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Interesting and I'm sure you're probably right.

I'm not sure what system is used on the 11, but generally the on vehicle equipment is simply a box attached to the roof of the vehicle - very easy to swap from one bus to another - in this area Arriva often move odd buses in from elsewhere in the country and others out, and they have to have the bus priority traffic signal trigger/real time GPS system boxes swapped/installed. Looked at from a high vantage point, it can be seen that some vehicles have two or three of them - presumably it's cheaper just to add the relevant box rather than swap them.

the realtime still works on the 11, all the presidents are fitted to trigger it as well as the Geminis

So they could be used as peak period extras on the 11 then (presuming there are such things these days?) I would have thought filling the route 100% with Presidents would not give a good signal - the Geminis are very 'noticeable' vehicles to the public.

Send em all away. Yes, c'mon. Especially the ex-Dundee examples. Terrible. The seats are so close together plus catching them on peak hours of the day? Its the inconvenience of it all that will do your head in.

The Dundee/Travel London ones have already gone  ???

Any update.........are the remainder still going. A pic of 711 in NXWM livery appeared on Flickr the other day, so I'm guessing some are still running.

If there are ongoing Govt grants available, and a joint scheme with Birmingham City Council could be developed? It's basically twice the size of the Wolverhampton one coming up.

However I think all things are likely to focus on the City Centre with the emission zone and extension of trams.

It would only be a short-term measure; I would imagine that the next big order of double-decks (sometime next year?) would see the Presidents finally get withdrawn.

On the other hand, the Presidents, having been refurbed and repainted, still are mostly in very good condition, I don't have a problem with them being used on the 11.

The 11 would make a very nice flagship hybrid operation - imagine the publicity - but the next hybrids are going to Wolverhampton and appear set to replace the Spectras.

You guys thinking about replacement of the Presidents, remember there's over 150 Mercs which are mostly older, not to mention the B10Ls and B6LEs remaining. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that almost all of the current deliveries are being used, through complicated cascades in the case of WB and WL, to replace the B6LEs and B10Ls - and to deal with the Birmingham emission zone - hence WB needing Geminis etc etc.

Large scale replacement of Mercs will surely need another order of buses - and only the earliest of them are coming up to 15 yrs old.
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It would only be a short-term measure; I would imagine that the next big order of double-decks (sometime next year?) would see the Presidents finally get withdrawn.

On the other hand, the Presidents, having been refurbed and repainted, still are mostly in very good condition, I don't have a problem with them being used on the 11.

But surely not a good image to portray for a flagship route?

They should repair it - gives a bad image

I agree with you - the green branding on the front makes the destination blind on the front of these and other double deckers look like a bit like a letter box - out of proportion and breaks up a integrated design - not sure why the green has to be so large as theres very little text on it.

Aw thanks Kay P - a positive comment about Excels  :)

Peter123 and Michael - call yourselves bus enthusiasts  ;D  even the most unsuccessful buses need a good send off! And these are the nicest looking even if some of the staff hate em (BTW how do you get Karma/Caldmore of  -27  ??? )

That makes sense - not really an accessible bus then - well accessible but no where to go once you're on it. I always thought the short ones looked all front overhang and very little bus,  even more so in NXWM livery.

Will there be a commemorative journey for the last Excel in service..........

Love em or hate em (and I know some of you do  ;D ) I think these are the best looking single deckers in the NXWM fleet - however a question for those of you in Wolverhampton, are there many left in all day service or are they just used at peaks now? Or confined to one or two routes?

According to Tony's listings from NXWM there are only around 20 left out of a peak of around 55.

You've just posted a photo of Pensnett's 4801 - the red is faded awfully, what on earth have they been using to clean the buses at Pensnett  :o  it does look slightly worse because it's got a new corner panel which is much darker, but it even so it does look dreadful, in contrast to the pics of the old liveried double deckers you've just posted.

You get the impression that Arriva and NXWM have some sort of understanding regarding each other operating in Cannock and Walsall.

Is it not possible to get from Cannock to Walsall or Wolverhampton by bus and then change to X51 or the tram or train at Wolverhampton?

I may have missed something here, but also does anyone know what actually happened to it? Damaged during delivery?

My local depot - Yardley Wood
My favourite depot - Hockley

I probably ought to correct this - my nearest NXWM garage is Yardley Wood or Coventry, my local one is Arriva Kent and Sussex, Sheerness  ;)

Also an ex Brummie!

BTW I reckon those AD2s will have struggled up Mucklow Hill on the 130 (now 9).