(29 Jun 2022, 9:50 am)Aaron21 wrote I'm gonna admit this now. The X66 needs a change of buses. In fact the Volvo B7RLE don't seem to be performing well.
5501 seems to be performing well
5502 is doing dreadful. Saw it parked on death row at Riverside a few days ago. 5502 struggling a lot as it can barely put a week in service
5503 is doing I'd say a bit better than 5502 but not the level of 5501.
5504 tracking ability on bustimes.org is broken but was in service on the 27th June. It was also out on the 22nd June but must have leaked something at Metrocentre as NK56 KHT 5247 replaced it and sand was on the ground at the stand with cones round it
Also the X66 seems to Getting full a lot. Since it's the only direct bus to Gateshead (shocked at that) with the 49/49A/96/97 taking long routes to get there
How are you deciding that they aren't performing well then? I've looked on Bustimes and both 5501/3 look to be out virtually every day, and you've mentioned 5504s tracking being inaccurate - that said it was also tracking virtually daily before the end of May.
5502 is the only one that looks suspect, but all operating companies are experiencing lengthy waits for parts at present (which will be especially pronounced with fleet types which aren't as common), so you'll find that even small issues can keep vehicles off for a lengthy period.
(29 Jun 2022, 5:21 pm)KingSlayerRBLX wrote To be fair it was something different the B7RLE's. On the first days they were good but now they are just not gonna be used to their full potential which is speeding. Should of kept the Artic Citaros
This makes no sense.
How has the use case changed between the first day and now? You appear to suggest it has, given that they now are "just not gonna be used to their full potential".
I'm assuming by "speeding" you mean high speed running, no bus should be speeding. You'll find that the larger engine means that when running at near/full capacity, the engine is less stressed compared to something like a Streetlite so they're arguably being used very well indeed.
And the articulated Citaros - they were beyond uneconomical, not exactly beacons of reliability from memory, and also by this point would be approaching end of life.