Diamond West Midlands - Redditch

[Solo1]

I didn't know the Versa's were leased k take it the Streetlites from wessex will replace them

[winston]

Did 32309 physically transfer to Redditch? As this picture shows it working out of Tividale on 22nd Dec
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101550299@N05/31893470485

[Solo1]

Did 32309 physically transfer to Redditch? As this picture shows it working out of Tividale on 22nd Dec
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101550299@N05/31893470485

I thought the 4 16 reg Streetlites were for the 4 service walsal to west Brom unless the other 2 are moving

[Liberator9]

32307 is out on the S2 today - so I assume that has now transferred.

I've also heard about the Versas moving on, with Streetlites likely for the Signature services. Will be glad to see the back of the Optares - been useless reliability wise.

[Trident 4194]

32307 is out on the S2 today - so I assume that has now transferred.

I've also heard about the Versas moving on, with Streetlites likely for the Signature services. Will be glad to see the back of the Optares - been useless reliability wise.

Having just sampled the new optare metro city, they are amazing

[Will]

Having just sampled the new optare metro city, they are amazing

What MetroCity have I missed something?.... ::)

[Trident 4194]

What MetroCity have I missed something?.... ::)

Midland classic

[Liberator9]

Having just sampled the new optare metro city, they are amazing

They do look good the Metrocity, except having had the best part of 6 years with Optare products now I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. When they are working they are decent buses for passenger and driver alike - but the engines on the SRs have let them down badly, and the electrics/suspension on the Hybrids has caused problems in the past. MFY has had its cooling fan running constantly for a couple of years now and had black smoke enter the passenger compartment the once (couple of years ago) and had to be taken out of service immediately. MFV had to have a transplant engine from a Solo; MFZ and MFX are the best two. Wrights are far better, although I prefer the Volvo B7RLE/B8RLE chassis to the Streetlite; just more refined.

[Tony]

Midland classic

So why post it in the Diamond Bus - Redditch thread?

[MW]

I think it's unfair to slate the Optares for being unreliable when they've been run by an operator that likes doing many repairs with duct tape.

I've seen a Dennis Dart front bumper basically made out of newspaper on one of these guys buses. You could literally put your hand through it. It was used as some sort of filler.

There was actually a Solo with a load of duct tape all over one of the seat backs, wasn't there?

Anyway, my point is, maintenance and Diamond don't go hand in hand, so to call any of these buses unreliable isn't a fair statement.

[Trident 4194]

I think it's unfair to slate the Optares for being unreliable when they've been run by an operator that likes doing many repairs with duct tape.

I've seen a Dennis Dart front bumper basically made out of newspaper on one of these guys buses. You could literally put your hand through it. It was used as some sort of filler.

There was actually a Solo with a load of duct tape all over one of the seat backs, wasn't there?

Anyway, my point is, maintenance and Diamond don't go hand in hand, so to call any of these buses unreliable isn't a fair statement.

It's called improvisation😂. To be honest I haven't seen a diamond dart broke down in ages, in fact the more recent buses are looking worse than those. 002 branded buses are destroyed.

Look how many companies have optare products, they surely must be doing something right making them. Haven't sampled diamonds Sr for ages.

[Liberator9]

I think it's unfair to slate the Optares for being unreliable when they've been run by an operator that likes doing many repairs with duct tape.

I've seen a Dennis Dart front bumper basically made out of newspaper on one of these guys buses. You could literally put your hand through it. It was used as some sort of filler.

There was actually a Solo with a load of duct tape all over one of the seat backs, wasn't there?

Anyway, my point is, maintenance and Diamond don't go hand in hand, so to call any of these buses unreliable isn't a fair statement.

I can see where you are coming from. The maintenance maybe hasn't helped the buses in that case; upon further reflection Johnsons' Optares are pretty good and Silverline's were as well actually. So perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on Optare.

Yeah there was duct tape all over a couple of the leather seat backs on one of the SRs - some vandals thought it would be funny to write in biro on the leather over time and then rip it as well for good measure. There was also duct tape at one point holding on one of the rear light panels  ;D

[MW]

I can see where you are coming from. The maintenance maybe hasn't helped the buses in that case; upon further reflection Johnsons' Optares are pretty good and Silverline's were as well actually. So perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on Optare.

Yeah there was duct tape all over a couple of the leather seat backs on one of the SRs - some vandals thought it would be funny to write in biro on the leather over time and then rip it as well for good measure. There was also duct tape at one point holding on one of the rear light panels  ;D

Duct tape and planks of wood seem to be in abundance in Diamond's spare parts bin

[Liberator9]

Duct tape and planks of wood seem to be in abundance in Diamond's spare parts bin

Are the planks of wood used to hit any malfunctioning engine into action each morning then :D Another thing I notice is the mess of lighting the Signatures have internally - when new they all had the brighter LED style lights. Now most of the internal lights on them are a useless dim yellow variant and even those are failing. Looks a mess. 

[Will]

http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/15011317.Diamond_launch_investigation_following_Astwood_Bank_crash_that__caused__major_gas_leak_/  just found that on the Book of Face looks like one of the VDL Centro's looks quite nasty too :/