Arriva Sapphire

[Bob]

Theres more than 31 tony

[Tony]

Theres more than 31 tony

The one I checked in Walsall had the sign above the driver saying seating capacity 31 had had 2+1 seating in the front half so did only have about 31

[Bob]

Bit of a decrease in capacity for the 1 then!

[mikestone]

Perhaps that's so that the load factor increases and they can claim them as a success despite not actually attracting a single extra passenger? :)

[Bob]

I remember they always say in local papers "the great success ...etc" when they introduced the 68 in addition to the 69 and increased the 70 to three an hour it was down to the great success of the 70.it got reduced again shortly after and the 68/9 got withdrawn completely!  Only kept 68 in the end with council funding

[Bob]

Have voith been in yet?  I was on 3302 yesterday and the gears were jerking badly especially in low gears, also rattling like mad which hasnt taken long. Im not much of a streetlite fan mainly due to how ugly they are and pretty cheap and noisy sounding for an allegedly now premium route, that said theyre not quite as bad as I imagined and certainly a bit better than the worn out crap they had on the 1 before,  which passengers on the 70/76 now have to suffer

[arrivadays]

These particular Street-Lites are micro-hybrids, which is why they are a bit quieter than standard StreetLites.

I think the jerking is a problem they all suffer from, however: if they lose too many revs (mainly in lower gears), they'll jerk badly for the kickdown, and you end up banging in to the seat in front of you. That's the only problem I have with StreetLites.

[Cheese]

Bit of a decrease in capacity for the 1 then!

Definitely 41 seaters, just counted the number of seats on 3306. Does say 41 seated by the door.

[Bob]

I didnt know the sapphire ones were micro hybrids. I wondered why they don't sound as horrific as the First ones on YouTube

[arrivadays]

Have you heard one of the Tates Travel examples? It's a wheel-forward one, and sound awful!

[Bob]

To be honest none of them sound great

[Bob]

I was on 3301 this morning and it wasnt too bad smooth up to a point. They really struggle up hills though dont they. On 3304 now and it has a really jerky gearbox and they seem quite slow on the a34. Just experienced that kickdown thing, I see what you mean about throwing you forward.  Awful!!! They seem to change gear too quickly from pulling off

[Bob]

Have streetlites gpt the worst gear box set up ever?? Travelling on the 2 from Walsall now and have been thrown forward 3 times by jerky kickdowns, a couple of old dears are moaning about it to each other.  Maybe these werent the best choice of bus for the service? Even without the kickdowns theyre generally pretty jerky. Some are smoother than others. As well as the obvious voith whine youd expect whats the constant death rattle groan tjat sounds like its coming from the back/underneath on all of them? Its like a sort of throaty deep groan sound.  That aside if they weren't so jerky and didnt throw you all over the place they wouldn't be too bad a bus. Seats are quite comfy especially if you bag the emergency exit seat with mega legroom!

[andyr]

Travelled on 3309 twice today. From Cheslyn Hay to Walsall and return a few hours later. On both journeys the bus was spotlessly clean and warm. Both drivers were friendly and very smart. The gear box issues in paticular the kickdown jolt was only evident on the outward journey. Perhapes some of the issues could be driving style related ?

[Chris2301]

Went on the 110 from Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham and the sapphire e400 was a pleasant ride, driver was very helpful and i hope nx platinum is the same