(31 Aug 2026, 6:50 pm)PH - BQA wrote Nice to see the attention to detail is still top notch at Arriva. Old livery (by about 9 years now) 1425 sent to a rally today, missing a vinyl on the first panel you can see, and two completely different shades of blue on the top and bottom half either side of the windscreen.
A bus which attended in preservation was in a more up to date livery than something sent by the company. Embarrassing. Arriva North East: 1425 NK09EKA VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar by emdjt42, on Flickr
I don’t think Arriva sent anything “specifically” to this rally. The driver will have chosen the bus they wanted to take and then got permission from the depot to use it. So I don’t think Arriva as a business are using this particular bus to showcase the fleet.
If you look at the media photos and other promotional events that Arriva actually organise themselves, they’ll usually put something newer, cleaner and tidier in the spotlight. This is more likely just a case of a driver wanting to take a particular bus along and the depot agreeing to it.
Ultimately, they could just say no to any attendance going forward, and avoid this issue altogether.