NX 2013 Bus Orders

[Discodave]

Staff going over to Ballymena next tuesday to PDI WN's Volvo B5LH. 9 to come.

Will they be in that new Green livery any ideas?

[CRP2012]

Staff going over to Ballymena next tuesday to PDI WN's Volvo B5LH. 9 to come.

Will they be in that new Green livery any ideas?

Im guessing there in the same livery as previous hybrids

[Andrew1991]

Staff going over to Ballymena next tuesday to PDI WN's Volvo B5LH. 9 to come.

am i right in thinking these should be in service by february 25th ?

[winston]

Staff going over to Ballymena next tuesday to PDI WN's Volvo B5LH. 9 to come.

am i right in thinking these should be in service by february 25th ?

Must be imminent if they are PDI'd at Wrightbus

[Andrew1991]

Staff going over to Ballymena next tuesday to PDI WN's Volvo B5LH. 9 to come.

am i right in thinking these should be in service by february 25th ?

Must be imminent if they are PDI'd at Wrightbus

oh, cool. New buses for me then :)

[nitromatt1]

Hope they're better than the B5 hybrids on the 22/23, which take about half an hour to change up...

[Andrew1991]

They'll never change up on the #1 it stops every couple of seconds lol

[nitromatt1]

If I want to travel between Dudley and Wolves I use the 558. I've never been up there at a time when the 558 wasn't running. However I will make an exception if there are Enviro400 Hybrids on the 1, but will steer clear of the B5's...

[Andrew1991]

Well I've never been on either of the hybrids, personally I think the B5 looks better but I like E400h too.

[nitromatt1]

The Enviro400H is ridiculously fast accelerating and in my opinion looks nicer, the B5 is just so frustratingly slow in comparison. I know I'm rather speed-biased but well, if you're in the area, have a ride or two on the 22 or 23, see if you can get one of each bus. My first time the driver was giving an E400H a proper thrashing around deserted roads late at night, almost nobody on the bus, I absolutely loved it, couldn't believe how fast we were going.

[Mike K]

The Enviro400H is ridiculously fast accelerating and in my opinion looks nicer, the B5 is just so frustratingly slow in comparison. I know I'm rather speed-biased but well, if you're in the area, have a ride or two on the 22 or 23, see if you can get one of each bus. My first time the driver was giving an E400H a proper thrashing around deserted roads late at night, almost nobody on the bus, I absolutely loved it, couldn't believe how fast we were going.

I would have to disagree on this, and I think you do the B5LH a disservice. There is bit of lag after they have moved off under electric power, and just after the diesel engine has kicked in, but after that they pick up quickly and can really shift. I think they feel quicker than the E400H when pushed, like you I've experienced them late at night and along the non-stop section along Sandpits and Ladywood Middleway they can go like **** off a shovel. They pull away quickly at Five Ways too, when they need to.

There aren't many seats downstairs, but massive legroom upstairs.

I'm a fan of both Hybrid types and think both will prove popular on the WN 1, as they are on the 22/23.

[Tony]

The Enviro400H is ridiculously fast accelerating and in my opinion looks nicer, the B5 is just so frustratingly slow in comparison. I know I'm rather speed-biased but well, if you're in the area, have a ride or two on the 22 or 23, see if you can get one of each bus. My first time the driver was giving an E400H a proper thrashing around deserted roads late at night, almost nobody on the bus, I absolutely loved it, couldn't believe how fast we were going.

Probably not as fast as you think! There is very little difference between the performance of the two types

[Bearwood11]

Been on both a good few times, B5LH has an unconventional downstairs layout but overall has grown on me. The initial start up is sluggish under the electric power till the engine kicks in and intial gear change occurs but it is very impressive speed wise when it gets going. Considerably faster than the Enviro 400H although there has been only one time I've experienced it as usually the 22/23 is a fairly congested route. I've read reviews that have suggested it's performance on routes that allow the B5LH to get up to speed it's superior to an Enviro 400H. Although the 400H seems to perform much more like a traditional bus on stop/start urban routes, from what I've heard it has quite a low top speed and can struggle on out of town, hilly routes in comparison with the B5LH. Can't find the review I remember reading but this one is quite a decent read

http://www.focustransport.org.uk/fhybrid3.aspx

[don]

Is it a coincidence...................but there appear to be about 80 pre 1628 Mercs left and NXWM have 81 double deckers on order.

Having said that, both YW and PB still have B10Ls also..............

[winston]

Is it a coincidence...................but there appear to be about 80 pre 1628 Mercs left and NXWM have 81 double deckers on order.

Having said that, both YW and PB still have B10Ls also..............

They have announced that 130 new buses on order, I'm assuming that doesn't include the 30 x Enviro 200's which should have been part of the 2012 NX bus order, but the quantity may well include the 9 x E400H destined for Dundee