Alexander Dennis secures £100m National Express order

[Wolves256]

The only venue near Dundee for the commonwealth games is Barry Buddon Shooting Centre, Carnoustie

Is NXD providing park and ride and/or athlete's transport?

[PM]

Really glad such an order has been announced. It certainly shows impressive investment by NX and will result in a very modern fleet indeed. Great they are also supporting British manufacturing!

It mentions midibuses and deckers-are we assuming this means e200 and e400's or could e300s be a feature? I personally don't see how NX could go without replacing some longer single decks like for like as there must surely be a limit as to how many routes they want/need to upgrade with deckers. Similarly, e200's are pretty small...

[Ashley]

Nothing new for WN this year Nathan. More Tridents for us

[Tony]

The only venue near Dundee for the commonwealth games is Barry Buddon Shooting Centre, Carnoustie

Is NXD providing park and ride and/or athlete's transport?

NX are providing some of the services in Glasgow

[PM]

The only venue near Dundee for the commonwealth games is Barry Buddon Shooting Centre, Carnoustie

Is NXD providing park and ride and/or athlete's transport?

NX are providing some of the services in Glasgow

Well done them on securing contracts in First heartland...!

[Trident 4609]

Nothing new for WN this year Nathan. More Tridents for us

Didn't say there was Ash :)  (I was aware there are no new buses for PL) The plan is to get rid of mercs with cascaded tridents from other garages if the cascade process goes to plan. I can see a gradual withdrawal of the Spectra's (Like the Excels). I would think 4001 and even 4002 would be candidates for preservation?

[Kevin_Brum12]

The first 100-plus low-emission vehicles will be delivered during 2014.
A further 125 buses are expected to be delivered each year between 2015 and 2018.

Not sure how this fits with the Centro commitment for 300 (less 26 x E400 delivered to PB) new buses in 2014/5

Unless the terms on the Centro agreement have since been changed or extended, NX have agreed to deliver the 300 new buses by June 2015. To achieve that they need to deliver 150 in 2014 and a further 126 within the first six months of 2015. Which is more than than article quotes being due during that period

Will NXWM be looking at dual sourcing, with some buses coming from Wrights?

Generally while having a standard fleet helps with spares and maintenance, it can be dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket, and some bus operators learn this the hard way.

The days of the Spectras, Mercs and Plaxton Presidents must surely be numbered and one would hope a batch of vehicles is allocated to AG to allow the Outer Circle to be overhauled.

[Liberator9]

Glad to see this actually; The ADL products are very good in my opinion; the 57 reg Enviros NX have are still excellent now; 4718 doesn't rattle and the engines on them are very good along with the suspension. The Enviro 300 and Enviro 200s are good as well; solid buses which will do their job well. Plus NX are supporting a British business which is good news as well; only thing is no Citaros still  ;D

[winston]

Glad to see this actually; The ADL products are very good in my opinion; the 57 reg Enviros NX have are still excellent now; 4718 doesn't rattle and the engines on them are very good along with the suspension. The Enviro 300 and Enviro 200s are good as well; solid buses which will do their job well. Plus NX are supporting a British business which is good news as well; only thing is no Citaros still  ;D

NX are also lining the pockets of Brian Souter & Ann Gloag.....

The first 100-plus low-emission vehicles will be delivered during 2014.
A further 125 buses are expected to be delivered each year between 2015 and 2018.

Not sure how this fits with the Centro commitment for 300 (less 26 x E400 delivered to PB) new buses in 2014/5

Unless the terms on the Centro agreement have since been changed or extended, NX have agreed to deliver the 300 new buses by June 2015. To achieve that they need to deliver 150 in 2014 and a further 126 within the first six months of 2015. Which is more than than article quotes being due during that period

Will NXWM be looking at dual sourcing, with some buses coming from Wrights?

Generally while having a standard fleet helps with spares and maintenance, it can be dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket, and some bus operators learn this the hard way.

The days of the Spectras, Mercs and Plaxton Presidents must surely be numbered and one would hope a batch of vehicles is allocated to AG to allow the Outer Circle to be overhauled.

The 5 year deal signed wit ADL is 'exclusive', therefore NX will not be buying any other buses from any other manufacturers. I expect Wrightbus more than likely tendered for the the NX 5 year supply deal, but no doubt missed out on price I expect

[Stu]

Will NXWM be looking at dual sourcing, with some buses coming from Wrights?

Generally while having a standard fleet helps with spares and maintenance, it can be dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket, and some bus operators learn this the hard way.

The days of the Spectras, Mercs and Plaxton Presidents must surely be numbered and one would hope a batch of vehicles is allocated to AG to allow the Outer Circle to be overhauled.

It would be a shame if the Outer Circle ended up with Enviro400s, as I would have hoped NX might have gone with 'something different' to keep this classic route 'iconic'. Tell you what, let's replace the Presidents at AG with everyone else's Gemini cast-offs, that would make me happy!  :)

Interesting though that the article only mentions double-decks and midi-buses, wonder if NX would still source some full-length single-decks from elsewhere, or could there be a long-term review of services which could see some current single-deck services be upgraded to double-deck (say for example, the 6, 37, 120) which could see existing single decks such as the Wright Eclipse 2s and Scania Omnilinks to be cascaded to replace older Volvo B10L and Mercedes O405Ns (for services that only justify full length single decks), while services currently using full-length singles that don't need them could be replaced with new midi-buses?

[Liberator9]

I too wouldn't mind the Outer Circle ending up with Geminis. Still excellent buses; aged better than the Tridents certainly. Rode one of the refurbished ones on the 5 the other day and it was very comfortable ride. The suspension was superb and no rattling from anywhere. Just brand the Geminis in some attractive livery (silver and black would suit them) and sorted. Would hope there are different buses ordered for full size single decks; despite being solid, ADL's Enviro 200s are quite loud unlike the Wrights or Scanias.

[Rob H]

I too wouldn't mind the Outer Circle ending up with Geminis. Still excellent buses; aged better than the Tridents certainly. Rode one of the refurbished ones on the 5 the other day and it was very comfortable ride. The suspension was superb and no rattling from anywhere. Just brand the Geminis in some attractive livery (silver and black would suit them) and sorted. Would hope there are different buses ordered for full size single decks; despite being solid, ADL's Enviro 200s are quite loud unlike the Wrights or Scanias.

I too wouldn't mind the 11 being all Geminis and if that does happen I would love to see 4511-4514/4517-4534/4635-4642 back at AG at least. :)

[trident4370]

I too wouldn't mind the Outer Circle ending up with Geminis. Still excellent buses; aged better than the Tridents certainly. Rode one of the refurbished ones on the 5 the other day and it was very comfortable ride. The suspension was superb and no rattling from anywhere. Just brand the Geminis in some attractive livery (silver and black would suit them) and sorted. Would hope there are different buses ordered for full size single decks; despite being solid, ADL's Enviro 200s are quite loud unlike the Wrights or Scanias.

I too wouldn't mind the 11 being all Geminis and if that does happen I would love to see 4511-4514/4517-4534/4635-4642 back at AG at least. :)

100% Agree there, I think it was silly sending them to WB in the first place. I don't see any real reason why the 11 couldn't have Geminis back I mean after all they were new for that route in the first place... I don't really understand the obsession with the 11 having brand new buses again, okay it may be a "flagship" route but so is the 126, that manages fine with 10 year old tridents. Let's not forget before the Geminis came along it had the oldest buses in the fleet on it.

[winston]

I too wouldn't mind the Outer Circle ending up with Geminis. Still excellent buses; aged better than the Tridents certainly. Rode one of the refurbished ones on the 5 the other day and it was very comfortable ride. The suspension was superb and no rattling from anywhere. Just brand the Geminis in some attractive livery (silver and black would suit them) and sorted. Would hope there are different buses ordered for full size single decks; despite being solid, ADL's Enviro 200s are quite loud unlike the Wrights or Scanias.

I too wouldn't mind the 11 being all Geminis and if that does happen I would love to see 4511-4514/4517-4534/4635-4642 back at AG at least. :)

100% Agree there, I think it was silly sending them to WB in the first place. I don't see any real reason why the 11 couldn't have Geminis back I mean after all they were new for that route in the first place... I don't really understand the obsession with the 11 having brand new buses again, okay it may be a "flagship" route but so is the 126, that manages fine with 10 year old tridents. Let's not forget before the Geminis came along it had the oldest buses in the fleet on it.

WB needed more Euro 3 double deckers to allow its higher frequency services running in to Birmingham City Centre to be upgraded/comply with the QPS requirements. The AG Gemini's were the chosen source of those vehicles, as there were no restrictions on the type of vehicles that could be used on the 11 route

[trident4370]

I too wouldn't mind the Outer Circle ending up with Geminis. Still excellent buses; aged better than the Tridents certainly. Rode one of the refurbished ones on the 5 the other day and it was very comfortable ride. The suspension was superb and no rattling from anywhere. Just brand the Geminis in some attractive livery (silver and black would suit them) and sorted. Would hope there are different buses ordered for full size single decks; despite being solid, ADL's Enviro 200s are quite loud unlike the Wrights or Scanias.

I too wouldn't mind the 11 being all Geminis and if that does happen I would love to see 4511-4514/4517-4534/4635-4642 back at AG at least. :)

100% Agree there, I think it was silly sending them to WB in the first place. I don't see any real reason why the 11 couldn't have Geminis back I mean after all they were new for that route in the first place... I don't really understand the obsession with the 11 having brand new buses again, okay it may be a "flagship" route but so is the 126, that manages fine with 10 year old tridents. Let's not forget before the Geminis came along it had the oldest buses in the fleet on it.

WB needed more Euro 3 double deckers to allow its higher frequency services running in to Birmingham City Centre to be upgraded/comply with the QPS requirements. The AG Gemini's were the chosen source of those vehicles, as there were no restrictions on the type of vehicles that could be used on the 11 route

Oh yeah don't get me wrong I understand the reason behind the moves, I just think they were the wrong choice, you now have the 74/75 split allocations between ALX400 and Gemini. Wouldn't it have been a better idea to use those geminis to 'upgrade' the 94 and have the Soho road ALX operated, I may be wrong but the numbers are about right aren't they give or take the spare geminis that get elsewhere in west brom.