March 2017 Fleet Update

Dennis Trident open top V362OWC has been repainted in lime green & monsoon blue by Arriva at St.Helens for a new project and is soon to be joined by sister ex-Golden Tours V158MEV. Both are destined for use on a new project.
Other additions to the fleet are two London Routemasters. The first of these is RML2681 (SMK681F) which has been returned to the UK from exile in Denmark. It was exported in 2005 but suffered extensive vandalism but despite this it still starts on the button. It will join the wedding fleet later in the year. The other RM will be able to be put into service much quicker...
Optare Versa YJ61JHE has joined the operating fleet.

January 2017 - Fleet Update

Versas YJ10MGU & YJ61JHH have both entered service and are usually to be found on service 24 with sister bus YJ61JHE awaiting parts from Optare before it can enter service.
Recently joining the fleet is ex-Golden Tours Dennis Trident V362OWC, but previously new to Stagecoach Selkent back in December 1999. The bus is to be repainted back into London red livery and receive DDA modifications before it enters service on Coastliner 21 service this summer.

V362OWC posed at Mereside following arrival in Blackpool. 

Too late for the last Routemaster

On 31 December, we said goodbye not only to the last London Routemaster to operate in stage-carriage service in Blackpool, but the last Blackpool PD3s and Bristol VRs. It was on this date that Catch22Bus said farwell to its non-accessible double deck types. Routemasters RML887 & RM1583, Blackpool PD3s 516 & 529 and Ribble VRT 1997 all operated on service 21 between St.Annes and Cleveleys throughout the day. Even the LTT's Ribble Atlantean 1805 made a guest-star appearance as a free bus.
The last Routemaster to operate was ironically the first to be trialled in Blackpool. RM1583 made its last departure from Cliffs Hotel bearing the red and white band it arrived in back in 1986.

RM1583 prepares to depart Cliffs Hotel at 17:31 on New Year's Eve 2016. 

Getting the London look

Over 30-years after first appearing on Blackpool's streets, RM1583 has been returned to its London look following a complete repaint by the team at Arriva's St.Helens depot. This will make the bus more useful within the private hire fleet and has completely refreshed its appearance.
Arriva St.Helens maybe offering commercial repaints to outside customers from 2017 and we are very happy to be the guinea-pig and are very pleased with the result.
RM1583 has already made its first appearance back in London livery on private hire work, but it will be used n our "Step Up" event on service 21 on Sat 31 December where we say farewell to step entrance buses, and the classic Routemaster from our stage-carriage operations.

Versas for Catch22Bus

Catch22Bus has signed a deal to purchase three Optare Versas that have recently been released from a 5-year lease to the Birmingham based operation of APH airport parking. The buses will join the fleet next week but they will need seats refitting to replace the luggage racks in the low floor area. They will also require repainting in fleet livery, although two of the buses were resprayed in all-over white prior to sale.

The buses represent a £150,000 investment in our operation and will enhance our services considerably, allowing older Dennis Dart buses to be retired. It is planned to dedicate the Versas to service 24. The buses are registered YJ10MGU and YJ61JHE / YJ61JHH.

Optare Versa YJ61JHE was repainted in stock white colour prior to resale whereas sister bus YJ10MGU retains APH Parking fleet livery.

October update

Ex-Stagecoach London Dennis Trident 17773 (LX03BVJ) has joined the operating fleet and will be used on service 21 in its London red livery. The bus was new in March 2003 as part of a batch of 22 buses delivered to Stagecoach East London (17765 (LX03BVA) to 17782 (LX03BVU) for routes 86 and 103, operating from Romford garage.
Dennis Dart 371 has finally returned to service after an absence since March of this year, following the fitting of a replacement engine and gearbox.
Further additions to the fleet, replacing Mini Darts are expected in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

Stagecoach Trident 17773 has spent almost its entire operating life in London on routes 86 and 103, operating from Romford garage. 

September Update

Heritage buses, including Blackpool 334, ex-London Routemaster RM1583 and Ribble 1997 from the LTT collection, have continued to see active duty on Service 21 (St.Annes-Promenade-Cleveleys) in what is expected to be the last year of non-low floor operation for double deck vehicles.

Ex-Cardiff 361 has returned to Blackpool following respray into the new fleet livery but awaits the fitting of retrimmed seats and MoT prep. Sister bus 371 has returned to the operational fleet following the fitting of a replacement engine. Meanwhile, ex-Arriva Dart V234HBH has departed Blackpool for scrap, having never operated for Catch22Bus.

Summer update

Apologies for the lack of posting - it has been a busy summer so far. Anyway, an update..

Ex-First Bristol Volvo B6s W812PFB & W813PFB have both been repainted in current fleet livery and should enter service in August.

Volvo W812PFB on its return journey to Blackpool following repaint. It awaits LED displays to be refitted and orange lining out.

Acquired is Dennis Dart 361 (W361VHB) ex Cardiff Bus - a bus that was set aside for a charity project that was not progressed. It has been partly repaneled and is now away for repaint.

Service 21 was amended from 18 July and extended to St.Annes with all Zoo journeys withdrawn. As this will be the last year of unrestricted "Step entrance" on stage carriage bus services, we are taking the opportunity (in partnership with LTT) to utilise a range of heritage buses on the 21, including Routemasters RML887 / RM1583, Blackpool PD3s 516/529, Blackpool Atlantean 334 & Ribble 1997.

RM1583 heads for St Annes on service 21 (picture by Alan Robson)

Fleet Update - April 2016

Three ex-FirstGroup single decks have been acquired - Volvo B6s W812PFB & W813PFB, plus Alexander bodied Dennis Dart X475SCY.
Former Cardiff Darts 363/366/369 (W363VHB etc) have all entered service after the introduction of revised services on 04 April, with 366/369 usually to be found on new service 24 (Cleveleys-Thornton-Poulton).
Mini-Dart 145 (T145DAX) is currently away for a replacement engine to be fitted whilst sister 147 (T147DAX) is under repair after sustaining accident damage.

363 posed at Mereside with its new all-over advert for Fleetwood Freeport

Ex-First W812PFB following collection is captured leaving Bristol Temple Meads station.

Appeal Upheld

The Upper Tribunal has quashed a decision by the Senior Traffic Commissioner to revoke the licence of Catch22Bus Ltd, operators of local bus services in Blackpool, effective from 15 April.

The move follows the intervention of the Government Legal Team, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport that proposed that a Consent Order is agreed between the parties to dispose of the proceedings, using Rule 39. 

Philip Higgs, Managing Director of Catch22Bus Ltd said that “This is good news for our 25 staff, our customers and the future development of the business”.

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.

Ribble throwback

This throwback to the 1970s shows a Bristol RE (like preserved 366 in the LTT collection) unloading passengers at Cleveleys Bus Station on long discontinued service 92. With the announcement that Stagecoach are closing Fleetwood depot on 02 April, the long legacy of Ribble's once extensive network in Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton & Poulton will draw to a close. The news follows LCC's termination of contracts for supported services 74, 75, 86/89 and the evening/Sunday operation of service 84. This would only leave Stagecoach with the three bus daytime operation of service 84 which was reduced from 30-min to 40-min headway earlier this month. As a result the small garage at Fleetwood is no longer viable and drivers have been offered posts at Stagecoach's closest garage, Preston.

All change on the buses!

Following the termination of bus service contracts throughout the county by Lancashire County Council (LCC) as a result of budget cuts, Catch22Bus Ltd has registered a new service linking Poulton, Thornton & Cleveleys that will replace the worthwhile sections of existing services 74, 75, 84 & 87.

In addition, service 22 will be extended to Fleetwood to cover the northern sections of service 84, which has been de-registered by Stagecoach. We are now in discussion with various stakeholders about the service changes and will be introducing a consultation panel for bus users on our website.

The changes will be effective from Monday 4th April.

Ride 898 before it semi retires

Ex-Stagecoach Volvo PS 898 will go into enforced semi retirement after 31 December when rules on accessibility come into force, meaning only low floor buses can be used on stage carriage services. As a final swan song, 898 will be employed on service 12 (Pleasure Beach to Cleveleys) on the week prior to New Year's Day (the 12 has been registered to operate one week between Christmas and New Year).
898 joined us back in autumn of 2012 and received red livery from December when it joined sister bus 899 in the operational fleet. It has been a very reliable bus and so current plans are to keep 898 which maybe added to the private hire fleet.

End of Year Fleet Update

Following on from the acquisition of Dennis Dart SPD 362 from Cardiff Bus in September, sister buses 363/365/366/369 & 371 were added to the fleet during October and November. 365 & 371 were re-sprayed in red livery for use on the seasonal Red Rocket Express service whereas 363, 366 & 369 are currently in store awaiting partial repanel and painting in 2016.
Dennis Dart MPD news is that both 147 (T147DAX) and 474 (W474UAG) both returned to service in November in fleet livery; 474 entered service on 01 November having been acquired from Walsall Community Transport back in August. 144 (T144DAX) has received an all-over wrap for Dominos Pizza whereas 657/658 (V657/658HEC) are currently out of service for MoT and refurbishment work.
Ex-Arriva Dart V234HBH and ex-Metroline T143AUA are both considered withdrawn.

O Caerdydd i Blackpool II

Three further Cardiff Dennis Dart SPDs are joining the fleet and the first of these, 362 (W362VHB) made the journey north to Blackpool on 23 Sept and has already been prepared for service with Catch22Bus. The SPDs will replace the last of the ex-London dual-doored Darts 143 (T143AUA) and 512 (X512UAT) and indeed 512 has already made the journey to Barnsley where it is destined for scrap.

362 on Leckwith Road in Cardiff following collection and ready for the 220 mile journey north to Blackpool.

Posed at Blackpool alongside Central Drive and with the Tower in the background.

Fleet News Update

Ex-Cardiff Dennis Dart 147 (T147DAX) has returned today from respray into fleet livery after having a replacement engine fitted. 147 has been out of service since April.
Replacing it at the painters is 474 (W474UAG) which will also receive fleet livery following acquisition from Walsall Community Transport, but was previously East Yorkshire Motor Services and is part of the same batch as 466 & 468 already in the fleet (some of the batch are still operating with EYMS).

147 rests at Stafford services on the M6 on its return journey to Blackpool.



474 prior to delivery for repaint.

Atlantean 334 goes to the Zoo

Another former Blackpool Corporation Transport vehicle made its debut on the heritage bus operated Service 21 this week. 1980 East Lancashire bodied Leyland Atlantean 334 (AHG 334V) made its first outing on the 21 to Blackpool Zoo on Tuesday, resplendent in full Blackpool green and cream livery as applied in 2007 following restoration by "the Busworks" in Blackpool. Atlantean 334, owned by the Lancastrian Transport Trust has been out of service since 2010.
Recently Catch22Bus, in partnership with LTT, has had the radiator replaced, the brakes fully overhauled and other work undertaken prior to being submitted for Class VI MoT at Preston.

334 on Adelaide Street in a scene so typical of 1980 when the bus was new to Blackpool. (Photo: Alan Robson)

Fleet update

A further Dennis Dart MPD has been acquired and is related to two already in the fleet. 474 (W474UAG) has been purchased from Walsall Community Transport and is receiving a replacement gearbox in Wolverhampton before it joins us. Following this work, 474 is likely to be resprayed in fleet livery once ex-Cardiff MPD 147 is completed.