(15 Nov 2020, 10:19 am)Dan wrote It was a tongue in cheek remark, obviously, but all jokes aside, nobody can deny that Arriva is taking an exceptionally long time to roll out their new brand (especially compared to Stagecoach, for example, who seemingly manage to repaint 2-3 buses per week).


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Nick Knox definitely didn't seem to care about the state of the operation over the last few years of his reign. Hopefully the new guy pushes it on but I'm not hopeful, get the impression that the mindset in upper management is broken beyond repair at this point.

It's not even just an issue on the surface anymore. We've seen the withdrawal of 7453/4 (12 years old), where if they'd actually been given mechanical attention before they left Ashington for Durham they'd likely have been in far better condition now and wouldn't be getting replaced by 51/02 plate Volvo B7s. The amount of Jesmond buses I saw over the summer either broken down or looking in a horrific state is too many to mention. A lack of investment in new vehicles for a few years is okay as long as you actually maintain and look after what you have, but it seems like depot/regional management have their priorities in all the wrong places. 

You've then got, for example, Ashington running 57-plate and 09-plate deckers on long distance, high speed, express work - they seem to be looked after well enough but they really shouldn't have to rely on those buses to do some of the most demanding work in the region.

All of the Scanias seem just about on their last legs, but there seems to be no plans for a replacement there. There's been no trial of any suitable replacement (i.e a 6 cylinder E200 or a B8RLE), and the 67-plate Streetlites at Darlo are in absolutely no way adequate for what the Scanias are working on currently. You've then got a handful of 2001/2 deckers still in day to day service, with only 7484/8/91 appearing to be reliable enough for it, which will need replacing soon (unless Arriva want 20 years out of them...). Really, all of the B7 deckers are approaching end of life and there's absolutely no sign of what might be coming to replace them. 

Rant over. Apologies for going a little off topic folks.