(04 Mar 2016, 11:05 pm)northern156 wrote The sooner the joint operation between two different companies is stopped (or at least fully evened out so there's no bias towards Arriva [ie PVR of 4 vs 2]), the better IMO. (But that's another story)
I think the Pulsars are much better vehicles for the job. For me they have much better ride quality and, from an enthusiast's point of view, a certain few do a lot of screaming...!
That said I haven't really used Arriva's 685 for a good while, as I usually drive to Hexham whenever I go on a North East Explorer day.
I was hoping for a Pulsar last Saturday but got 4662 which I thought wasn't too bad, although I hate how slippery those leather seats are, I was sat in the pushchair bay leaving Carlisle, the bus turned left at a junction and the driver had to slam on the brakes as some idiot in a van was stopped in a keep clear box and the seats offer no traction whatsoever especially in that situation so me and a few other passengers nearly ended up on the floor! Much preferred the Stagecoach Enviro 300 I got from Hexham to Carlisle, high backed seats and free WiFi on offer as well.