Bus Ambassador

Seven British-built Treka CitySprint minibuses are entering service in the Liverpool City Region, giving the new franchised Metro bus network a compact option for routes where larger buses are not suitable. The vehicles are built on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, with bodywork by Treka Bus at its factory in Brighouse, West Yorkshire. They have been delivered to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). Three have gone to St Helens and four to Wirral. Treka Bus St Helens became the first part of the city region to bring its buses back under public control on 6th September. Wirral follows on 25th October 2026, and bus franchising will then be extended across the rest of the region throughout 2027.

Mobico Group has confirmed it has reached an agreement in principle to sell the net assets and operations of its West Midlands bus business, National Express West Midlands, to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). The deal is expected to bring Mobico upfront residual proceeds of around £24 million, once deductions for transferred liabilities are accounted for.

Alexander Dennis has won an order for at least 207 low- and zero-emission buses from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority , days before the region starts running bus services under public control in St Helens.

West Yorkshire has signed its first bus franchising contracts, marking the moment the region's Weaver Network moves from blueprint to reality. First Bus has been chosen to run services from the Bramley and Huddersfield strategic depots, while Transdev Blazefield will operate out of Dewsbury, following a competitive procurement process that has run for the best part of a year.

Arriva's latest investment on the Wrexham network is a significant one, with 11 new 11.8m Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs joining the fleet as part of a £2.5million spend on the town's bus services, replacing the previous Sapphire branded Enviro400City double-decks that have served route 1 between Wrexham and Chester since 2017.

Hot on the heels of the recent bus franchising update for St Helens, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has confirmed the detail behind one of its headline promises for St Helens. A brand-new X3 express service will link St Helens town centre directly to Liverpool John Lennon Airport , putting more than 25,000 extra residents within a 60-minute journey of the terminal and over 100,000 within 80 minutes once onward rail and bus connections are counted.

From Sunday 6th September 2026, St Helens becomes the first place in the Liverpool City Region to see its buses come back under public control and the improvements landing on Day One are by no means insignificant. Two-hourly routes are being upgraded to hourly, evening and weekend timetables are being extended and a brand-new express link to Liverpool John Lennon Airport is being introduced from the off.

Fourteen new Wrightbus double-deck diesel buses have recently entered service across the TrawsCymru network, and for passengers in some of Wales's more rural corners, that's a bigger deal than it might sound. TrawsCymru is TfW's longer distance bus network, funded by the Welsh Government specifically to link communities the trains can't, with timetables designed to connect into the wider rail network rather than compete with it.

Liverpool Cruise Port has recently taken delivery of two brand new, fully electric Karsan e-JEST buses, a welcome and well-timed addition that marks another positive step in the port's journey towards a cleaner, quieter and more sustainable operation. Liverpool Cruise Port

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has completed a multimillion-pound electrification project at Stagecoach's Gillmoss depot in North Liverpool, paving the way for over 100 new publicly owned battery-electric buses to enter service this week.