Alexander Dennis secures £100m National Express order

[Sh4318]

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. :)

The 11 needs to go back to full Gemini, Geminis suit the 11 to a T

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?

It's a shame the QPS scheme had to happen. You were getting a good mix of Presidents, Geminis and ALXs on the 74/75,  80,127/8 before the bulk of Geminis came to WB. Hopefully the new buses at WB will see cascades to either PB or AG

[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

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.

Yes I can see your point. The only slight problem with that solution is that WB would of had an even older average age as there would be a big concentration of 51 plate ALX400's allocated there.

[trident4370]

Yes I can see your point. The only slight problem with that solution is that WB would of had an even older average age as there would be a big concentration of 51 plate ALX400's allocated there.

That's actually a fair point that I never even thought about tbh, BUT on the other hand you could argue with the average age that old, it would have surely put WB at the top of the list for new buses this year :P

That's another point in itself if ADL are supplying the deckers for the next 5 years, unless of course you used castoffs, that must mean that WB will have to start operating Enviro 400 at some point?

[winston]

Yes I can see your point. The only slight problem with that solution is that WB would of had an even older average age as there would be a big concentration of 51 plate ALX400's allocated there.

That's actually a fair point that I never even thought about tbh, BUT on the other hand you could argue with the average age that old, it would have surely put WB at the top of the list for new buses this year :P

That's another point in itself if ADL are supplying the deckers for the next 5 years, unless of course you used castoffs, that must mean that WB will have to start operating Enviro 400 at some point?

WB consistently being in pole position on Pete's average age list hasn't had much impact to date, I'm note sure the £3 million investment this year will propel WB that far up the league table either, as only 20 new buses were quoted in the advert which would only replace 12% of WB's fleet or could remove the entire Merc fleet of 21 if it was 20 E300 single deckers.

It looks as though both AG & WB will end up with E400's at some point, both garages have traditionally operated solid Volvo double decker fleets for a number of years

[trident4370]

Yes I can see your point. The only slight problem with that solution is that WB would of had an even older average age as there would be a big concentration of 51 plate ALX400's allocated there.

That's actually a fair point that I never even thought about tbh, BUT on the other hand you could argue with the average age that old, it would have surely put WB at the top of the list for new buses this year :P

That's another point in itself if ADL are supplying the deckers for the next 5 years, unless of course you used castoffs, that must mean that WB will have to start operating Enviro 400 at some point?

WB consistently being in pole position on Pete's average age list hasn't had much impact to date, I'm note sure the £3 million investment this year will propel WB that far up the league table either, as only 20 new buses were quoted in the advert which would only replace 12% of WB's fleet or could remove the entire Merc fleet of 21 if it was 20 E300 single deckers.

It looks as though both AG & WB will end up with E400's at some point, both garages have traditionally operated solid Volvo double decker fleets for a number of years

Fair enough, I suppose WB hasn't got a great history for new buses over recent times. I guess we can just see what happens, will be interesting to see exactly how things stand in 5 years time.

[winston]

Yes I can see your point. The only slight problem with that solution is that WB would of had an even older average age as there would be a big concentration of 51 plate ALX400's allocated there.

That's actually a fair point that I never even thought about tbh, BUT on the other hand you could argue with the average age that old, it would have surely put WB at the top of the list for new buses this year :P

That's another point in itself if ADL are supplying the deckers for the next 5 years, unless of course you used castoffs, that must mean that WB will have to start operating Enviro 400 at some point?

WB consistently being in pole position on Pete's average age list hasn't had much impact to date, I'm note sure the £3 million investment this year will propel WB that far up the league table either, as only 20 new buses were quoted in the advert which would only replace 12% of WB's fleet or could remove the entire Merc fleet of 21 if it was 20 E300 single deckers.

It looks as though both AG & WB will end up with E400's at some point, both garages have traditionally operated solid Volvo double decker fleets for a number of years

Fair enough, I suppose WB hasn't got a great history for new buses over recent times. I guess we can just see what happens, will be interesting to see exactly how things stand in 5 years time.

I don't understand why WB doesn't feature that highly on the priority list for new buses, they operate quite a few higher profile/high frequency routes. The Dudley Road services (82 & 87) were originally upgraded with the 06 plate Gemini as part of a quality corridor back then. Even those are now 8 years old this year

I'm still surprised NX haven't announced this order to the stock market via an RNS, the size/significance of it is worth jumping on the PR bandwagon. There isn't anything on NX Group website of NXWM either. it appears that it is ADL that announced they have won the NX rather than NX themselves

I think NX's bus fleet is approx 1650 buses (NXWM & NXD), with the latest order NX will be replacing 36% of its fleet in a 4.5 year period (with the first being due in June)

[Ashley]

Responding to Nathan's comment

4001 and 4002 are candidates for preservation and i think there is interest however preservation is subject to numerous bog standard terms and conditions or excuses

[andrew1991]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

[winston]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

[Trident 4609]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

Orange? The current interior spec is red handrails.

Also have you noticed the different type of seats compared to the ones we usually have ie. The tridents (In blue) and the previous E200's (In grey).

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2014-03-20/100m-deal-for-550-new-buses-in-the-west-midlands/#new-west-midlands-buses-of-the-road-by-end-of-year_339602. (bottom photo)

[andrew1991]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

Orange? The current interior spec is red handrails

the clips on tv also showed a view of the production line with the bus at the front painted red and white with 2 other buses without paint.

[andrew1991]

there's also this video filmed in Dudley

[winston]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

Orange? The current interior spec is red handrails.

Also have you noticed the different type of seats compared to the ones we usually have ie. The tridents (In blue) and the previous E200's (In grey).

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2014-03-20/100m-deal-for-550-new-buses-in-the-west-midlands/#new-west-midlands-buses-of-the-road-by-end-of-year_339602. (bottom photo)

I disagree that they are red, but can't be bothered to argue.

Put it another way, there certainly not yellow.

[Niall]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

That's what I thought - its got the wrong grey on the plastic in the front window as well

[winston]

If the clips on central news just are new, there are already enviro 200's on the production line with at least 1 painted.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-03-20/state-of-art-buses-on-the-way-for-the-west-midlands/

Have you noticed that the E200 in the background has yellow handrails, NX's current interior spec is orange, could one have been painted in NX colours just for the benefit of the ADL order announcement?

That's what I thought - its got the wrong grey on the plastic in the front window as well

It's already been confirmed that the first aren't due for delivery until June, therefore I doubt the one painted & those on the production line in the background will be for NX. I expect one was painted as part of the PR exercise

Why standardize the fleet then go and totally change the interior spec?