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Arriva Max

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Arriva Max
Arriva Yorkshire Alexander Dennis Enviro400 at Wakefield bus station in April 2015
ParentArriva
FoundedSeptember 2014
Service typePremium bus
Routes13 (October 2022)
FleetMercedes-Benz Citaro
VDL DB300/Wright Gemini 2
Scania OmniCity
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
Wright StreetLite
Volvo B9TL
VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar
OperatorArriva Buses Wales
Arriva North East
Arriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Southern Counties
Arriva Yorkshire

Arriva Max was a premium brand used by various Arriva bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.

History

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In September 2014, Arriva launched the Max brand for interurban express services. The first services were launched by Arriva North East, which is cited as the creator and home of the brand (alongside jointly managed Arriva Yorkshire), with routes X10 and X11 from Newcastle to Blyth using refurbished double-deck vehicles.[1][2][3]

The brand was additionally rolled out by Arriva Buses Wales, Arriva Shires & Essex and Arriva Southern Counties, all of which have since discontinued the brand. Arriva North East and Arriva Yorkshire increased the number of Max branded routes within their regions. Most of the new routes were launched with Titan the Robot, to celebrate and create interest in each upgrade.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

The Max brand has been scaled back significantly in recent years as part of the Arriva rebrand, however some routes were withdrawn or were upgraded with new standard or refurbished Arriva Sapphire buses.

In 2022, Arriva started to phase out the Max brand nationally, with the majority of buses being repainted into the standard Arriva livery or replaced with new buses.

Routes

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As of July 2024, there were 8 Arriva Max routes.

Arriva North East

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Arriva Yorkshire

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Former routes

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Arriva Southern Counties

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Arriva The Shires

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Arriva North East

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  • X1 - Darlington to Crook via Bishop Auckland, removed from the MAX brand with buses now carrying the Arriva logo in its place.
  • X7/X8 - Newcastle to Blyth via Quorum Business Park, removed from the MAX brand with buses now carrying the Arriva logo in its place.
  • X9/X10/X11 - Newcastle to Blyth via Cramlington, removed from the MAX brand with buses now carrying the Arriva logo in its place.
  • X14 - Newcastle to Thropton via Morpeth, removed from the MAX brand following delivery of new buses in the standard livery.
  • X15/X18 - Newcastle to Berwick via Morpeth and Alnwick, removed from the MAX brand following delivery of new buses in the standard livery.
  • X16 - Newcastle to Kirkhill Estate via Morpeth, withdrawn and replaced in part by an extended route 2.
  • X20 - Newcastle to Alnwick via Ashington, removed from the MAX brand following delivery of new buses in the standard livery.
  • X67 - Darlington to Middlesbrough, withdrawn and replaced with revised route X66.
  • X93/X94 - Middlesbrough to Scarborough via Whitby, removed from the MAX brand following refurbishment and rebrand of existing vehicles and is now a part of the sapphire brand.
  • 308 - Newcastle to Blyth, following a change in vehicle allocation, the initial vehicles (Wright Gemini 2-bodied Volvo B5LHs) were transferred to Arriva Yorkshire, in return for unrefurbished Wright Gemini 2-bodied VDL DB300s which were later refurbished to the new standard Arriva livery and specification.

Arriva Yorkshire

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Vehicles

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Max branded vehicles had leather seats, free WiFi and a modified livery, some also include charging points (standard from early-2016), furthermore some buses also include air conditioning. Initially only refurbished vehicles were used with Arriva North East and Arriva Yorkshire opting for Wright Gemini 2 bodied VDL DB300s.

Since then, Arriva North East had also refurbished Scania OmniCitys and Alexander Dennis Enviro400s and more recently had purchased brand new stock in the form of further Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Wright StreetLites and Volvo B9TLs. Meanwhile, Arriva Yorkshire had refurbished a mixture of Wright Gemini 2/VDL DB300s and Alexander Dennis Enviro400s as well as purchasing new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. Elsewhere, Arriva Herts & Essex had refurbished Mercedes-Benz Citaros while Arriva Buses Wales had refurbished Wright Pulsar bodied VDL SB200s.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Arriva goes Max Coach & Bus Week 1 September 2014
  2. ^ Maximum Impact: Max comes to Northumberland Arriva 2 September 2014
  3. ^ Arriva North East launches first MAX route Bus & Coach Buyer 5 September 2014
  4. ^ Sapphire on Deeside Coach & Bus Buyer 20 March 2015
  5. ^ Max - new interurban express services from Arriva Arriva
  6. ^ Titan the robot entertains crowds at Arriva bus route event Yorkshire Evening Post 26 March 2015
  7. ^ Arriva Max brand launches in Leeds Archived 5 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine RouteOne 1 April 2015
  8. ^ More Arriva Max in Yorkshire Bus & Coach Buyer 1 April 2015
  9. ^ Titan takes bus travel to the Max The Northern Echo 29 April 2015
  10. ^ Arriva’s new look in Southend Bus & Coach Buyer 9 December 2015
  11. ^ "Arriva to withdraw Service 5". Leigh Times. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  12. ^ Bus Passenger News September/October 2016 Archived 12 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine Essex Highways
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