740.is moving again
I'd say Oaklands Avenue area is on flood watch
They are? I thought Kinch were keeping those, although you never know, plans may have changed since when I got told. Makes sense for them to keep them as they're both in their livery, and can cover skylink in emergency situations when any of the branded ADLs are VOR for any reason.
Just another rumour mill - would seem odd to go back to trent as it could potentially leave them short for skylink at times. The skylinks are still relatively new and theres been a few occasions where 3 spares have been needed
Best keep 5 spares for Skylink.. Does the order for Yutongs give enough just for the PVR, or plus spares
Believe its 21 yutongs ordered for a pvr of 18 so a few spares, although the electric yutongs are unlikely to be capable of pulling a full shift on skylink
You're right, they are getting 21 Yutongs (PVR 18), and while they may be capable of doing 1 or 2 runs on skylink, you have to remember that they are limited to 50mph too so it seems unlikely, increasing the logical sense for them to keep 107/8 for skylink runs.
Oh, put them round the circuit at Donington Park in a race. Foot to the floor
Cant see it happening since they'd need the tablet holders + charging cable installed which is why no other vehicles apart from the slimline solos go onto drt
Isn't the kinch order for 2 or even 3 different variant (length) of Yutong. Will be interesting to see what size the spares are.
Think they could of been planning for the acquisition of the 3 around the same time as ordering the yutongs since they'd of had to put in applications and stuff to take over the route so possibly the order could of taken into account the extra vehicle needed for the 3.
A mixture of E9L and E12 buses
Is the DRT fleet more stable now? I do see a fair few substitutions, and chatting to drivers, the perception is that the Sprinters do seem out of action a fair bit. Nottinghamshire County Council seem to have faith in the DRT service though, as it looks like it’s funding has been extended by another year. I really like the service, and the regular faces on the service are incredibly friendly, plus they seem like nice little buses. That said, I do miss the blue Skylink providing that direct and timetabled connection with Loughborough.
They are a bit more stable yeah. Though they still have problems, the past week there's been the odd solo covering most days. It seems they tend to do general maintenance on them during the uni term holidays and in the evenings so it doesn't disturb sprint as much.
But given the slimline solos will almost certainly be withdrawn they will need to have something equipped to be used as a spare.
Won't happen, if anything Kinch will have given up the DRT by then!
Some of the sprint Solos may temporarily remain at Kinch to accommodate the DRT van breakdowns. I can see 107 and 108 staying, however I can't say the same for 175, as that is mango liveried and I'm assuming trent will want it back at some point (after all it is still a decently new vehicle in comparison).
Was going say if no other can go on DRT then I would assume they kept one till atleast the one with the longest MOT runs out which currently is number 4 YJ07EFU (12th December 2026) unless they renew number 2 YJ07EFS as it runs out 9th Jan so depends when it will be replaced.
Was the slimline solos fitted with the tablet holder and cable when they got the DRT contract or has it always had it? Also why can't they just fit one of the spare E9L's (if there is a spare branded E9L) with a tablet holder and cable?
The solos got refitted with the cables and stuff when they got the contract. Just from a route standpoint, you'd ideally with a bus need something with forward wheel steering to get around some parts that the DRT serves so thats why I feel they'd keep the slimlines as spares for DRT... would be glad to be proven wrong though and an E9 actually go on there!
A coat of paint doesn't seem to mean much to Wellglade who seemingly paint some of their vehicles more often than Arriva wash some of theirs. Assuming that there is very little room for fleet growth as has been said by several posters it is hard to see any scope to retain a Solo as a dedicated spare for the DRT as there are 41 vehicles (the current size of the fleet) between the Yutongs, Skylink Enviros (including the two 2025 spares) and DRT minibuses so anything on top of this would have to be relatively versitile and certainly have to have the ability to operate the skylink due to the unsuitability of the Yutongs.
I remember riding the slimline Solos when new on the Allestree route.
There has been a leadership shuffle the general manager from Sutton is now running kinch and the old kinch manager is now at Langley mill with a new starter joining from stagecoach in January to run Sutton.
