(05 Oct 2014, 11:59 am)Kuyoyo wrote 7501-8 are f**cked, so why no put them on the less-demanding services (X21/X22) compared to the more demanding X14/14 and X15. 7514-21 were knackered when in their final months at Darlington, but since they moved to Ashington, they have improved. Extras spares are required for the X21/X22 though imho - plus given the majority of the E400s will soon either be Sapphire or MAX, might as well do what is left as MAX and Sapphire spares.

Agreed.

Whatever the reasons may be, the "Sapphire" Enviro400s which are meant to be allocated to services X21/X22 are seemingly frequently VOR. Without wishing to sound hypocritical, given my posts elsewhere on the forum, "Sapphire" promises a unique passenger experience by providing leather seating, free Wi-Fi and power sockets. This, as of late, has not been the case.
Part of the experience has been continued, given the vast number of appearances by "MAX" specification Enviro400s, but the allocation of 7-year old Lowlanders to service X18 as a consequence doesn't really provide 'MAXimum' impact on that service.
I appreciate service X18 hasn't received its official publicity launch yet, and one could argue that the allocation of the new Enviro400s to service X18 isn't therefore as important, but already customers would have began to adjust to the new vehicles and expect that they should be able to make use of free Wi-Fi on-board that service.

Arriva is fairly new to providing a hierarchy of services, based on on-board 'upgraded' features, and local management need to quickly learn that it's important that these upgraded features are provided as much as possible. My opinions on the "MAX" specification Enviro400s appearing on services X21/X22 aside, if the "Sapphire" allocation is regularly VOR (which I doubt many of us on this forum will know for sure, but could in part relate to the fact that you quote these vehicles to be 'f*cked'), then local management need to begin thinking about sourcing additional spare vehicles. This honestly should have been thought through prior to the launch, but the best way is to learn from your mistakes.