Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

That LJ51DCU looks a bit on the short side for that main line route 1 , but beggars can not be choosers if it means keeping the service running though.

Exactly i think Wrexham depot would rather provide a service than nothing at all and i think the passengers would no matter what Vehicle it is...

also the Post about 2793 CX04HRN its either having a New or Repaired engine as its had some sort of Engine problems

http://www.flickr.com/photos/110860035@N05/11294579765/
Managed to grab a ride on S268 JUA on Saturday, Running about 11 minutes late! The driver didn't seem to want to stop at Wrexham Bus Station, and nearly drove past untill I flagged it down...! To be honest, he avoided picking passengers up most of the way! Probably trying to make up 11 minutes, hard to do on that bus! Let's just say, It may be a DLA, But it's not "Sapphire" Standard!

Hard to do? that is one of the Fastest DAF SB250's ive ever seen 64mph flat out thats faster than the enviros go Flat out they only do 53mph!!

I thought that could go a bit when it was at Bootle, no padding on the seat backs upstairs though which didn't make for a particularly comfortable ride.

Well ive done it down the A483 (By-pass) while on my way with a friend to Operate a School bus it did 64 flat out and 72 with a slight down hill so all in all not a bad bus but its slightly slow at picking off but when it goes it goes its the same with most of the DLA's really, everyone hates them yes i agree some are really poor but some can really shift i miss S248JUA (4078) at Wrexham that one can shift

It may indeed have a faster top speed than the Enviro400's but that didn't count for much on Saturday when I had a ride. It's acceleration from a stop is awful. Left Wrexham 6 minutes late with a medium load and by Rossett 2799 had caught up and actually overtook us. The only Enviro400 which is comparable is 4409 which is particularly slow.

On another note am glad to see that two more Enviro400's are coming this way. 9 was never enough, and having 2799, 4028 and an MPD on the route yesterday was far from ideal. Not the image Arriva want to be promoting on that route.

'' 64 flat out and 72 with a slight down hill so all in all not a bad bus but its slightly slow at picking off but when it goes it goes ''

i Already stated that it was slow on Pick off, I find it far better than the Enviro400's and you say that yet i was on board LJ51DCU (0914) from Chester on Monday and by the time we got to Pulford we over took J600ABW (4406) which left 10 Minutes before us and we got back 5 minutes before it to so you cant say the Enviro400's are truly amazing, as many will agree there amazingly awfull. 4421/22 will be the best ones here as are brilliant. the only Decent Enviro 400 here is J400ABW (4404)

I am surprised that you find the Enviro400's that bad, certainly all of Bootle's 58 plate are quite good and couldn't be described as slow. The 09"plates at Bootle used to be slower but even they appear quicker lately and must have had something done. Maybe yours need tweaking a little to make them a little quicker. As for 4028 being slow away, I think most of the dla's are like that with one or two exceptions, that bus however shouldn't really be on a sapphire route with its awfully thin seat backs upstairs that I have mentioned earlier.

The Enviro400's are far from perfect, they're not powerful enough to keep time on a busy stop/start route that has a few hills as well. But they're a massive step up from 15 year old DLA's. I saw 0914 following 4406 on Monday off the overleigh roundabout. It looked very much like the reason it had caught up was more to do with 4406 having a full standing load and 0914 being lightly loaded than the speed of the vehicle. That particular journey picks up hordes of school kids from Kings and can be sat for 5/6 minutes loading them.

Maybe the Enviro400's lack of power is something to do with the electrical upgrade for Sapphire? Other examples I've sampled don't seem to have this problem. Definitely something they need to look at.