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Local Bus Scene: North West and Wales 
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Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
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Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
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Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
(30/08/2026 09:00)T42 PVM Wrote: I got this reply when asking about the 320 and 352 Services: It would seem, yeh, but the reply from Merseytravel is ambiguous in that their tickets are valid on franchised services that cross into neighbouring areas, but not that they will be valid in those areas, meaning that because the route has a start / end in Merseyside, as now, the operator will accept MPTE-issued tickets. The situation with the 37-series routes is interesting as they start and finish in Merseyside, but a big section is in Lancashire. As far as I know, Arriva have a sensible arrangement on the 300 Liverpool - Southport in that they have no problem with a passenger getting on in Merseyside with a Solo / Saveaway / etc, as long as they travelled back into Merseyside - the issue can be if the traveller gets off in Lancashire. Be interesting to try and get on a 352 in Wigan with an MPTE-issued Solo ticket? Personally, because their costs are covered, I don't think anyone will get any grief from a driver or operator. If Merseytravel want to put their own revenue protection teams on any route, that, of course, is their choice. |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
(30/08/2026 09:00)T42 PVM Wrote: I got this reply when asking about the 320 and 352 Services: Yes, I think there's some verbal sleight of hand in their reply. Those tickets will be valid on those services, but I don't think for the full length of those routes. Info from link they provided says: "Solo tickets are valid across Merseyside. If your journey crosses the Merseyside boundary into Cheshire, Halton, Greater Manchester or Lancashire you must pay the extra fare from the boundary." |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
From a post elsewhere, all bar 2 of the E200MMC's for St Helens now have 76 plate allocated.... 37634 YX76JZN 37635 YX76JZO 37636 YX76JZP 37637 YX76JZR 37638 YX76JZT 37639 YX76JZU 37640 YX76JZV 37641 YX76JZW 37642 YX76KAA 37643 YX76KAE 37644 YX76KAJ 37645 YX76KAK 37646 YX76KAO 37651 YX76KAU 37652 YX76KBE 37653 YX76KBF 37654 YX76KBJ 37655 YY26FWA 37656 YY26FWB 37657 YX76KBK 37658 YX76KBN 37659 YX76KBO 37660 YX76KBP 37661 YX76KBU 37662 YX76KBV 37663 YX76KBY 37664 YX76KBZ 37665 YX76KCA 37666 YX76KCC 37667 YX76KCE 37668 YX76KCF 37669 YX76KCG 37670 YX76KCJ 37671 YX76KCK 37672 YX76KCN 37673 YX76KCO 37674 YX76KCU 37675 YX76KCV 37676 YX76KCY 37677 YX76KCZ 37678 YX76KDF 37679 YX76KDJ 37680 YX76KDK 37681 YX76KDN 37682 YX76KDO 37683 YX76KDU Plus some of the Ultroliners for Birkenhead have reg's allocated 3701 MA76ZKN 3702 MA76ZKO 3703 MA76ZKP 3704 MA76ZKR 3705 MA76ZKT 3706 MA76ZKU 3707 MA76ZKV 3708 MA76ZKW 3709 MA76ZKX 3710 MA76ZKZ 3711 MA76ZLE 3712 MA76ZLK 3713 MA76ZLN 3714 MA76ZLO 3715 ???????? 3716 MA76ZLU 3717 MA76ZLV 3718 MA76ZLX 3719 MA76ZLZ 3720 MA76ZMO 3721 MA76ZMU HTH https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmc1947/ |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
(31/08/2026 21:37)gka472l Wrote: From a post elsewhere, all bar 2 of the E200MMC's for St Helens now have 76 plate allocated....I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty much all vehicles end up on 76 plates except those already on the road for VF. Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWlqEkh...wHyRfm5C_A |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
My first observation of Metro / Stagecoach service 25 (St. Helens - Eccleston) today, and it seemed pretty dreadful. One gap of almost 3 hours, another of over 2 hours, past my house in Eccleston, and several other buses 20-30 minutes late. Looking at bustimes.org, it looks as if one journey started from St. Helens, but may have terminated short about 1 mile before the Eccleston terminus. Hope this is just initial teething problems, rather than typical for the future. |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
I got one of the Enviro200 MMCs on the 352, got to Orrell Station and drove past the Students waiting as it was a full standing load, 352 behind was dropped as it went dead to Wigan, Decided to get the 320 coming back, Lady said she had been there almost an hour, checked Bus Times and two trips in a row had not operated, we past one heading into St Helens broken down. As expected the 30 Seater Enviro200 MMCs are really struggling on routes like the 30/31/32/32A/33/34/34A Services at peak time, what a daft replacement for a Pulsar, really poor start to the franchise. Content Creator, make sure to follow, Like and Subscribe! https://linktr.ee/TerencePrice |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
regarding the Solo Ticket i had no problems using it to Wigan, I even used the 612 from St Helens to Earlstown and the ticket scanned no problem I did use my Solo ticket on an Arriva Speke 81A and it did not track, a friend who got a Solo on an Arriva Bus also found his ticket did not scan on any Metro Services we used Content Creator, make sure to follow, Like and Subscribe! https://linktr.ee/TerencePrice |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
Had a a venture out, from observations reliability was up the wall all over the place, the 10s were operating in pairs [supposed to be 4 an hour], the 352 went belly up very quickly, as one of the journeys from Wigan took 85 minutes, couple of breakdowns too, one at Wigan bus station, & saw an Ultroliner with hazards on in Blackbrook, another driver trying to get to grips with the new E200MMCs. The X3 was interesting, caught 11.59 service & a few boarded at St Helens & stayed on all the way to the Airport, the route itself is very interesting, it was originally supposed to go to Tarbock Island & then via Knowsley Expressway to the A562 but it's now via Hough Green but doesn't stop there [cue bemused looks from those waiting for the 79C], looks like a late route change avoiding Tarbock Island. https://merseytravel.adidocdn.dev/timeta...6Sep26.pdf This was the X3 original route https://drive.google.com/file/d/1igvZ-5B...2PEJx/view |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
Of all the routes I would have thought 34 would have had double deckers allocated to it but it does seem that since the change most if not all 34s now interwork in St Helens with 34A which involves the route going under a low bridge hence why MMC200s are used. As for some services not turning up yesterday I did hear and read elsewhere of services not running and others taking some interesting and weird routes and the odd ones requiring another vehicle to cover due to the allotted vehicle running late. As for your trip on 352 you were extremely unlucky as most duties had the new double deckers on them, I think the MMC200 you had actually started out by doing an X3 earlier in morning before it went onto 352s went it returned to St Helens. |
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RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
I had a decker on the 352 that i got, but was observing the route, the 352 was 40 minutes late arriving in St Helens [should have left 08.51] that was the one that took 85 minutes, it was the 07.46 which left Wigan at 07.58 & arrived in St Helens at 09.23, it took 55 minutes to get to Orrell station. https://bustimes.org/journeys/932558114 The 34A doesn't go under that low bridge it turns left just before it down Acorn Street, the other one on Wargrave Road is 14ft 6in, deckers are not really needed on the 34/34A though. |
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