Walsall Garage

[Stu]

To show how good the Volvo B7/Eclipse combination can be, today all 38 7 year old Eclipse were allocated to service this morning peak, not one was under maintenance, which itself is excellent for any large batch of 7 year old buses, but up until now only one has had to be taken off service, 1782 on the 41 and this was immediately replaced in Walsall bus station and was not an actual breakdown.

Carrying on from that with the Volvo/Wright combination Walsall also sent all 14 remaining B10L out in service today, 12 covering all running boards on the 34/38/39 and two on the 301, again not one has broken down or had to be changed with all 14 still out in service at 18:00. 100% record for 17/18 year old buses.

The Wright Volvo B7RLE is indeed a mighty fine bus. I don't see why the newer versions, which are quiet, smooth and rattle free get such a bad press from some on here, they are excellent vehicles.

As it is we now have only giant mutant hair dryers to look forward to for the next 5 years.

My only complaint about the newer Wright Eclipse 2 B7RLEs is that despite the claims that they can carry 52 people standing, there is a distinct lack of handrails for passengers to hold on to while standing, while still allowing other passengers to freely move on and off the bus. Where these people are expected to stand still seems like a mathematically impossible task to me, though it doesn't help that standing passengers really prefer to stand next to the driver on the platform, rather than moving down the bus, or standing where the fold-down seats are!

[mranon]

look after a volvo both in terms of mainrenance and driver behaviour they will give sterling service. i think wrights have slipped a bit the eclipse 2's are rattling alot esp cab area. i would guess adl must have done a hard to refuse deal to tie into them for 5 years. shame really especially as far as the lwb e200's cos they are shockingly bad.

[Bob]

To show how good the Volvo B7/Eclipse combination can be, today all 38 7 year old Eclipse were allocated to service this morning peak, not one was under maintenance, which itself is excellent for any large batch of 7 year old buses, but up until now only one has had to be taken off service, 1782 on the 41 and this was immediately replaced in Walsall bus station and was not an actual breakdown.

Carrying on from that with the Volvo/Wright combination Walsall also sent all 14 remaining B10L out in service today, 12 covering all running boards on the 34/38/39 and two on the 301, again not one has broken down or had to be changed with all 14 still out in service at 18:00. 100% record for 17/18 year old buses.

This is really quite amazing........makes me wonder why different operators have different opinions about the same buses.Arriva Midlands for example have a similar batch of B7/Wright at leicester,but have never repeated it.
Is it to do with maintenance schedules,or favourable purchasing deals or some other reasons?

Reading the above,  the same could never be said about daf/vdl sb200 buses could it? Ive lost count of the amount of times thryve broken down.  And they are nowhere near as smooth or quiet as 56 plate volvos. Then again look at the wright bodied trio of volvo B10BLEs that cannock had. They were off road more often than one. 3619 left in bus stn overnight on one occasion.  How come nx can have smooth reliable 17/18 yr old buses but arriva have W plate ones that were unreliable sheds???? Despite being newer!

[P419 EJW]

To show how good the Volvo B7/Eclipse combination can be, today all 38 7 year old Eclipse were allocated to service this morning peak, not one was under maintenance, which itself is excellent for any large batch of 7 year old buses, but up until now only one has had to be taken off service, 1782 on the 41 and this was immediately replaced in Walsall bus station and was not an actual breakdown.

Carrying on from that with the Volvo/Wright combination Walsall also sent all 14 remaining B10L out in service today, 12 covering all running boards on the 34/38/39 and two on the 301, again not one has broken down or had to be changed with all 14 still out in service at 18:00. 100% record for 17/18 year old buses.

This is really quite amazing........makes me wonder why different operators have different opinions about the same buses.Arriva Midlands for example have a similar batch of B7/Wright at leicester,but have never repeated it.
Is it to do with maintenance schedules,or favourable purchasing deals or some other reasons?

Reading the above,  the same could never be said about daf/vdl sb200 buses could it? Ive lost count of the amount of times they've broken down.  And they are nowhere near as smooth or quiet as 56 plate volvos. Then again look at the wright bodied trio of volvo B10BLEs that cannock had. They were off road more often than one. 3619 left in bus stn overnight on one occasion.  How come nx can have smooth reliable 17/18 yr old buses but arriva have W plate ones that were unreliable sheds???? Despite being newer!

Arriva is shit, that's why.

[Tony]

And to prove it wasn't a fluke all 38 B7/Eclipse out again today, although 1475 of the B10Ls is having a day of rest!

[Bob]

Id say its an example of good maintenance Tony! I went on a p reg b10l a couple of weeks ago, sweet as a nut, well kept interior etc. I went on a cannock dart yesterday,  BU51 KWM, and it was on a par with something sunny or grs would operate.  Vibrated so badly that the coins inthe cab were rattling,  faded threadbare seats, screeching brakes, and the bus rattled generally when it wasnt vibrating when idling or slowing to turn corners.  Imagine if that was someones first impression of arriva.

[lynx1103]

301/302 have reduced return fares of £2.50 from today on destination blinds
But nit advertised anywhere.

[Kevin]

19:37 51 from walsall failed to show up... Half hour wait here it is then

[Westy]

301/302 have reduced return fares of £2.50 from today on destination blinds
But nit advertised anywhere.

Hmm. Having a crack at Diamond then?

Only thing is if Diamond axe the routes, then theres nothing to stop Nx putting the fare back up  & maybe amending the timetable!

[Bob]

301/302 have reduced return fares of £2.50 from today on destination blinds
But nit advertised anywhere.

Hmm. Having a crack at Diamond then?

Only thing is if Diamond axe the routes, then theres nothing to stop Nx putting the fare back up  & maybe amending the timetable!

The wonders of a deregulated bus service. ...

[Westy]

301/302 have reduced return fares of £2.50 from today on destination blinds
But nit advertised anywhere.

Hmm. Having a crack at Diamond then?

Only thing is if Diamond axe the routes, then theres nothing to stop Nx putting the fare back up  & maybe amending the timetable!

The wonders of a deregulated bus service. ...

Too true.

[lynx1103]

301/302 route branded £2.50 return fare 1750-1758

1755 on 8/89 today with branding

[Tony]

And to prove it wasn't a fluke all 38 B7/Eclipse out again today,

The B7RLEs are really showing their class today
Out of 186 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse 1750-87 & 2001-29/59-177 the only one not used in service this morning was 2006 at Wolverhampton. That is 99.4% availability. If only all buses were that good!

The Enviro 400s that are in the same age range never get anywhere near that

[winston]

And to prove it wasn't a fluke all 38 B7/Eclipse out again today,

The B7RLEs are really showing their class today
Out of 186 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse 1750-87 & 2001-29/59-177 the only one not used in service this morning was 2006 at Wolverhampton. That is 99.4% availability. If only all buses were that good!

The Enviro 400s that are in the same age range never get anywhere near that

Which begs the question why NX signed a multi-year deal with ADL??? They may have a got a cheaper deal, but you get what you pay for.

I'd have liked to have seen NX standardize on Wright products myself for single deckers at least and ADL E400MMC for double deck requirements

[mranon]

i havent seen 2006 out for a few days either.