Im not disagreeing that some can be unreliable, but not all of them are unreliable, some are solid work horses that cannot be faulted.
Thats what Im saying, the reliability issues aren't restricted to Marshalls IMO.
Any reliability issue could be reciprocated in any Dart as let's not forget that they share the same chassis/engine combination whether Plaxton or Marshall!
My opinion is basically - whilst I'm not the biggest fan of the Marshall Capitals they do a job and they do it well
As Luke says on the previous page I would much rather a Marshall Capital turned up than no bus at all. They are ideally suited to routes like the 7 and 8/9 Huyton circulars at Green Lane and many other different routes at other depots. Like Danny says they're not all unreliable and there are some very good Marshalls. At the end of the day we might not all like them - but some people do
Hattons P654 HEG was in Green Lane depot earlier today, presumably for MOT.
No less than THREE QBP breaches on the 10B earlier in the form of 2410, 2720 and 7664. 2716 was on the 26/27, 2574 and the "pet" bus (2575) were on the 6/7, 2576/7 were on the 12/13.
Two visitors to GL today, in the form of Speke's 2432 and St Helens' 7640. 7671 still NFS. Dart 2208 broke down on the 8/9, and was replaced by 7629.
Have ridden most of the Renowns lately on the 6 and what a scruffy lot internally
they are,should have all had a p&p when they left Speke before coming here
(07/06/2012 15:12)V671 DVU Wrote: [ -> ]GL today, in the form of Speke's 2432
Thought 2432 had is en route to LS as all X reg cadets now left Speke?
It might have just been getting an MOT for LS, I just assumed it was a Speke bus.
I agree Rob, they're a disgrace internally. The Commander's are much better.
(06/06/2012 20:09)V671 DVU Wrote: [ -> ]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.
A shunter friend of mine at GL replaced 5 completely different Marshalls with other buses in 2 days (3/4 weeks ago) due to faults and breaking down, at one point this led to the only spare bus available at the depot being sent out. The marshalls with the SB220's are not the favorite buses of the shunters and engineers, the SB220s dont seem as bad lately, but its rare to see the complete set of 2402 - 15 out
The Plaxton's are just as bad I find, two have broken down in the past two weeks (2203 and 2208.) 2208 being the bus which famously broke down in the middle of Queen Square a few years back! Good point regarding the DAF's actually, they do seem to be unreliable. Overheating being the main problem!