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Am I correct in thinking this is the one that was a Leicester vehicle until late last year?

Hopefully is for service here, as Leicester  seem to be short of larger vehicles currently. According to tracking, last Friday was particularly bad for the uni shuttle, with only 5 out of 7 vehicles present and lots juggling them between shifts to maximise the service!

518 was indeed a former Leicester vehicle until moving to Luton in December 2023.

Looking at what bus 642 did last night suggests that Centrebus is operating a new contract:
https://bustimes.org/vehicles/cbnl-642#journeys/644355144

At 1330 hours today (04/11/2024), E200 518 - YX63 ZVU was noted in the yard at Wenlock Way.

Looks like the numbering of 5003 and 5004 is somewhat logical, as D&G now have 5001 (ULW) and presumably 5002 is on the way.

Also seems 5003 and 5004 won't be Leicester's for long, as apparently they will be moving to Luton "in the new year when all the new buses start arriving at various places", whatever that entails!

The jungle drums suggest that four brand new vehicles are due for Leicester depot, early in 2025, consisting of two Solos (for Melton town work, which will oust 5003 & 5004 to pastures new) and two MCV Evora bodied B8RLEs for route 22. Let's wait and see.

578 is parked up back in the alley along side other long term out of use 621

I had a wander around there yesterday afternoon (10/10/2024) and noted both 578 and 621 parked in the side alley. Of note was that 578 was wearing a new style of Centrebus logo. 

I'm a bit surprised they did it this quickly! 729 said high peak on it for months after it transferred

One would hope that, with the passage of time, bus companies strive to give passengers better experiences by learning from what they have, or haven't, done and improving upon it.

I'd assume that would replace 4202. Has 4202 left yet?

No - I've eyeballed 4202 twice this week, Wednesday & Friday, also on the 127.

A freshly painted 4424 - SN15 LPU was noted on the 127s this afternoon.

YX68 ULT was noted numbered 5003, at lunchtime today, at the depot.

592 was also out today, dumped on the uni shuttle presumably because the ticket machine wasn't configured correctly in the morning and thus didn't track. Was fixed for the 13:30 journey onwards. Have heard it now has centrebus fleetnames, but cannot confirm this

I clocked it on the uni today (20/09/2024), at 1023 hours, on Victoria Park Road; the 'High Peak' names have definitely given way to 'Centrebus' ones.

YX68 ULU noted in the yard at Wenlock Way, on 19/09/2024, now in Centrebus livery.

Well, folks, 620 is back! I have spotted it on the 154 this afternoon.

I saw 620 in the yard at Wenlock Way and then again, on Ethel Road, at 2038 hours, working a 22E towards the city centre. Sounds like it had a busy old day!

At lunchtime on 17/09/2024, E200 592 was noted in the yard at Wenlock Way; it was still wearing 'High Peak' fleet names. 

Only noted ULU there just now

At lunchtime on 11/09/2024, YX68 ULT was noted in the yard at Wenlock Way freshly painted in Centrebus livery. YX68 ULU was also in the yard still in Falcon colours.

Contains a bit in Leicester with Centrebus.

At around lunchtime on 04/09/2024, E200MMCs YX68 ULT and YX68 ULU were both noted in the yard at Wenlock Way. Both were still wearing the livery of Falcon Buses but with fleet names and such like scraped off.

Parked in the naughty boys alley are 769 with O/S/F and front lower panels removed, 902, 621 and 913
578 has disappeared from the alley and maybe in the workshop but can be sure it's this one when viewing from the road

Yes, I noted a rather stripped 769 too. Offside front lower and front lower panels all gone, along with various interior panels removed too. 578 was definitely clocked inside the workshop.

I was just on it and there was no region-specific branding as far as I could see. Didn't look very thoroughly though! There were pink posters with generic arriva advertising stuff including wifi and contactless.

The seats do look like they have had a retrim recently, and also looks like newer USB ports have been retrofitted into the seat backs. Not sure whether these were done since Ayelsbury closed or not. Still has the combo power and usb sockets next to the seats similar to 4400 and 4401, though it's my understanding these are disabled.

It's not just Arriva related stuff - it can often be third party advertising, from its former operating area, that lets a bus down.

I bet they just shoved 4201's old machine in and called it a day in typical Arriva fashion - as we should all know by now they are certainly not a really good bus company haha!

These are sapphire spec so I expect will be full of sapphire branding inside, but other than that I don't recall any region specific branding. It's been a while since I was on one though so could be wrong about that! I will check it out and see tomorrow

Of course they're not a 'Really Good Bus Company' - my comment as such was to mock the gibberish spouted in this article: https://www.route-one.net/news/strong-words-between-arriva-and-trentbarton-over-x38-competition/

Arriva has consistently demonstrated a reverse Midas touch in most of their operations across the UK.

4400 and 4401 still have "Oxford SmartZone" written on the nearside windows, some of the 3137-44 MMCs have branding for the Harlow/Stansted 508/9/10 on the ceiling, and 3791 has bilingual English and Welsh signage both inside and out. I wouldn't be surprised if the new 4425 will also have some... relics!

Quite. Many go to look but few see...

The company just does not have that focus to deliver a good product. Indeed, I wouldn't trust them to deliver a pizza, let alone a bus service. That's not to say there aren't some good folk working for Arriva, there are, but in many areas of the business there have been so many cuts, leaving so few people, that unless there is real focus, things just aren't going to happen. One would hope and imagine that 4400 and 4401 went through the workshop to be inspected before entering service in Leicester, it's not hard to say, "Hang on, this Oxford stuff isn't relevant to Leicester, nor does it give a good impression, so let's get it fetched off." Presumably the engineering staff would only be bothered with engineering bits, rather other items that lead to naff presentation.