Arriva North West - Skelmersdale Depot

  19/06/20   |     James Richford

This archive fleet list shows the final allocation of Skelmersdale depot, which closed in July 2011.

Skelmersdale garage, located at Neverstich Road in the western fringe of the town, closed with only three bus types representing its final service allocation. The depot had been a target for investment in its twilight years, with Arriva purchasing a total of eight Wright Pulsar 2s in 2009 and 2010; the first six were bought for the 395 Ormskirk to Wigan route, while another two followed in March 2010 for the 313 route. It was also the first depot in the Arriva North West and Wales division to have all its buses in the Interurban livery, first adopted as the new standard in late 2009.

The rest of the fleet was over ten years old and consisted of fourteen ex-London DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400s and nineteen Marshall Capital-bodied Dennis Darts. The DB250s replaced a cherished batch of Northern Counties-bodied Volvo Olympians from late 2010 and lacked many of the features that made the Olympians so popular, while the Marshall Capitals had been the backbone of Skelmersdale's allocation for years. The DB250s' main duty was the 375 and 385 Southport to Wigan corridor, arguably the depot's flagship route, while both these and the Capitals shared the 311 Skelmersdale to Liverpool, 345 Waddicar to Liverpool and 350 Maghull to Liverpool services. The Capitals were usually the sole preserve of Skelmersdale's 37 and 38 St Helens to Rainford routes.

Closure finally befell Skelmersdale depot on 23rd July 2011 and all its buses and routes were divided between Bootle, Southport and St Helens garages.