Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[2900]

Received one of ADL,s finest the other day 810 Enviro 200
Being a recent refurb it looks smart in its new Crimson scheme , seats retrimmed in red dot moquette which adds a splash of colour to the interior.
Cab badly worn steering wheel greets you  just nasty only 7 years old I don't recall metro bus steering wheels being that bad even at 20 plus years old, seat and steering position ok but scania is way more superior
To drive very quick to 30mph bonus , engine gearbox in great shape smooth in all areas , comedy suspension and steering  lets the whole show down front wheels feels detached from the steering , hopeless on rough roads really off putting.
Some rattling from interior plastics mainly due to the crap suspension.
These things feel so cheap compared to the scania bus, those just glide round by comparison ,in car terms the enviro 200 is a Austin metro and the scania Mercedes Benz E class ,the scania just a relaxing bus to drive IMO

810 overall score 5/10 I am being generous over the festive season.
IMO these enviro 200 should be taken back to Scotland and driven into the Clyde , I will do it for free and before any one posts they weren't built in Falkirk I know 😀

[2900]

4677 B7TL wrightbus gemni

Got my hands on this finally oh what a piece  of crap it was, first of all the cab seat wouldn't go back far enough , the dashboard only really moved up or down really, the cab feels small compared to the enviro 400s, upon firing the engine there was vibrations and rattling from various places in the lower saloon , driving along its  quick to 30 mph,  gear changes were good ,but the retarder not good jolts every time you use the brake pedal aweful, suspension wasn't to bad bit of floaty feeling up front , interior not great the floor is nailed down in places. It's got the feel of of well and truly used motor

4273/4275 knocks spots off this shed

Overall 3/10 probably the worst gemni I,ve driven

[BK63 YWP]

@2900 I do love your bus reviews 😂

[BusDriverBosh]

Might aswell restart this! ;D ;D

Volvo B5 Hybrids 5501-5518

Why didn't anyone tell me that these were horrible to drive? First of all, they are soo slow to move off! You hate it when you have to stop half way on the hill or just before because you are never going to get up ;D
Second of all, the brakes! They are so shocking. You need to press the brake half a mile down the road to get a smooth decrease in speed or you will be shooting everyone forward!
Third of all, the hybrid system constantly fails! You get a delay switching from hybrid to diesel, making you lose speed!

Overall, worst buses the company has bought

[Trident 4609]

Might aswell restart this! ;D ;D

Volvo B7 Hybrids 5501-5518

Why didn't anyone tell me that these were horrible to drive? First of all, they are soo slow to move off! You hate it when you have to stop half way on the hill or just before because you are never going to get up ;D
Second of all, the brakes! They are so shocking. You need to press the brake half a mile down the road to get a smooth decrease in speed or you will be shooting everyone forward!
Third of all, the hybrid system constantly fails! You get a delay switching from hybrid to diesel, making you lose speed!

Overall, worst buses the company has bought

I hate to be pedantic but they are B5 hybrids. Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LH's.

[BusDriverBosh]

I hate to be pedantic but they are B5 hybrids. Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LH's.

my bad, it was a typo! I was thinking of b7s when I was typing this

[Mike K]

Might aswell restart this! ;D ;D

Volvo B5 Hybrids 5501-5518

Why didn't anyone tell me that these were horrible to drive? First of all, they are soo slow to move off! You hate it when you have to stop half way on the hill or just before because you are never going to get up ;D
Second of all, the brakes! They are so shocking. You need to press the brake half a mile down the road to get a smooth decrease in speed or you will be shooting everyone forward!
Third of all, the hybrid system constantly fails! You get a delay switching from hybrid to diesel, making you lose speed!

Overall, worst buses the company has bought

I'm no expert on this but having travelled on them over many years when they were on the 22/23, I dong think it's the hybrid system failing. There's quite a bit of lag from when moving off in electric mode to the Diesel engine kicking in - it's the same on all of them. They can certainly shift once the Diesel engine has fired up.

These seem to be very much a 'marmite' bus with drivers - some hate them but there have also been positive comments on here. From a passenger perspective they are one of the better bus types in the fleet to travel on, awkward downstairs layout aside.

[B.C Driver]

Re - The Hybrids 5501 - 18

My views...

Yes, the change over from electric to diesel is a pain and causes a momentary loss of power, drivers complained about this when they were on the Harborne routes, particually on Five Ways island. Luckily on the Bristol Rd routes theres no busy islands like Five Ways.
The change over aside, from 10 mph to 30 mph they are quite rapid and would beat any 49xx Enviro at this speed.
They are very smooth at slow speeds in traffic, no jerking at all, it is possible to pull up to a complete stop with no jerking at all, unlike the Enviros or 46xx Tridents.
I can stretch my left leg fully in the cab which is good, the cab windows however tend to rattle, but I can live with that.
A few of them the heaters arnt very warm which I dont like especially at this time of year, and the heater controls have broken on some.
I dont like the lower saloon layout and some have that really annoying 'Self test performed succesfully' announcement when started up, I wish they could take that off.
I know drivers that like them and drivers that dont.
I personally like them.

[MW]

Re - The Hybrids 5501 - 18

My views...

Yes, the change over from electric to diesel is a pain and causes a momentary loss of power, drivers complained about this when they were on the Harborne routes, particually on Five Ways island. Luckily on the Bristol Rd routes theres no busy islands like Five Ways.
The change over aside, from 10 mph to 30 mph they are quite rapid and would beat any 49xx Enviro at this speed.
They are very smooth at slow speeds in traffic, no jerking at all, it is possible to pull up to a complete stop with no jerking at all, unlike the Enviros or 46xx Tridents.
I can stretch my left leg fully in the cab which is good, the cab windows however tend to rattle, but I can live with that.
A few of them the heaters arnt very warm which I dont like especially at this time of year, and the heater controls have broken on some.
I dont like the lower saloon layout and some have that really annoying 'Self test performed succesfully' announcement when started up, I wish they could take that off.
I know drivers that like them and drivers that dont.
I personally like them.

I've found that Wright bodied buses tend to have better cabs in terms of space. I'm 6ft2 and I can stretch my left leg fully in Gemini's, Eclipse Urbans and Streetlites. Optares are the worst for legroom and ADL aren't that good either. ADL wise I've only driven Plaxton Pointer darts, Enviro 200s and one ALX400.

[B.C Driver]

Meant to say - the other things I like about the BC Hybrids are the fact that the two front passenger seats are positioned further back, unlike the Enviros and Platinums where you feel people sat in them are peering over your shoulder, also no seat directly behind the driver like the Enviros which seems to echo every conversation, burp, cough, sneeze that people make sat in them.

[2900]

Since Jan 1st on the Dudley rd services there's been a huge rise in fraudulent travel it's unreal some evenings i,m thinking what's the point of this bus being on the road to only serve thieves , by that I mean any one using a service which they have not paid for is THEFT.
The smart fone has become a joke screen resolution turned down, battery died, cracked screen , screen shot tickets etc etc , swift card expired big red warning light on, oh driver card says valid till 2021 I explain photo I.d valid till then but the ticket on your card has expired.
ITS ONE BIG JOKE, we drivers like every law abiding citizen pay our way in the world , it's very frustrating to see every day the mis use.
Short hop fare over riding is a joke too, you can't challenge this level of mis use otherwise you would never complete a journey.
Rant over

[John]

Since Jan 1st on the Dudley rd services there's been a huge rise in fraudulent travel it's unreal some evenings i,m thinking what's the point of this bus being on the road to only serve thieves , by that I mean any one using a service which they have not paid for is THEFT.
The smart fone has become a joke screen resolution turned down, battery died, cracked screen , screen shot tickets etc etc , swift card expired big red warning light on, oh driver card says valid till 2021 I explain photo I.d valid till then but the ticket on your card has expired.
ITS ONE BIG JOKE, we drivers like every law abiding citizen pay our way in the world , it's very frustrating to see every day the mis use.
Short hop fare over riding is a joke too, you can't challenge this level of mis use otherwise you would never complete a journey.
Rant over

Why can not the app have screenshots disabled?

I recently brought the 26-30 railcard annd that is on an app on the phone. Tried to screenshot it to show a friend and screenshotting was disabled

I don't bother anymore with fraud. Let them get in with it. I'm paid the same each week wether they pay or not. And it's not worth getting yourself worked up over it. I go to work, drive the bus feeling chilled and go home happy

[2900]

Why can not the app have screenshots disabled?

I recently brought the 26-30 railcard annd that is on an app on the phone. Tried to screenshot it to show a friend and screenshotting was disabled

I don't bother anymore with fraud. Let them get in with it. I'm paid the same each week wether they pay or not. And it's not worth getting yourself worked up over it. I go to work, drive the bus feeling chilled and go home happy

Yeah I agree with what your saying, as long your still getting paid end of week so what.
I don't get involved it's not worth the stress, it's just unfair on those that do pay.

[Tony]

Yeah I agree with what your saying, as long your still getting paid end of week so what.
I don't get involved it's not worth the stress, it's just unfair on those that do pay.

Put a written report in to your AOM on worst times and locations and ask him to forward it to the Revenue Protection Manager

[B.C Driver]

Regarding fraud, I often turn a blind eye, but what makes my blood boil is seeing somebody get on with an out of date pass, turning a blind eye, seeing the same person pick up a complimentary newspaper, then watch them go upstairs and smoke.