(08 Aug 2014, 8:02 pm)Dan wrote Sapphire hasn't worked particularly well at Ashington, with vehicles that aren't to Sapphire specification being allocated daily. This is, of course, in addition to the fact vehicles were launched without branding, and some with issues too.
I don't know if the issues where Wi-Fi and power sockets weren't working have been fixed or not, but I'd definitely hope so, given that normal corporate liveried vehicles are appearing so frequently.
We established that Ashington only has one spare vehicle to cover for a PVR of 15 - something which should realistically be covered by two vehicles, otherwise they're always going to encounter problems. I can't help but feel that this is somewhat short-sighted move by Arriva. Sapphire is allegedly an up-market premium bus service, yet Ashington has been left short of spares really...
ADL Enviro400 7504 is yet to enter service as far as I know, so that's Ashington's spare bus VOR...
Are Sapphire branded E400s being allocated elsewhere?
You know my feelings on WiFi not working, but I'd be concerned if they were pulling a significant amount of vehicles off road to resolve the issues. If it was down to me, I'd rather fork out for it to be done outside of normal operating hours, or at least on a Sunday.
I agree that one spare isn't enough for that PVR, but I think having the Sapphire spec interior is always going to present a problem. You've either got to have non-route branded Sapphire spares running round on non-Sapphire services if required, or route branded Sapphire spares running round on non-Sapphire services if required. Both arguably cause confusion to the customer, and is far from ideal. I guess the ideal solution would have been to take a page out of GNE's book, and have the spares in fleet livery. Interior would still be 'Sapphire spec', but the customers are on the bus to their destination before the confusion can kick in!