Arriva Leicester

[Fin W]

4433 looks like a dodgy swop, according to Bustimes hasn't earned a penny in a month

Didn't manage to ID it but there is a ex Merseyside e400 in journey mark livery on the 44a, definitely not 4432 as i have just seen that on 48, so that is probably 4433

[AlexS]

 Both 4433 and 4434 (and 4432 also went out of service for a couple of hours misroute although this could have been for cleaning or driver hours etc) appear to have broken down by mid morning today along with the normal helping of DB250 breakdowns and other boards being missing entirely. Quite honestly at this point an independent operator would be up in front of the traffic commissioner especially given they are in the process of replacing reliable midlife vehicles with life expired  unreliable ones.
Clearly replacing any more of 4418-4425 or 4529-4535 which are typically relied upon to be in service 7 days a week every week and make up a substantial proportion of the fleet that can be relied upon with life expired wrecks from elsewhere that cannot last a day in service is not going to work and any future transfers need to be put on hold until a more suitable replacement vehicles can be found.
On a slightly different note it is also completely unacceptable that local councils have the authority to make decisions that boost services in their area whilst obliterating them elsewhere.

[SSmith09]

Both 4433 and 4434 (and 4432 also went out of service for a couple of hours misroute although this could have been for cleaning or driver hours etc) appear to have broken down by mid morning today along with the normal helping of DB250 breakdowns and other boards being missing entirely. Quite honestly at this point an independent operator would be up in front of the traffic commissioner especially given they are in the process of replacing reliable midlife vehicles with life expired  unreliable ones.
Clearly replacing any more of 4418-4425 or 4529-4535 which are typically relied upon to be in service 7 days a week every week and make up a substantial proportion of the fleet that can be relied upon with life expired wrecks from elsewhere that cannot last a day in service is not going to work and any future transfers need to be put on hold until a more suitable replacement vehicles can be found.
On a slightly different note it is also completely unacceptable that local councils have the authority to make decisions that boost services in their area whilst obliterating them elsewhere.

Once the electrics enter service reliability will surely increase. 

I keep seeing one either parked up at St Margaret's or doing training laps around the City Centre so hopefully they'll be out this side of christmas 

[Budgie]

I 100% understand where you are coming from AlexS, it isn't great to see newer buses shipped out to be replaced by older ones. Here's the thing. I don't think an 09 plated DD would be considered "life expired wrecks".  Just look at almost any bus fleet and they will have plenty older. NX has many a bus that are over 5 years or more older than 4433 and 4434. I think 4432-34 etc probably have many years service left in them. 
I'm pretty sure when the council(s) brought in that rule, they didn't envisage 15 year old buses being replaced by 7-11 year old hand me downs either. 

[joieman]

I 100% understand where you are coming from AlexS, it isn't great to see newer buses shipped out to be replaced by older ones. Here's the thing. I don't think an 09 plated DD would be considered "life expired wrecks".  Just look at almost any bus fleet and they will have plenty older. NX has many a bus that are over 5 years or more older than 4433 and 4434. I think 4432-34 etc probably have many years service left in them.
I'm pretty sure when the council(s) brought in that rule, they didn't envisage 15 year old buses being replaced by 7-11 year old hand me downs either.

Yeah, if I remember correctly, NXWM still has a Y-plate ALX400, and Arriva Kent & Surrey have a 51-plate Eclipse Gemini.

[AlexS]

Another day and another 2 breakdowns on the 50/51 by 07:30 in addition to 2 boards not even starting the day.
For 3 out of 9 buses (with the other breakdown following two consecutive cancellations being covered by a bus that would often end up leaving people behind even with a full service in operation and that has had to be nicked from another route causing cancellations elsewhere) to be missing from a route by 07:30 in the morning is absolutely unacceptable and quite frankly whoever is in charge of allocations needs to be fired as they are clearly not capable of allocating suitable buses to routes.

[xmj-signal]

4433 looks like a dodgy swop, according to Bustimes hasn't earned a penny in a month

I think 4433 is getting an undeserved reputation for unreliability, maybe based on the tracking data on bustimes.org.

Yesterday (Wednesday 29th), the tracking data suggests that 4433 worked the 0750 route 48 from South Wigston to Leicester but it has not reported all the way to the city centre, just at a few stops in South Wigston. It then shows no other work for the day.

BUT - I travelled on 4433 yesterday on the 1012 route 48 from Leicester to South Wigston. This is part of the same timeboard as the 0750 from South Wigston and the remainder of this timeboard seems to be missing from Wednesday's tracking record, so it's probably that the tracking equipment is faulty rather than that the vehicle keeps breaking down.

The bus sounded in perfectly good fettle on the trip to South Wigston.

[Fin W]

I had 4434 a few days ago, the doors had an issue, the cooling fan was on and the engine cut out at one point. The cooling fan was still on when i saw it today. The cooling fan wasn't on when it first entered service here!

[Glenfieldmathk1]

Another day and another 2 breakdowns on the 50/51 by 07:30 in addition to 2 boards not even starting the day.
For 3 out of 9 buses (with the other breakdown following two consecutive cancellations being covered by a bus that would often end up leaving people behind even with a full service in operation and that has had to be nicked from another route causing cancellations elsewhere) to be missing from a route by 07:30 in the morning is absolutely unacceptable and quite frankly whoever is in charge of allocations needs to be fired as they are clearly not capable of allocating suitable buses to routes.

I have noticed bus times is being a little glitchy the past few days. Unless you've seen them in person broken down then chances are they actually haven't (even if it's stopped tracking on bus times!).

[AlexS]

I have noticed bus times is being a little glitchy the past few days. Unless you've seen them in person broken down then chances are they actually haven't (even if it's stopped tracking on bus times!).

In those particular cases the running boards were either taken over by different vehicles for subsequent journeys or periods of not in service running were recorded from the location of the breakdown several hours later following the breakdown so it's safe to say the vehicles were not still in service.

[Mayfield]

4418/20/21 all parked in a row by the wash today, wonder if there off up north or it's just a coincidence.
Also 2 UID electrics parked near the workshops

[Mayfield]

They have disappeared from Bustimes now so I guess my presumption was correct, let's see what they get in return.

[joieman]

They have disappeared from Bustimes now so I guess my presumption was correct, let's see what they get in return.

Apparently 4411 and another 4419 (CX58 FZZ/GBV).
This numbering (or lack of it) is going to get weird.

[AlexS]

And yet again the buses from Leicester go immediately into service on arrival whilst those from Merseyside are not fit for service.
At the very least the buses from Leicester should not be departing until after those that are replacing them are ready to enter service (as a much bigger operation Merseyside could manage with a few less vehicles for a couple of weeks much easier than Leicester).

[joieman]

Apparently 4411 and another 4419 (CX58 FZZ/GBV).
This numbering (or lack of it) is going to get weird.

4411 was apparently still tracking in Liverpool today on Bustimes, but 4427-8 (MX09 LXJ/K) have also apparently been transferred to Leicester