Bus breakdown experiences

[Tony]

Tridents really are the most unreliable buses ever made.

Another stupid unfounded comment
(just research the Bedford JJK for proof)

[Ronnoc]

Tridents really are the most unreliable buses ever made.

True, you see these ALX400s burning down a lot of the time, it's mostly the tridents! Havent you ever noticed that? The ALX400 fires in Birmingham were Tridents. Arriva lost one of their Enviros due to that engine. Though the Tridents are good in all by sound and speed etc, they really are one of the most unreliable.

[Bob]

So wouldnt it be Cummins then not tridents that are an issue?

[Ronnoc]

So wouldnt it be Cummins then not tridents that are an issue?

Maybe

[Tony]

So wouldnt it be Cummins then not tridents that are an issue?

Maybe

Apart from the fact Five presidents have had engine fires, not Cummins or Tridents, now lets start on B6s & Merc O405s. Oh the latest Abellio pair were both Geminis, and Stagecoach Manchester have had an E400 hybrid engine fire,

[andy]

Wow, an unusual series of WN Trident breakdowns.

Indeed. Are you watching Bob?

Look at it from a scale perspective. ..one wolves bus failing would be the equivalent of probably something like four cannock buses breaking down in a day......

That argument just doesn't stack up I'm afraid.

4 buses breaking down within a couple of hours belonging to one depot is just as bad wherever it is and however many buses you operate, end of. Take the rose tinteds off please and admit that these things can and do happen to anyone.

[Bob]

It isnt rose tinted.  And for four vehicles to breakdown on many cannock routes has far more impact on passengers than at wolves. If a trident breaks down on the Birmingham new road on the 126 say, its inconvienient for passengers yes but another would be along pretty quickly.  If this happens in cannock on a route like a 75, 62, 68, 34 ( and it has), passengers are left for an hour presuming the next bus comes on time.  And most of the time cannock dont send a replacement bus out.

[andy]

It isnt rose tinted.  And for four vehicles to breakdown on many cannock routes has far more impact on passengers than at wolves. If a trident breaks down on the Birmingham new road on the 126 say, its inconvienient for passengers yes but another would be along pretty quickly.  If this happens in cannock on a route like a 75, 62, 68, 34 ( and it has), passengers are left for an hour presuming the next bus comes on time.  And most of the time cannock dont send a replacement bus out.

So your argument is that having sh*t buses that break down all the time is fine as long as you've got loads of them? It's only a scandal and a disgrace if you have a smaller fleet and PVR? Lord help me...

[PM]

It's all about the percentages surely though.

If you have a 100 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 1% failure rate.

At a smaller garage with 50 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 2% failure rate which is proportionally worse.

[andy]

It's all about the percentages surely though.

If you have a 100 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 1% failure rate.

At a smaller garage with 50 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 2% failure rate which is proportionally worse.

No it really isn't. As I've said before, that means that an operator with 3 vehicles who has a bad week and has a breakdown every day has a 33% breakdown rate that week and could be kicked off by VOSA, just because he had an intermittent fault.

What it should be measured by is miles lost. Since we don't have these figures for either NX or Arriva, perhaps a few people should give it a rest.

[PM]

It's all about the percentages surely though.

If you have a 100 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 1% failure rate.

At a smaller garage with 50 buses and 1 breaks down, that's a 2% failure rate which is proportionally worse.

No it really isn't. As I've said before, that means that an operator with 3 vehicles who has a bad week and has a breakdown every day has a 33% breakdown rate that week and could be kicked off by VOSA, just because he had an intermittent fault.

What it should be measured by is miles lost. Since we don't have these figures for either NX or Arriva, perhaps a few people should give it a rest.

Fundamentally it is measured in percentage compliance though I agree it is not fair on the smaller operator you mention who has a bad week, which VOSA happen to be monitoring.

[Bob]

Ok if we used Cannock to Walsall route 2 /2a section between cannock bus station and walsall town centre Andy and compared 2011 to now with Arriva and say the last three years that nx ran the route,  ( as 351), I would be willing to put money on arriva having lost considerably more miles/trips whatever than nx ever did. Reliability has improved a bit the last few months in cannock but by any standard it was dire for years prior to that. Absolutely dire

[Liberator9]

Don't see how you can go saying "Tridents are the most unreliable buses ever made." Fires are incredibly rare on them (consider how many are in the fleet and the number of trips they do). I agree with Tony on this - and anyway one of the Trident fires was due to vandals. The Tridents are doing very well for their age and considering the amount of miles they will have done.

Now Optare Solo SRs at Blue Diamond - well they could be categorised as unreliable  :D

[wilmotm (Matt Wilmot)]

1515 not going anywhere fast this afternoon, been sat at Merry Hill for around 2 hours

[the trainbasher]

Probably waiting for a driver...