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40838 at Selfridges bus stop at 0722 for the 0724 departure, the destination screen went blank and it left after the driver shaking his head at a passenger who wished to catch it (not realising it was 'supposedidly' not in service). But according to bus times it left Selfridges at 0736!

Its awful, the E200's at WB look orange now.

The Crimson should've stayed in favour of dreary grey.

If the Crimson livery was cost effective it would still be used now

The grey is a nod to the brutalist 60s architecture that used to make up a lot of Birmingham's skyline.

What sort of comment is that ?

Upper saloon, there the top window is, there is a powered by zenobe sticker which on the Coventry elevtrics is at the top of the rear dest, and the curved lightning connecting lights at the bottom

Does it really matter ?

I don't understand those comments about the back & rear.

I wonder if he means the lower saloon where there is no back window ?

I am, just curious when they'll come as it's quite a significant delay. Since some garages have VERY old buses

The delay is out of NX's control, I've been interested in buses for nearly fifty years, in most of that time period there were delays with new bus deliveries, we had it with the fleetlines in the 1970's, the Mk 2A Metrobuses in the late 1980's and there were other occasions as well. It is not an unusual occurrence.

"National Express West Midlands invests record £150 million in 300 UK-made electric zero emission buses
We are investing £150 million in 300 UK-made electric zero emission buses, for delivery by the end of December 2024. The buses will be deployed across the West Midlands"
This was a order from around Jan 2023. I heard 170 were E400EV's and 130 were Electroliners. With not even 1 Electroliner delivered, the target is surely missed right?

Why can't you just be patient and just wait ?

1923 and 4623 on the 6

There were also the L and M, Solihull - Monkspath - Shirley.

Also R (Acocks Green-Yardley (Swan)

What he won't mention is that Manchester still has the same price cap and will do so you aren't controlling the fares Central government is. All it is doing is being exactly the same as Manchester. What the Mayor's should have done is encourage people to Try the bus if it is still not making money and they are having to keep using fares then take it over if NX as he seems to keep attacking them are mismanging money or running Double Deckers carrying 2 passengers, but they aren't doing this no Operator is. What no one has mentioned is before Covid Buses here were getting busier and services had actually been increased on some routes. Then Covid came along a lot of work was done from home, most people drove or caught cabs because they thought buses would be unhygienic. I remember seeing NX Double Deckers on the usually single Decker 34 and 37 because of the Social distancing.

The Last government also seemed to keep opening and then also closing things, when Colleges and Schools returned Buses became rammed and often said Bus Full meaning you would have wait, Driver shortages then came about due to illness, Stress, Better opportunities driving Trucks so NX struggled this combined with Buses being absolutely rammed probably put people off getting the bus as they still saw it as a covid hotspot and then the bus they were waiting for never turned up or was full. Things started to return to normal slowly, but then again what no one mentions is the fact the Trams were broken and on Strike What took the strain the bus, which due to being rammed was again missing stops, more cars on the road more traffic, loads of Roadworks, CityFibre, Metro Works, Cycle Schmes and other stuff also didn't help they seemed to pop up everywhere usually within days of each other especially after Covid this again caused issues.

Some of the reasons Buses are still Struggling is Covid, Potential Passengers finding better ways to get into Work and more people can work from home. If they need to go out they drive, Walk or get a cab. What the government and mayor's need to do is get the buses back to pre Covid levels, more promotion, end these Roadworks and stop meddling with Fares and expecting the companies and operators to want to comply to it or even in Some cases routes and timetables, there is a reason this service is running through here anymore no one used it, suddenly it's gone oh you've all come out now haven't you where were you before.

It almost seems no one trusts the Bus Companies to run the buses and they want to play a part in everything. The people running these companies know how much fuel costs, how much they are making, why this bus that was once every 5 minutes is now every 10 or so on they don't do it for a laugh. It almost seems they listen to frequent moaners of buses and are like right let's get Jane at number 16 a bus that stops outside her house eventhough in the last 2 years she has used the bus once, let's give Doreen that every 10 minute service eventhough she has a 6 minute service 20 meters at the other end of her road and can get another bus if she wanted. I think the thing all mayors and the Government need to do is support the bus companies with adverts and promotions, work with them not against them to try and improve service rather than just suggesting the bus should come down this road as it used to Six years ago. Six years ago there was demand now there isn't if there is offer it to another operator, when NX run said service don't then moan at being unreliable you made it unreliable by suggesting or basically telling them to reroute it.

TL:DR

noticing omnilinks have started appearing on core DD routes again quite a bit recently, seen them on the X3,4 and 14 and the 16 in the past week.

The worst has to be on the 7 on Tuesday evening when Aston Villa were playing their European match.

Any idea when the remainder of them will
be delivered into service?

When they are ready and when the charging equipment is ready

6703 on the 50

Branded vehicles are now irrelevant, soon there may be no branding at all.

Feel free the pair of you to engage in a argument with the person bringing the pushchair on the bus  don't bring the driver into it conflict avoidance 👍

Right, firstly he was just making an observation, secondly I just agree with him. That's it, nothing more