SSmith2009
Member
Leicester will have a large surplus over the coming months in pretty good condition, these could help bring the average age in fleets down.
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Arriva Midlands
- Thread starter joieman
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So 2981 is the final 09 plate Versa left tracking in Shrewsbury then
Every time I open this thread it's good news story after good news story...
I believe they still have 2 left but as another Evora has just entered service these will probably be sent to Tamworth too
No idea to be honest, it was probably terrible like most of the 09 ones so Shrewsbury didn’t want it and kindly moved it on to Tamworth to Match the rest of the fleet
Been on a few of these "new" Versas over the last few days, they are absolutely filthy inside, like they haven't been cleaned since the day they rolled out of the Optare factory.
I noticed on social media a couple of weeks ago that the MP for Tamworth has grilled Arriva over the state of the services they are providing, can't find the post now though.
Yes every time I’ve been on one they’ve all been filthy and smelly plus they don’t sound very health at all. A couple of them also have very squeaky belts too. They always get complaints about being late, poor driving standards missing stops and poor fleet etc. Maybe things will improve .
A couple have quite a strong oil smell, which can't be a good sign, I know the bus industry in general isn't in a good shape, but Arriva turning out buses in this state just isn't acceptable, I shouldn't have to be second guessing what surface I can touch because of the visible layers of filth.
I use the 6 and X65 regular and to be fair, they seem reliable, but the local routes, from what I've seen are a totally different story.
2981 was quite active into Oswestry last week and worked on the 53 Saturday. 2980 is the one that appears to be in limbo, assume VOR at Shrewsbury or has it moved? 12 of the 15 Evoras are understood to be in use at Shrewsbury now. Once 2980/1 follow, it would be expected 2960 will follow sister 2959. It will then be interesting if 2942 (euro6 mod) or one of 2944/5/6 are selected? There is a requirement still for the 511/512 to Whitchurch, to my knowledge, no Evoras have appeared on there as yet.
I think 2942/4/5/6 will stay for the 511 and potentially 2960 depending if thats needed since i havent seen an evora appear on the OHS route yet
Tamworth seem to be struggling for euro 6 busses for the 110 at the moment 4 e400s are off the road being repaired. And they had bj12ypl on there yesterday and yj09lbl on today but only to erdington otherwise they will get charged
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But yes we will have to wait and see what gets moved next
Trainman40083
Established Member
So do the passengers get turfed off at Erdington?
Plenty of options to get into Birmingham from there, but it's far from ideal and not really a nice place to be turfed out...
Surprised Arriva haven't cut the 110 back to Sutton Coldfield to be honest.
I think 2988/9 are euro6 converts but im not sure so maybe tamworth could get them as they arent in too bad of state
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Also the Evoras have been operating on the X5/64 which the 369X Versas operate on so maybe a couple of them could move if theres enough Evoras to go round
They can’t seem to run it reliably at the moment. Always late or keep breaking down.
Trainman40083
Established Member
But if they caught a other bus, then surely they would have to buy another ticket.
Last week there there was generally one Evora interworking between the X5 and 53 but there has been numbers this week. The issue is and has always been, if short of V1170 they used to slot V1100 on both the X5, 53 and 64 so why Evoras are doing it. 2988/9 are V1170 (not put into the same 36xx series oddly) were brought in as extras were needed for the interurban runs, more so with the 53 and X5 interworking and when the PVR went back up on the 64. Looking this week, at least four of the V1170 are been either used on locals or not out at all. Most of the 3691-99 batch but not all are Euro6 mods for when Shrewsbury ran the 9 Bridgnorth to Wolverhampton off the back of the 436.
I think thats because they are the same length as the other 29xx Versa's since iirc the 36xx ones are longer
It's been unreliable for a couple of years, for a service that is meant to be every 20 minutes, it's not uncommon for there to be multiple services missing only for a Pulsar to finally turn up instead of an E400.
It's infuriating when you look back a few years when the 110 had two brand new decker fleets within 6 years and a 15 minute frequency.
Yep, like I said, far from idea, but what do you expect from Arriva?
For an industry that makes so much noise about it's perilous financial situation, the likes of Arriva really don't help themselves.
They are “supposed” to be getting 11 byd double deckers before the end of the year but I’ll believe it when I see it.
That's two more deckers than they currently have, I believe there is 9 E400s, so should be a good improvement.
That said, it was announced 2 years ago, so they've been a long time coming.
Trainman40083
Established Member
Hopefully the charging equipment will be ready for their arrival.
Knowing Arriva, the charging equipment will involve an extension cable and unplugging the kettle!
Trainman40083
Established Member
Or these new plug in solar panels
joieman
Member
V1100 and V1170 refer to the lengths of the Versas in centimetres, i.e. 1,100cm and 1,170cm. V1100 Versas are numbered in the 29xx series whereas most V1170 Versas are numbered in the 36xx series, apart from 2988-9 which are V1170 Versas.
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Qwerty133
Established Member
It’s centimetres not millimetres. Although I am sure they would if they thought they’d get away with it even Arriva don’t expect a bus load to fit into just over a meter.
Yes, the E400s now on the 110 are in an awful state - and yet these are the newest buses in their fleet (!)
Has their been a cut in the funding for maintenance at the Tamworth depot, is this is what is causing the fleet to look so worn and tired? Nothing wrong with an old bus if it's maintained well, but some of these buses look like they've not seen a service in years.
Yes the maintenance is very poor these e400s are the newest in the fleet but often the most unreliable with constant break downs and to compare with other e400s theses have only done around 500,000 miles yet are in far worse shape that others that have done around 1 million miles
Tamworth maintenance isn’t good full stop most busses have problems don’t sound good and have breakdowns regularly.