Vehicle Transfers

[Secondary trigger 28]

2169 CV to AG
1810 AG to PB

Did 1810 also break down as I saw it being towed in Birmingham city centre 

[Stu]

Are the Omnilinks transferring out of AG still got reasonable time left in service? Or are they nearing death?

My understanding is that the next influx of new vehicles will see off the OmniLinks, which will all be gone by the end of next year.

AG have the oldest examples of these, so those transferring to YW will see out their days there I guess.

From a purely passenger perspective, there is a notable difference between the older 17xx Scanias and the newer 19xx ones - as I've commented before the 19xx ones at YW with the grey interiors are still in remarkably clean and tidy condition interior-wise, and don't look their age, while the recent 17xx transfers with their older 'blue' interiors just look worn, tired and grubby, and feel like clapped-out old bangers to travel on.

[Ronnoc]

My understanding is that the next influx of new vehicles will see off the OmniLinks, which will all be gone by the end of next year.

AG have the oldest examples of these, so those transferring to YW will see out their days there I guess.

From a purely passenger perspective, there is a notable difference between the older 17xx Scanias and the newer 19xx ones - as I've commented before the 19xx ones at YW with the grey interiors are still in remarkably clean and tidy condition interior-wise, and don't look their age, while the recent 17xx transfers with their older 'blue' interiors just look worn, tired and grubby, and feel like clapped-out old bangers to travel on.

I thought that the next influx of new buses (170 BYD E400 Electrics) wont get rid of all the Omnilinks because they have to get rid of all the pre-2007 vehicles first. 

Unless there's more buses planned to enter or NX plan to keep the 2007 Enviro 400s longer than the Scanias.

[Owen]

The 2007 ones have newer/ later refurbishments, to the 2008-10. They just don't look as if they had.

[Owen]

I thought that the next influx of new buses (170 BYD E400 Electrics) wont get rid of all the Omnilinks because they have to get rid of all the pre-2007 vehicles first.

Unless there's more buses planned to enter or NX plan to keep the 2007 Enviro 400s longer than the Scanias.

The priority now is getting rid of non-euro 6. Then will be to decrease the the single deck fleet, then depending on the delivery sizes' of new EV's the older euro 6 vehicles will start to get withdrawn either at the same time or will be next. However there will always be a requirement for single deckers.

[dw1308]

Did 1810 also break down as I saw it being towed in Birmingham city centre

Yes it blew a brake chamber in city so had to be recovered, was chatting to the driver and recovery op whilst waiting for my duty to turn up in city

[Jack]

My understanding is that the next influx of new vehicles will see off the OmniLinks, which will all be gone by the end of next year.

AG have the oldest examples of these, so those transferring to YW will see out their days there I guess.

From a purely passenger perspective, there is a notable difference between the older 17xx Scanias and the newer 19xx ones - as I've commented before the 19xx ones at YW with the grey interiors are still in remarkably clean and tidy condition interior-wise, and don't look their age, while the recent 17xx transfers with their older 'blue' interiors just look worn, tired and grubby, and feel like clapped-out old bangers to travel on.

The blue interiors feel more refreshing, the grey ones are so drab and miserable and i've been saying that for years now. Much nicer than any E200MMC which seem very costly to keep in service now.

[BBS]

The blue interiors feel more refreshing, the grey ones are so drab and miserable and i've been saying that for years now. Much nicer than any E200MMC which seem very costly to keep in service now.

Do the scania's have more seats than the E200mmcs?

[Owen]

The blue interiors feel more refreshing, the grey ones are so drab and miserable and i've been saying that for years now. Much nicer than any E200MMC which seem very costly to keep in service now.

Tbf, I think if they were cleaned properly and routinely over the years they wouldn't look half as bad. Tho i do prefer the more hard wearing grey. I see that grey gives it a more cramped view imo.

[Stu]

I thought that the next influx of new buses (170 BYD E400 Electrics) wont get rid of all the Omnilinks because they have to get rid of all the pre-2007 vehicles first.

Unless there's more buses planned to enter or NX plan to keep the 2007 Enviro 400s longer than the Scanias.

300 new double decks by the end of next year.

[Tony]

1795 first day in use at WB today. 

[2900]

1795 first day in use at WB today.

Come to WB to die slowly, plenty of used spares here as long its not an engine needed.
i look at some of WB omnilinks they do still look and drive really well, few i would say outstanding.
PLATINUMS the non WB examples drive a lot better than those delivered new here i wonder why, some of the WB examples are incredibly loud to drive, they have over heating issues and the engineers have set the cooling fans to operate full time so not funny on a warm day with windows open on a 5 hour stint, you cant even hear punters talking to you etc without opening the cab door.

[BN]

833 CV-WN

[Ronnoc]

300 new double decks by the end of next year.

Much more than I expected. Gonna be very weird to see Enviro 400s start to get withdrawn for sure. Cheers for the info.

[Stu]

I thought that the next influx of new buses (170 BYD E400 Electrics) wont get rid of all the Omnilinks because they have to get rid of all the pre-2007 vehicles first.

Unless there's more buses planned to enter or NX plan to keep the 2007 Enviro 400s longer than the Scanias.

Sorry, I just re-read your post again and wanted to add to my reply.

There isn't a requirement to "get rid of pre-2007" vehicles first. The only pressing requirement is to dispose of any non-Euro6 vehicles before January 2024, as per the agreement reached with TfWM.

There is however a desire to reduce the number of single-deck vehicles in the fleet, being the oldest now, the OmniLinks will be the first to be withdrawn. I count 149 of these currently.

There will of course be a requirement for some garages to continue to have single-decks, for those routes that pass under low bridges or where there are issues with low-hanging tree branches, so that's where I'd expect to see more of the Eclipse 2s or Enviro200s dispersed elsewhere, as OmniLinks get removed from service.

There is a confirmed order of 170 BYD ADL E400EVs, as well as a further other 130 electric double decks on order, possibly Wright Electroliner Streetdecks, which I understand are all due to be delivered and in service by the end of next year, though I'm happy to be corrected on the timeframe if I'm wrong. (Just going by what I've read here, and been told elsewhere)

There are already a number of E400EVs built and awaiting delivery, Tony has already suggested that Perry Barr is the likely front-runner, but its all dependent on garages having the charging infrastructure installed.

As to which vehicles have some kind of long-term future, the clue is in the ones that are getting a repaint into the 'new' grey livery.

The remaining Tridents (60) and Geminis (66) will likely be gone before any Enviro400s get withdrawn.