Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

[mathias]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(13/09/2012 21:54)27701 Wrote:  

(13/09/2012 21:28)507009 Wrote:  I make it 15 Pulsars of the new batch which are due for Bootle: 3107-3121. This will give some leeway for use beyond the 53/53A as this route has a PVR of 12.

With luck, as MPTE says we will indeed lose some Marshalls. All things being equal, with the five T-PNBs very likely goners, that leaves 10 Marshalls able to depart the Bootle fleet. This will be a massive improvement for everyone, not least the 53 users.

I'm hoping that these allocations will benefit the 311 - somehow. If 10 Marshalls are withdrawn, that'd be excellent news! As a passenger, though, I'd prefer 15 Marshalls to be withdrawn and the 5 T-PNBs to stay on the road. After all, they're a bit older than them, but they're completely different.

Just to sum-up what I've had on the 311 recently:
I've had Cadet 2519 - comfortable and suited for the service. I had Pulsar 2 2942 once - this was a bit rattly, but comfortable!

I've had Marshalls 7638, 7646, 7648, 7660 and 7661 - I actually had 7646 today and this has been the best Marshall that I've had on this service for a while (excellent ride-quality, compared to the others). On the other hand, 7638, 7648 and 7660 all offered backache and a headache within the hour - things that I had no choice in receiving... 7661 was OK.

So - going off my report... The more Marshalls that go, the better!

The Marshalls that have had P&P seem to be of a better quality than 'untouched' ones (yellow roller blinds, standard livery, red MTL moquette) like 7662, 7663 etc.
When they get Interurban paint etc, the Bodyshop boys seem to tighten them up, so they don't rattle as much.

Either way, some of the standard livery ones remind me of the worst of the Ultralows and Pathfinders