[Archive] Arriva North West - Speke Depot

[SL64 JFK]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
Has anyone got a full list of registrations for the Enviro400s yet?

TIA

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
A commander was also on the 82.

I managed to capture a video of 4561 if of interest view-able [here]

[mathias]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
Just been for a ride on brand new 4568 (DK64 BVC), latest shape Enviro400 with the deeper front airdam (with Daylight Running Lights fitted) and four orange marker lights along the flanks on 86A-LIVERPOOL AIRPORT route.

Pretty interior with navy blue E-Leather clad seats (which don't extend over the headrests), but otherwise its just another Enviro400 decker.
Quite heavy though (11475kg marking).

Other newbies include 4570 (DK64 BVE) and 4571 (DK64 BVF)

[trixmax2000]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot

(01/09/2014 17:48)MX59 JZJ Wrote:  Has anyone got a full list of registrations for the Enviro400s yet?

TIA

MX14 HSA 4556
MX14 HSC 4557
DK64 BVO 4558
DK64 BVP 4559
DK64 BVR 4560
DK64 BVS 4561
DK64 BVT 4562
DK64 BVU 4563
DK64 BVV 4564
DK64 BVW 4565
DK64 BVX 4566
DK64 BVY 4567
DK64 BVC 4568
DK64 BVD 4569
DK64 BVE 4570
DK64 BVF 4571
DK64 BVG 4572
DK64 BVH 4573
DK64 BVJ 4574

[SL64 JFK]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
Thank you, very much appreciated

[kuyoyo]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot

(01/09/2014 18:29)mathias Wrote:  Just been for a ride on brand new 4568 (DK64 BVC), latest shape Enviro400 with the deeper front airdam (with Daylight Running Lights fitted) and four orange marker lights along the flanks on 86A-LIVERPOOL AIRPORT route.

Pretty interior with navy blue E-Leather clad seats (which don't extend over the headrests), but otherwise its just another Enviro400 decker.
Quite heavy though (11475kg marking).

Other newbies include 4570 (DK64 BVE) and 4571 (DK64 BVF)

BIB: That's because they are standard specification examples - only Sapphire vehicles (and 'MAX' vehicles for North East and Yorkshire) have headrests rather than handles.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
Had a few rides on the brand new Enviro400s out on the 86/86A today, although in true Arriva style, one of the old order was still in action in the form of 4119. As Penny Return mentioned, 4566, 4573 and 4574 were the unused examples with the rest out and about on the 86. I dare say the latter two aren't quite ready for service yet as the last of the batch.

I rode on 4562, 4557, 4564 and 4556 during the course of the day. Initial impressions are reasonably positive, tempered with the fact that these are Enviro400s and tend to develop rattles and crashes easily, in contrast with the 4100-4129 and 4435-4478 batches which are generally still good riders after busy lives thus far. There were already some noticeable creaks upstairs on both 4562 and 4556, with the other two providing the near flawless rides you'd expect from brand new buses.

Although not a fan of the e-leather, the seating was still nice and comfortable and the Wi-Fi working well on all but 4562, where it was painfully slow. My only gripe here is that you simply wouldn't know the buses were fitted with Wi-Fi - nowhere externally or internally is it mentioned at present. I hope they rectify this in the near future as they did with the EcoCity and B5L fleets.

By contrast, I also had rides on both 4119 and 4426, the 86 predecessor and an older Enviro400. While 4119's ride was excellent and the bus still very clean a couple of years since its Polish & Promote, 4426 was absolutely dire in the ride department. For me, it performed worse than any of the DLAs and even R-WVRs I can remember riding. Let's just hope Speke's Enviro400s age more like the B7s than 4426 has!

I'll really miss the B7s on the 86, as they've provided superb service on one of Merseyside's busiest bus corridors for the last eight years. They are excellent buses but were starting to age in terms of their Euro III engines and lack of features such as Wi-Fi.

[Official]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
Here's 4572 with me behind the wheel!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99343400@N...G95-orPPhW

Seen a lot of you snapping away today and met a few of you at the airport and the likes.

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot
I also rode a few on the 86/86A today and found the batch to be painfully slow pulling off around the city centre in comparison to the Volvo ALX400's and Stagecoaches Enviro 300 integrals, however after Allerton, the speed was quite nice!

I did find the enviro's much more bouncier than 4119 I had later on in the day, the suspension is a lot to be desired in comparison. Although they were nice, they just aren't the same as the voith examples ride quality ride, and one thing I also noticed are that the brakes were much harsher as with the Wright Endurance Volvo B10B's were

[busdude]

RE: Arriva North West - Speke Depot

(01/09/2014 19:48)507009 Wrote:  I'll really miss the B7s on the 86, as they've provided superb service on one of Merseyside's busiest bus corridors for the last eight years. They are excellent buses but were starting to age in terms of their Euro III engines and lack of features such as Wi-Fi.

Whats next for the B7's? are they staying at Speke or are they going elsewhere now?