Rotala are having 6 Solo SRs delivered soon, what they haven't told me is which part of the empire is getting them. photo of them prior to delivery courtesy of Rotala is at
http://wmbusphotos.com/centralConnect/YJ62FFZ.html
Wessex
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:28:27 PM
Wessex
Yes they have now just confirmed they are for the 13 & 19 routes at Wessex
Why on earth do they keep on buying optares???? According to blue diamonds drivers, they are extremely unreliable and they hated receiving the hybrid versas so why on earth do rotala keep buying optare's buses?? Theyre badly made, unreliable-there are already complaints about the ones that have just arrived in jersey that build quality is bad and why is it that even nottingham have switched onto enviro 200s and trent barton are looking at other buses-they have often gone off optare in the past. Honestly, rotala should buy some good old bog standard enviro 200s which are miles better
Quote from: Tony on January 03, 2013, 08:32:02 PM
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:28:27 PM
Wessex
Yes they have now just confirmed they are for the 13 & 19 routes at Wessex
Wessex gets new buses again, have they forgotten about their WM op???
Quote from: Winston on January 03, 2013, 08:44:48 PM
Quote from: Tony on January 03, 2013, 08:32:02 PM
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:28:27 PM
Wessex
Yes they have now just confirmed they are for the 13 & 19 routes at Wessex
Wessex gets new buses again, have they forgotten about their WM op???
Id rather have ex petes darts than these naf solos-the best buses in the wm operation are the darts, cades, b7rles and the MANs and citaros-not awful versas and solos. In my opinion, optare are by far the worst make of buses you can buy in the UK at the moment possibly excluding temsa and other naf foreign companies like that. Optare are obsessed with nice interiors etc but they forget that passengers want reliable buses that turn up and dont rattle not hybrid versas which rattle like mad and break down-I heard about one time where the bus broke down with an awful smell and one of the batteries had gone or something like that.
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:49:27 PM
Id rather have ex petes darts than these naf solos-the best buses in the wm operation are the darts, cades, b7rles and the MANs and citaros-not awful versas and solos. In my opinion, optare are by far the worst make of buses you can buy in the UK at the moment possibly excluding temsa and other naf foreign companies like that. Optare are obsessed with nice interiors etc but they forget that passengers want reliable buses that turn up and dont rattle not hybrid versas which rattle like mad and break down-I heard about one time where the bus broke down with an awful smell and one of the batteries had gone or something like that.
You can't blame leaking/failed batteries on Optare, it will more than likely down to the battery manufacturer
Optare can't be that bad, Arriva Midlands have enough Versa's, Arriva have also recently replaced a repeat order for another 50 for 2013 delivery
http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:OPE.L&action=article&articleid=8822855
Anyone know the seating configuration?
Quote from: Winston on January 03, 2013, 08:59:04 PM
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:49:27 PM
Id rather have ex petes darts than these naf solos-the best buses in the wm operation are the darts, cades, b7rles and the MANs and citaros-not awful versas and solos. In my opinion, optare are by far the worst make of buses you can buy in the UK at the moment possibly excluding temsa and other naf foreign companies like that. Optare are obsessed with nice interiors etc but they forget that passengers want reliable buses that turn up and dont rattle not hybrid versas which rattle like mad and break down-I heard about one time where the bus broke down with an awful smell and one of the batteries had gone or something like that.
You can't blame leaking/failed batteries on Optare, it will more than likely down to the battery manufacturer
Optare can't be that bad, Arriva Midlands have enough Versa's, Arriva have also recently replaced a repeat order for another 50 for 2013 delivery
http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:OPE.L&action=article&articleid=8822855
50 buses fo a group the size of arriva is nothing when about 50 pulsar2s have just gone into service in Yorkshire alone. And yes you can blame reliability on optare because they choose the components and put them together and thats only one example of poor reliability-many, many more!!!
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 09:25:49 PM
Quote from: Winston on January 03, 2013, 08:59:04 PM
Quote from: Peter123 on January 03, 2013, 08:49:27 PM
Id rather have ex petes darts than these naf solos-the best buses in the wm operation are the darts, cades, b7rles and the MANs and citaros-not awful versas and solos. In my opinion, optare are by far the worst make of buses you can buy in the UK at the moment possibly excluding temsa and other naf foreign companies like that. Optare are obsessed with nice interiors etc but they forget that passengers want reliable buses that turn up and dont rattle not hybrid versas which rattle like mad and break down-I heard about one time where the bus broke down with an awful smell and one of the batteries had gone or something like that.
You can't blame leaking/failed batteries on Optare, it will more than likely down to the battery manufacturer
Optare can't be that bad, Arriva Midlands have enough Versa's, Arriva have also recently replaced a repeat order for another 50 for 2013 delivery
http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:OPE.L&action=article&articleid=8822855
50 buses fo a group the size of arriva is nothing when about 50 pulsar2s have just gone into service in Yorkshire alone. And yes you can blame reliability on optare because they choose the components and put them together and thats only one example of poor reliability-many, many more!!!
As they are cheap and nasty and Arriva Midlands hate spending money on decent new buses NXWM buy quality volvos have been on one of the new midi buses seem ok but only time will tell if they rattle like Arrivas
Arriva like most operators seem to buy a range of vehicles from different suppliers. But arriva midlands seem to be in favour of versas. Where I grew up as a kid we had 2997 brand new on my local route and it was great! Really fast and didnt just look good on the inside but the outside as well. I know that drivers dont like them but for a passenger I think there brillient and really look the part. Optare do a great thing of making there buses look different they arent just unstyled movint bricks! Nx do a good job with there operations but they have sameee buses that are nothing special ( not saying thats bad). I personally like optare products proberly more than wright or alexander dennis.
Quote from: dannygill on January 06, 2013, 01:45:17 PM
Arriva like most operators seem to buy a range of vehicles from different suppliers. But arriva midlands seem to be in favour of versas. Where I grew up as a kid we had 2997 brand new on my local route and it was great! Really fast and didnt just look good on the inside but the outside as well. I know that drivers dont like them but for a passenger I think there brillient and really look the part. Optare do a great thing of making there buses look different they arent just unstyled movint bricks! Nx do a good job with there operations but they have sameee buses that are nothing special ( not saying thats bad). I personally like optare products proberly more than wright or alexander dennis.
A bus supposed to be comfortable for the driver as well as the passenger. The versa is just like a stretched solo with the horrible goldfish front and poor mirror visability just like the Solo (normal one) the other makers actually think about the driver.
Agree with you fully just arriva arent normally bothered about tuere staff
Optare are Ok. I've grown to like the Versas and Solo Srs now, but they are unreliable. I spoke to one of the drivers last year and he said how he hated driving them; no back support for the driver and break down frequently. He loved driving the Citaros on the 82 as they were quiet and reliable, plus well made. Also one of the Signature 61 reg Versas is now stuck in the same gear, moving off really slow and when no power is applied, no you can tell as it lurches forwards. I would chose the Enviros over the Optares as they are much more reliable and well made.