Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

Nope they all had solid floors as they were built before wheelchair ramps got fitted to buses. Main reason Peoplesbus keep there tridents dual door is due to the ramp being in the middle door

The linked video shows Green Lane based Ultralow 2034. I'm absolutely sure that some St Helens examples had the same thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P2jdE1ZVSk

The Marshall's are very hit and miss I find, one minute you can have a decent one and next you can have a total shed on wheels! Take 7665 and 7671 (which was on the pits again today, btw), two utter sheds. But then there's 7658, which is just perfect!

Oddly, 7612 was displaying a rather odd destination layout on the 6 this morning. It was displaying it's number on the left, and with the old bold font. Even more oddly, later in the day it had been amended to the normal layout! Very odd indeed.

Both layouts probably still programmed in Luke, therefore the driver would have just picked the one he knew.

@CX54, this is once again the old cliched topic. Enthusiasts view and business views are different thing as Im sure you know. Enthusiasts view for me on Pulsars for example is that the vast majority should be driven out of Ballymena and straight into PVS, they are an appalling excuse for a new bus and leave a lot to be desired for me personally.
For Mr B.I.G Manager at the Arriva Headquarters, they tick so many boxes. They have a high capacity, good engine adaptable to most routes, good fuel capacity, and DDA compliant. Once again these do a job.
Every bus has its day, and considering the Marshalls were, as you rightly pointed out, a budget option for a new bus at the time, they've done a good job although some are now becoming unfit for purpose as they are showing their age. Its the same with any type of bus really, every bus has its day!
If you don't like Marshalls, fair enough, dont blame you with some of the sheds on the road, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but as you know, there is 2 sides to every sort of thing like this

Indeed, he clearly wasn't a 6 regular. Drove straight past the temporary changeover point, leaving us to wait 15 minutes for a new driver...

I have a softspot for them Marshall's, they just have a bit of character about them. All the new stuff these days is just the same, they all sound the same and many look the same!

(06/06/2012 18:42)K853 MTJ Wrote: [ -> ]....there is 2 sides to every sort of thing like this

Absolutely! For me, the Pulsars are excellent vehicles in general and I really appreciate the more modern styling of them and their superior ride quality when compared to most of the other vehicles which I experience on a day-to-day basis.

On the Arriva side of things, the Marshalls are:

- Poor capacity
- Small wheelchair space
- highly unreliable (Theres usually atleast one of the road everyday at GL)
- Overheating problems.
- They're constantly swapped for available buses.

Can we add that the Marshalls are pretty drab inside, but they are not all sheds and like V671 DVU said earlier they are a bit hit and miss, for example his namesake is one the biggest sheds whereas 7626 is not. Personally I am not a fan of them but if takes me home it takes me home and that is then doing the job that it is supposed to do.

(06/06/2012 19:53)MPTE1955 Wrote: [ -> ]Personally I am not a fan of them but if takes me home it takes me home and that is then doing the job that it is supposed to do.

Precisely, in a nut shell!
Thats what passengers want!

(06/06/2012 19:47)Raawwwrrr! Wrote: [ -> ]On the Arriva side of things, the Marshalls are:

- Poor capacity
- Small wheelchair space
- highly unreliable (Theres usually atleast one of the road everyday at GL)
- Overheating problems.
- They're constantly swapped for available buses.

Poor capacity, not really, the capacity can be suitable for certain routes.
I wouldnt say highly unreliable either, its seemingly the same ones that are often off the road. Personally I dont see any reason why they should be any more unreliable than any other dart.
Id hardly say constantly being swapped either, I always see Marshalls that last an entire day.

I agree 100% MPTE, i'd rather have something dire like 7665 turn up than nothing at all!

Reece has got a point mate, everytime I go past that depot there's one which is parked up over the pits NFS. The reliability issues are generally because they've been ragged and poorly looked after all their lives. It isn't an entire Marshall problem though, Plaxton's have been ragged and they're ruined now as well. I wouldn't say constantly swapped though, they're in service all day and only really get booked off on lates.