Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
The R-WVR deckers are only 15 this year, they came into service round about May/June 1998. As for the rule on deckers I wouldnt know.

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
the 15 year rule is a joke really, why should a bus be judged by its age and not by what condition its in? step buses yes they should get withdrawn as early as possible but low floors if they are 15 years old and are still in good condition and are reliable they should continue in service but thats just my opinion

[MX12CFE]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
I think if some of the R WVRs are still in good condition then they could be P&Pd and allowed to continue in service in my opinion. I travel on buses every day and only very occasionally has someone with a pram or wheelchair got on i think some step entrance buses should be retained to provide a bit of variety especially for the enthusiast i remember when the atlanteans, titans, olympians and metrobuses were in service and they were 20-30 years old before they ran their final service journeys.

[R311 WVR]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Even the P&P's batch arn't in very good condition, Either that or it's the enviroment of Winsford! Most of the locks on the upper deck (Desti blind) Are broken, The poles have sharp edges, And very hurtful ones! Not one of them doesn't have small bit of masking tape!

[R311 WVR]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(24/01/2013 11:57)bolton bus basher Wrote:  the 15 year rule is a joke really, why should a bus be judged by its age and not by what condition its in? step buses yes they should get withdrawn as early as possible but low floors if they are 15 years old and are still in good condition and are reliable they should continue in service but thats just my opinion

P943 MKL Is 16 this year, and step entrance, and in Very bad condidtion!

[Bevan Price]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(24/01/2013 11:57)bolton bus basher Wrote:  the 15 year rule is a joke really, why should a bus be judged by its age and not by what condition its in? step buses yes they should get withdrawn as early as possible but low floors if they are 15 years old and are still in good condition and are reliable they should continue in service but thats just my opinion

Possibly because politicians are involved in making decisions, and "it seems a good idea not to use old buses". In my opinion, "politics" and "logical / sensible ideas" are often incompatible.

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(24/01/2013 12:10)MX12CFE Wrote:  I think if some of the R WVRs are still in good condition then they could be P&Pd and allowed to continue in service in my opinion. I travel on buses every day and only very occasionally has someone with a pram or wheelchair got on i think some step entrance buses should be retained to provide a bit of variety especially for the enthusiast i remember when the atlanteans, titans, olympians and metrobuses were in service and they were 20-30 years old before they ran their final service journeys.

Its not about variety for the enthusiast, its about what does the job and what is best for the paying customer, step entrance vehicles aren't, it's as simple as that. With smaller companies, it may be different, but with large companies like Arriva, enthusiast and depot preference doesn't really come into it.
While I agree to some extent with regards to age not representing quality, I don't believe that this should determine what stays in the fleet and what doesn't. It would be incredibly hard renew and keep track of the fleet with random vehicles and varying age carrying on in service. There are rare exceptions such as 7533 which stay in service because of book value rather than condition, but overall I'd say Arriva's fleet renewal policy is a very efficent one that does have it's faults, but involves consistent investment to the fleet. The only thing I could suggest is that it is perhaps a bit wasteful scrapping R reg Darts which could have possibly been sent elsewhere when older vehicles are still in operation in other subsidiaries.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
4030 was working the 52/52A well into the evening tonight but was replaced with a Pulsar at around 20.00 and headed into the depot for a wash. Another old liveried DLA was also presumably on one of the Netherton routes fairly late on and arrived back at Bootle around 15 minutes after 4030.

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(24/01/2013 22:28)507009 Wrote:  4030 was working the 52/52A well into the evening tonight but was replaced with a Pulsar at around 20.00 and headed into the depot for a wash. Another old liveried DLA was also presumably on one of the Netherton routes fairly late on and arrived back at Bootle around 15 minutes after 4030.

It's nice to hear that double-deckers are regularly on the 52/52A these days - there has been, at least, one on the services per day recently.

The latter "DLA" may have been on the 56/56A duty that finishes in Netherton at about 20:00 after operating a 56A journey from Liverpool - hope this helps.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Thanks - it could have been the 56A, although it headed up Hawthorne Road away from North Park before entering the depot. 3021 was the Pulsar that I believe subbed off 4030.