Perry Barr Garage

[B.C Driver]

That's what I thought until we had them! It's the door interlock which ruins them and they're even slower than the 48xx!

The door interlock on the 48s and 49s is terrible. When your running late and you close the doors and you hear that click a couple of seconds the doors are closed, then you put your foot on the gas and theres that pause and it seems to crawl for the first couple of seconds, its like torture when you want to pull away quick.
In fact everything seems to have a delay, the indicators seem to come on a second after you press them, as does the horn. I just wish NX hadnt have purchased so many of them.

[Squiz1971]

6797; 6800 & 6802 (at least) all out today

Saw 6796 on the 870 by the Abbey School about 8:10 while I was on the 28 just before I got off there myself @Tony

[Squiz1971]

A Platinum bus will be on show in the Gracechurch Centre, Sutton tomorrow

I know I said it the other day but there may be some new buses out tomorrow, if not then it should be Monday



4915 now de-branded and on the 33

So is 4916 saw it by the Gym/Wilton Market about 15:15 unbranded

[RW]

Had a good look round 6799 at Gracechurch Centre today. Very impressed. Only grumble is that my Sutton to City route is the poor old 907 which is now the only non Platinum route between Sutton and Birmingham. The poor relation route. Why users of that service are being treated as second class escapes me. So I guess it's no wifi and knees pressed into seat in front for the forseeable future. Seems a bit petty by NX. What have 907 users done to upset NX? Any thoughts Tony?

[Trident 4194]

Had a good look round 6799 at Gracechurch Centre today. Very impressed. Only grumble is that my Sutton to City route is the poor old 907 which is now the only non Platinum route between Sutton and Birmingham. The poor relation route. Why users of that service are being treated as second class escapes me. So I guess it's no wifi and knees pressed into seat in front for the forseeable future. Seems a bit petty by NX. What have 907 users done to upset NX? Any thoughts Tony?

Drivers mean the route not quick enough ;) I believe it is only fairly direct routes that get platinum? 907 is slowest of the lot?

[Tony]

Drivers mean the route not quick enough ;) I believe it is only fairly direct routes that get platinum? 907 is slowest of the lot?

907 is quicker than 914

[Trident 4194]

907 is quicker than 914

Oh right any reason then?

[GeminiFan1991]

Oh right any reason then?

Well, its a different route.

[Driver03]

Great! I'm waiting to see if the stop-start affects pulling away from stops

Recent changes to WNs Platinums have proven very successful and are being rolled out on approx 10 more buses, with the view to the whole of WNs Platinums being reprogrammed with the new software for the gearbox ECU.

I'm fairly certain that it'll be rolled out to Perry Barrs new Platinums too, if not do what we have done, report it all on a pink.

[John]

I know I've said it before, but as now the 914 is included in the Platinum brand, will we be receiving more MMCs for all routes more than the original 26? When the current 49** Enviro400 (there were 26 of these too) buses were new, the PVR for the 902/4/5 and 914 was less than 26, but since last year the PVR increased resulting in ALX400s and Geminis regularly appearing even on all day running boards (914/06 nearly every day is a B7TL)

At first we were told that only the Erdington routes would have them, which 26 MMCs would have bee enough. But there are at least 22 902 boards with peak/school extras and 7 914 boards (including 1 AM peak and 1 PM peak), so there will not be enough Platinum buses for even the normal daytime service not counting the peak extras and school buses.

[John]

Recent changes to WNs Platinums have proven very successful and are being rolled out on approx 10 more buses, with the view to the whole of WNs Platinums being reprogrammed with the new software for the gearbox ECU.

I'm fairly certain that it'll be rolled out to Perry Barrs new Platinums too, if not do what we have done, report it all on a pink.

How has the reprogramming changed them @Driver03 ?

I did travel on a 529 when they were first coming out, and it seemed to take a second or two for the engine to restart and for the bus to pull away

[monkeyjoe]

Had a good look round 6799 at Gracechurch Centre today. Very impressed. Only grumble is that my Sutton to City route is the poor old 907 which is now the only non Platinum route between Sutton and Birmingham. The poor relation route. Why users of that service are being treated as second class escapes me. So I guess it's no wifi and knees pressed into seat in front for the forseeable future. Seems a bit petty by NX. What have 907 users done to upset NX? Any thoughts Tony?

There are a lot more deserving routes than the 907 in my view and it's not Sutton routes get neglected including the 907 which gets made into a limited  up and get those box looking buses from last time I was in Brum.

[Driver03]

How has the reprogramming changed them @Driver03 ?

I did travel on a 529 when they were first coming out, and it seemed to take a second or two for the engine to restart and for the bus to pull away

In essence it's changed the timing of the gear changes so instead of changing at say 1500rpm it's been remapped to slightly later giving them the additional pull away power they so desperately lacked. If you drive one fresh and cold out of the garage you'll see how they pull away smoothly however once the engine warms up they go into eco mode which is where they become slow, the remapping addresses this issue @John  :)

[John]

In essence it's changed the timing of the gear changes so instead of changing at say 1500rpm it's been remapped to slightly later giving them the additional pull away power they so desperately lacked. If you drive one fresh and cold out of the garage you'll see how they pull away smoothly however once the engine warms up they go into eco mode which is where they become slow, the remapping addresses this issue @John  :)

Thanks @Driver03 . That sounds a lot better than our current Sutton Enviro400s. They changed up at 1500rpm, and struggled for power as they were in too high a gear for the road speed

[Driver03]

Thanks @Driver03 . That sounds a lot better than our current Sutton Enviro400s. They changed up at 1500rpm, and struggled for power as they were in too high a gear for the road speed

The key to the whole thing was that Voith worked closely with NX to come to the solution and the problem was apparent because drivers reported all the issues on "pink" report forms and also fed back to the Union. I know sometimes drivers don't feel like reports make a difference but honestly they do and I'd encourage all drivers to report any issues.