New Buses

[Liberator9]

Also with some of the signature services being lost by rotala later this year it will release some of the newer solo's, versa's and citaro's to be used hopefully going to Tividale.

What's actually happening to the S2 and S3 services? I heard on the radio that Network West Midlands are running on them which I find hard to believe. I'm hoping the Optares go; not the most reliable buses ever built.

[Matt.N0056]

Also with some of the signature services being lost by rotala later this year it will release some of the newer solo's, versa's and citaro's to be used hopefully going to Tividale.

What's actually happening to the S2 and S3 services? I heard on the radio that Network West Midlands are running on them which I find hard to believe. I'm hoping the Optares go; not the most reliable buses ever built.

Centro put out a questionnaire about the services and are looking at making some changes in June. Central Buses have registered the 82 and the S2/3 Solihull - Dorridge/Hockley Heath, which may be commercial - The NWM facebook confirmed the 82 was a commercial registration

[Liberator9]

Thanks; can see the changes here , look some interesting new routes being developed. I assume Central buses are the red Central buses?

[Matt.N0056]

Thanks; can see the changes here , look some interesting new routes being developed. I assume Central buses are the red Central buses?

Yes, but looking at those changes Central Buses route are going to confuse the passengers with 2 S3s and 2 S2s

[Isle of Stroma]

What's actually happening to the S2 and S3 services? I heard on the radio that Network West Midlands are running on them which I find hard to believe. I'm hoping the Optares go; not the most reliable buses ever built.

The tender is up for renewal this summer. Whoever it is that wins, it won't be 'network west midlands' ;-)

Centro put out a questionnaire about the services and are looking at making some changes in June. Central Buses have registered the 82 and the S2/3 Solihull - Dorridge/Hockley Heath, which may be commercial - The NWM facebook confirmed the 82 was a commercial registration

Nope again. As per my earlier reply to your same statement on another thread, the 82 is tendered.

[Matt.N0056]

What's actually happening to the S2 and S3 services? I heard on the radio that Network West Midlands are running on them which I find hard to believe. I'm hoping the Optares go; not the most reliable buses ever built.

The tender is up for renewal this summer. Whoever it is that wins, it won't be 'network west midlands' ;-)

Centro put out a questionnaire about the services and are looking at making some changes in June. Central Buses have registered the 82 and the S2/3 Solihull - Dorridge/Hockley Heath, which may be commercial - The NWM facebook confirmed the 82 was a commercial registration

Nope again. As per my earlier reply to your same statement on another thread, the 82 is tendered.

The 82 is tendered at the moment and may still be some tendered journeys in June. However on the NWM facebook the wrote: 
"I can confirm that the contract to operate Service 82 is due for renewal in June. All operators have been invited to submit a bid under our competitive tendering process and these have all been received. We are aware that Central Buses have registered a number of journeys on this route to operate commercially (without asking for any subsidy). However, we are still negotiating with all operators who have submitted a bid and further details will be available next month, once these discussions have been completed"

[bwsau cymru]

I really hope that rotala win the contracts and add more journeys commerically. I travel regularly on the 82 and ot seems really popular and busy at any time of day

[Ash]

I really hope that rotala win the contracts and add more journeys commerically. I travel regularly on the 82 and ot seems really popular and busy at any time of day

Yeah i travel on the 82 quite alot but the last twice I have used it I got a hybrid 30136 and a nifty fifty centro 30801 and the centro was awful no power at all and the fans were constantly on it even struggled to get up the slip road to join the A45 think there might have been a fault with it as it certainly wasn't that slow when it used to be used on the 404E a few years back.

[Stu]

I've started a new topic on the subject of the South Solihull changes, to help this thread from going off-topic.  ;)
http://wmbusphotos.com/forum/index.php?topic=1509.0

[Ash]

I would think the remaining red and white darts,  but does anyone have any ideas what buses the b7rle's will be replacing once they arrive at Tividale.

[PM]

I hope they replace optare products-keep the darts as they are good buses-repaint them. I would love to see diamond do what NXWM are aiming for-having a fleet free of optare buses.

[JackC]

I hope they replace optare products-keep the darts as they are good buses-repaint them. I would love to see diamond do what NXWM are aiming for-having a fleet free of optare buses.

I doubt you'll see a Diamond fleet free of Optares for a long while considering their Hybrids are Optares.

[PM]

I hope they replace optare products-keep the darts as they are good buses-repaint them. I would love to see diamond do what NXWM are aiming for-having a fleet free of optare buses.

I doubt you'll see a Diamond fleet free of Optares for a long while considering their Hybrids are Optares.

Its such a pity as they are hated by drivers, engineers and by passengers left stranded when they break down. Optare are good at doing nice interiors but as I have said before this is useless if the buses are so unreliable and cheap and badly made that passengers never get a chance to sample them!!

[JackC]

I hope they replace optare products-keep the darts as they are good buses-repaint them. I would love to see diamond do what NXWM are aiming for-having a fleet free of optare buses.

I doubt you'll see a Diamond fleet free of Optares for a long while considering their Hybrids are Optares.

Its such a pity as they are hated by drivers, engineers and by passengers left stranded when they break down. Optare are good at doing nice interiors but as I have said before this is useless if the buses are so unreliable and cheap and badly made that passengers never get a chance to sample them!!

I can't say anything from a driver/engineer view myself so I won't disagree or agree with you, but from my own passenger experience on Optares, they seem fairly decent buses. The Hybrid Versas in particular are absolutely fantastic. Maybe I've just had good experiences but that's just my own two cents.

[PM]

I hope they replace optare products-keep the darts as they are good buses-repaint them. I would love to see diamond do what NXWM are aiming for-having a fleet free of optare buses.

I doubt you'll see a Diamond fleet free of Optares for a long while considering their Hybrids are Optares.

Its such a pity as they are hated by drivers, engineers and by passengers left stranded when they break down. Optare are good at doing nice interiors but as I have said before this is useless if the buses are so unreliable and cheap and badly made that passengers never get a chance to sample them!!

I can't say anything from a driver/engineer view myself so I won't disagree or agree with you, but from my own passenger experience on Optares, they seem fairly decent buses. The Hybrid Versas in particular are absolutely fantastic. Maybe I've just had good experiences but that's just my own two cents.

Yeah the interiors seem nice the seats are good and comfy and the white plastics and ceiling make for a nice environment. But are they built to last? They rattle, handle poorly and the materials dont seem to be strong or built to last. Yes, white plastics look nice but they are highly impractical, compared to say your standard nx spec. The problems come with reliability and vehicle availability which has led companies such as trent barton to stray from buying optare buses many times due to reliability and that of the tempo sr's is appaling and I have also heard of leaking roofs etc. All of which seems poor. It seems wrong to complain/put the blame on poor maintainance when companies such as go north east and trent barton have had major issues.