[Archive] Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

[Penny Return]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot
The pulsars from Runcorn should be moved here to get rid of some cadets,send the ex
speke ones back

[R879 HRF]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(17/02/2013 15:30)Penny Return Wrote:  The pulsars from Runcorn should be moved here to get rid of some cadets,send the ex
speke ones back

Most of the ex Speke ones are terrible - 2416 and 2426 are particularly bad examples.

I was on 2416 on the 487 over to Liverpool last night, while going through the tunnel, just by the dock exit junction, it jumped out of gear. The driver then had to stop and put it back into gear.. the acceleration from that hill start was awful - the driver had to use the gears manually to get it to move, and didn't actually manage to get up to 20mph before the end of the tunnel.

Some of the R ABA darts where better than those cadets, and that says a lot!

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot
Personally, I have to disagree with the above. I've ridden virtually all of the Cadets now from both batches and if anything I'd say the Speke ones are better. 2416, 2417, 2418, 2425 and 2432 all stand out as good riders, clean and tidy and a general pleasure to ride. Some of the Birkenhead natives are solid, but there are some awful ones as well - 2437, 2447 and 2449 for three.

[Penny Return]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(17/02/2013 17:50)507009 Wrote:  Personally, I have to disagree with the above. I've ridden virtually all of the Cadets now from both batches and if anything I'd say the Speke ones are better. 2416, 2417, 2418, 2425 and 2432 all stand out as good riders, clean and tidy and a general pleasure to ride. Some of the Birkenhead natives are solid, but there are some awful ones as well - 2437, 2447 and 2449 for three.

Some do ride well but they are breaking down all the time,no one can argue with that

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot
The ones that aren't ex-Speke are just as unreliable though. For example we have 2439 off the road, 2449 has been remarkably unreliable throughout its career and 2437 has been reported as towed this week. I do agree that the Cadets aren't the most reliable buses out there but IMO they wipe the floor with the likes of the R-ABAs in terms of general ride quality and internal appearance.

[Penny Return]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot
yesterday, two of the newer pulsars 3124 3134 were unusally on the 2 in the afternoon

[N301 CKB]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(17/02/2013 12:48)R874 ERE Wrote:  

(17/02/2013 12:05)busdude Wrote:  

(17/02/2013 11:36)N301 CKB Wrote:  None as when the Hybrids are put into service the rest of the Enviro400s (apart from 4400/1) are leaving along with the ALX400s (S-JUAs) and the three Presidents, so all Cadets will survive this time round.

Are the 6 gemini's staying? Or are they leaving too?

Theyre staying afaik, because theyre actually reliable :P

Still needed for the Mersey Ferries too. I am just wondering what will replace 4141/3/4158 as the 3 Rail spares, not that they are in the depot anyway but I'm thinking 3 Gemini's.

[R879 HRF]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(17/02/2013 17:50)507009 Wrote:  Personally, I have to disagree with the above. I've ridden virtually all of the Cadets now from both batches and if anything I'd say the Speke ones are better. 2416, 2417, 2418, 2425 and 2432 all stand out as good riders

Try telling the drivers that! There are a few good ones though but they are few and far between. Unfortunatly i'm stuck with the cadets day in day out on the 418/9 and then again on the 487 - the 418/9 service has improved quite considerably since the darts left. Bad ones are 2416,2418,2421,2426,2427,2429,2434,2437,2439,2441,2442. Good ones are 2431,2435,2436,2438. The rest are ok! One of my personal favourites is the ex selwyns one, although last time i had it the exhaust seemed to be having issues.

Don't forget though, could always be worse... it could be a DAF V-ENC or a Y-KNF/KBU!

(17/02/2013 21:41)N301 CKB Wrote:  Still needed for the Mersey Ferries too. I am just wondering what will replace 4141/3/4158 as the 3 Rail spares, not that they are in the depot anyway but I'm thinking 3 Gemini's.

I'd imagine 3 of the old geminis will be the rail spares yes, and i completly forgot about the ferries, they're tacho'd so loved

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(18/02/2013 11:37)R874 ERE Wrote:  Try telling the drivers that! There are a few good ones though but they are few and far between. Unfortunatly i'm stuck with the cadets day in day out on the 418/9 and then again on the 487 - the 418/9 service has improved quite considerably since the darts left. Bad ones are 2416,2418,2421,2426,2427,2429,2434,2437,2439,2441,2442. Good ones are 2431,2435,2436,2438. The rest are ok! One of my personal favourites is the ex selwyns one, although last time i had it the exhaust seemed to be having issues.

Don't forget though, could always be worse... it could be a DAF V-ENC or a Y-KNF/KBU!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: what drivers think of buses doesn't bother me at all. Ultimately I'm paying for the privilege while they're getting paid to be there - it's the passengers that matter. The Cadets I've mentioned are all good riders and to me there is no way 2418 can be considered worse than the likes of 2437, 2447 and 2449 which are poor examples of the time, plain and simple. This comes from the passenger standpoint, i.e. its cleanliness, turn of speed and most importantly ride quality.

The Myllenniums I agree are significantly poorer - 2451, 2456 and 2461 are appalling - but the V-ENCs are quite nice from my experience. A couple are crashy but there are some excellent examples of these.

[V671 DVU]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot
Whilst I do agree the DAF Cadets are relatively nice (2442/3 in particular stand out as good ones) I think the V-ENCs, if anything, are worse buses than the Mylleniums. I've rode all of them (bar 2412 which, of course, set itself on fire last year) and the only one for me which stands out as a particularly good bus is 2409. 2405/10/13/15 are OK, where as 2404/6/8/11/14 are complete wrecks which are only fit for Barnsley. The refurbished ones may look nice on the outside and inside but they're just generally awful buses. (That's my opinion as a passenger, and I've heard a few complaints about the bangs/rattles on them when I've rode them)