Arriva North East: Latest News & Discussion - November 2017

One to start some rumours me thinks

1311 has been on-loan to Stockton depot today for evaluation on the 17/17a route - as well as the 9 route (new interworking over the Christmas period)

Providing it passed the route trials then there's no rumours to be started

Bloody hell what has happened to the pulsars... on 1481 and it’s possibly one of the most underpowered buses I’ve been on. Are all of them like this now?

Bloody hell what has happened to the pulsars... on 1481 and it’s possibly one of the most underpowered buses I’ve been on. Are all of them like this now?

Quite a few of them were speed limited, last year.

On a sapphire 6 E400 this morning, that had to slow down significantly from 60 (I could see the speedo) when it caught up with a sapphire 7 pulsar.

Quite a few of them were speed limited, last year.

On a sapphire 6 E400 this morning, that had to slow down significantly from 60 (I could see the speedo) when it caught up with a sapphire 7 pulsar.

This is due to a computer program called "Econospeed". You may have heard some drivers complaining about it.

What it does is, it limits acceleration when pulling away, limits the amount of kickdown a driver can use and the top speed is also limited. The main problem is when it reaches the top speed (which on most is 53mph) if you push beyond the limited it will let you for about 3 seconds then drops the speed back to 45mph.

Mercedes/Daimler designed this program so as you can imagine it works as designed on Mercedes products most solos are fitted with it. On VDL products it just doesn't work which is why passengers feel the difference between one that's fitted with it and one that's not.

Any more questions PM me.

This is due to a computer program called "Econospeed". You may have heard some drivers complaining about it.

What it does is, it limits acceleration when pulling away, limits the amount of kickdown a driver can use and the top speed is also limited. The main problem is when it reaches the top speed (which on most is 53mph) if you push beyond the limited it will let you for about 3 seconds then drops the speed back to 45mph.

Mercedes/Daimler designed this program so as you can imagine it works as designed on Mercedes products most solos are fitted with it. On VDL products it just doesn't work which is why passengers feel the difference between one that's fitted with it and one that's not.

Any more questions PM me.

Some of those Pulsars didn't half go, pre-econospeed. When it was first fitted, you could tell the difference between a Darlo and Durham pulsar, pretty quickly - though at least a couple of belmont's were already knackered and sluggish, anyhow.

Some of those Pulsars didn't half go, pre-econospeed. When it was first fitted, you could tell the difference between a Darlo and Durham pulsar, pretty quickly - though at least a couple of belmont's were already knackered and sluggish, anyhow.

A lot of them still do, I honestly don't see why there bothering with it anymore, As its just creating problems for the rest of the bus, Eventually increasing Maintenance cost's... Which add that to the abysmal amount of cost cutting in this part of the Durham County business, Would just put them in a bigger predicament there already in!

When they first introduced the Econospeed chip, It caused uproar from Driver's and unions due to its way too restrictive ( Dangerous in fact ) setup, Most divisions abandoned the idea after that.. However 2 and a half years later North East are one of I believe Two still having it, Albeit with about 3 software amendments since, Its a pointless system now, And causing more problems than others, The reason its stayed as long as it has is only because it looks good on paper from the men in suits!
A lot recently which have come under problems have it taken out without being refitted, There's a canny few of them about.

Another thing it could be that the engines ECU has placed itself into Derate ( Limp Mode ) due to running out of AdBlue or a different problem which I cant remember, Though is mostly problematic with Cummins engines,The bus gives itself a 53 hour time delay from the emission's light coming on the dashboard to placing itself in Derate, Though in a lot of cases the AdBlue is never topped up in time.

This is due to a computer program called "Econospeed". You may have heard some drivers complaining about it.

What it does is, it limits acceleration when pulling away, limits the amount of kickdown a driver can use and the top speed is also limited. The main problem is when it reaches the top speed (which on most is 53mph) if you push beyond the limited it will let you for about 3 seconds then drops the speed back to 45mph.

Mercedes/Daimler designed this program so as you can imagine it works as designed on Mercedes products most solos are fitted with it. On VDL products it just doesn't work which is why passengers feel the difference between one that's fitted with it and one that's not.

Any more questions PM me.

The Econospeed is a weird thing. In Pulsars if you try to engage kickdown whilst on the move (or the bus tries to do it itself) you find that the bus will jerk between gears. However, if you pull away engaging kickdown it works fine and without the jerking. It would be interesting to see if this jerking causes additional wear and tear to components such as gearboxes. In a vehicle such as a Solo or Enviro 200 when they are working fine (not in limp mode) then I don't feel you can tell that the system is in place. Our Volvo B7/Alx 400 at Durham don't have Econospeed stickers so I am unsure if its fitted (however these are limited to 50mph anyway).

When I did my training at Ashington, they didn't have Econospeed turned on as 'buses which used high speed roads were unable to keep to their timetables.' I am unsure if Ashington have it activated or not.

Limp mode, does significantly reduce power to the vehicle - the E200's we have at Durham are an example of this. I was once heading towards Gilesgate after coming around the roundabout at the bottom of the A690/Claypath and my bus was in limp mode. I had a full standing load and it was so slow going up the hill, the speed didn't even register on the speedo. The main reason I have found for limp mode is emissions light. However, I have had other warning lights which have triggered limp mode such as an oil light.

Why was 4512 kept instead of anything else from that batch (4501-4515) bar the ones that became driver training vehicles,was stuck behind it today and the decibels coming from it were ridiculous

Why was 4512 kept instead of anything else from that batch (4501-4515) bar the ones that became driver training vehicles,was stuck behind it today and the decibels coming from it were ridiculous

Arriva likely didn't choose that to stay longer over any of the rest of them, just a unique sequence of events that led to that being the case. Others, I believe, had ceased engines, some may have had other issues that became uneconomical to repair, 4503 was obviously written off. Same question could be asked about 7439.

Would have depended on whether it was needed when it was due to be withdrawn, if they needed to keep it on they would have.

2837 now carries Arriva's new logo.

A few bits missing from the livery like...whoops.

We're looking to change the way this forum is setup! Have your say in the following thread: http://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showth...p?tid=2047

The next stop announcements on the Sapphire 7 buses at Darlington are currently not playing any announcements, just showing a static Sapphire slide. Unsure as to why this is the case.

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1923 has returned to Stockton depot in the new livery.

1923 has returned to Stockton depot in the new livery.

Fleetnames on?

The next stop announcements on the Sapphire 7 buses at Darlington are currently not playing any announcements, just showing a static Sapphire slide. Unsure as to why this is the case.

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They’ve updated the screens on all sapphire vehicles in Darlington for the evening when they go through feethams, nothings actually changed on the display screen though, but it’s knocked all the announcements off


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Why does service 3 have NSA's and a monitor? I've used service 3 a lot recently and none of them work... seems pointless.

Why does service 3 have NSA's and a monitor? I've used service 3 a lot recently and none of them work... seems pointless.

Supposedly all Frequenta vehicles are getting NSA’s in the future, wether it happens or not is a different story, Redcars 4701 has the top


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2828 has entered service at Whitby, complete with new livery and logos.

Does anyone know why there’s a X12 in Darlington/ Newton Aycliffe


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Does anyone know why there’s a X12 in Darlington/ Newton Aycliffe


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Blown in on a snow drift? (yes, I've reverted to old school 1990s smileys for this site!)