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It's not often that three of the major bus groups find themselves operating members of the same batch of vehicles. For a kick-off the big groups by and large do not sell vehicles to each other. Additionally each of the groups has their own distinctive buying policy and in particular Arriva goes its own way. However it has recently come to pass that Arriva, First and Stagecoach are running Alexander PS-Type Volvos from the M-PRS batch originally ordered by Stagecoach for its operations in Glasgow. Stagecoach started operation in the city in the mid 1990's (top left) to prepare for a bid for Strathclyde's Buses. However when that company was sold to First, Stagecoach passed it's buses to them. This batch though had already begun to be distributed throughout the Stagecoach empire (lower left). The vehicles under First ownership soldier on and can still be found performing front line duties (middle left). The two with Arriva came via a very circuitous route - starting with Stagecoach Ribble in Burnley, then passing to Lancashire United when they took over operation there, then passing to Sovereign of Hatfield which was also part of the Blazefield Group and then onto Arriva when Sovereign sold up to them. They now appear on routes around High Wycombe (above) and interestingly are painted in normal and inter-urban livery. These PS-Types seem to be virtually indestructible so they may last well into the next decade. They are distant relatives related by birth to a certain Scottish bus owner.