Arriva network following takeover of MTL (April 2000)

[teenagewasteland]

RE: Arriva network following takeover of MTL (April 2000)
The Arriva takeover of MTL was the saviour of Arriva's Bootle depot. Until this time, Arriva were struggling in their traditional power base of north Merseyside, a legacy of Ribble's domination of the area, because they'd lost so much ground to MTL expansion, particularly in Crosby. Bootle depot had got to a point in the late 1990s were there was no evening or Sunday operation of any of their established services. When Arriva changed services and fleet allocations in April 2000, it gave Bootle back their foothold of local bus services that had been lacking since dereg, the previous regime had been one of retraction.