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Operation Overdrive is the name of a series of improvement programmes carried out by Arriva in their UK bus operations. The original Operation Overdrive was done by Arriva Southern Counties in the Medway Towns (Kent) in 2004, with further operations occurring in Maidstone (Kent), Merseyside, Leicestershire, County Durham, and Southend-on-Sea (Essex).
The original operation Overdrive involved the purchase of 61 new buses, [1] upgrading 40 existing buses, [1] upgrades to the route network, [1] introducing GPS Brand new interactive timetables for every bus stop, [1] depot upgrades including a vehicle wash, [1] and introduction of a yellow liveried school fleet. [1]
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 A Transbus ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL in colour branded livery in 2005 |
The new vehicles were 12 Dennis Dart 8.8 m-long (29 ft) single deckers with Plaxton Pointer MPD bodies and 49 Volvo B7TL double deckers with TransBus ALX400 bodies. The new buses feature interior, linked to GPS tracking systems provided by Medway Council used for real time display at bus stops. [1] [2]
Other existing vehicles in the Medway fleet were modernised to bring them into line with the new vehicles. This entailed refurbishment and repainting, fitting CCTV, changing destination displays from traditional roller blinds to scrolling LED displays and the introduction of GPS tracking systems to all vehicles. Six Northern Counties Palatine 1 bodied Volvo B10M buses were also painted in an allover yellow scheme for use on school services. [1] [2]
Arriva significantly upgraded services in the Medway area with the rebranding and timetabling of routes and the introduction of new buses. The network was upgraded with five routes being increased to 10-minute frequencies and branded as the Red, Green, Purple, Blue and Orange Lines, [3] with appropriately branded buses allocated to these routes. All but the purple line use double deck buses. [4]
The specific colour branding of buses to a particular coloured line [5] was later dropped in favour of a single Medway Mainline branding showing all of the coloured route numbers. [6]
On the day of the new network launch, a convoy of 20 of the new buses was organised for the press, running from the depot at Gillingham to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham. [7]
Overdrive 2 involved the refurbishment of several buses at the Maidstone depot in 2004/5. In 2008, four VDL DB250/East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander have arrived for route 71.
In 2005 some new Alexander ALX400/Volvo B7TLs and 14 Scania CN94UB Omnicitys were introduced in Durham and Darlington. Most vehicles have since been moved elsewhere.[ citation needed ]
Between 2005 and 2006, 42 Wright Cadet midibuses were delivered to Runcorn (39) and Speke (three) depots, with Runcorn's receiving Strider branding. Fleet investment continued in 2006, with the company ordering 30 Volvo B7TLs and 28 Wright Commanders for its Speke depot, whilst Green Lane depot received six Commanders. [8] A second batch of Commanders, for Southport and Wythenshawe depots, was delivered in 2007.
Arriva North West purchased a total of 231 Wright Pulsar/Pulsar 2s for the majority of its North West depots between 2008 and 2011, with 68 of these being allocated to Green Lane depot. Other depots which received brand new Pulsars include Birkenhead, Bootle, Southport and St Helens. The Pulsar soon became Arriva North West's standard vehicle type, primarily replacing vehicles which had been acquired from the takeovers of MTL and North Western.
In 2009, 35 Alexander Dennis Enviro400s were ordered for Cross River Express and Liverpool cross-city services respectively. Two years later, a batch of 47 Wright Gemini 2 was ordered, with the majority of these allocated to Speke depot for routes in south Liverpool.
In May 2006 Arriva launched Operation Overdrive on services in Leicestershire which saw 54 new buses delivered to Arriva Midlands (Fox County) and numerous buses refurbished. All but eight of the buses were double deckers on VDL DB250 and Volvo B7TL chassis. The eight single deckers delivered were VDL SB200s. All buses delivered were bodied by Wrightbus.
In July 2008, Arriva Southern Counties sent some of Arriva Southend's Dennis Dart/Plaxton Pointers to their Gillingham, Kent depot for refurbishment, entailing repainting, fitting CCTV, and changing their destination displays from traditional roller blinds to scrolling LED displays. In mid-2009, the remainder of the older double decker fleet will be replaced by low-floor buses.
The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian. It was built as the British bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a long rear overhang.
The Alexander ALX400 is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders. It was one of the ALX-series bodywork, all of which featured the same designs on the front and rear panels that were originally designed for the new generation of mainly low-floor bus chassis produced since the late 1990s.
The Plaxton President is a low floor double-decker bus body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chassis and later built between 1999 and 2005 following a body redesign. When it became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
The VDL DB250 is a twin-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach.
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer.
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East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.
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The Burnley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
The Wright Pulsar Gemini is a design of double-decker bus bodywork built onto VDL DB250LF chassis by Wrightbus between 2003 and 2006. It was visually almost identical to the Wright Eclipse Gemini that was mounted on the Volvo B7TL and later Volvo B9TL chassis.
Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus company that operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield.
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey Limited, which traded as Arriva Guildford & West Surrey, was a bus operator based in Guildford, England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operated services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division. Services that were run were primarily centred on hubs at Guildford, Woking and Cranleigh.
Invictaway was an express commuter coach service from Kent to London in the 1980s and 1990s, and was also a holding company for the emerging Arriva group. As a legal entity of the Maidstone & District bus company, after the cessation of the Invictaway coach services, the Invictaway company legal lettering persisted as a holding company for the Arriva subsidiaries in Kent, and some London operations. This company was based in the Armstrong Road M&D depot in Maidstone. This ceased in 1997 when the operations were reconstituted as Arriva London and Arriva Southern Counties.
Arriva Buses Wales is a bus operator providing services in northern Wales and Chester in northern England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Arriva Sapphire was a luxury brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
Arriva Max was a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.
Network Norwich is the brand name given to First Norfolk & Suffolk bus services in and around the city of Norwich. First launched in September 2012, the network now consists of nine colour-coded lines extending across Norwich city centre, outer suburbs, and surrounding towns and villages across Norfolk and into Suffolk.
Go-Ahead Transport Services (Dublin) Limited, trading as Go-Ahead Ireland, is a bus operator in Dublin that commenced trading in September 2018. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
