As we've now entered 2015 I thought I'd bring back the thread YJ59 AZA created last year!
1 - Who was the best company of the year?
2 - Who was the worst company of the year?
3 - What bus(es) were the best delivery to a company of the year?
(This includes new and old buses to a company/depot that may have already been in use!)
4 - What withdrawn bus(es) were the hardest goodbye from a company of the year?
(This includes new and old buses that left a company/depot, even if they're still in use elsewhere!)
5 - Which bus(es) looked the smartest during the year?
6 - What was the rarest sighting of the year?
7 - What was the biggest surprise in the industry of the year?
8 - What was the biggest disappointment in the industry of the year?
9 - What bus was the best during the year?
10 - What bus was the worst during the year?
All the best for 2015!
Im gonna cheat and only do Questions 1 4 5 .
1. Arriva North West because without there assistance i wouldnt of been able to purchase my bus 7656
4. The last MTL vehicles on the road. I know darts arent everyones favorites but the marshalls have had a hard life and its sad really as they are the last of the mtl stuff on merseyside.
5. Biased here but my Marshall looks brilliant all painted up with Southport logos and badges
9
1 - Who was the best company of the year? HTL Buses (My employer - Biased but still, they look after me!)
2 - Who was the worst company of the year? No comment!
3 - What bus(es) were the best delivery to a company of the year? Optare Solo KY63 VTJ to HTL Buses, very very nice bus!
4 - What withdrawn bus(es) were the hardest goodbye from a company of the year? Optare Solo KY63 VTJ going back to Dawsonrentals from HTL Buses, I did get to drive it back though
5 - Which bus(es) looked the smartest during the year? Repainted/refurbished Halton Transport Scania Omnicities.
6 - What was the rarest sighting of the year? Rental Optare Solo KY63VTJ on the 56 (Liverpool - Netherton)
7 - What was the biggest surprise in the industry of the year? Optare Metrodecker
8 - What was the biggest disappointment in the industry of the year? The strange looking new Enviro200
9 - What bus was the best during the year? KY63 VTJ again?! lol
10 - What bus was the worst during the year? I've not been on enough buses that aren't HTL ones and I don't think any are that bad!
All the best for 2015!
1) no standout for me, but maybe Avon for their increased Liverpool presence and giving reliability to 202/204.
2)cumfybus for presentation of their vehicles, some of their older ones were a mess.
3)has to be Halton omnicities, brings something a bit different.
4)Marshall darts purely for being the last of the mtl vehicles.
5)Halton refurbished omnicities again.
6)A tidy older cumfybus
7)can't think of one
8)can't think of one
9)no real stand out for me.
10) Has to be a dart, and this year 2224 takes it, went from being ok to a total shed in a short space of time. You can hear it rattling before you see it, truly awful.
Here are my nominations, some nationally based and others local.
1. Arriva North West for sensible, much-needed investment in Green Lane, St Helens and Bootle garages. Let's hope there's more to come.
2. Cumfy - not a personal thing against Cumfy, but the presentation of some of their vehicles needs definite improvement.
3. The Enviro400s for Arriva North West - as covered in Number 1, sensible, much-needed investment. Plus they're very good to boot - plenty of power, a smooth ride and very comfortable.
4. The Marshall Darts - even though I didn't personally like them, it was the end of an era.
5. Lothian Buses' Gemini 3s. Absolutely stunning to look at, the white and maroon is gorgeous, complete with the brown interiors - extremely classy. Plus they have details such as painted wheel centres which are always lovely to see.
Lothian Buses Gemini 3 Photo Album © Michael Stuart
6. Not sure - Slightly limited scope for me here but one of the CX58-reg Solos on the 352 took me by surprise - those and the Solo SRs turn up on the route very rarely, possibly a handful of times a year.
7. A tie between the Wright StreetDeck (it splits opinion, but personally I love it) and the Enviro400 'MMC' - I didn't expect it to look so good.
8. Optare MetroDecker - compared to the StreetDeck and the Enviro400 MMC it looks dumpy and a bit...dated.
9. Not Sure
10. Not Sure
Also - a 'advertising award' goes to Arriva North West for their promotion of the investment in Routes 10, 10A and 10B. Great to see investment actually being advertised on the actual vehicles.
Couldn't think of anything for most categories but:
6. 4014 on late 32's on a Monday night in late January 2014 - a decker in St Helens at this time was rare but definitely extinct at this time of day.
1) Arriva North West - fantastic investment in much needed extra capacity for Green Lane, Bootle and St Helens depots. I think the higher specification found on these and previous Enviro400 deliveries in 2014 is excellent and has really enhanced the travelling experience with their bright, spacious and comfortable interiors
2) No answer
3) Definitely the new Enviro400s for Green Lane and St Helens in particular. Both depots have needed double deck capacity for a long time. I think the Myllenniums at Green Lane are a good short term capacity increase but are due to be replaced with double deckers later in the year which I think will be a better long term solution
4) A joint one. The Marshall Capitals - not a personal favourite but I didn't mind them - because they were the end of an era and now aside from training vehicles there's no more ex MTL buses with Arriva. Also I think the ex-London DLAs that were withdrawn throughout 2014 as I found they had excellent ride quality and were always pleasant to travel on. It's good to see at least a small number have a future as open top buses in Rhyl
5) I really like the look of the Arriva MAX Pulsars at Rhyl - so for me it probably has to be those
6) I can't really think of any - possibly seeing VLW 4209 on the 78 back in September I think it was
7) A very pleasant surprise - double deckers for Green Lane and St Helens depot. I don't think either depot has had brand new deckers for over 20 years so it's really pleasing to see it happen
8) I can't really think of any - probably the Wright StreetDeck because I'm not a big fan of the new design at all - I much preferred the original design
9) A tough choice. Double deck would be Arriva Speke's 4569 which is an excellent Enviro400 in all departments and single deck would be ex-Green Lane 2719 which I've always had a soft spot for!
10) I'd have to say 2224 myself. I could hear it vibrating from a fair distance away and it wasn't very nice to ride on either unfortunately
Here are my nominations.
1 - Who was the best company of the year?
Arriva North West as they are finally investing in buses of the correct size for their busiest corridors.
2 - Who was the worst company of the year?
Stagecoach Merseyside for the opposite reasons. Their Enviro300s are not up to standard at all, and the less said about the Darts the better.
3 - What bus(es) were the best delivery to a company of the year?
Well, it's undoubtedly the 11 Enviro400s arriving at Green Lane. The ones at Speke and Southport were good to see too, but for GL to finally get some larger buses is superb.
4 - What withdrawn bus(es) were the hardest goodbye from a company of the year?
Generally it's the DLAs that have withered away. The likes of 4057, 4074, 4093 and 4099 were great and from a comfort perspective, a real cut above the dodgy VLWs. Also some of the better Marshalls (i.e. 7654 and 7655 at Southport). I won't miss the others!
5 - Which bus(es) looked the smartest during the year?
The Enviro400s at Speke and Southport internally are very smart with upgraded seating, and the refurbished Halton Transport OmniCitys are impressive too.
6 - What was the rarest sighting of the year?
The Zoe's Place liveried Enviro400 4426 of Bootle working the 58. It's not often you see a double decker on there, especially a pretty one!
7 - What was the biggest surprise in the industry of the year?
I didn't see the Halton OmniCity acquisition coming, so seeing those on their first day in traffic on the same day that Speke's Enviro400s entered service was a real pleasant surprise.
8 - What was the biggest disappointment in the industry of the year?
Two contrasting nominations here - the Wright StreetDeck for being the aesthetic disaster that it is, and Stagecoach Merseyside for continually failing to invest in sensibly sized buses for routes like the 14, 20, 21, 82 and 86.
9 - What bus was the best during the year?
Moving away from Merseyside here, it has to be Stagecoach Manchester's MX10MVS which was outstanding in all departments and showed the hybrid Enviro400s in the best possible light.
10 - What bus was the worst during the year?
More or less any of the 2451-2474 batch of Myllenniums and to a slightly lesser extent the 2201-2262 Darts. With very few exceptions, appalling buses which deserve immediate withdrawal. It's hard to pick a specific one, but particularly dire examples of both are 2459 and 2219.
1 - Who was the best company of the year?
Halton Transport for really picking themselves up after a bad few years and trying new things out. Even if those refurbished OmniCitys aren't to everybody's taste, the quality of them after they've been done-up is really good and shows that they're making the effort.
2 - Who was the worst company of the year?
Definitely has to be Cumfybus regarding their fleet. A lot of their buses out of Aintree are in a shocking state and have been for a while. I think that they run a reliable service though.
3 - What bus(es) were the best delivery to a company of the year?
Even though they didn't enter service until this year, definitely has to be the long-overdue Enviro400s for the 10/10A/10B.
4 - What withdrawn bus(es) were the hardest goodbye from a company of the year?
Some of the DLAs, Marshalls and Plaxton Darts that are slowly disappearing.
5 - Which bus(es) looked the smartest during the year?
Howards F17 HOW (ex-Isle of Man DAF Lowlander) is really smart inside and out and suits their nice livery.
6 - What was the rarest sighting of the year?
There were a few odd sightings (Myllenniums and Enviro400s in Wrexham on local services and a Southport B7 on the 47), however DAF Cadet 2556 on the 52/52A was the rarest and most unexpected sighting for me!
7 - What was the biggest surprise in the industry of the year?
Definitely brand-new 'deckers for Green Lane and St Helens after years of rumours, the amount of new Pulsars that are down to leave soon and Avon expanding in Liverpool with cross-river services!
8 - What was the biggest disappointment in the industry of the year?
Some of the designs that new buses have now when they already had nice-looking buses (such as the Gemini 3 and Enviro400 MMC).
9 - What bus was the best during the year?
Ex-Impera and ex-Arriva Speke YJ59 AZA. Bit rattly but had a really good engine behind it and decent kickdown. I liked the bonded-glazed windows on it too.
10 - What bus was the worst during the year?
Arriva Bootle's 2224 went from being a decent bus to a complete shed almost overnight!
1 - Who was the best company of the year?
Arriva NW - finally buying Double Deckers for the overcrowded routes
Ace Travel - Trying out new things like there tunnel route bringing a night bus network of sorts back to Wirral
(Sorry for choosing 2)
2 - Who was the worst company of the year?
Eazibus - Buying them 2 old scruffy Cumfybus solos to replace A Solo that was in relatively good condition (MX09 AOC) and the fleet side seems to be getting to Cumfybus standards in general from what I have seen in past 12 months (it's ashame as few years back when they where on wirral I actually liked them)
3 - What bus(es) were the best delivery to a company of the year?
GHA - buying the Enviro200's for Connect88 even though the Versa's had more seats plus better layout in general
Halton - buying the Omnicities as bigger buses where needed on the 14
Arriva NW/W - for the new buses across NW and W this year weather it be sapphire or standard
4 - What withdrawn bus(es) were the hardest goodbye from a company of the year?
Seeing the final MTL Darts going out of service just glad one been saved
5 - Which bus(es) looked the smartest during the year?
Arriva Rhyl - Sapphire Enviro400's
Halton - Omnicities
6 - What was the rarest sighting of the year?
Seeing A myllenium in Runcorn (sure was 2014)
2479 on loan to Runcorn was not expected
7 - What was the biggest surprise in the industry of the year?
Avon starting cross river service
8 - What was the biggest disappointment in the industry of the year?
The new E200MMC reminds me of A Caetano gone wrong from the front just don't like the design of it
9 - What bus was the best during the year?
Bit bias on first one but GHA Coaches - R838 PRG one delightful B10BLE
10 - What bus was the worst during the year?
The DLA's and VLW's never liked them