[Archive] Arriva North West - Speke Depot

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot

(12/04/2014 19:35)Metroline1511 Wrote:  I'm sure I read somewhere here that route 81 would be the main route for ex-London VLWs. I hope that, when Southport receives its new Enviro400s, some ALX400s will move to Wilmslow, enabling 4215/16 and any others if applicable to come to Speke. This could make it easier to locate a VLW here.

Do you mean Winsford rather than Wilmslow? My understanding is that the eight B7TLs currently at Southport will move to Winsford as DLA replacements once the new Enviro400s arrive. Speke's batch of Enviro400s will be replacements for the ELC Myllenniums and will be primarily for use on the 86 corridor. The Myllenniums are expected to move to Green Lane on a short-term basis until further new buses are delivered to Green Lane next year.

The VLWs currently at Speke are spread around - it's not uncommon to see them on the QBP 86 and 82 routes covering for the regular deckers. They also see use on the 75 and 80/80A as well as the 81/81A. From what I've seen recently, there are usually only a handful of deckers on the 81, generally two to four, and these are often VDL DB300s as well as VLWs. Overall though, the 81 is still probably the best bet for VLW hunting!