Diamond Rota's

[Trident 4609]

The centro's on the 56 have leather seats and wood effect flooring the ones on the 002 have normal cloth seats and if your very unlucky urban 90 seats 30806 that is.

Plus 30806 (One with urban 90 seats) is on a MAN chassis whereas Royale centros and all the other branded 002 centros are B7RLE

[Niall]

The centro's on the 56 have leather seats and wood effect flooring the ones on the 002 have normal cloth seats and if your very unlucky urban 90 seats 30806 that is.

I'd say the seats on 30809 are worse. Got half way to merry hill on it and already wanted to get off!

[PM]

The centro's on the 56 have leather seats and wood effect flooring the ones on the 002 have normal cloth seats and if your very unlucky urban 90 seats 30806 that is.

I'd say the seats on 30809 are worse. Got half way to merry hill on it and already wanted to get off!

I agree here. The best are on the thick padded ones then the urban 90s are ok and the worst by far are the red ones with very little padding though at least they have an armrest on the one behind the cab-the one with the thick seats in red is impossible to sit on without virtually falling off!!

[Tomf1993]

I only ever seen one every single day without fail on the 16 (the black women : ) very nice)

I find many Diamond drivers all men and very rude, their is one guy on the 29 always has some boy with him, and they always swearing and the driver is agressive with TWM drivers at Walsall bus stn any time a bus is in his way, however their is a nice black lady driver on the route now, very very friendly, always a hello how are you etc

[Kevin]

I find many Diamond drivers all men and very rude, their is one guy on the 29 always has some boy with him, and they always swearing and the driver is agressive with TWM drivers at Walsall bus stn any time a bus is in his way, however their is a nice black lady driver on the route now, very very friendly, always a hello how are you etc

For the sake of balance, most drivers I see on the 16 are polite and friendly, even of they can't really speak much English

[Ashley 60171]

For the sake of balance, most drivers I see on the 16 are polite and friendly, even of they can't really speak much English

Never had an unfriendly Diamond driver, not even on the 29. Just that nod of approval or a thumbs up will do for me.

[Tony]

I find many Diamond drivers all men and very rude, their is one guy on the 29 always has some boy with him, and they always swearing and the driver is agressive with TWM drivers at Walsall bus stn any time a bus is in his way, however their is a nice black lady driver on the route now, very very friendly, always a hello how are you etc

You have made two unfounded allegations in the last few days Tom, Diamond drivers are not 'all men and very rude'. They now doubt do employ people who are not good on the customer relations side, the same as any employer with a large number of staff, but certainly nowhere near all of them.

The other was matching Abellio to MW's statement about Redditch. I suspect you have no first hand knowledge of Abellio, but whenever I am in their Battersea yard, I see drivers doing full walk around checks for defects, sometimes finding them, and if they do they get given a different bus. They certainly do not run defective vehicles and their drivers' duties are no worse than other London companies. If they were the drivers would soon be moving as I think all London companies have a permanent recruitment campaign on

[Tomf1993]

I do have full knowledge of Abellio London, first of all Walworth depot is just like Diamond, Battersea does not have many older buses, so less issues! Abellio is like Diamond, it is as exactly as MW wrote about Diamond.

I do not know why you stick up for Abellio, but you agree about Diamond, the only reason why you agree about Diamond is because they are a competitor with TWM.

We have our own views about each company @Tony  PS that driver on the 29 is very very unprofessional, its the fat guy with that boy in a Hi Vis always with him, im sure most people would know who I am talking about, in fact, it was the other day that the Centro Bus Stn controller booked that very same guy. 

[Tony]

I do have full knowledge of Abellio London, first of all Walworth depot is just like Diamond, Battersea does not have many older buses, so less issues! Abellio is like Diamond, it is as exactly as MW wrote about Diamond.

I do not know why you stick up for Abellio, but you agree about Diamond, the only reason why you agree about Diamond is because they are a competitor with TWM.

We have our own views about each company @Tony  PS that driver on the 29 is very very unprofessional, its the fat guy with that boy in a Hi Vis always with him, im sure most people would know who I am talking about, in fact, it was the other day that the Centro Bus Stn controller booked that very same guy.

Please show me where I have agreed about Diamond?

I have no knowledge of the state of Diamond at Redditch so have passed no comment either way. You posted that 'all' Diamond drivers are male and rude which is clearly incorrect I have never disputed you may have seen one incident.

If you are making those wild allegations about Abellio it would be interesting to know where your claims come from as I am regularly in Abellio premises and have seen nothing similar to what you claim. I have also spent a day with TfL staff and know how tightly they deal with the operating companies in London and am wondering how Abellio could possibly hide all these faults fromTfL

[Tomf1993]

Its not wild allegations against Abellio, its the truth. Shall we move on to their drivers who can not speak a word of English? and how Abellio recruit abroad instead of from the UK? shall we talk about their bazaar running times where drivers crawl along at 10MPH hold at bus stops for two mins etc? and how management treat drivers like crap?

[Tony]

Its not wild allegations against Abellio, its the truth. Shall we move on to their drivers who can not speak a word of English? and how Abellio recruit abroad instead of from the UK? shall we talk about their bazaar running times where drivers crawl along at 10MPH hold at bus stops for two mins etc? and how management treat drivers like crap?

All the London companies recruit from abroad. NXWM have recruited from abroad in the past. Running tyimes are nothing to do with Abellio. TfL set the timetables in London.

The 'Management treat drivers like crap' is said at almost every large company in the country. Unless I have first hand knowledge I treat those comments in a way they deserve

[Tomf1993]

Actually TFL do not set the running times, TFL set the first and last bus times and the frequency and that is is down to the operators schedules department to do the schedules, running times, duties etc & I know quite alot about the the schedules department, from my knowledge from a London Company :) Abellio London actually at the moment only have 1 scheduler, and he mostly relies on his software OMNITIMES to make up the schedules, yes I know the software is their to do this, but It still needs human element to make sure its as efficient as possible

[Tony]

Actually TFL do not set the running times, TFL set the first and last bus times and the frequency and that is is down to the operators schedules department to do the schedules, running times, duties etc & I know quite alot about the the schedules department, from my knowledge from a London Company :) Abellio London actually at the moment only have 1 scheduler, and he mostly relies on his software OMNITIMES to make up the schedules, yes I know the software is their to do this, but It still needs human element to make sure its as efficient as possible

Although the exact detail is down to the company, when you put a bid in to operate a TfL route you specify the PVRs and frequencies etc in the bid. TfL accept the bid that matches what they want at the price they want. If you schedule the buses too slowly you will need additional PVR, increased costs and certainly not win a tender.

The nature of London's system means very few timetable changes are made to routes during an award and adjustments are only made to make the service more effecient if needed

[Tomf1993]

Indeed :-) What do you make of the TFL tender system and the operators bidding for routes?

[tank90]

Indeed :-) What do you make of the TFL tender system and the operators bidding for routes?

Maybe ask Tony this in a private message as Redditch has nothing to do with London unless our MP is sitting in London! This is a Diamond feed and needs to stay that way with all due respect.
The Major problem with Diamond in Redditch is they are the big only fish in the pond and because of that they have become lax, the model of not having a large fleet based in Redditch means if you have a number of break downs and defects they have to be patched up and used, problem is the sticking plaster becomes permanent and due to other buses breaking down they don't get round to doing proper repairs. This is no lie I have watched and heard the Church Road team and drivers, One took up a bus that was over heating, the back was opened up and the pressure washer was used to cool the engine down and left to sit for a short while the sent back out due to no other buses being available.
How ever, if top brass visit the depots then it wouldn't happen same with any business if you aren't following the rules and break them when you have top brass in you do it by the book so you don't loose your job. And that is what Diamond RH are like. Which hurts the good folk of Redditch who want to get from a to b safely and near enough on time.