New Volvo MCV Evora buses for Archway

Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora BU25YSE leaving the Affinity shopping outlet at Fleetwood on service 74

Archway Travel of Fleetwood have purchased a batch of new Volvo B8RLE buses with MCV Evora bodywork to supplement their fleet. Several of the Evoras have been noted running on the 74 and 75 routes this week, with a number of their ADL Enviro200s being cascaded onto the St. Annes area 76 and 78 services, which Archway took over the operation of at the weekend. Only one of the Evoras was noted wearing the 'Fylde Villager' route branding graphics (BU25YSE), the rest of the buses seen were in plain white with the red Archway flash at the rear. All the photos in this report were taken on Tuesday 1st April.

Evora BU25YSE arriving at the Fleetwood Affinity shopping outlet on service 74

A rear view of Evora BU25YSE leaving the Fleetwood Affinity shopping outlet

Evora BU25YSH northbound on service 75 at Bourne Way in Thornton

Evora BU25YSG on Bourne Way in Thornton heading for Fleetwood on service 75

Evora BU25YSD southbound on Lord St in Fleetwood on service 74 to Preston

Optare Versa Hybrid enters service with Archway Travel

12m Optare Versa Hybrid AA59WAY on Denham Way in Fleetwood on 25th March

A 12 metre Optare Versa Hybrid 57 seat school bus has entered service with Archway Travel of Fleetwood, the high capacity being achieved by way of a 3+2 seating arrangement. The bus was previously in use with Transport for Greater Manchester, being one of a large batch of Versa Hybrids ordered by TfGM for their local school operations.

Optare Versa Hybrid AA59WAY returning from school service 527 to Elswick

Conventional Optare Versa AA53WAY (formerly Stagecoach VX57OEU) on 25th March

New Stagecoach Dark Blue Livery

Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400 15237 approaching Preston bus station on 6th March

Two buses in the new Stagecoach corporate dark blue livery were noted in Preston this week. 

The blue livery began to be trialled in a handful of locations around the country last year, and two Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire buses have now entered service in the new colour scheme. Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400 15237 (YN65XEM) and Scania K230UB ADL Enviro300 28711 (YN14FVC) were in operation in Preston this week, sporting the new rather plain dark blue livery. The unrelieved overall blue colour scheme on these buses is in stark contrast to Stagecoach's previous colourful 'Local' and 'Beachball' liveries.

Scania K230UB ADL Enviro300 28711 nearing Preston bus station on 6th March

Stagecoach 15818 wearing the 2020 'Local' livery in April 2021

Stagecoach 15472 displaying the colourful 'Beachball' livery on Church St, Preston in 2021

Stagecoach 15247 in the amber yellow 'Long Distance' livery in Preston in 2021

Blackpool Trams in the Snow

Flexity 018 heading south past the Grosvenor Casino on Thursday 9th January

A light dusting of snow, combined with sub-freezing temperatures, on the Fylde Coast early on 9th January meant that the white coating persisted for a few hours before being melted away by the sun. A trip into Blackpool (as my local Cleveleys tram track was in deep shade) produced some sunny shots of Flexity trams on a pristine snow covered Promenade. Unlike Sunday 5th January, when the trams stayed firmly in the depot after a two inch snowfall, a full normal tram service was in operation.

Flexity 016 heading north at the Pleasure Beach

Flexity 017 approaching the Gynn Square stop

Flexity 006 passing South Pier on its way to North Station

Flexity 015 passing the Odyssey illuminations display near the Tower

Flexity 007 turning left into Talbot Square with Enviro 231 on service 1

Flexity 017 leaving North Station on its way to Starr Gate

Snow on the Fylde Coast but no trams ventured out

Blackpool Enviro 581 in Cleveleys at 0740, on the 0734 service to Lytham

Blackpool and the Fylde Coast received a covering of snow during the night of 4th and 5th January. The conditions would have been ideal for photos of the Flexity trams running through the snow in the morning, but sadly Blackpool Transport decided to keep the trams in the depot, despite operating bus services, issuing the following message at 06:50 "Due to the current snowfall and the safety issues it is causing the tram service is suspended until further notice." A situation update was posted at 10:07 "Due to the snow on the ground our trams are still not running as it is unsafe to do so." Cancelling the tram service seemed to be rather an overreaction, especially as their buses were running ok on snow covered roads. Trams run on rails so they can hardly skid off their route like a bus can.

Cleveleys tram station at 0755, but unfortunately no trams in the snow as BTS cancelled the service