(04 Sep 2015, 1:14 am)GMitchelhill wrote [ -> ]Colourful branded vehicles such as Coaster, Angel, Fab56 catch the eye more easily and act as a mobile billboard for the service. I find Arrivas Max and Sapphire liveries not as eye catching. And to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the Max livery either.
And at the rate which Arriva's services are being converted to this specification, it'll soon be more eye-catching to see a standard corporate liveried vehicle than a Sapphire or MAX..! Not that I am saying this is a bad thing; after all, I think the fitting of Wi-Fi (at the very least) to new vehicles should be standard, not something to scream and shout about as a 'premium' feature.
Branding will always divide opinion. I'm personally in favour of it, providing it can be managed correctly. From a customer point of view, I can identify my bus from a distance allowing me to prepare for the vehicle arriving in advance; from an enthusiast point of view, there's always a new colourful livery to 'spot' which is one of the more interesting aspects to the hobby in my opinion (due to ongoing fleet standardisation); and from a company point of view, route branding is said to deliver market growth.
With regards to branding being managed correctly; I was stood at Haymarket Bus Station yesterday for ten minutes and saw several Arriva branded vehicles on the wrong routes, and this is where branding gets silly. By comparison, I was at Gateshead and Eldon Square for ten minutes at each location too, and saw no wrong allocations from Go North East. Perhaps I got lucky, but I have seen a significant improvement in recent months. Saw plenty of corporate liveried vehicles covering for branded vehicles, but this is what should happen..!
Seems the 8 from Park Lane to Hylton retail Park did not operate due to a burst water pipe so it wasn't able to run.
Does 9109 have a set running board or is it allocated to any random board. Just thinking of tracking it down next week.
8301 is currently at DiagTest.
(04 Sep 2015, 9:35 am)GMitchelhill wrote [ -> ]Does 9109 have a set running board or is it allocated to any random board. Just thinking of tracking it down next week.
It seems to differ from day to day. It's just left Durham as the 20A
Am on upper deck of 6133 and there is a loud noise at the left side of the bus about half way alomg never heard anything like it on any others in the batch sounds like some sort of motor running
Asked driver on arrival at consett he said it was the motor for the aircon !!
Of course they do not have aircon so still do not know what caused the racket !!!
Contrary to the latest fleet news, which stated 3879 as being withdrawn - it is still going. Was operating the short 888 service this evening. Excuse the poor photo, it took me by complete surprise.
Had 3874 tonight and i wish i didn't - its the lolyne versio of 3814. Powerless, takes ages to gain any speed even when on a hill and is extremely loud (although 3814 isnt the last of the list). Have to say, the interior was very clean when i got on but that was quickly changed by some of the immature year 7s messing with water and ending up getting it on the floor.
I also saw 5400 today - the streetlite that Dan mentioned about having part of the main branding missing (not route like 5396) - as i was sitting on the other side, i was unable to get a photo of it but i have searched on flickr, grabbed a photo that had a good side angle and placed a yellow box around the panel that is missing.
ex-Megabus YN14 FVR at Chester-le-Street depot:
(04 Sep 2015, 3:36 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]ex-Megabus YN14 FVR at Chester-le-Street depot:
Could possibly be there for the staff to check it out and see what it's like, similar to the EYMS Evolution thing?
(04 Sep 2015, 3:40 pm)R852 PRG wrote [ -> ]Could possibly be there for the staff to check it out and see what it's like, similar to the EYMS Evolution thing?
Haven't a clue - guessing it will be aimed at the Nat Ex drivers rather than the main drivers. Don't even think the National Express drivers are employed through Go North East?
(04 Sep 2015, 3:40 pm)R852 PRG wrote [ -> ]Could possibly be there for the staff to check it out and see what it's like, similar to the EYMS Evolution thing?
Demonstration for National Express Operations perhaps.
(04 Sep 2015, 3:43 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]Haven't a clue - guessing it will be aimed at the Nat Ex drivers rather than the main drivers. Don't even think the National Express drivers are employed through Go North East?
I'm fairly certain they are... I know two of them! lol
(04 Sep 2015, 3:44 pm)Malarkey wrote [ -> ]Demonstration for National Express Operations perhaps.
No, I was personally expecting it to be trialed on the X21.
(04 Sep 2015, 3:36 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]ex-Megabus YN14 FVR at Chester-le-Street depot:
Yes, this is a demonstration vehicle (previously used with Stagecoach as fleet number 80025 on Megabus work). To my knowledge, it will only be used for engineering staff to compare to the current Scania coaches in the fleet, similar to the Euro 6 Mercedes Citaro K last year at Riverside.
![[Image: 14118544009_6d017a4636.jpg]](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/14118544009_6d017a4636.jpg)
Evobus: Unregistered - Mercedes Benz Citaro K by
Daniel Graham, on Flickr
(04 Sep 2015, 3:45 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]I'm fairly certain they are... I know two of them! lol
Yes, all coaching staff are employed through Go North East. Only time when this is not the case is when TUPE applies (ie if Go North East acquires another operator's work) - an example of this would be the Yourbus services taken over not so long ago.
(04 Sep 2015, 3:33 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]I also saw 5400 today - the streetlite that Dan mentioned about having part of the main branding missing (not route like 5396) - as i was sitting on the other side, i was unable to get a photo of it but i have searched on flickr, grabbed a photo that had a good side angle and placed a yellow box around the panel that is missing.
Had a Photo on my Camera of 5400 which I had forgot about which shows the missing branding, seems the Streetlites have been taking a right battering as of late.