(04 Jul 2015, 5:25 pm)Dan wrote The installation of Next Stop Announcements has probably been noted, but I was quite surprised to see them there. What's more, I was surprised at the lack of corporate identity and design on the Next Stop Announcment monitor. A plain black screen with white text and a small Arriva logo which can barely be read from the back of the bus? There was a few announcements which didn't sound right at all, and the volume seemed way too quiet in general. Of course, I had been deafened by the bell as soon as we got to Stockton... For the record - I still prefer the regional accent of the radio DJs to whoever this Arriva woman is..!
The sun came out to play for some photos in Darlington, which I was really pleased about. Thought it was typical that it's been lovely all week then it gets to the weekend and it was horrible. I've been wanting to have a ride of one of Arriva's (now not so) new ADL Enviro400s on service 7 since they entered service, so I planned to get that to Durham if an E400 was allocated. If it wasn't an E400, I planned to get the 21/X21 back to Sunderland.
I ended up going with the former plan, and 7540 did the honours. I found that this one was quite sluggish compared to the Pulsars I had become accustomed to on this route, but I do prefer the double-decks. The extra capacity was not required on this journey and I had the upper saloon to myself for most of the trip to Durham, but I do think the extra capacity will come in handy on weekdays at peak times. I quite like the front seat on the offside upper saloon, as it has plenty of legroom. The journey flew by, and I was in Durham in no time.
The next stop announcement screens on the X66 should be the aquamarine or whatever colour you call it and has the Arriva logo and "Go on, get on" on the screens. Perhaps there was a fault or possibly the sun reflecting on it although it was fine when I had it on service 8 on Tuesday except that route isn't programmed in.
I was actually in Darlington at the same time as you so I don't know how I missed you although this was probably when I went to the Dolphin Centre then got a shot of 2867 on the X76 on Feethams.
It's peak times the Enviro 400s are needed, let me tell you a Pulsar at full capacity on a morning to college wasn't any fun. During the daytime they do look rather deserted at times and there wasn't many upstairs on the journey I had to Darlington.