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Wow - nice passenger there....Kudos to the driver there for his professionalism, and it's a good job for the shielding. However I'm sick of seeing some of the treatment drivers receive at times; you need a thick skin and a cool head to carry on in that role. Always interesting to see I find in some other parts of the country the better treatment of drivers, as well as the buses.

Wouldn't surprise me if when it came to it the 323s have their toilets removed as opposed to fitting a DDA compliant one, in the pursuance of extra seating.

? Driver how much is a four pound daysaver, err duh , dude they is £6 each wtf

@2900

Classic one there  :D

Awful with those incidents you mentioned in your last post - sounds like bedlam up round there. No better word than scum to sum up those who attack drivers, particularly causing one of them to lose his eye and hence his job. At the rate it's going you're going to need steel armoured cab doors. Either that or have a trained Rottweiler to hand - soon scare 'em off.

I've had 2203 - it was fine - the stop/start was not bad at all; fairly smooth. Did of course have a couple commenting on the engine going off and on ;)

@Nathan

Thanks Nathan.

@Tony

Great to hear - will it be a Crimson repaint?

I can't see any sense why you'd extend the 76 - already a long enough route that already in the peaks get caught out by the traffic round Selly Oak and down the Stratford Road, not to mention Kings Heath and Solihull. Previous experience is that cris-crossing routes in Solihull is a problem (the S2/S3 was a great example of why not to extend a perfectly simple route) and that the longer the route, the more danger that it can take only one RTC/issue on the route to wreck it at the complete opposite end. It'd also be a pain in logistics - depot in Yardley Wood, yet buses may have to run all the way to Chelmsley/Damsonwood potentially to take over a broken down bus, or to get into service. Great amount of dead mileage.

 >:( Absolute idiots - hope it's been reported and some attempt can be made to catch them...What pleasure do they get from wrecking a bus - sure they wouldn't go wrecking their own property. It's like the Platinums being etched to death at the back of the upper deck - small minority who have to go and wreck it for the rest.

@MetroT69

Excellent set of photos and thanks for the updates - hope they get a new lease of life on the island!

Just a basic teething issue - typical of any new fleet member.

@Tony

Thanks for the update - certainly sounds like it has been a complex job in repairing it.

@Tony

Very impressive how many vehicles Walsall put into Crimson over 2015 and 2016 - excellent to see more and more of the fleet being rolled out in it.

I'm sorry for asking again but is 1926 any closer to a return - been out a long time now.

The 27 also enables those round Highters Heath and Chinn Brook to get to Maypole, which the 19 of course doesn't serve! Maypole is a busy place with the shops and also a few transfer from the 27 to the 50 or to the 49 as well.

@2900

Yardley Wood does have some great drivers from personal experience. Could be down to management (although did once hear one or two moaning over petty dismissals at some point last year) or the routes/clientele. Most of the routes are ok - never had any major problems myself from regularly travelling on them; the majority of routes just have the occasional idiot smoking/mouthing off but on the whole aren't bad. E.g Had a few on the 50/49/6/76 who've tried to fare evade, then got back off after mouthing off over it. And there has been a handful of smokers. Probably the only time I'd find such a thing funny was when a group got on in Sparkbrook, sat in the middle of a Scania; then one got a cigerette out and lighted it. His mates told him he couldn't do that and he put it back out. Good job considering it was a single deck, in the middle of it, and so obvious!

Dudley Road sounds a right pain - don't think I could put up with it from the sounds of it - all the threats and abuse you get coupled with the long duties. 2 year waiting list for the 47/49 sounds bad... hopefully you might strike lucky and get on another set of better routes at some point.

I would much rather have a decent pay rise. When you compare bus drivers pay to HGV and train drivers pay, it's shocking. Ok, a train driver has to control a train at high speed and is responsable for a lot more people than us, but he doesnt deal with his passengers face to face, gets abuse, sarcastic comments, have other road users cut him up, breath in cigarette smoke or cannabis smoke or both, have to wake up drunks. The other day I had someone smoking weed upstairs on my last trip and I went home with a headache and was in a bad mood to my girlfriend.
Another thing, at least reward long serving drivers with an extra days holiday.

@Bham Central Driver

Very true - always thought that bus drivers deserve more decent pay. Considering the hassle you have to put up with at times on some routes (the weed issues and abusive passengers), the hours and the high level of responsibility and safety involved, pay should certainly as a whole for bus drivers be higher. Not a bad idea with your 'extra days holiday' - something along those lines would certainly be valued - even just listening to the drivers and respecting their welfare more. Transdev (and First in some areas I use now) certainly do the latter and it reflects in the drivers' higher morale and approach towards passengers.

Really drivers' morale could be far better if the pay was better, and staff turnover potentially lower as well.

Driving for Johnsons, Silverline, Central as examples on the quieter routes is far more pleasant, and less pressured than driving for NX. There is more chance for interaction with passengers and the smaller size of the company perhaps also means more interaction with management, who may be more willing to listen and respond.