SO, we're going to get dozens of electric buses (according to a report in the Star).

Remember in 2021 when we were told that there was a fleet (of 18) hydrogen buses coming to provide a ten minute frequency on the 10A route?

Well, in 2023, one new 23-plate bus was on show at Queens Square bus station in Liverpool.

It didn't run operationally but it looked nice. Twelve months later, about six of these, 23-plate, big yellow buses appeared around St Helens – driver training mainly but also maintenance training (presumably as they were seen a few times behind recovery trucks) and even the occasional one in service on the 10 and 10A routes.

After a couple of months they seem to have disappeared. In a puff of hydrogen, no doubt.

Hopefully, we will get these electric buses – we need them. If you look at the Arriva buses in St Helens, the youngest (excluding the hydrogen fleet) is more than nine years old. New buses? I think we are Arriva's recycling centre.

The man on the 10/10A, Bill Friar, via email