Blackheath Bus Services

[winston]

The first proper start was the mass investment in the Presidents in 2007 and then all the E400's...
Billy X8 is seriously on another planet...

My dates were a bit out, it was 2005-7

[richardjones210368]

Now the fleet is starting to look good, the aim is now to have the presentation perfect. That will be impossible to achieve with the current passenger base, but each engineering manager will get a list of buses noticed by staff, passengers who complain, or enthusiasts posting on the oddities page, which is why that thread needs to be just genuine oddities once a month and expected to get them sorted.
This includes

Fleetnames etc on the outside
Seat backs, etched windows, wrong or damaged seatbacks or poles. Incorrect seat covers on the inside.

Things like missing route branding will also be fixed now, but replacements have to be ordered and fitted by a contractor, so will take a little longer to fix

I know your a sticker for the rules @Stu and there is a Blackheath connection thank goodness I too regularly use the YW2 go home on the 18 and cough ahem 002 / 4H as one of our biggest clients who I always insist on visiting lives in walking distance of Birmingham Corporations Yardley Wood Cathedral a joy to pray outside and view the papal gems inside.................

[Jack]

@Tony, will Walsall's Urban 1's be getting anything done or will they be left as they are?

[Tony]

@Tony, will Walsall's Urban 1's be getting anything done or will they be left as they are?

The aim is to have every vehicle in the fleet as Euro 6 (or better) by June 2021, so it depends if they get replaced before then

[Jack]

The aim is to have every vehicle in the fleet as Euro 6 (or better) by June 2021, so it depends if they get replaced before then

It will be a shame if they do go by then, they still look fresh from the paintshop, these and the Omnilinks are the only decent Single Deckers left with NX...

[Trident 4194]

It will be a shame if they do go by then, they still look fresh from the paintshop, these and the Omnilinks are the only decent Single Deckers left with NX...

I don't understand e200s at all. How have they got worse as they Years have gone by. I travelled on 30929 and it was pretty much perfect in every way. Then you get the rattle boxes on the 19. I avoid the 19 at all costs because of the atrocious vehicles they put on there. It seems early e200as are built far better Than the later ones

[Jack]

I don't understand e200s at all. How have they got worse as they Years have gone by. I travelled on 30929 and it was pretty much perfect in every way. Then you get the rattle boxes on the 19. I avoid the 19 at all costs because of the atrocious vehicles they put on there. It seems early e200as are built far better Than the later ones

I haven't ridden an NX E200 for over a year now, 30929 is a rattlebox and is dreadful. Dart E200's are the worse ones you can get. The ex-Central ones was good but they've been wrecked, 30977 sounds like a drill when at speed, and by drill I don't mean the drill sound the later NX ones have.

[richardjones210368]

I haven't ridden an NX E200 for over a year now, 30929 is a rattlebox and is dreadful. Dart E200's are the worse ones you can get. The ex-Central ones was good but they've been wrecked, 30977 sounds like a drill when at speed, and by drill I don't mean the drill sound the later NX ones have.

I was on an NXWM one yesterday on the PN24 & to be honest I half expected it to collapse like a clowns car at a circus with just the driver left holding the steering wheel now that would be a sight in Siviters Lane the last time anything remotly similar happened was when the Nazis decided to drop a bomb on T W Lench and blew up the tennis courts instead!

[Jack]

I was on an NXWM one yesterday on the PN24 & to be honest I half expected it to collapse like a clowns car at a circus with just the driver left holding the steering wheel now that would be a sight in Siviters Lane the last time anything remotly similar happened was when the Nazis decided to drop a bomb on T W Lench and blew up the tennis courts instead!

I'm sure the residents on Siviters Lane and the Ross would have a sight to see there...

[richardjones210368]

I will agree with your points, but please remember that the vast majority of bus passengers are not 'enthusiasts'.

Non-enthusiast passengers like myself just want a clean, comfortable bus that will take them where they need to go.

On the services I regularly use, the 2 and 3 (YW), the buses are mostly battered old Tridents with grubby interiors and worn seats. I don't really care myself about this, as long as I can get a seat and get to and from work, I don't mind really. But when a Platinum does turn up on these routes, I consider it a 'rare treat'. From a non-enthusiast passenger perspective, they are perceived as 'nice buses'.

Of course when I lived in South Yardley, I regularly travelled on the Platinum X1 and X2 services, so I was spoilt for a couple of years...

But please lets not start the whole "which gearbox is better" debate again...

Sorry just switched my phone back.on the get PN14 home and realised I had posted this wrongly:

I know your a sticker for the rules @Stu and there is a Blackheath connection thank goodness I too regularly use the YW2 go home on the 18 and cough ahem 002 / 4H as one of our biggest clients who I always insist on visiting lives in walking distance of Birmingham Corporations Yardley Wood Cathedral a joy to pray outside and view the papal gems inside.................

[richardjones210368]

I'm sure the residents on Siviters Lane and the Ross would have a sight to see there...

Well my late mum was playing on the tennis courts at time the Nazi bomb was dropped and watched the bomb land thankfully it didnt explode fully or you wouldnt have pearls of bus wisdom on the forum today from me  the uxb squad disarmed it while at time just an hourly Midland Red 123 served Powke Lane funny enough my mum voted to leave the EU in 2016 she never did trust the Germans and was very reluctant to use Arriva.

[richardjones210368]

Excellent service tonight from West Midlands Travel 14 departs from.Halesowen to Blackheath smack on time as ever mind you it would wouldnt it as it has an excellent pedigree as @Tony kindly pointed out a few days ago its on the 140 registeration so you wouldnt expect anything less would you from the 14(0)?

[richie]

I was on an NXWM one yesterday on the PN24 & to be honest I half expected it to collapse like a clowns car at a circus with just the driver left holding the steering wheel now that would be a sight in Siviters Lane the last time anything remotly similar happened was when the Nazis decided to drop a bomb on T W Lench and blew up the tennis courts instead!

That bus would have had a Driver trained and developed among the highest standards in the industry keeping the residents of blackheath safe, a euro 6 upgrade helping the residents of blackheath breath easy and multiple cctv cameras preserving evidence should anything unfortunate happen to you guessed it a blackheath resident.

Does your preferred Sandwell operator have any of those as standard fitted / utilised on / to their fleet ?

It's a rhetorical question.

[richardjones210368]

That bus would have had a Driver trained and developed among the highest standards in the industry keeping the residents of blackheath safe, a euro 6 upgrade helping the residents of blackheath breath easy and multiple cctv cameras preserving evidence should anything unfortunate happen to you guessed it a blackheath resident.

Does your preferred Sandwell operator have any of those as standard fitted / utilised on / to their fleet ?

It's a rhetorical question.

As Diamond Buses are so well maintained and of such a better standard when Diamond held the contract for the 24 the matter would never have arisen so your point is worthless I always felt safe on the Diamond 24 yesterday I wondered should I ring my parish priest to come out to perform the last rites I always keep him on Speed Dial 6 on my smartphone its easy to remember 6(66) thats popular in the church, in case he is needed when I am on West Midlands Travel Limited and as the next highest point to St Giles Church are the Russian Ural Mountains I doubt if air quality is at top of Siviters Lane residents worries.

[don]

I am.not sure how using London Buses for 5 years 3 days a week  how on earth I could be described as silly and ill informed as I never used the underground or trains once it was 100% bus all the way with my annual TfL.Oyster Bus Pass is there anyone one the forum who has used TfL Buses more than me I would welcome thier conscrutive opinions rather than personal attacks and yes I really did used to stay 3 days a week in where else Blackheath South London so we are not off thread.

Maybe you took the wrong travel option - Blackheath to London Bridge by class 465 (now 700 Thameslink as well) and Jubilee Line to Westminster. Far quicker and more reliable than bus in that instance as South London's roads are quite seriously congested in that area especially in the peak as the main routes are A2 and A20, both affected by traffic avoiding Blackwall Tunnel queuing.