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Which buses do you dislike?

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ATW Alex 101

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Oh right, I didn't think double decker buses were allowed to do that, I thought they were only allowed to do 50. My bus driver only usually does 40 to 50 anyway but the other bus driver will do 70 when on the big incline of the m53 past the A41 turnoff. I didn't believe it until I seen it and I was standing by the door so I could see the speedo but the door started shaking and everything it was like I was going to get thrown out for some reason.

I am honestly surprise my bus even survives the motorway, especially old rusty ones full of schoolchildren!
 
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BestWestern

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70 is legal for buses on motorways, but not other dual-carriageway roads. I'm just surprised they can still do 70 :p

It's 62 surely, governed by a mandatory speed limiter if the vehicle would otherwise be capable of exceeding it; unless they've changed it in the last couple of years. The limiter has to be recalibrated at set intervals and there will be a plate or sticker fitted in the cab somewhere with all the details on. Unless you're in something weighing less than 7.5 tons, in which case 70 is indeed legal if I remember correctly, though that's not likely to include a 'decker! Dual carriageways you should be looking at 10mph below national speed limit, so 60, and the same again on a national speed single carriageway, so max of 50.

All of this largely useless information came in handy when I had to do my naughty lead-footed driver awareness course a while back (not flashed at the wheel of a bus I might add!)

Though with the frequency that they mess about with things it's a wonder anybody remembers anything :p
 
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Ivo

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It's 62 surely, governed by a mandatory speed limiter if the vehicle would otherwise be capable of exceeding it, unless they've changed it in the last couple of years. The limiter has to be recalibrated at set intervals and there will be a plate or sticker fitted in the cab somewhere with all the details on. Unless you're in something weighing less than 7.5 tons, in which case 70 is indeed legal if I remember correctly, though that's not likely to include a 'decker! Though with the frequency that they mess about with things it's a wonder anybody remembers anything :p

I thought it was any bus not more than 12m long? Wouldn't surprise if not though (62mph ~ 100kph obviously).
 

MCR247

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Ok the worst buses have to be now the Optare Tempo SR, you will find these on Trent Barton's Route i4 between Nottingham & Derby, the most running disaster on 4 wheels, forever unreliable, noisy, underpowered, uncomfortable, in fact I can't think of a nice word to say about them to be honest

(And I thought DAF Plaxton Prestiges were awful but these Tempo SR's take AWFUL to a whole new level)

Awful, vile buses

I personally quite like omnicities. Not a big fan of enviro 200s.
 

Ivo

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I thought DAF Plaxton Prestiges were awful

The 61-reg Versas aside, those are the only decent buses Arriva run in Southend! :lol: (This does not include the DAFs that formerly ran the 370 Lakeside to Romford, as I have not been on them enough to comment.)
 

BestWestern

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I thought it was any bus not more than 12m long? Wouldn't surprise if not though (62mph ~ 100kph obviously).

It's definitely based on the weight, or at least it was when I last had to know it! The few flying machines I did drive that made it to mach 62 were all limited there. As you say though, most city-spec motors aren't geared to go that fast anyhow!

Awful, vile buses

I personally quite like omnicities. Not a big fan of enviro 200s.

The Omni is a definite flying machine; they also have a very good driving position, with a high seat set against the shallow windscreen giving a very commanding sense of control over the vehicle, excellent (but frequently whacked) mirrors, and a nice cab environment. Sadly the bare bones underneath let it down.
 
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richw

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I thought it was any bus not more than 12m long? Wouldn't surprise if not though (62mph ~ 100kph obviously).

Anything over 7.5t is limited to 100 kph under eu law anywhere within the eu.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2
 

notadriver

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It's anything with over 8 seats that's now limited to 100 kph!

As for the bus I agree it's very likely the speedo was over reading as it wouldn't have a calibrated tachograph a coach has.

I can well believe a high speed was achieved downhill though. The coach I had the other day had cruise control but in order to stop it overspeeding downhills the retarder has a special facility to maintain the set speed rather than the driver having to brake manually.
 

Pyromaniac

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The 61-reg Versas aside, those are the only decent buses Arriva run in Southend! :lol: (This does not include the DAFs that formerly ran the 370 Lakeside to Romford, as I have not been on them enough to comment.)

Just wait until you get a ride on 4200 (YJ57EKG), thats the best Southend bus. The little DAF's are good, just small. The big DAF's are good. Some Darts are good. The other Versa's are new...thats the only good thing about them I can say.
 

Ivo

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Just wait until you get a ride on 4200 (YJ57EKG), thats the best Southend bus. The little DAF's are good, just small. The big DAF's are good. Some Darts are good. The other Versa's are new...thats the only good thing about them I can say.

For some bizarre reason I never took the opportunity to do so over the summer, even though I must have seen it about ten times (compared to the little DAFs which in my opinion are ideal for the 29 but obviously Short Street know best :roll:). I don't mind the newer Versas otherwise, but would like them more if their internal spec was closer to the Solo SRs Wessex introduced here.

Having said that, the Versas weren't exclusively funded by Arriva. Would they otherwise have paid out £1.8M on their own for Southend?

No chance :lol:
 

Statto

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DAF/VDL SB200CS Cadets, horrible droning noise from the Engine horrible seating & that includes the refurbed Cadets. Loath East Lancs EL 2000 Darts don't know if any are still around but really cramped seating, & annoying Arriva often allocated them on long routes like 130 Macclesfield-Manchester. Dislike Marshall Capital Darts same reason for EL 2000 Darts, even more idiotic MTLs decision to bring in the Marshall Capital Darts to replace Deckers on the 79 Netherley-Liverpool route, one of the most inappropriate routes to have Marshall Capitals allocated to it instead of Deckers.
 

trentside

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Loath East Lancs EL 2000 Darts don't know if any are still around but really cramped seating, & annoying Arriva often allocated them on long routes like 130 Macclesfield-Manchester.

I'd take a Dart with that bodywork anytime over the Volvo B6-50 with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork that RoadCar purchased in the mid-1990s. They were ugly, slow, noisy and just awful - and still had the cramped seating, 44 seats shoved into a body that would normally take a lot less. One has survived into preservation, somehow!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/den664185/5427613999/
 

fgwrich

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Dislike Marshall Capital Darts same reason for EL 2000 Darts, even more idiotic MTLs decision to bring in the Marshall Capital Darts to replace Deckers on the 79 Netherley-Liverpool route, one of the most inappropriate routes to have Marshall Capitals allocated to it instead of Deckers.

God i remember those awful things (not MTLs ones but Marshall Cr@pital Darts), When Countywide were Countywide Travel, and not the split Fleet Buzz / Weavaway Travel it's now become, had a few of these awful things. Absolutly nasty, shoddy things. Especially if you sat at the back of the things, were you'd smell more of diesel than if you'd spent the day in a nackered 56.

M74AKAa170402.JPG


http://www.buszone.co.uk/CWT.html
 

Statto

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I'd take a Dart with that bodywork anytime over the Volvo B6-50 with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork that RoadCar purchased in the mid-1990s. They were ugly, slow, noisy and just awful - and still had the cramped seating, 44 seats shoved into a body that would normally take a lot less. One has survived into preservation, somehow!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/den664185/5427613999/

Oh yep dislike B6s as well, talk about rock shake rattle & roll as well as cramped seating. GTL in Liverpool before Stagecoach brought them from Stagecoach & allocated them on inappropriate routes like 1/2 & 20 Kirkby-City Centre, however that was due most of to the deckers being shoddy.
 

Clip

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All of them. When I stay down brixton the ones that rattle down stockwell road are just far too noisy with those big fans on the side.

I think they're volvo's
 

richw

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I've decided I dislike any bus that I get stuck behind when I'm driving about in my car.
 

D365

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Any where the top deck is too low; Stagecoach Cambridgeshire guided buses.
 

Tubefan2013

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I think the worst buses I hate is the Wright bus Gemmni 2 the engines are boring and bland.
The brakes squeak and squeal. The ride is very hard and the bus lacks character. The enviro 400 is the best bus Modern looking, Fast acceration and nice voith/ZF gearbox sounds.
 

causton

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I thought I liked the new Wright Streetlites we had in Hertfordshire but they are soooooo slooooow! I took one the other day and the bus was 2 minutes down on the departure boards, then got to the stop and it had lost more time, then it lost even more sticking to a padded timetable! They are also used on a route with a motorway run down the A1(M) and I'm almost embarrassed to sit on this bus holding up one of the two lanes on the motorway with this bus crawling along at 40-45mph!
 

Qwerty133

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I dislike arriva Leicester lowlanders as they are worn out and slow, also dislike anything with urban 90 seats as they are hard. But the worst has to be the r reg centrebus alx100s as they give me backache whenever they go over speed humps.
 

Charlie2555

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My least favourite would be the Optare Solo. They're far too common and bland, and when I went on one a couple of weeks ago we were crawling along the dudl carriageway at around 10mph.with.cars going past at 70! At least I got a treat of a Wilts & Dorset Olympian on the way back. I can't believe it was an R reg, from inside it I appeared to date from the 80 with a very Brown interior!!!
 

90019

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What is the top speed of buses? The Wrightbus Gemini 2 seems to cut out at just over 52mph.

Our older Geminis are limited to 50 or so, but it varies between buses. I'm not too sure about the newer ones.

The single decks, I've not hit the limiter on any other than the training buses which are all limited to 50. The pointers generally feel like they're about to fall apart once you're getting beyond 50 on the speedo.
The Volvos I'm not sure about most of them, as I've never had them on the one run I have where I can get them up to the limiter.

However, the two second hand ones, 193 starts to vibrate once you're over 80kph, so I've only been up to 85 or so with that one, but 194 I've had flat out, and it's out of steam at 95kph.
 

moogal

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Living in London I'm not a fan of the Scania Omnicity, which are the standard for one of local routes (the 205), because the build quality seems pretty awful (bits of interior trim falling off, lots of rattling, leaky air coolers) and the seats are quite possibly the least comfortable things I've ever sat on - they make the new Jubilee line ones seem like a squishy armchair! On the other hand, the Geminis on the 25 are positively luxurious - comfortable, smooth and quiet.

Also not a fan of the Borismaster, mostly on the principle of the thing - spending an absolute fortune for something that does the job no better than what we've already got, at a time when money is tight. It's a transport system, not an art gallery.
 
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if you ever seen a Stagecoach B7RLE on the M58 coming from Skelmersdale you'd know of there superior build quality to most buses out there how anyone could knock them is beyond me. Volvo B7RLE with First Interior by far the best bus out there. Also just heard that R51XVM has been preserved one of the best Scania NC ever built so more excelllant news.
 
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