(31 Jul 2025, 7:39 pm)PH - BQA wrote The Ashington "engineering" team seem to have reverted to their old tricks. Constantly sending out vehicles which have failed the previous day(s), only for them to almost immediately need replacing again.
1574 came back into service today, again failing to make start of service. In the past 2 weeks, it failed on Monday 21st after just a few hours. It was sent back out on the 22nd and failed to complete the day on the 57. It was sent back out on the 23rd and didn't even make it to the first stop after Ashington Bus Station. Didn't get used on the 24th, appeared in the afternoon of the 25th where it ran NIS to Whitley Bay, then lost 30 minutes on the return journey to Ashington. Saturday 26th it managed just over 2 hours before failing on an X21. Monday 28th, it completed its first full day for over a week, before failing on the first trip on the 1 on Tuesday 29th.
1391 was the same at the start of this month. After a fortnight off, from the middle of June, it was sent out on the 1st July for 2 trips on the 777. Two more days off, where they decided to send it on an X20 and in a shock move it didn't make it to Alnwick on its first trip. It did a couple of trips on the 1 the next day before again being pulled off, another 2 days off and then after a failed round trip on the X22 it was once again pulled off service for another 3 weeks where they seem to have actually fixed it.
7564, 7548, and 3051 are further examples.
It seems to be a pattern of them sending things out which evidently aren't fit for service, and hoping for the best. Obviously you have to question the competency of the engineering management which allow this to happen. Given the amount of times this seems to happen on one of the last buses to leave the depot in the morning, I assume there is some measured statistic for meeting PVR each day - which evidently they will do anything to hit (though I wonder how this works when that bus then breaks almost immediately?).
You hope that the installation of new management at the very top will improve standards across the board.
Must admit I've noticed this, with 3051 in particular, as it's been pulled pretty much daily
But is it better to have no service, at all, or attempt to get something running? I know which camp I'd be in. I've noticed 7625 was at Ashington today, bailing them out though. Not sure it's fair to blame Ashington when they've inherited a fleet of 10+ reject Pulsar's from other depots considering they had none in frontline service until recently. All down to lack of investment really, and is it really surprise it's starting to catch up now?
Arriva comes across as a shambles across the board dealing with Chiltern Trains last night after Wembley which could be best described as chaos. Whichever clown thought it was a good idea to have a queue which was 15 people wide, merging into 2 people wide with no form of control resulting into a scrum since if you didn't get through you were waiting for the next train, you really have to question. Topped up by numerous people struggling to get out the barriers at Marylebone while all 3 staff on were totally ignoring them and having a nice chat at the entry gateline where no-one was anywhere near...
Total contrast to TFL who had 2 people on the Underground gateline who were actually doing their job and from stuff online a very organised system at Wembley Park aswell.