(05 Apr 2016, 5:59 pm)northern156 wrote What would the point in that be though? The Solars have only been on it for a couple of years or so now and, to me, they cope just fine. I think the Citaros are more suited to non-stop express work (ie not the likes of the 4 or 57) which the X84 isn't, really. X85 yes I would see point in that [again though, nowt wrong with the Solars] but that would mean splitting the two routes up?
X84/X85 is in direct competition with Arriva on both road and rail. Ideally I'd like to see brand new vehicles with power sockets in addition to the WiFi, but I've little knowledge of the route to know whether or not an order would be justified?
The services gaining Mercs would be the next best option imo, given that a bus with a Mercedes badge on the front gives a more luxurious/premium perception to a customer - exactly the kind of thing you want, when you're in direct competition.