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Hi tony do you know how much quicker the X51 is going to be btwn cannock & walsall?  As I use it regular for my companys head office for training etc so would be a bonus

No sorry, I haven't seen any more details than have already been mentioned on here

I think next month rumours about Lea hall may finally come to an end

Class 377 on delivery tonight at the following times locally

Lichfield T.V. Jn. 1912
Lichfield Trent Valley Hl 1914
Lichfield City 1916
Blake Street 1926
Four Oaks 1931
Aston 1947
Stechford 1954-2003
Birmingham International 2010-2025
Coventry 2040

That would have been a great addition to my Flickr/YouTube profiles, oh well.

Would have been 66081 towing 377601. Was 33 minutes early at Aston but was held at Stechford to depart on time

The North Birmingham changes are listed here:
http://www.networkwestmidlands.com/BusReview/North_Birmingham_changes.aspx

Still, now I see 'Matthew McKenzie' on my Facebook page has made himself look silly, as the only change to the 71A has been to introduce a 'summer timetable'.  ::)

Stu, I think that's one on many.....

He stated that the 71A would be withdrawn, and the 71 rerouted to cover, and that AG would receive two extra buses to do so. He also claimed (as part of the 'network planning team') that the changes would 'blow everyone away'. I'm yet to be so.  :P

He is a liar and and fantasist best ignored

I guess I got lucky photoing it on its last 50 trip of the day then, but wouldn't it have made more sense for 4395 to have done that trip (instead of all day 50) and 4799 to have stayed out on the 50 all day rather than having a mix of ALX400 and Enviro again?

Buses allocated to 'Shorts' running boards that come back to garage after the morning peak are usually allocated to those boards for a reason, due inspection, minor rectification work etc. This morning 4799 was still showing as 4816 on the radio system so could have gone back for that to be changed or another minor fault a driver had reported

A Very random interworking going on there then!

Not an interworking, Just a vehicle swap.

Neither.
It was allocated to running board 50-06 this morning which does the 10:52 from City to Druids Heath and then runs back to garage from there. It then sat in the garage until it came out on the 6 running board this afternoon. Not an interworking or a vehicle swop just normal operating. I know because I checked what board it was on this morning to try and get a photo myself, but it was already on its way back to garage before I got to the City

Sorry to hijack the thread but why is 4309 limited to 38mph

It was done as a fuel saving experiment, so the other comment about it running out of fuel is a bit silly.

It was something called "humour", regarding the acceleration of that vehicle. Don't worry; wasn't meant for you

Acceleration is exactly the same as any other trident, it just stops accelerating when it gets to 38

I have already said that buses, especially older ones such as that, develop characteristics making it possible to distinguish between individuals. Even buses, which on paper should be identical, aren't. I'm surprised that I'm having to tell you that

And I have driven 4309 enough times to know that other than its top speed it is no different. It is impossible for a passenger to tell which are the best buses.

I am currently driving 18 brand new 13 plate Volvo B9Rs The same vehicle can feel different even on the same journey pulling away from different sets of traffic lights in London, and that is with my foot on the pedals so I know how low my foot is. There is no way a passenger can tell which is best

That's not true, ask any enthusiast + frequent bus rider such as myself (and many others) and they will be able to tell you that certain buses are faster than others. I completely accept that there is nothing between new/young buses but in older vehicles differences in performance really become noticeable. I have noticed some buses being slower than others and had it confirmed by drivers

But as I said in another topic it can just be impressions. Nearly every driver will tell you Tridents are faster accelerating than B7s, but that is not correct, quite often it is the other way around. Even to me a Trident at 40mph feels far faster than a B7 at 40 mph, probably because the B7 gives a much smoother less rattly ride. New Coach LT03 feels faster pulling away than most of the others. I don't think it actually is but the transmission makes a different noise and there is less of a gap while it is changing gear.

If I am pulling away from a set of traffic lights on Finchley Road in the rush hour surrounded by traffic acceleration feels quite fast. Doing the same pull away from the traffic lights at the bottom of the M1 onto a completely empty motorway if feels far slower.

When Walsall had B10Bs on the 311/313 which then went right through to Stourbridge any Walsall driver would tell you B10Bs were good hill climbers and B6s couldn't cope coming up Brettal Lane. When you looked at the speedo both would be doing almost the same speed at the top, about 28mph. The difference being the B10B would be in third gear at low revs feeling quite comfortable whereas the B6 would be sounding like it was about to blow up at high revs feeling much slower. The main difference being the temperature gauge in the B6 would by then be about 10 degrees higher than what it was at the bottom of the hill!

Tony,

Is 1520 a typo? as 1520 is still in service unless withdrawn during May. Should it be 1522 instead?

Big clear out this month.....

1520 is on the 297 as we speak

Sort of Typo, me not able to read the handwritten note that was given to me. I have now been advised it should be 1530

Sorry to hijack the thread but why is 4309 limited to 38mph

It was done as a fuel saving experiment, so the other comment about it running out of fuel is a bit silly.

It was something called "humour", regarding the acceleration of that vehicle. Don't worry; wasn't meant for you

Acceleration is exactly the same as any other trident, it just stops accelerating when it gets to 38

I have already said that buses, especially older ones such as that, develop characteristics making it possible to distinguish between individuals. Even buses, which on paper should be identical, aren't. I'm surprised that I'm having to tell you that

And I have driven 4309 enough times to know that other than its top speed it is no different. It is impossible for a passenger to tell which are the best buses.

I am currently driving 18 brand new 13 plate Volvo B9Rs The same vehicle can feel different even on the same journey pulling away from different sets of traffic lights in London, and that is with my foot on the pedals so I know how low my foot is. There is no way a passenger can tell which is best

4217 from Coventry has been done.

4411 is the next from Coventry

I know someone would mention the top speed ::) obviously I was talking about the acceleration, comparing performance when being driven properly (i.e. accelerating to the maximum extent possible)

That is not being driven properly. There are obviously places where you have to just put your foot to the floor, going out onto Five Ways roundabout is one, but a good driver does not do that pulling away from stops or traffic lights

That's not what I meant...I approve of smooth, fast but safe driving, I was talking hypothetically. Let's just say that, if you were to have a fair drag race, on a level runway, between a WN E400H and a BC E400H, both being driven "properly" the BC one would win, let's just leave it at that.

So you are right whatever despite the fact you don't drive them, maintain them or set the engine management system on them. Sorry Matt but you cannot say that

I know someone would mention the top speed ::) obviously I was talking about the acceleration, comparing performance when being driven properly (i.e. accelerating to the maximum extent possible)

That is not being driven properly. There are obviously places where you have to just put your foot to the floor, going out onto Five Ways roundabout is one, but a good driver does not do that pulling away from stops or traffic lights

Sorry to hijack the thread but why is 4309 limited to 38mph

It was done as a fuel saving experiment, so the other comment about it running out of fuel is a bit silly.

It was something called "humour", regarding the acceleration of that vehicle. Don't worry; wasn't meant for you

Acceleration is exactly the same as any other trident, it just stops accelerating when it gets to 38

The best way to find exact speeds is with a satnav or one of the many apps for smartphones

But that still won't tell you which bus is better than another because it is rare for a bus to ever get to its top speed and acceleration still depends on that driver

Found it, it was a car, still... no idea why I thought a house was involved

An accident on Thursday will probably see 7022 off the road for a while. Hopefully the bus driver is making a good recovery, after crashing into a house following a collision with a car in Nechells. http://officialwmas.posterous.com/car-collides-with-bus-in-nechells

Because if you read the quote above you will see it hit a car, then a house!