Sunday 6 March 2016

Ribble Running Day - Sunday 03 April

Stagecoach, as successors to Ribble, are pulling out of the Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys area and their final day will be Saturday 2nd April. Then, from Monday 4th April the former 84 route, and bits of the 74 and 87, will be replaced with a new service 24 and extension of service 22 operated by Catch22Bus.
So, on the day in between, Sunday 3rd April, to commemorate the end of the Ribble era in the area, the LTT will be running free bus services from Cleveleys to Fleetwood, and from Cleveleys to Thornton and  Poulton between 11.50 and 14.50, using the LTT's preserved Ribble buses 366, 1805 and 1997.  The main centre of operations will be Cleveleys Bus Station and the town is lively even on a Sunday with several cafes on the main street.
The event is sponsored by Catch22Bus and the journeys will operate over the routes of their new services 22 & 24 which start the following day. See www.ltt.org.uk for more details.
Ribble 366 & 1997 with destinations set ready for the Ribble event to be held on Sunday 03 April.

Fleet Update - March 2016

In anticipation of recommencing Promenade service 12 at Easter, extending service 22 to Fleetwood & starting new service 24 linking Cleveleys, Thornton & Poulton, a lot of activity is taking place on the operating fleet.
Former Cardiff Darts 366 & 369 have been repainted all-over turquoise and are expected to be dedicated to service 24 which starts on 04 April. Sister bus 363 remains stored at the moment but this and older 319 are earmarked to receive all-over adverts. An all-over advert for 657 is also likely, explaining this vehicle's return to service in its previous operators' dark blue livery in the interim.
Darts 143 (T143AUA), 617 (X617JCS) & 658 (V658HEC) will return to service from 01 April after winter storage; the increase in buses required prompting the return of 143 to the operational fleet.
Ex-Arriva Dart 234 (V234HBH) which has been used as a source of spare parts since acquisition back in April 2015, has been assessed for being prepared for traffic.
369 has been repainted in all-over turquoise with orange stripe and along with sister bus 366 will be dedicated to service 24 when this new service starts on 04 April 2016.