Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

[Jack]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
Using the linkway past Tesco is probably slower than using Peasley Cross Lane at peak times too

[Gazroberts80]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(28/07/2026 13:56)Gazroberts80 Wrote:  I agree that the 352 will be operated with deckers. As you point out they have the option of the Enviro 400 MMC's but hopefully as you say they can use the new Ultroliners. The bridge is signed as 4.4m (14'6) which means that no vehicles "over" the height shown may pass the sign, so the bridge is likely a good few inches higher than 4.4.m (14'6). The Ultroliners are actually listed as having a height of 4.395m so they are actually below the maximum permissible height of 4.4m so "they should" be able to pass under the bridge without issue.

Having driven under the bridge on Haresfinch road this evening I've noticed that there are actually road signs on both sides of the bridge that state that's vehicles up to 4.5m (15 - 0") can safely pass under the bridge. As you come from St Helens town centre the sign reads "Low bridge 460 yards ahead, 4.5m (15 - 0")" and heading towards St Helens town centre "Low bridge 250 yards ahead, 4.5m (15 - 0")". The signs on the bridge then contradict this and state maximum vehicle height 4.4m (14 - 6").

I don't know if a reduction in maximum permissible height has occurred over the years as a result of resurfacing works potentially raising the carriageway slightly but the fact these signs exist it would imply the bridge will safely accommodate vehicles up to 4.5m (15 - 0") The signs themselves don't look particularly old and I'm sure they would have been removed if an incident had occurred as a result of them wrongly implying a 4.5m vehicle can safely pass under it. T

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(28/07/2026 15:56)CX06 EBK Wrote:  If its stopping at every stop in the St Helens boundary its hardly a "fast and direct" service to the Airport is it?

Direct just means without having to change, and it’s still faster than the 89 or the alternatives for the area served. The 500 is branded as “fast and direct” (literally in the case of the “faster” route branded geminis) and observes all bus stops Aigburth Vale to Aigburth Vale via the city

Realistically the X3 won’t be stopping to pick up or dropping off at every single bus stop on route between Clock Face and Tarbock Island anyway, due to residents having to resort to alternative transport after years of bus service decimation, and also Warrington Road is fairly rural, so will still feel like a fast service.

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
So direct means without change, so just like the 89 then? It seems incredibly strange that route training was done with 5 stops only given as stopping points but then I bow to your superior knowledge on the subject. I am aware of the 500s pointless "Fast and Direct" branding, just because Arriva fail to know what those words mean I would hope the LCRCA could do better.... but then, maybe not.

[MTL0201]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
It would have been better to extend the evening & Sunday 32A every other hour as the current 29 is every 2 hours, [renumber it to 32B] to Rainhill via Bold Heath as a replacement for the 29, with the X3 going via Prescot & Huyton to Tarbock Island instead.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
As the number 61 is being kept for the Liverpool - Halton Hospital route, the Bootle - Aigburth Vale orbital route with that number will in theory be renumbered, at least once franchising for that area takes effect.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
Returning back to the X3

Merseytravel/LCR Metro have been appearing at local community events in St Helens, such as Newton Le Willows show today and they had a little bit more information on the X3 and the other routes in the local area. Admittedly the X3 is not planned to stop at as many bus stops as I was first told, but does contain more stops than the timing points within the timetable, skip-stopping two to three bus stops in every four.

However, I will add that the information guide that I saw today at the event contained a route map that differed from the recently published network map in that it took the direct route from St Helens Interchange (new) to St Helens Hopsital (via Matalan rather than Chalon Way), but also turned left at the cross roads near Cronton Village, travelling via Ditton (Prescot Rd and Hale Rd) to the expressway non-stop rather than the Knowsley Expressway

The bus stops listed were:

St Helens Interchange (New rather than the current)
St Helens Hospital (Marshall Cross Rd)
Lea Green Stn (Marshall Cross Rd)
Clock Face (nr Aldi)
Clock Face (nr Gorsey Lane)
Bold Heath (The “Triangle”)
Farnworth (Glebe Garage)
Cronton Six Form College (Pex Hill)
Cronton Village (nr Crossroads/Chip Shop)
Liverpool John Lennon Airport

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising
The last I had heard is that Stagecoach wanted the route to revert to how it was before the map went up which sounds similar to what you've outlined there, to avoid Tarbock Island altogether. That would make sense as Tarbock Island is still in roadwork hell as it stands and there isn't really any need to send a bus there even when all the work is completed.

Great to see they still haven't got the 10/10A timetable up either.

[St Helens Rider]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(01/08/2026 19:36)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  Returning back to the X3

Merseytravel/LCR Metro have been appearing at local community events in St Helens, such as Newton Le Willows show today and they had a little bit more information on the X3 and the other routes in the local area. Admittedly the X3 is not planned to stop at as many bus stops as I was first told, but does contain more stops than the timing points within the timetable, skip-stopping two to three bus stops in every four.

However, I will add that the information guide that I saw today at the event contained a route map that differed from the recently published network map in that it took the direct route from St Helens Interchange (new) to St Helens Hopsital (via Matalan rather than Chalon Way), but also turned left at the cross roads near Cronton Village, travelling via Ditton (Prescot Rd and Hale Rd) to the expressway non-stop rather than the Knowsley Expressway

The bus stops listed were:

St Helens Interchange (New rather than the current)
St Helens Hospital (Marshall Cross Rd)
Lea Green Stn (Marshall Cross Rd)
Clock Face (nr Aldi)
Clock Face (nr Gorsey Lane)
Bold Heath (The “Triangle”)
Farnworth (Glebe Garage)
Cronton Six Form College (Pex Hill)
Cronton Village (nr Crossroads/Chip Shop)
Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Many thanks for the info. Surely it will only go from the Interchange when it opens, which according to a recent report on the St Helens Star eebsite, is now expected to be Spring 2027.

[MTL0201]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(01/08/2026 18:51)Metroline1511 Wrote:  As the number 61 is being kept for the Liverpool - Halton Hospital route, the Bootle - Aigburth Vale orbital route with that number will in theory be renumbered, at least once franchising for that area takes effect.

That 61 Liverpool-Halton Hospital is operated by Arriva Runcorn who aren't part of the franchising area & it's up to Arriva to renumber it if they whish to do so, maybe to J61 which is what the 61 was numbered before d-reg