(08 Mar 2020, 7:18 pm)scanialover wrote Can agree, in part, with what is said about Arriva's drivers. There are a canny few diamonds out there who look the part and take pride in their job, but then there is a good percentage who undermine this with their attitude and lack of customer focus. OK it's not an easy position dealing with demanding timetables and often difficult passengers but that is the role in which they are trained. Add a point here, wasn't relevant until yesterday? Clipping the odd kerb is unavoidable but hitting just about every one, AKA my journey on the 1142 service 7 from Durham, was a bit much. Back to the driving school for him?
As for the fleet, what can one say? It's a mess! A complete mis-match of liveries and then styles within said liveries. What was the idea behind the latest standard livery which to bring the fleet into some sort of standardisation, cost a fortune
Then we have the issues raised against the Streetlites, MAX and Sapphire. All this came all singing and dancing but now look at it. Another mess, brand new vehicles which while not ideal should have been kept up to the spec and standard for which they were purchased .
And to finish. Just headed home on VDL Pulsar 1410 working a 29 trip out of Middlesbrough. I say this because here is a classic example of just where Arriva's fleet should be. Smart new livery externally, refurbished, or looked like it, internally and seemed to be mechanically sound. OK the NSA wasn't working but hey, do we need it?
Sure, there are some good drivers, but I'm starting to see less and less of them!
One thing I've always liked about GNE is their drivers, for the most part anyway, they genuinely are canny drivers (as much as I hate that hashtag they keep promoting!)
I forgot that point you made about the drivers abilities as well! I wouldn't trust some of them pushing a trolley never mind driving a bus. I have a friend who joined Arriva as a driver not too long back, and he got the impression they were going to pass him regardless of whether he was any good or not because they were short of drivers.
(08 Mar 2020, 7:29 pm)S830OFT wrote Arriva will need to get their act together and invest way more in routes that generate the most revenue. I.e. Express services (X15/X18/X93)
Or, if you look at it from their perspective, those routes are already generating the most revenue, so passengers clearly don't mind it, so spend the money to change anything! (obviously not what I think!)