Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[2900]

4513 I saw recently in Oldbury really looking the business almost as new in appearance. ImO  the gems do look better than alx 400 after refurbs.
I had 4962 recently on walk round check I noticed in the seat area under the stairs was plastered in graffiti and some of the upper salloon windows been etched aswell so business as usual.

[2900]

Recently there have been revenue checks at tesco spring hill, some of passengers do quickly exit bus one young woman was stopped, she replied I,m late for work , she crossed the island and boarded my bus again at the next stop with her out of date day saver.
A group of teenagers sat at the back gave the revenue inspectors some grief as they were asked to leave. If there had been police presence they wouldn't say shit.
It's time do away with paper tickets etc, I accept you will never stop the hard core fare Dodgers, I think fraudulent travel is on the rise on dudley Road.

[2900]

There is this one chap who uses Dudley road regularly he shows drivers a picture of a day saver on his smart  phone, I just laugh at him, it's incredulous wot some show drivers

[Liberator9]

@2900

Sounds a right old day there 2900 - bunch of idiots who decide to do this and then give revenue inspectors doing their job a load of grief. Dudley Road sounds like a nightmare, and shame to hear the Enviros have already been vandalised - the PB/BC ones are still in a good condition. Had someone on the 67 try and get on without paying today - driver having none of it and he soon hopped off. Some person behind me said "why can't the driver just let him on - it's public transport." With an attitude like that no wonder there's problems with fare collection at times.

[Liverpool Street]

@2900

Sounds a right old day there 2900 - bunch of idiots who decide to do this and then give revenue inspectors doing their job a load of grief. Dudley Road sounds like a nightmare, and shame to hear the Enviros have already been vandalised - the PB/BC ones are still in a good condition. Had someone on the 67 try and get on without paying today - driver having none of it and he soon hopped off. Some person behind me said "why can't the driver just let him on - it's public transport." With an attitude like that no wonder there's problems with fare collection at times.

What the heck? Since when was public transportation free? In certain respects people like that are worse then the fare dodgerthemselves!!

[2900]

You won't find many drivers on the dudley road questioning fares etc it's just not safe anymore, you have no idea what people may be  carrying, long time a go I stopped a teenager as he didn't pay he produced a steel rod and tried to insert through speech holes in the vandal screen. It was only the actions of passengers that scared him off. I have a little motto DUDLEY ROAD KEEP GOB SHUT.
End of the day I want to go home in one piece. I do make full use of wayfarer to record what I see and smell. Eastern European and somalian teenagers becoming a problem at certain points on the dudley mainly Cape hill and summer field park.

[979]

I remember a little midget that used to get on near grove lane who always had an out of date ticket,is he still around?

[2900]

For many drivers Dudley road services have been forced on to them by merging Rota,s 83,89,127,128,129 with 82 87 most of these services were on one rota at Hockley garage up on transfer to west brom they were split for nearly 12 years , when I transferred I was placed on the Dudley rota it wasn't bad in the early stages along with 87 you had 88 120 140 services, 120 140 transferred to pennsnet  88 got chopped up and placed with Portland rd services, by this time I,ve had enough of the 87  around 04 /05 I transferred to the Portland road services it's so much more pleasant place to be, we drivers did successfully stop the merger of the Rota,s twice if I recall but last year it  got pushed through to the dismay of the majority, God we do hate the 87,s

[2900]

Yeah I know which midget your on about yes he still uses Dudley road services I haven't seen him for a number of months now though.

[2900]

4269 alexander alx 400 b7tl voith gearbox, recent refurb inside out so looks excellent ,very good bus to drive excellent chassis all works as it should, even on Portland Rd  edgbaston a very rough road all is composed and stable, great cab heater, the panel behind drivers seat a little squeaky probably needs relocating, some rattles in plat form area but not in a bad way like others.

Engine:excellent smooth no issues, has plenty of power good uphill
Gearbox: smooth changes no jolts all good
Retarder: smooth all good
Brakes: smooth easy to use
Suspension: all good nice smooth ride, deals with rough surfaces excellently

For an alx400 volvo this bus is excellent shame There are so few like this one 8/10

[John]

4269 alexander alx 400 b7tl voith gearbox, recent refurb inside out so looks excellent ,very good bus to drive excellent chassis all works as it should, even on Portland Rd  edgbaston a very rough road all is composed and stable, great cab heater, the panel behind drivers seat a little squeaky probably needs relocating, some rattles in plat form area but not in a bad way like others.

Engine:excellent smooth no issues, has plenty of power good uphill
Gearbox: smooth changes no jolts all good
Retarder: smooth all good
Brakes: smooth easy to use
Shuspension: all good nice smooth ride, deals with rough surfaces excellently

For an alx400 volvo this bus is excellent shame There are so few like this one 8/10

I do remember 4269 been excellent to drive the day last year I had it on the 16 when we had it on loan. The few on par with it are 4262, 4284 and 4300

[wbdriver]

757 - 3 hours on the 44 the other day. not a single rattle from it, compared to other E200s (822 rattles so much, feels like it's falling apart lol)

quick acceleration, good interlock system and very comfortable.

751 and 760 are the same also.

834 is terrible. interlock system too slow, suspension terrible and slow.

1661 recently transferred to WB, i broke it..... suspension gave up the ghost in Charlemont Farm but it was a decent bus to drive before the problem.

1582 - one of the best mercs in my opinion. good quick acceleration, good kickdown when needed and not many rattles for a 15 or so year old bus.

[2900]

755 swb ADL enviro 200 basically an update, recent journey from west brom to Oldbury along bromford lane, not good sat near the front plenty of rattles from cab and platform so not good, ride from suspension still ok, engine box still sounded smooth, these only arrived last August, many of the drivers I talk too just say cheap crap. In terms of appearance all looks excellent , I do wander why west broms enviro single deckers get special treatment most are regularly mopped on the nite.

[John]

Sorry to hijack 2900s thread, but had my first taste of the ex-Pensnett Enviro400s today, and I say how good they are.

4812, near enough perfect to drive, quicker off the mark than an ADL Enviro4000 4830 onwards. Retarder perfect on this one. I'd rather have these than either B7TL

Then I had 4815, which was even faster off the mark than 4812, 0-30 in around 5 seconds. You get to the top of the first gear, and then you get a massive burst of speed. The only down side to this one was that the retarder seemed too strong, so it felt like I was lurching on the brakes and when you are nearly at a stop, it goes off and you lurch forward again.

Most of our ex-Pensnett buses are very tatty though, inside and out, and would benefit with a refurb soon

Plus the cab heaters on them are ferocious

[John]

Sorry to hijack 2900s thread, but had my first taste of the ex-Pensnett Enviro400s today, and I say how good they are.

4812, near enough perfect to drive, quicker off the mark than an ADL Enviro4000 4830 onwards. Retarder perfect on this one. I'd rather have these than either B7TL

Then I had 4815, which was even faster off the mark than 4812, 0-30 in around 5 seconds. You get to the top of the first gear, and then you get a massive burst of speed. The only down side to this one was that the retarder seemed too strong, so it felt like I was lurching on the brakes and when you are nearly at a stop, it goes off and you lurch forward again.

Most of our ex-Pensnett buses are very tatty though, inside and out, and would benefit with a refurb soon

Plus the cab heaters on them are ferocious

I had 4808 for 5 hours 15 straight through duty this afternoon on the 7. Again, a lovely bus, and been a repaint, looks very smart (a lot smarter than some of the others we have). Brakes/retarder perfect and great bursts of acceleration when you need it (Aston 6 Ways Island). Its a shame that I won't enjoy them for much longer, as I am coming off the Perry Commons in a few weeks

One strange thing I noticed were that the indicator stalk was on the right hand side. All other Enviro400s I have driven have it on the left. Quite strange to get used to. I was even reaching for it with my left hand a few times realizing that it was on the right!