Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[Michael Bevan]

Dudley rd services,
The other day I received my 83 15 minutes late at west brom station no bother just carry on take it steady fair few pensioners on man they scare me how fragile some are , made it to city late still around 15-17 mins down fair few got on 82/87s running late I thought got away now I,m at city hospital stop skools out mommies kids every where it took time to load up then I waited for two pensioners that's when the scummy mummy's started the ones that got on earlier, driver hurry up , drive the bus you jobs worth, your holding up every one there are 4  buses behind now, we are late picking up our kids we is gona get fined , I told them to stop harassing me all I,ll park the bus, I was seething inside at the treatment , I explained I can't while we have pensioners on the platform, one scummy mommy saying get out I,ll slap you, you small man you is, bring it on I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, I came very close to parking that bus and walking away from this job. The one pensioner turned to me, son ignore them they are not worth it. After that shower of shite got off , I got thank you from most of other passengers, Bad day at the office some say I handed that bus over 30 minutes late I just wanted to get off in one piece. My 2nd part was a joke as well.

I'm honestly surprised you put up with this! If I was driving, I wouldn't want to be abused every day! I wouldn't blame you if you quit.

[Liverpool Street]

And yet the driver is still in the wrong

Go figure

[2900]

Yesterday evening a group of Black teenagers boarded from Oldbury bus interchange to Dudley , before they got on they were smoking a funny cigarette, naturally they sat on top deck at the back, there were others on the top deck who all came down,a woman from this group came to me complaining about the smoking , I said to her are you willing to stand by your complaint because I,ll be calling the police, she replied aren't you in charge, I stopped the bus switched off the engine and placed a call on the radio, within 30 seconds this very woman who made the complaint, driver forget it carry on to which I obliged , within 3 minutes I,m now in Dudley.

Sepperately,I hate it when passengers complain about incidents when they are getting off after completing there journey it's ok then to disrupt service for others still to complete there journeys, I find this very selfish, as far as I'm concerned there is no complaint unless your willing to stand by it.
In all the years I,ve done this job I can recall on one hand how many times that someone has made complaint at the start of a journey, these people from my experience tend to be health care professionals.

[B.C Driver]

Yesterday evening a group of Black teenagers boarded from Oldbury bus interchange to Dudley , before they got on they were smoking a funny cigarette, naturally they sat on top deck at the back, there were others on the top deck who all came down,a woman from this group came to me complaining about the smoking , I said to her are you willing to stand by your complaint because I,ll be calling the police, she replied aren't you in charge, I stopped the bus switched off the engine and placed a call on the radio, within 30 seconds this very woman who made the complaint, driver forget it carry on to which I obliged , within 3 minutes I,m now in Dudley.

People who smoke weed or cigarettes on a bus are so disrespectful. Do they think the smoke just stays around the back seat upstairs? The smell lingers ALL over the bus, the driver is inhaling it, a new born baby in the buggy area is inhaling it, one ignorant person and 70 other innocent people are inhaling it.

The frustrating thing is not knowing who the culprit it. I find the E400s cctv in the cab very poor, sometimes the u/s rear seat isnt even visable.

There should be an extra camera in the cab zoomed in to the back of the upper saloon.

Sepperately,I hate it when passengers complain about incidents when they are getting off after completing there journey it's ok then to disrupt service for others still to complete there journeys, I find this very selfish, as far as I'm concerned there is no complaint unless your willing to stand by it.
In all the years I,ve done this job I can recall on one hand how many times that someone has made complaint at the start of a journey, these people from my experience tend to be health care professionals.

[MW]

Weed is a big problem on the Circle. I used to just pretty much lean next to the cab window to take in the fresh air. Once, some guys were smoking weed upstairs, so at the next timing point I waited extra time, jumped out and smoked a ciggy. By the time I was done, so we're they and I carried on.

[GeminiFan1991]

Weed is a big problem on the Circle. I used to just pretty much lean next to the cab window to take in the fresh air. Once, some guys were smoking weed upstairs, so at the next timing point I waited extra time, jumped out and smoked a ciggy. By the time I was done, so we're they and I carried on.

I remember someone smoked 1 joint infront of me in a casual manner once !

[2900]

Greetings,  I notice the majority of stops along moor st have been pulled out and placed in large buckets, the ones heading towards the tunnel, rotunda. I assume route changes coming into play soon then.

[2900]

This week I,ve noticed some Crimson omnilinks on the Portland rd services they do suite the route, it's gone very quiet on the changes front as well , i thought by now west brom would have gotten the 120 route back and in exchange the 127/8 would go the other way.

[ARBB]

This week I,ve noticed some Crimson omnilinks on the Portland rd services they do suite the route, it's gone very quiet on the changes front as well , i thought by now west brom would have gotten the 120 route back and in exchange the 127/8 would go the other way.

120 staying at Pensnett, rumor is only Sunday 120's will be operated by West Brom to relieve Dudley rota drivers of working every other Sunday

[iansdavies]

can i make a suggestion about drugs on buses we do have them on the 97 now and then could a picture or still be taken of these people doing it from a device in the cab which would catch them at it

[GeminiFan1991]

can i make a suggestion about drugs on buses we do have them on the 97 now and then could a picture or still be taken of these people doing it from a device in the cab which would catch them at it

If you notice "dodgy" on the bus, try to keep a note of time, date, route, (ideally fleet number) and report it.

[Tony]

can i make a suggestion about drugs on buses we do have them on the 97 now and then could a picture or still be taken of these people doing it from a device in the cab which would catch them at it

A picture is taken of them, all buses have CCTV recording as people board buses

[2900]

4052 plaxton president b7tl Volvo

Up on getting into the cab you are greeted with the huge steering wheel which I hate,visual impression  on its first full refurb looking tired now, to drive the suspension is comfortable typical Volvo all good in this dept, driving along engine revs up to 2000 rpm for no reason when it decides to, otherwise it performed well enough, gearbox IMO requires attention plenty of slamming of gears going on could be low on fluid who knows.
Brakes/retarder nicely balanced too.
If these faults were addressed it would be pretty much spot on from the chassis point view.
Still I,ll give it  a 5/10 over all cause it didn't leave me agony when I left the cab.

Visual impression 5/10
Suspension           8/10
Brakes/retarder.     8/10
Gearbox.               2/10
Engine.                  5/10

I got this on the 87 yesterday it brought a smile to my face a bus to which management say has no place on key corridors , I enjoyed driving this on the 87 something different to the norm,it's got character sadly lacking in most new buses these days,  suspension that actually works is nice to have, gearbox still doing strange things dropping a gear for no reason , the slamming of gears has reduced to what feels like surges, 0-30 is very quick work in this.
Appearance overall it's still looking very tired , I,ll miss these soon to be part of wm bus history.

[2900]

AVL my recent experiences

On the 82 service to bearwood bus interchange 7 minutes late on arriving got regulated to run private to city hospital, serious head scratching with this one .

Incident on new hall street brum late afternoon around 1730ish yesterday taxi pulls out from side road into a bus result this part of city becomes a car park for 30 minutes , once this has cleared I had the joy of picking up vast number of Dudley rd passengers from around the city, by the time I,m approaching smethwick there's 4 87s together 5th one not to far behind.
AVL response zero, AVL is considered to be a joke at west brom can't speak for other garages, please send us what ever drugs you guys are taking up there we could do with them.

[GeminiFan1991]

AVL my recent experiences

On the 82 service to bearwood bus interchange 7 minutes late on arriving got regulated to run private to city hospital, serious head scratching with this one .

Incident on new hall street brum late afternoon around 1730ish yesterday taxi pulls out from side road into a bus result this part of city becomes a car park for 30 minutes , once this has cleared I had the joy of picking up vast number of Dudley rd passengers from around the city, by the time I,m approaching smethwick there's 4 87s together 5th one not to far behind.
AVL response zero, AVL is considered to be a joke at west brom can't speak for other garages, please send us what ever drugs you guys are taking up there we could do with them.

Seeing as I've just applied to be a part of AVL, this is quite something to hear ! Assuming my application becomes successful, I hope to make your life somewhat easier !