(30 Mar 2023, 5:25 pm)Unber43 wrote GNE seem to be really struggling atm tbf. 

as someone mentioned TVT 7 are off, probs more, RK Rangers have awful reliablity, 11 Plate/12 Plate Deckers are struggling, especially with the hybrids. Drifters/Ex Saltwell Parks are struggling too. even the 15/16 plates lites are. 

Wonder if GNE engineering is just poor, I heard a driver say about a bus, its had a new engine, they should have got their money back (no idea for vehicle just heard it while passing)

They need a huge order, ordering about 150 buses between 2011-2013 has done them no good

If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.

Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.

(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey wrote If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.

Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.

See this is why I don't get sending 6334/6335 down to GNW, we need them here. The GNE fleet is not in a very good state. Like the Ominicities were old, Ill give them that but they're way better than a lot of buses GNE have in service now, for me so were the Mercedes, in my opinion, they're better than the verses, and a lot of the streetlites. But ordering over 100 buses for 2013, means that 100 buses will need replacing in a similar time period. Because I can tell you right now those streetlites arent going to last 15-20 years. Drifters are 10 year olds and most of them are barely holding on.

(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey wrote If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.

Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.

I'm not sure age is the only reason mind. Arriva Blyth's Gemini's are older than what's mentioned here and have been rat arsed on Blyth Expresses for their whole life yet there's only 4 / 31 been VOR today and only 1 / 11 of the Pulsar's.

I'm not one for spreading rumours but there's been a lot of talk from driver's, at Deptford in particular, about not fixing things and botching things. There's only so many times you can botch things before they become serious problems.

There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular. Anything that seems to turn up here from Darlington is a wreck.

(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx wrote I'm not sure age is the only reason mind. Arriva Blyth's Gemini's are older than what's mentioned here and have been rat arsed on Blyth Expresses for their whole life yet there's only 4 / 31 been VOR today and only 1 / 11 of the Pulsar's.

I'm not one for spreading rumours but there's been a lot of talk from driver's, at Deptford in particular, about not fixing things and botching things. There's only so many times you can botch things before they become serious problems.

There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular. Anything that seems to turn up here from Darlington is a wreck.

I always here Deptford drivers complaining about writing things on the card, and telling them and nothing changes. Like the Prince Bishops that cant go over 20/30 all the drivers say they told them that something needs to be done and nothing is ever. Like the weekly ticket plastic sleeve things, the amount of times I see them holding things together, holding wing mirrors on, holding the back access board for the destination display to stop it for bouncing and rattling at Deptford. One of the old Citaros had one on the fuel cap thing or whatever, as it kept swinging out. Like it was the wing mirror one that was just like WTF. Look at the Drifters, barely 10 years old and the Ominiciities, Omnidekkas perform better.

Is this not just a case of preventative v reactive maintenance?

As a now former Deptford employee, I can say that the engineers do try there best with a limited budget. Also the Citaros were very thirsty and parts were very expensive. I was told Mercedes wanted £7,000 for an exhaust and £20,000 for an engine (that's when the second hand examples started dying and they were 07 plates). Realistically, the actual vehicle probably wasn't worth that much.

Also, when you have a yard full of buses the same age, they would tend to develop faults and failures around the same time whereas with some newer vehicles in the mix it may not be as noticeable.

Even so, second hand (my guess) is the way to go rather than buy new unless government grants are available (electric or alternative fuels). Fleet and depot standardisation should also help reduce costs.

(31 Mar 2023, 8:42 am)morritt89 wrote Is this not just a case of preventative v reactive maintenance?

As a now former Deptford employee, I can say that the engineers do try there best with a limited budget. Also the Citaros were very thirsty and parts were very expensive. I was told Mercedes wanted £7,000 for an exhaust and £20,000 for an engine (that's when the second hand examples started dying and they were 07 plates). Realistically, the actual vehicle probably wasn't worth that much.

Also, when you have a yard full of buses the same age, they would tend to develop faults and failures around the same time whereas with some newer vehicles in the mix it may not be as noticeable.

Even so, second hand (my guess) is the way to go rather than buy new unless government grants are available (electric or alternative fuels). Fleet and depot standardisation should also help reduce costs.

£20k for a brand new engine? That doesn't seem too unreasonable imo!

When our Nissan was flood damaged a few years back a replacement engine was about £5k for a 2 litre diesel. Well, that's what the insurance was quoted at least

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(31 Mar 2023, 9:27 am)streetdeckfan wrote £20k for a brand new engine? That doesn't seem too unreasonable imo!

When our Nissan was flood damaged a few years back a replacement engine was about £5k for a 2 litre diesel. Well, that's what the insurance was quoted at least

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That will just be for the block, then you will need to then buy injectors, pistons, etc so it will soon mount up.  Then of course there will be the labour cost to fit it, bet there will not be much change out of 30k

(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx wrote There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular.

Exact reason why a single uniformed X-Lines fleet of E400MMCs at Riverside with the X30/X31 being operated by Riverside would make sense covering the X10, X21, X30/X31. PVR of 16x with 4x spares  and all having a day on the different services.

Then on Sundays with the X10 & X21 taking up a PVR of 6x, 7x could then operate the 10/10A/10B on Sundays to park the B9TLs up and give them a rest leaving 7x off the road for maintenance, rest day etc

Isn't that what they could do the school buses they've got?

(07 Apr 2023, 10:14 am)Unber43 wrote Isn't that what they could do the school buses they've got?

Would defeat the whole purpose as anything allocated to scholars will likely be near end of life.

Surely making use of the newest and most fuel efficient vehicles available when a PVR is lower (i.e Sundays) makes more sense.

With GNE going electric for Riverside, I wonder if GNE might switch to Hydrogen for other depots such as Consett and Deptford as they do have longer routes, Deptford seem to have a lot of good routes, 60, 20, 56, 2/2A, 33 etc 

If GNE were to switch to Hydrogen would Washington still need a new depot? Or is that just inevitable anyways ?