the first day (8th July) with 280 soon after but 277 was placed in store as it was not required - most unusual for a new bus! It would not debut until 2003. All six carried a maroon and cream livery based on the council house style. Also in a non standard scheme was a further City Sightseeing Metrobus EWF450V which carried the generic branded livery rather than the Blackpool specific one of its sisters.

Changes in operating practises allowed the withdrawal of vintage ex Fylde Atlanteans 479/80/3 (HRN99/100/3N) and slightly younger 469 (SRJ757R). The Tridents released several Atlanteans. 441 selected itself due to engine failure in April while 324-327, 329-332 and 495 were taken out of use on 31 May. Sisters 328 and 338 were withdrawn at the end of school term in July.

Metroriders 585-8 and 596 were declared surplus after the April service changes and placed in store but returned to service in September only for 584-588 to be withdrawn in November.

The most dramatic withdrawal was Line 7 Delta which was burnt out by fire in the depot in the early hours of 5 July - thankfully without impacting on other vehicles. 

More Metro Repaints
2002 continued with the application of pool livery. Metroriders 590/1 spent the new year in the paint shop returned to use in January followed by 589. Next was Olympian 401 which was fully painted into pool livery but returned to the paint shop and was modified into Line 11 turquoise. Sister 406 followed and both entered service in mid February, joining newer Volvo Olympian 374 which had entered service on 23 January. Sisters 375/6 followed in March with 377 in April and 378/9 in August. November saw 1989 Olympian 368 return to use in Line 11 colours following major refurbishment.

Olympian 406 shows off its Line 11 colours on its first day in service after repaint at Cleveleys Bus Station

Line 6 Deltas returned to use after refurbishment with new bus seating in all but 108 replacing the high backed seats fitted from new 114 returned to use in January, 113 February, 112 March, 108 June, 110 August and 109 completed the team in October.

Solos 265 and 263 - which should be 20 minutes apart - pass at Mereside. 263 stands on the turning circle, presumably with a fault as 265 heads to Tesco

The sixth Metro variant following the 7, pool, 6, 26 and 11 was Line 3's blue and yellow which debuted on Solo 261 on 16 March with 262 soon following. 263-5 returned to use in March while 266 was also treated in May making a full allocation of six vehicles reflecting a change in previous practise. It had previously been allocated to Line 5.

Branding on 511-516 was modified to the new Line 2 and green and yellow was applied to 507/9 in May, 508 in June, 505/6 in July and 504/10 in August making 13 buses with 517 completed the 14 strong allocation in December. Delta 125 was partly repainted with its pool colours overpainted into purple to replace 120 in September while sisters 122, 130-133 lost pool livery in favour of the 11 scheme in October/November.

• Line 2: 504-517 (14/14)
• Line 3: 261-266 (6/6)
• Line 6: 108-110, 112-117 (9/10)
• Line 7: 118/9, 125-129 (7/8)
• Line 11: 122, 130-3, 368, 374-9, 401/6 (14/22)
• Line 14: 301-9 (9/16)
• Pool: 123/4, 501/2, 589-595 (11).

This made a total of 70 Metro liveried vehicles up from 32 at the start of the year. 

The Metro Years: 2001

Metro Line 7 was the flagship launch route with 7 purple and yellow refurbished Deltas supported by 4 pool liveried ones bringing the new identity to the first complete route. The 7 replaced much of the 22/22A and parts of the 2/A/B and - as here on Cambridge Road - the 11A. Delta 126 shows off its new image

Monday 30 April 2001 saw the introduction of the Metro Coastlines network by Blackpool Transport. This, with variations, remained in place until June 2010. This was the biggest network change since deregulation and saw off some long established services. The new network comprised:

• Line 2 (Black) - Blackpool to Poulton via Hospital and Highcross Road every 10 minutes (7 buses), 30 mins eves/suns (2 buses). Replaced parts of 2, 2A and 2B. Hardhorn Road no longer served by Blackpool Transport, with county contract service 52/54 replacing it.
• Line 3 (Blue) - Cleveleys to Mereside via Bispham, Blackpool and Park Road every 20 minutes (6 buses), hourly e/su sharing 3 buses with Line 4. Replaced 33 Cleveleys-College; then 22A to Bispham Village via Kincraig Rd; then as 2/2A/2B to Town Centre via Warbreck Drive and Claremont and as 33 to Mereside.
• Line 4 (Cadbury Blue) - Cleveleys Park to Mereside via Bispham, Blackpool and Great Marton every 20 minutes (7 buses), hourly e/su sharing 3 buses with Line 3. Replaced 44A/B and parts 2/2A/2B and 11
• Line 5 (Red) - Staining to Halfway House/Lindale Gardens via Hospital, Blackpool and South Shore every 10 minutes (only every 30 minutes Staining to Hospital) with 9 buses. 30 mins e/su with 3 buses - replaces 23-25 Staining to Royal Oak and 12A to Halfway House
• Line 6 (Maroon) Mereside-Grange Park every 10 minutes (10 buses), every 20 E/Su (5 buses) largely unchanged
• Line 7 (Purple) Cleveleys to Lytham Square every 20 minutes (8 buses), every 30 mins E/Su with hourly extension from Lytham to Wesham (5 buses) replacing 22/22A Cleveleys-Bispham, 2/2A/B Bispham-Devonshire Arms, 33 to Blackpool, 22/22A to St. Annes and 11A to Lytham.
• Line 11 (Turquoise) Cleveleys to Lytham Saltcotes Road via Bispham, Layton, Blackpool, Lytham Road, St. Annes every 7/8 mins (15 beyond St. Annes) using 21 buses. Eves/Suns every 30 Cleveleys-St. Annes and 30 Bispham to Lytham (8 buses) replaced 11, 11A, 12, 22/22A
• Line 14 (Dark Green) Fleetwood to St. Annes via Thornton, Blackpool, Common Edge Road every 10 mins (20 Blackpool-St. Annes) using 16 buses. E/Su every 30 mins (5/6 buses) with extra Sunday daytime Tower-Fleetwood service (4 buses). Replaced 14/14A
• Line 26 (Green) South Pier to Town Centre via Marton every 8 minutes (7 buses) 15 Eves/Suns (3 buses).

The 22 was one of the long established (1936-2001) services withdrawn as part of the Metro review. Here on Saturday 28th April, 329 works on the last day of the Lytham section of the 22. Sister 327 was the last bus repainted in green and cream in February.

In addition routes 8, 8A and 9 each ran hourly all day daily from Royal Oak to Mereside via Watson Road (8), Mereside via Bond St and Highfield Road (8A) or Midgeland Road via Acre Gate (9) using two buses. Supported by Blackpool Council, these were not branded as Metro routes, nor were seasonal services 1 (Pontins to Cleveleys), 20 (Town Centre to Marton Mere) and 21 (Town Centre to Zoo). Lancashire County Contracts 154/8 (Blackpool to Preston evenings/Sundays) continued.

Metrorider 586 shows the doomed Handybus livery working the 8A from Mereside to Royal Oak which was partly supported by Blackpool Council to replace the unremunerative parts of the 23-25 group

The Phoenix Falls
With final preparations for the Metro network under way, a curved ball was thrown with the news on Wednesday 4th April that local operator Phoenix North West was closing with immediate effect. Emergency arrangements saw Blackpool Transport pick up the Kirkham Roamer service 7 the following day and on Friday routes 10 (Pheasants Wood-Cleveleys-Hospital-Halfway House), 53 (Poulton-Hospital-Halfway House) and 180/2 (Poulton to Preston). Eight additional vehicles were required (seven on the interworked 10, 53, 180/2 and one on the Kirkham Roamer). Metroriders were transferred from route 12A which was converted to single deck operation for its last few weeks - the older Metroriders having a stay of execution as their withdrawal had been expected when Metro launched.

Ironically two days before the Phoenix collapse, Blackpool Transport had taken over the contract for route 77 (St. Annes Roamer) and the previous day it started Sunday operation on Stagecoach service 167 (Preston to St. Annes). This was initially linked to route 12 with Deltas but from 6 May was converted to minibus operation on a stand-alone basis.

Route Branding and Allocation
Line 7 was the first route to be branded with several Deltas taken out of use in February and March for repaint. 118-120, 126-129 were painted into purple and yellow giving seven vehicles for eight workings reflecting the initial approach of branding fewer than the daily requirement with pool or old livery buses making up the requirement. Deltas 123/4, 130/1 were all painted in the grey, mustard and yellow scheme for the launch day with 132 and 133 soon following.

115 showing the new Line 6 image at Mereside Tesco

30 June 2001 saw the introduction of the Line 6 identity with Delta 116 entering service after repaint. 115 and 117 followed but further examples did not enter service until 2002 as the remaining vehicles became due for refurbishment in an ongoing Delta modernisation programme.

Also at Tesco, 214 displays the Line sticker as applied to old liveried buses which were dedicated to the new routes

Late June, early July saw Line stickers applied to the front of various old liveried buses which now became dedicated to their routes:

• Line 2: Metroriders 505-510 (6 out of 7)
• Line 3: Solos 261-265, Metrorider 517 (6 out of 6)
• Line 4: Excels 210-215 (6 out of 7)
• Line 5: Solos 266-269, 271-4 (8 out of 9)
• Line 6: Deltas 108-110, 112-114, 117 plus liveried 115/6 (9 out of 10)
• Line 7: Deltas 118-120, 126-129 fully liveried (7 out of 8)
• Line 11: Deltas 101-3, Olympians 370-3, 401-410 (17 out of 21)
• Line 14: Atlanteans 355-360, 363/4, Olympians 374-9 (14 out of 16)
• Line 26: Metroriders 511-516 (6 out of 7)

This left the following spare buses:

• Deltas 104-107, 122/5 in green/cream, 123/4, 130-3 in pool (for 6, 7, 11)
• Excels: 216-218 (yellow/black) for Line 4
• Solos: 275/6 for Lines 3 and 5
• Atlanteans: 324-334, 336-341, 343-354, 361/2, 441-445, 469, 471-5, 479/80/3, 495 for schools, Lines 11 and 14, seasonal services
• Olympians 365-369 for schools, Lines 11 and 14, seasonal services
• Metroriders 501-504, 518, 584-596 for Lines 2, 3, 5, 26 plus 8/A/9, 10, 53, 77, 167, 180/2 and Kirkham Roamer 7. 




Metrorider 515 displays the attractive green and yellow Line 26 livery applied to six Metroriders in the autumn

Repaints continued with 122/125 outshopped in pool livery in September and attention then turned to Metroriders. 505-510 lost their Line 2 stickers to allow the 26 dedicated buses to be repainted with 511-516 treated in numerical order during September and October. Attention then turned to creating the minibus pool with 593 the first outshopped and back in use on 23 November. 501, 502 and 592 were also painted during November; 590/1/4/5 in December. Atlanteans took over four workings on the Line 2 to release such large volumes of minibuses for simultaneous repaint.

By the end of the year 3 Line 6, 7 Line 7, 6 Line 26 and 16 pool buses had received Metro livery (total 32).

Service changes
Minor changes to Metro services took place in July 2001 when the 3 and 4 had their evening/Sunday times retimed to use two buses each. Prior to this three Solos from Line 3 worked both routes, which would cause issues once Line branding had been applied, however running time was deemed insufficient and and the extra bus was allocated with Excels now working the Line 4 journeys. Also an extra bus was allocated to Line 5 in the evenings and on Sundays.

Line 5 was one of two routes to use the 15 strong Solo fleet. Here 273 heads through the Town Centre

A further tendered service commenced on 2 July 2001 with route 88 from Fleetwood to Lancaster via Knott End operating every 2 hours with 2 Metroriders allocated. Changes to the former Phoenix routes 10 and 53 took place on 5 November 2001 also affecting routes 8, 8A and 9. The new routes comprised:

• 8 Manchester Square-Royal Oak-Highfield Road-Acre Gate-Welcome Inn, Mereside, Tesco, Preston New Road, Hospital, Plymouth Road, Warley Road to Claremont (Egerton Square)
• 9 Mereside- Welcome Inn - Midgeland Rd-Lindale Gardens, Highfield Road, Bond St, Royal Oak, Waterloo Road, Oxford Square and as former 53 via Hospital to Poulton
• 10 Mereside - Penrose Avenue-Watson Road - Waterloo Road - Oxford Square and as former 10 route to Hospital then Monday to Friday only to Pheasants Wood via Bispham and Cleveleys.

Hourly services were provided, the 8 used two buses reducing to one eves/Sundays on a shorter Manchester Square-Mereside Routes, while the 9, 10 and 180/2 shared 7 buses Monday to Friday and 6 on Saturdays. On Sundays the 9 and 10 ran Mereside-Royal Oak only sharing 2 buses.

City Sightseeing and Open Golf
The Nationwide City Sightseeing brand came to Blackpool in May with five open top Metrobuses (LAT501/2V, BOK72/5V, VRG415T) used on BT licenses but operated by Ensignbus. The tour started at the Tower and followed route 21 to Stanley Park and then onto the Zoo before running via Waterloo Road to South Pier and the Promenade to Pontins and back to the Tower. A 15 minute frequency was provided.

Metrobus 815 (VRG415T) operating the City Sightseeing Tour at Pleasure Beach

The Open Golf tournament took place at Royal Lytham in July which saw summer service 1 extended to the Golf Course and several park and ride services in use with various surplus Atlanteans reinstated. At the start of the year 441-444, 466/9, 475, 479/80/3, 487, 495 and 496 were in store. 442-444 returned to use in February while 475, 479, 483 and 495 returned to use in March to cover for shortages caused by the Metro Delta livery repaints. This left 441, 469, 480 and 487 in store as 466 and 496 were sold in April with 487 following in September.

479/83 returned to store in May but returned to use in June with 441, 469 and 480 returning to use for the July Golf services. Several returned to store for the summer holidays but all returned to use in September and other than the Christmas holidays, all were in use at the end of the year.

Olympians 365-367 had also started the year in store with 365/7 returning to use in February and 366 in March. Metroriders 586/7 both returned to use in January 2001 after a period of storage with 585 placed in store between February and April. All remained active at the end of 2011.

313 Illustrated

Nine years on since Olympian 366 lost the last double deck bus all-over advert in April 2003; Trident 313 shows off its new scheme for the Blackpool Tower Dungeon (James Millington)

313 emerges, 349 arrives

The first all-over advert Dennis Trident has emerged with 313 in use today on route 14 promoting Blackpool Tower dungeon with a fleet livery front. Sister bus 312 is now in paint shop possibly for a further advert. The seventh ex Bus Vannin Trident, 349, has now arrived as the former 71 (MAN93F). Also in paint is refurbished Excel 223.

No	Reg	IOM No	IOM Reg	Chassis No	Body No	Status
343	H1FBT	53	EMN53Y	21067	34305	In Service 30 Dec 11
344	E11BTS	50	EMN50Y	21055	34303	In Service 24 Mar 12
345	E12BTS	48	EMN50Y	21045	34301	In Service 9 Mar 12
346	E13BTS	51	EMN51Y	21066	34304	In Service 8 Mar 12
347	tbc	52	EMN52Y	21068	34306	Arrived Mar 2012
348	tbc	49	EMN49Y	21046	34302	Arrived Mar 2012
349	tbc	71	MAN93F	31303	36802	Arrived Apr 2012
tbc	tbc	75	GMN324F	31308	36805	under overhaul
tbc	tbc	74	FMN540E	31307	36804	under overhaul
tbc	tbc	72	FMN158E	31299	36801	under overhaul
tbc	tbc	73	FMN158E	31304	36803	under overhaul

Round the Circle at Mereside

Solo 272 leaves the turning circle on the long 16 to Cleveleys

Today has seen the turning circle at Mereside in use as a temporary terminus due to congestion at Tesco due to the current rush to buy petrol. Used as the main Mereside terminus from the 1970s until Tesco opened and since used sporadically, it was not used to load passengers, so today's change presented a rare opportunity. Ironically by 1730 when these photos were taken Tesco had run out of fuel and the congestion was non existent, but passengers will still required to use the temporary terminus! 

In other news the seventh Manx Trident, 349, has emerged with Bus and Coach World in full livery but awaits delivery.

Trident 314 has arrived on the 14 with 344 behind

Trident 344 poses alongside the temporary stop

First DAF imported

The first of ten 2001 built DAF DB250LF with East Lancs bodies from Bus Vannin has arrived in Lancashire and was reported on the M6 on Monday morning presumably heading for Bus and Coach World. It is Bus Vannin 97 FMN835J.

344 hits the road

Trident 344 entered service on route 14 today, seen here heading through Mereside. This follows 343, 345 and 346 leaving just 347 and 348 of the first six delivered awaiting their debut

Blackpool - a Better Bus Area

This morning the Department for Transport has announced the Blackpool Council is one of the successful bidders for the Better Bus Area Fund for the "Bus Led Regeneration of Blackpool Town Centre". Funding of £1.073mn has been awarded by the DfT out of the total £1.5mn project cost


The bid has comprised:

• Installation of automatic number plate recognition technology give buses priority on five bus routes over 16 town centre junctions with a target to increase reliability by 20% on routes 7, 9, 11 and 14 and allow a frequency increase of one service per hour.
• A 335m contra flow bus lane would be introduced south bound on Central Drive to save 3 minutes running time to avoid the congested one way system via Albert Road, Coronation St and Reads Avenue
• upgrading six bus shelters to act as a Town Centre bus hub (Market St, Corporation St, Abingdon St and Clifton St) and a further four to provide improved information
• Fund a 21 hr/week marketing staff post.

Also announced today is the third round of the "Green Bus Fund" where the differential cost of Hybrid (and other new technology) buses are partially funded by the DfT. Blackpool does not feature in the awards and it is not known if it bid. The picture shows the contrast between the investment in the two local transport modes on the Fylde. Left is 11 year old Dennis Trident 346, newly acquired from Bus Vannin and in its first month of service - the 1987/8 "E" prefix does it little favour though! Right is the publicly funded Bombardier Flexity 2 tram 006 on which little expense has been spared.

Meanwhile Trident 348 has arrived as the sixth former Manx Trident. Trident 313 is now in the paint shop, but is expected to emerge as the first of a small number of all-over advert buses replacing advertising capacity lost on the tram fleet.

Stagecoach Changes

Stagecoach will be changing a number of services from 25 March, affecting some of its Fylde Coast routes. The 61 (Blackpool - Wrea Green - Kirkham - Preston) is converted to full low floor operation, this having generally used step entrance buses but recent influxes of Tridents released from the Lake District will allow this change. Buses will now terminate at Corporation Street rather than Cookson St.

Also the 68 (Blackpool - Lytham - Freckleton - Preston) will no longer serve the Chapel Street, Central Drive and Albert Road route it has used since the 2010/1 town centre closures. It will now run via Lytham Road, Promenade, Talbot Square to Market St. However on return it will use the former Zoo service stop on Adelaide Street and then resume the 'diversion' route via Coronation St, Bethesda Square and Chapel Street.

Regrettably the timetable changes for the 68 and Blackpool's recent changes on the 7 and 11 mean that all three buses now depart St. Annes Square for Blackpool within two minutes and the 68 and 11 are closely timed in both directions.

The 84 (Blackpool - Poulton - Thornton - Cleveleys - Fleetwood) will be withdrawn between Blackpool and Poulton except for the subsidised evening and Sunday services.

The Trent Olympians

 

409 puts in an appearance on route 6 in place of the usual Deltas in March 2001

Trent Motor Company was a National Bus Company subsidiary operating mainly in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Its fleet was mostly comprised of standard NBC spec vehicles and amongst the last purchased before privatisation were ECW bodied Leyland Olympians. It took delivery of its first batch 700-706 (XAU700-5Y and XCH706Y) in Spring 1983; followed by 707-711 (XCH706Y, A707-11DAU) a year later. Three further batches of four took the total fleet to 24 by the end of 1985.

After deregulation, Trent was bought out by its management and took over Barton Buses and began to reinvent itself as a high quality operator with distinctive branding and retired many of its double deckers early to standardise on modern single deckers. Of the 24 Olympians, ten were sold to Blackpool Transport in winter 1996/7. The Olympians were allocated across the Trent operating area and Blackpool's ten are understood to have  started at Derby (701/2), Nottingham (703-6), Alfreton (707/8) and Langley Mill (709/10). New in NBC red, they finished in red with cream skirt and roof level band in a layout similar to Blackpool's 1994 livery style.



April 2004 and 402 enters Lytham Square on Line 11, still in original livery

Blackpool purchased the buses to replace several elderly Atlanteans inherited with Fylde, and it was initially understood that the buses would go straight to Squires Gate Depot but in the end they went into use from Rigby Road cascading Atlanteans 336-341/3-5, 363 to Squires Gate which allowed Atlanteans 449, 451, 456-9, 486/8, 490/1/3 to be withdrawn.
Delivery was protracted with over ten weeks between the first and last. 407 and 410 introduced the breed to Blackpool - becoming its first ECW bodied buses and its first low height ones too. Delivery continued in pairs with 403/8 on 29 November; 401/6 on 11 December; 404/9 on 19 December and finally 402 and 405 on 20 January 1997. All were repainted in house into the standard green and cream livery, except for 405 which received a dark green side and rear advert for the Zone Card ticket.


Spring 1997 and 410 stands at Lytham Station on the Rail Replacement service to Kirkham

February saw the batch make their debut with 407/10 first on 3rd; 401/3/8 on 5th. Two weeks elapsed before 409 debuted on 19th and then 406 followed on 22nd. The last three all required more extensive work than the others and 402 and 404 debuted in March (13th and 20th resp) with 405 not appearing until 7th April. The Olympians operated alongside Atlanteans and other Olympians on double decker workings such as the 12 and 22/22A, generally not on crew workings though as conductors were less than impressed about the reduced headroom. They also seemed to regularly appear on a short lived contract to the Co-op Hypermarket at Marton (now Asda) and also ran on a month long rail replacement service covering the complete renewal of the South Fylde line between 24 February and 23 March 1997, providing a Blackpool North to Kirkham service via Blackpool South, St. Annes and Lytham with some peak trips running to Preston.

No	Reg	Arrived	Repainted	Service
401	XAU701Y	11/12/1996	1/1997	5/2/1997
402	XAU702Y	20/1/1997	2/1997	13/3/1997
403	XAU703Y	29/11/1996	1/1997	5/2/1997
404	XAU704Y	19/12/1996	2/1997	20/3/1997
405	XAU705Y	20/1/1997	2/1997	7/4/1997
406	XCH706Y	11/12/1996	1/1997	22/2/1997
407	A707DAU	8/11/1996	12/1996	3/2/1997
408	A708DAU	29/11/1996	1/1997	5/2/1997
409	A709DAU	19/12/1996	1/1997	19/2/1997
410	A710DAU	8/11/1996	12/1996	3/2/1997

After three years the Olympians were treated to a repaint into the same livery between December 1999 and July 2000 (though 410 wasn't done until October). 405 lost its all-over advert so all ten were uniformly treated. Several received full rear end adverts:

• Rotary Watches (401-4 - 9/97)
• Magic Am (402/3/10 - 3/99)
• Twix (402 5/01)
• Mars (403 5/01)
• Vauxhall Aglia (403/4 2/03)

May 2003 and 406 shows the attractive Line 11 colours applied only to 401 and 406

The Metro era saw 401-410 allocated to Line 11 (Cleveleys to Lytham) and all ten received small Line 11 stickers in June 2011. Repaints commenced in January 2002 with 401 and 406 taken into the works but there was some uncertainty about the process. New Dennis Tridents had been ordered for Line 14 and these were to cascade Volvo Olympians to the 11, so it was decided to paint 401/6 in pool livery - then grey, mustard and yellow. Seemingly this did not impress and the completed 401 was quickly sent back to the paint shop for the grey/mustard to be over painted in turquoise for Line 11 and 406 was modified before completion and both returned to use in mid February. However the other eight continued in green and cream until December 2002 when 410 was out shopped in orange and yellow. More Line 14 Tridents meant that the 11 could cope without the Trents and they were downgraded to schools and seasonal work. 410 was lettered for 'Schools + Line 1' in April 2003 and 407-409 were similarly repainted between April and June 2003. 
 

January 2004 saw 406 have its Line 11 colour replaced with orange in a partial repaint while in February 401 was partly painted into a new Lilac and yellow scheme for route 20. 402 and 403 received full line 20 repaints in June and July 2004, with 405 receiving Line 1 livery in August with 404 completing the set in September 2004 with three for the 20 and seven for the 1. This balanced swayed in March 2006 when 404 moved onto the 20 with the orange over painted lilac. The 20 branding was discontinued after that season and 401-404 were all treated to orange/yellow repaints between January and March 2007, 406-410 had all received another Line 1 repaint from April 2006 to January 2007 but 405 was never treated.


August 2004 and 402 has been repainted into Line 20 Lilac and Yellow and has received a home made grill following damage to its standard one - 403 was similarly treated.  

The Trent Olympians formed the backbone of Line 1 each summer until the route became a permanent year round route from November 2007 with Tridents taking over the bulk of booked working, backed up by Olympians. Since the end of the Metro network in July 2010 demarcation by lines ceased but by this time the 1 was almost entirely Trident operated; though Olympians provided high summer duplicates and continued to do so during 2011. The Trent Olympians finally lost their route branding in Summer 2011 and made quite frequent appearances on route 20 (Blackpool to Marton Mere). They also stood in for more modern vehicles on other routes periodically - often on route 14, but memorably including 408 on route 10 on 21 July 2011 and 405 on route 17 on 17 January 2011. 


The Olympian era on Line 1 as Roe bodied 366 and Trent 410 sandwich 409 at Manchester Square in September 2005

28 October 2010 saw the withdrawal of buses 401 and 403 and these were joined in store by 404 and 409, officially withdrawn in February 2011 but both had been laid up with faults. Surprisingly 403 was reactivated at the start of the new school year returning to use on 9 September 2011. On the debit side, 406 suffered accident damage and was duly withdrawn - its last day was 23 November 2011. 404 and 409 have both been scrapped, departing on 6 June 2011 and during October 2011 respectively. Both were broken up by Parton's in Barnsley. 401 has been secured for preservation with the Lancastrian Transport Trust.

Dusk in December 2007 and 409 heads back to depot from School Duties

Summer 2011 saw the first of 11 ex Bus Vannin Tridents arrive from the Isle of Man for refurbishment and it entered service in December 2011, with more following in the spring to replace more Olympians. 406 was sent for scrap on 24 February. Mid March saw 402 and 407 withdrawn, leaving just 403, 405, 408 and 410 in service.

408 heads for St. Annes on School Service 570 on Church Street, Lytham in March 2007