(01 Aug 2025, 4:42 pm)morritt89 wrote 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?
There's a lot of questions like this at the moment and I think the possibility of franchising is a convenient excuse for the operators.