(01 Aug 2025, 4:08 pm)PH - BQA wrote The DB300s, along with the SB200s, have put in a ridiculously good shift for Arriva really.

I caught 7632 yesterday and it performed very well with a full load on the 306, indeed it's been some time since I've been on a DB300 which performed poorly. I know they look a tad shabby externally, but the interior on most of them has held up well imo. 

The SB200 Pulsar has to be right up there as one of the best low-floor single decks produced to be honest, they rarely put a foot wrong and have consistently performed well on demanding work since new. It's a shame it went to Yorkshire and blew its engine, but 1407 was a genuine missile for years and constantly bailed Ashington out on express boards.

I've driven both DB300 (when Durham had them) and the newer Streetdeck at GNE and the older model is far superior in my view. I'd also agree that the Pulsar is a superb single decker and very versatile.

Having vehicles fail with the same defects, was for me as a driver, quite irritating (you could predict it happening and then the abuse from the passengers you got until the replacement vehicle or next service came along). I had breakdowns (not just Arriva) where me and an engineer limped the bus back to the depot, a laptop was plugged in and the fault gone. 30 mins down the road the fault would reappear and the inevitable happened with the next driver.

My questions always were, is it lack of engineering staff, lack of budget or lack of spares/parts? I was always told lack of being able to get parts was the main issue or the cost of the repair outweighs the cost of the vehicle (GNE 6942 and its broken/faulty dash springs to mind). 

Will Arriva, or any other operator bother to invest on a large scale with the possibility of franchising on the horizon (excluding electric vehicles with government funding) or is it just make do and mend with the odd flurry of second hand stock to tide them over?