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If the bus is 8 years old isn't that about the expected life of the batteries?

Battery life will depend upon vehicle use, how often batteries are charged, battery charge level when it is recharged, and if they'vce already been serviced/replaced since new. Some batteries are guaranteed for 5/10/life of vehicle, though unsure if the latter extends to sencond hand owners.

This is the sort of second hand market that intrigues me - I'll be watching this intently.

There has never been a 1987

Yes there has - it was the year Coventry City won the cup

there's claims coming from a person called bv52eno that the streetlites and e200 darts at pensnett are being sold, his source is apparently an NX employee, anyone know if this is another rumour creating person?

There's two questions I'd have asked before posting this.....

1. Has @Tony posted anything to that effect, given he's responsible for fleet movements (as and when/if it's appropriate)?

2. What do you think the likelihood is of them selling them?

Quite astonishing how some people manage to turn a thread about some positive news into an antagonistic argument.

Totally agree @Mike K - whatever the mechanics of payment/reimbursement are, NXWM are looking to encourage increased passenger numbers, "sell" bus travel instead of driving into already over congested towns, yet some are hell-bent on knocking it, then complaining that NXWM fares are too high and do nowt to encourage bus use!

I'm off for a Bailey's and a lie down in a dark room!

@Tony I've noticed a lot of the WN 2XXX B7RLE's have had the O/S panel to the right of the emergency exit replaced.

I can't imagine these are all accident damage, so are these just vulnerable panels susceptible to rust/other defects?

Our other football team isn't called the Blues and has a significantly larger fan base than Birmingham City.

Regardless, I do think that a more vibrant colour than grey would have been far more effective if a single colour had to be the way forward.

I'm not a fan of the grey, though it is much more practical as it doesn't show the dirt as much.

As the Mayor has been complaining about NX received £44m to maintain services this year not buy lots of vinyl

Tricky Dicky moans complains about peanuts in his Snickers bars! He won't be happy until he's decimated the West Midlands commercial bus sector.

It will go grey

A bit like me reading the posts on this forum

It doesn't, but it does show a lacklustre in effort to make buses visually appealing to people

Or the livery evolving to minimise expensive detail, when the overall look is aesthetically pleasing - the electrics are a massive investment and upgrade, yet the only thing that happens is nit picking over small livery details.

I saw this bus several times and if anyone other than National Express would have put a bus out looking like that, references to Cowboys and The Wild West would have been made by the usual suspects!

Certainly not by me, then I'm not your usual anorak posting on forums. The difference being is that these  "Cowboys and The Wild West" operators have spent more time in the TC's office than their PA's have! There's a world of difference between a perceived untidy livery and running unsafe buses with major defects warranting a PG9 prohibition.

They definitely need a little more attention than that. They've worn their branding well for several years. The route branding is now outdated and clearly still visible. The livery is outdated. Can't just slap on new style branding onand call it a day.

I very much doubt that's the approach at all.

What would YOU do if it were your business? Debrand as per the strategy, or spend endless hours tarting each bus up to the enth degree just so people on a forum don't get offended? It's easy to criticise when it's not your money or responsibility to maintain services.

The same was said about 4801 when it was vinyl wrapped after being ad wrapped, members bemoaning that it looked awful after forensically analysing photos, when it looked perfectly acceptable and fulfilling its primary function - operating and picking up passengers.

4994 at Wolverhampton newly repainted - it also has, what appears to be, a name plate ready to be unveiled just aft of the front doors, covered by paper.

National Express can only dream about buying Stagecoach

What makes you say that?

Awful things. Sweaty in the summer, cold in the winter, ask any of the drivers who have had to sit in them when cabs seats made of it

We did some customer research at Choice waaaaay back in the day, and one of the areas that scored very low on the Leyland Nationals was the vinyl seats. Customers found them exactly as @Tony describes - sweaty in the summer, freezing cold in the winter and uncomfortable. The drivers hated them too - imagine doing 8-12 hours in one.

Customers actually preferred the refurbed Fleetlines that NX ran on the 301 against the 171 before the Superline partnership. 

These faux leather DP seats look good, sound good, though I'm sure are rather uncomfortable if you travel for more than an hour in one.

Remember the upstairs rear bench seat on Fleetlines? Absolutely rock hard. If the bus took a corner too quickly you'd slide from one end to the other.

Yeeeessssss! It was a two-piece moulded bench-esque seat, and I swear the cleaners used to polish them before the school services!