More Arriva London cascades?

[126th street]

RE: More Arriva London cascades?
Much of Arriva's double-deck policy throughout the UK is governed by London requirements and what is surplus there. On the face of it, it is quite strange to be spending serious money on 51/02-plate VLWs which realistically have four years' work ahead of them at the most, but there is little alternative. They have to do something with them, just as they did the DLAs before.

It is entirely reasonable to think that the later B7TLs, up to 55-plates, in London will eventually find their way to the provinces, as will Enviro400s and DB300s. They may have been looked after reasonably well, as is mandated for any bus employed on TfL contracts, but make no mistake, buses in London have been worked half to death before they come out of there.

Contrary to general opinion the B7TL is not a great bus and the 7.3-litre engine in them is far from Volvo's finest hour, particularly compared to some of those which have gone before it. It needs serious and expensive work around the bus's midlife point and drinks diesel like it's going out of fashion.

That said, Arriva can only work with what they've got, and it is in fact to their credit that they are sprucing the ex-London kit up nicely and not simply repainting them and putting them straight on the road, which is exactly what 'certain other' operators have done in the past.