Bus services in St Helens will see “immediate improvements” when they become the first part of the Liverpool City Region network to commence operations under a franchising model on 6 September, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRC) says.
That work will include introduction of a new express route between the town and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, uplifted frequencies and additional evening and weekend journeys, and what the Combined Authority describes as an “all-new” fleet of diesel buses in the yellow Metro livery.
Pictures shared by LCRCA show that those vehicles will be Alexander Dennis Enviro200 single-decks and Wrightbus StreetDeck Ultroliner double-decks. Some routes in St Helens will be renumbered to avoid duplication with other routes in the city region at the same time.
Stagecoach Merseyside will take over operation of Jackson Street depot in St Helens from Arriva under the rollout of bus franchising. It is one of two large contracts awarded via the first phase of that exercise in the Liverpool City Region. The other, for Laird Street depot in Birkenhead, will move from Arriva to Go-Ahead Group subsidiary Go North West in October.
Changes to services in St Helens will result in an additional 5,000 residents of the town being with a 400-metre walk of a bus stop, LCRCA continues. St Helens will also soon gain a new transport interchange to better connect bus and rail services
The new vehicles represent “a huge leap forward for accessibility, making bus travel easier for everyone,” the Combined Authority adds. They will sit alongside 108 battery-electric double-decks that are currently entering service with Stagecoach at Gillmoss depot in Liverpool, which is part of a later round of reregulation.
With commencement of franchising in the Liverpool City Region little more than a month away, Mayor Steve Rotheram says that starting to bring services back under public control almost 40 years after deregulation will put them “back where they belong.”
He continues: “This is a historic milestone for St Helens and a major step forward in delivering the biggest transport change in our region’s history.
“New trains, a new ferry ‘cross the Mersey, new buses across a newly franchised network, Merseyrail coming back under public control, new railway stations and a brand-new rapid transit system on the way – this is nothing short of a public transport revolution.”
