I made my way to Durham on a few Go North East services (56 to Concord, 50 to Framwellgate Moor, then X21 to Durham), deciding to jump off the X21 in Durham rather than continue to Bishop Auckland on the same bus. Instead I thought it'd be a good idea to go to Bishop Auckland by using the X46 to Crook with a connection to the X1 from there, to sample a few buses that I don't often get to travel on.
The first bus that arrived on the X46 was 7418. Internally the bus was quite well-presented - it wasn't the cleanest but my immediate perception wouldn't have been that it was a 13-year old bus. Externally the bus wasn't quite as good: the bus was dirty (somewhat understandable given the nature of the route), and the biggest eyesore for me was the lack of black masking at the bottom of the front destination display, meaning what is ordinarily hidden was all exposed and on show. The right hand side of the black masking was coming away which meant that part of the Wi-Fi symbol and 'W' in Wi-Fi was also missing.
My next bus was 1590. Immediately I noticed what seems to be common on Arriva North East's Streetlites: the chrome Wrightbus grille on the front of the bus was partially missing. A very little thing, and only us enthusiasts would ever notice it, but it seems to be quite common for this to be (partially) missing nowadays. Is there a reason for it? The Next Stop Announcements were so quiet they were barely audible (I have fairly good hearing and struggled to make out some of the announcements), and the power sockets didn't work. I didn't try the Wi-Fi but I was prompted to connect to it - so in terms of new technology on buses, the Wi-Fi probably would have been the only thing ticking the box for me.
In Bishop Auckland Bus Station, I spotted a brand new Streetlite. I wasn't quite sure what service the bus was going to be allocated to but suspected it was going to be a late-running 5A (which turned out to be true). The driver eventually came out of the canteen around 5 minutes after the service was due to depart, eventually leaving around 7 minutes late. The interior of 1604 was similar to what we usually see - the seats still showing the old Sapphire logo/colourscheme, but the cove panels had been given a makeover showing the new corporate light blue colour. These cove panels added quite a bit of colour to the bus which made for a more pleasant experience, but the designs looked amateurish, as if they had been quickly mocked up on Microsoft Paint, and I found the bottoms of the vinyls were peeling already (just a week or so after being put on!) The most disappointing and unprofessional thing to see, was the Next Stop Announcement monitor showing the black default "HANOVER DISPLAYS LTD" screen. Despite having been at Darlington for a fortnight or so before being pressed into service, Arriva clearly hadn't updated the Next Stop Announcement media at all, even just to show their own logo (if the media wasn't ready). Above the TFT monitor, a small section of the black masking was missing, so every time the bell was pressed, a red light was visible below the actual 'Stopping' sign. Again a very little thing, but feels like something that should have been spotted and fixed by Wrightbus while the bus was being prepared for service. Unlike a lot of enthusiasts, I don't think Wrightbus' range of buses are all that bad. They don't scream 'quality' but they're not as bad as they're made out to be, either. I must say that the stop/start technology on the Streetlites is a lot more noticeable and irritating than on the StreetDeck range. It was really starting to irritate me by the end of my journey, and I was glad to get off, but I suspect it's something we'll have to get used to going forward...
When I did get off, I noticed that the rear destination display was still set up to only show a route number on the rear. I'd noticed this last weekend too, but thought it would have been sorted by now (it's a quick fix!)... Clearly not. Something else that makes no difference to a 'normal' customer, but why bother spending the money on the full-size rear display, only to show a route number in the middle of it? Seems bizarre!
I jumped on another bus from Shildon to Newton Aycliffe after this. Didn't get any details other than it being a 61-reg Pulsar. Going back to the basics, I was surprisingly more impressed. The bus was really clean and tidy internally, and the only thing letting it down was a Next Stop Announcement system being fitted, but only showing a generic Arriva logo. I'd heard that the council contributed funding towards the fitting of Next Stop Announcements to Pulsars in Darlington, so quite disappointing to see that the system still doesn't work, after about a year(?) of the system being fitted.
In Newton Aycliffe, I got a lucky shot of an 'old' Sapphire Pulsar on the 7 with a 'new' Sapphire Streetlite on the 5. Was happy with the shot overall and although I still do prefer the older design, it did look quite dated compared to the new livery (which is starting to grow on me now - it looks quite modern and fresh). 1522 was another example of a bus with a missing chrome Wrightbus logo at the front.
My next ride was 4814, from Newton Aycliffe to Darlington. I noticed that the offside was still missing branding (which it has done for years now), and it still made reference to the long-since withdrawn 21 service between Darlington and Peterlee. The seats weren't very comfortable, but on a brighter note, the Next Stop Announcement system (fitted a year or two ago) was now working. There was no audio but the visuals were working spot on - complete with new Arriva logo etc.
Next up was a ride on the X67 to Stockton. A bus arrived on stand but the driver left it, going for his break. Another driver didn't emerge until 15 minutes after the bus was scheduled to depart. The driver started to load the bus with passengers, still showing "Not in Service" on the display, until intending passengers queried: "Are you the 66 or the 67?" The driver, with a rather poor attitude, grunted, "The X67" and didn't take too kindly to an elderly gentleman pointing out that he hadn't put the X67 on the display. At this point, the next X66 had arrived, in the form of 9/10 branded Optare Solo 2868, which would have departed a minute or two after my X67. Again, it may come as a surprise, but the Next Stop Announcements weren't working on the X67... Although this one did seem to be a Hanover issue with a faulty system, rather than Arriva just not bothering to programme anything.
After taking a few photos in Stockton, I had a ride on freshly-painted Centro 1924 next. It was allocated to the 15 service - pretty uncommon to see anything other than a Pulsar on there. The bus was running late, with the next 15 unloading passengers on the High Street immediately behind. But again, going back to the basics, what a well-presented bus! The light blue paintwork stands out really well in Stockton High Street against all of the other buses, and Arriva have done a great job on improving the interior too, with leather seats and a grey moquette used on the seat backs, covering the old grey plastic.
My final bus of the day was 1917. Due to be withdrawn in the imminent future, I was keen to secure one last ride on one of these Cadets. Taking the 'scenic' route to Middlesbrough on the 17A service, I was again impressed by the more basic bus. The interior was very smart (probably the best-presented bus of the day), and aside from the seats being quite uncomfortable with little padding, it was a really nice ride. At least the Wrightbus logo on this one can't fall off!
All in all, it seemed like the modern features on Arriva's buses were letting them down. Other operators, in and out of the region, are just as bad when it comes to maintaining these new technologies, but it really did give a poor perception. Aiming to put any bias aside, I travelled north on the Go North East X9 service. The bus was clean externally and aside from a bit of litter upstairs (despite having bins near the tables... you can lead a horse to water, eh), it was a really pleasant passenger experience. Again the Volvo B5s get a lot of negativity in the enthusiast community, but I'd say that this round of buses on the X9/X10 is the best yet. Wi-Fi worked, Next Stop Announcements worked, the three-pin sockets worked (which did come as a surprise, admittedly), and I had plenty leg-room on my table seat... I'd go as far to suggest that it's probably one of the best experiences you'll get, travelling on a bus in the North East.