Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

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RE: Arriva North West - St Helens Depot

(09/07/2014 21:08)FC Pictures Wrote:  True about Manchester,but Arriva isnt the major operator there and it`s more about cost than anything,where is the 6 million quid for these deckers coming from,the pulsars on the 10/10A are young and don`t need replacing, there is a need for newer stock at St Helens,if they buy new then it`s likely to be Enviro200s as that`s what is being ordered for elsewhere by Arriva now, Pulsars can carry 70 people ,for the handful of journeys they might be full in a day standing room is fine, i doubt the fares taken on that corridor is even paying for the pulsars let alone deckers, and i`m sure drivers would be looking for pay rises if they suddenly had a larger bus, like Green Lane drivers refused the bendys without more pay.

I do agree to an extent about it being a waste replacing virtually new Pulsars but they did it on the Wirral with the Hybrids replacing 5 year old Enviro 400s which is what age the Pulsars at St Helens are! They'd do an ideal job at replacing the X and Y reg vehicles all over the North West, thus it's a win win isn't it? Oh, trust me, they definitely take enough to take a Pulsar! Packed buses every morning, even the lates are quite full. Whilst I agree deckers aren't needed on lates, but does the 79 need deckers on lates too? I'd be amazed if they did. Plus, think of the extra passengers who'd use the bus if they seen a decker too rather then a packed single decker. Bendys are different though aren't they? Deckers are even shorter then a Pulsar. What would you rather be driving? A decker with everyone sitting or a packed single having to face angry passengers who can't get on? I'm sure a 10/A driver'd back me up here!