(13 Sep 2016, 8:02 pm)Arcticrossy92 wroteHad a ride on either 3995/3996 (it operated an early out of Consett on the X71 on Monday (6:20 I think) and two things I noticed.
Internally the seats upstairs are in a right state, I'm very surprised it was allowed to go into service in the condition. With it being an Open Top bus I noticed it didn't have any internal poles and the bells were on the back of the seats (i hadn't seen this before)I know they're old buses, but think they would look great internally if they had some sort of full refurb, especially the ones on front line services. I understand it may not be viable in the long run, spending money on them, but would be nice from a passenger point of view.
I'm of the same opinion. I'd ridden on a couple of these down in Brighton, shortly before their withdrawal and transfer to Go North East. Having seen the state of some of them down there, I was surprised when they hit the roads up here without a refurb.
I'm not suggesting all 2nd hand buses should be refurbished as a matter of course, but 3995/6 look especially shabby, and customers aren't daft enough not to notice these things. Having ridden 6132 yesterday, it just goes to show how much difference an internal refurbishment can make to the presentation of a bus.