(03 Aug 2020, 10:44 am)Big O wrote Volvo and Wright are still working together, its the ADL E400 B5TL That has been dropped for whatever reason.

I could be wrong, I heard it was with the administration process Volvo didn't get paid so they refused to work with them. Obviously rumours could be wrong.

(03 Aug 2020, 12:24 pm)mb134 wrote To be honest I've been on Gemini 2s with faults of a similar standard to those you report on the original E400 - possibly due to the company, but there are a number of Gemini 2s that I've been on that have been a worse experience than an E400. A faultless Gemini 2 (take pretty much any GNE example), is better than an average E400 though for sure. 

I'd argue that companies were purchasing Wright products more due to price than quality for a number of years. We all know how shoddy the Streetlite was, and the first few Streetdeck batches - if, as you say, companies were only considering build quality then there's not a chance they'd be going with Wright. I've got no idea how you don't rate the MMC as a product, everything about them looks and feels the part.

I'm not sure the "look at the Metrodecker" argument holds up - nobody was buying Optare bodied double deck products in huge quantities beforehand anyway. On the other hand, Wright had a huge share of the double deck market - and were partnering with Volvo. The E400 has, largely, used the same running gear for over a decade now and not only is it reliable, it means that operators get a better understanding of maintenance and how to keep the things running well. 

I think a point often overlooked is Stagecoach's reliance upon the E400. Despite Souters obvious interest, if ADL were churning out substandard products then Stagecoach would absolutely place an order with someone else until they sorted themselves out.

That's very debatable, there was a hell of a lot East Lanc Deckers around with the millenium body and also lots of Scania Omnidekka's (it's predecessor) both which were East Lancs products. Remember Optare was bought over by East Lancs not vice versa who renamed the whole group Optare. It's sad to see the demise of East Lancs to pretty much nothing while they continued Optare buses which bar minibuses never really sold.