Didn't know they'd been given full rear destinations, what is the full list of the Sapphire treatment then?
One thing ive noticed is no real advertisement of the features on board, so why would Joe Bloggs in the car be tempted onto using what they see is just a bus? And there is nowhere directing customers to the website for service details etc.
Correct J100 ABW is actually 4410.
got a try the refurbished enviros on route 1 yesterday, i got to admit i was very impressed, 5 star leather seats, free wi-fi, plug sockets on top deck next to ever seat apart from front, 2nd to front, back and 2nd to back seats, about a year ago i said there is a need for a 5 star bus service and now i say its arrived!
in my opinion my OWN opinion is that clear enough, i dont really approve of sapphire, its nothing really interesting!
4487 CX61CDV was the much better and more interesting vehicle on the route + Still is its never guna be the same just going to be all Enviro400, when it used to be a majority of the depot the DAF's, Darts, MPD's..not guna be the same anymore tbh apart from when 2799 gets back, theve taken the announcements of some vehicles already after 3 DAYS thats how bad they are, plugs only work on certain vehicles and certain seats and the Wi-FI only works on Certain vehicles. in my opinion Big waste of money and time
The Man EcoCitys. thats time & Money well spent, but Sapphire not my thing to be honest!
Better going to Chester via mold on the 26 then 3/4 get proper buses then aka. Darts!!
Rhyl's Geminis had issues with the WiFi initially too - given the whole money back guarantee, I'm sure it's something that'll be sorted soon. Interesting to hear some of the plugs don't work; the batch underwent fairly rigorous checks at Jackson Street before leaving for Wrexham. With regards the announcements, have they been removed due to errors or? Regardless, I hardly think two issues on certain vehicles, which you acknowledge yourself, accounts for the efforts being a waste of time and money. The whole refurbishment programme was partially council funded anyway - again says a lot for the public perception of Darts and the DAF deckers.
The Eco-Citys have had their share of criticism from passengers too let's not forget - bells which the driver can't hear and a narrow entrance area restricting wider prams. Hardly ideal for the routes they're utilised on.
I know the above is your opinion but from a general passenger perspective, the whole new brand is miles ahead of time expired Darts and DAF deckers which were painfully unreliable. As for Datts being 'proper buses'... Well, that certainly is in your opinion!!
not forgetting the speke bendiebuses still have wi-fi issuses if your sat right at the back, i think the envrios are great and i hope more routes are converted into this sapphire branding with all this tecnolagy