Hyebone
Member
The odd time I ride the 110 up in Yorkshire, I can say they're a much better ride than the previous allocation of Wright Streetdecks
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Arriva Midlands
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derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
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Are any new buses on order for the Midlands area?
Vdl repaints appear to have stopped or paused at Derby. Perhaps not all will stay in the longer term now.
The additional e400s seem quite unreliable, to the point that vdls still appear on decker routes despite having 3 additional deckers to what they had previously.
Vdl repaints appear to have stopped or paused at Derby. Perhaps not all will stay in the longer term now.
The additional e400s seem quite unreliable, to the point that vdls still appear on decker routes despite having 3 additional deckers to what they had previously.
SSmith2009
Member
Keep hearing about more electrics due in Leicester but we shall see...
those max spec e400s from yorkshire were awful when in Leicester, ideally the UniHopper ones could do with being replaced with electrics to allow them to replace the some of the 42xx volvos.
It's turned up at Luton to be used as a ferry vehicle
New buses are certainly needed, just look at Tamworths fleet, there is ex-Shires MAX branded citaros that look like they've been pulled from the scrap yard, E400s deckers that that are battered with several kept on local routes close to the depot...
But it's okay though because there are supposedly some Electric deckers on the way, which I'm starting to doubt.
darloscott
Member
Shrewsbury due a batch of Evoras… Telford also gaining some pre-loved Temsas from North East for Christmas !
Trainman40083
Established Member
There seems to be more and more of these small buses, doing such work.
SSmith2009
Member
One has apparently already arrived in the form of 4718 YJ10 DFU
I do wonder what their need for them is?
chungusgoat1
Member
covering pulsars while the polar express is happening as arriva do the shuttles for it
I'm sure the customers are overjoyed, truly awful buses.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Have you travelled on them much? What makes them "truly awful"?
Used them a few times when they operated on the X93 Middlesborough - Whitby - Scarborough, poor internal layout, seats with little to no padding and a general feeling of being built on the cheap.
Maybe for local routes they are okay, but not for anything more.
But please do educate me as to why my personal opinion is wrong...
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
They're not designed for something like the X93 - they're an urban bus and to be honest, they're not too bad. Yes, the internal layout is a bit odd (clearly as it's an LHD citybus design) so strong Citaro vibes too.
In my experience of travelling on them on the 63/64, they are perfectly fine. They did get a much needed refurb and whilst not exceptional, they're nowhere near Streetlite/e200 levels of ride quality etc, so perhaps not fully deserving of the "truly awful" rating.
You're welcome
Oh, and it's spelt Middlesbrough 
They're not designed for something like the X93 - they're an urban bus and to be honest, they're not too bad. Yes, the internal layout is a bit odd (clearly as it's an LHD citybus design) so strong Citaro vibes too.
In my experience of travelling on them on the 63/64, they are perfectly fine. They did get a much needed refurb and whilst not exceptional, they're nowhere near Streetlite/e200 levels of ride quality etc, so perhaps not fully deserving of the "truly awful" rating.
You're welcome
Maybe my experience is tainted somewhat after multiple 1 hour+ trips across the Yorkshire Moors on them.
Agree about them having Citaro vibes, but I think the Citaro being a full size bus makes the odd layout much less noticeable.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
The Temsa is a full size bus too. The Temsa might not be a stunner but it's far from the worst bus to work the X93 - asthmatic e400s, Plaxton Prestiges, knackered Nationals.
As it is, as long as Telford don't send them to Stafford, most other routes should be fine and probably some short term loan before they become razor blades.
Ballyheigue
Member
I've been on a Temsa once from Whitby to Scarborough and found it perfectly acceptable, it got me from A to B quite quickly, helped by the fact it ran late so was non stop though. Yes it was a bit hard to see out of the windows but once you've seen the moors, you've seen them and that's most likely the case for the majority of users. The Layout most likely doesn't bother many users except those with OCD bothered by such a thing lol, as long as it gets there as promised in the timetable (mine did due to missing out the bulk of the route) then that's all people care about in reality.
As somebody over 6 foot and without OCD, maybe I should have been "happy" just to have a bus and forget about how sore my legs were due to the dreadful seat pitch
I've never been a fan of the "race to the bottom" school of thought.
If they are as acceptable as you say, why aren't there more examples in the UK?
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Working on that basis, that must make the e200 the best vehicle in the country?
Perhaps it was more to do with the perceived/actual lack of maintenance support, and that by the time they appeared, the big groups had largely standardised on the e300 (Stagecoach), B7RLE (First and Transdev) and Daf SB200 (Arriva). There are many reasons and the Temsas have proved reliable workhorses, once they stopped catching fire!!
Dwarfer1979
Member
1. Same reason why the Citaro/OmniCity etc didn't become mainstream. It is optimised as an urban design with full length flat floor sacrificing some seating to better potential standing where the UK market favours better seating layout over theoretical max crush standing load - to give flexibility in deployment on both urban, rural & interurban services.
2. Same reason why the E200 outsold the Volvo B7RLE. This was a heavier weight design (I think it was lighter than many equivalent competitors but still heavier than things like the E200 - it could probably be described as a medium weight like the VDL SB200 or E300) when the UK market favours lighter weight models with lower running costs.
3. Because Temsa were a relatively unknown quantity and many bus buyers are fairly conservative and stick with what they know until someone else has proven it works.
4. Because it was sold by Arriva and some operators didn't like doing business with a competitor (this probably hampered VDL bus sales a little as well).
In the end the VDL SB200 did everything the Temsa did, with a layout more suited to what the UK market generally wanted, from a manufacturer more established in the UK market and with a model already well known so Arriva didn't really push the model beyond that initial batch which they bought (& a few demo/stock vehicles that ended up there as well). Doesn't mean the bus was bad just that it couldn't find a gap in the market and the importer was more interested in selling the Temsa coaches than buses anyway so it was not heavily promoted very much for very long.
derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
- Messages
- 346
Omnicity 3569, Gemini 4216 and E400 4422 have all gone for scrap.
Trainman40083
Established Member
4422 didn't last long.
derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
- Messages
- 346
Not long at all, a few days? 4221 has tracked as 4422 for a number of weeks.
danielnez1
Member
At the time Arriva NE ordered the Temsa Avenues, I got the feeling they were eying up a large group order. IIRC in the end it turned out that the cost savings of a Temsa vs a SB200 was minimal, and there were issues early on with sourcing spare parts for the Temsas.
From my point of view the only good thing was their sound. The awkward internal seating layout and heating provided by old school box heaters awkwardly placed under seats at an angle, seems to indicate they were quickly adapted from a continental hot climate right-hand drive design. The seats on them are bad IMHO, but that is probably down to what Arriva specified at the time to keep down costs. The fact they were a bit partial to catch fire early on didn’t help with their reputation either.
I kind of hope one gets preserved though.
derbybusdepot
Member
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2015
- Messages
- 346
4416 and 4421 seem to have settled down a bit. The later continues to track as 4422.
The other two haven't seen much use lately, (4419/20).
Trainman40083
Established Member
The last time I saw 4419, it was dumped next to withdrawn 4216. Maybe newer deckers are coming.
Watch this space!
Trainman40083
Established Member
I could see the Hopper Buses for Nottingham University updated, and existing ones cascaded. I could see loads of VDLs displaced by 15 .................... s! Time will tell.