Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[K853 MTJ]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Had a nice day with the girlfriend today. The plan was to stay in Widnes but boredom led us to St Helens and Warrington!


Arriva VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet ????
Service 79C from Hough Green to Widnes
Cant remember which one it was, but overall it wasn't too bad, a rather nice ride overall, slightly rattly if nothing else but a decent-ish turn of speed.

Arriva Scania L113CRL/Northern Counties Paladin 1057 R57 XVM
Service 33A from Widnes to St Helens, Bickerstaffe Street
The smile that was on my face when I seen this is uncomprehendable when I seen this laying over at the stop. I wasn't that disappointed in all honesty! It sounded very healthy, the driver wasn't slow but wasn't fast either, I can't complain really! The interior wasn't as rattly as some other examples that have mercifully gone for scrap! A nice touch was the original power blinds, although the 1 interurban door look a bit out of place :P

Arriva VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet 2496 CX54 DKO
Service 329 from St Helens Bus Station to Warrington Bus Station
Someone up there clearly fancied having a laugh at my expense when this was allocated to this! The bus wasn't too rattly and had a decent turn of speed, but the constant cooling fan was an annoyance.

Arriva VDL SB200CS/Wright Pulsar 2 2962 MX09 JJE
Service 6 from Warrington Bus Station to Sankey Bridges
Someone else decided they would have a giggle by having this appear to me when I wanted my Dart fix for the day! In all fairness it was a massive improvement on previous GL Pulsars I have been on. It wasn't very rattly and the engine sounded very good indeed, just a shame it never had the chance during my journey to rev that high! However it is worth noting that the boarding process was greatly delayed and hindered by the new ticket machine.

Arriva VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet ????
Service 110 from Penketh Lanes End to Widnes
Another generic rolling turd, what can I say, it was quite rattly but was quick off the mark, nothing to rave about by any means!

Arriva VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet 2534 DK55 FXX
Service 79C from Widnes to Hough Green Farm, Sporting Ford
One of the better ones, not massively quick but a tidy and not so rattly interior made for a bearable ride.

Arriva VDL SB120CS/Wright Cadet 2553 DK55 FYT
Service 79C from Hough Green Farm, Sporting Ford to Hough Green Station.
Good news! Its idle vibrations have been sorted!
Bad news! Its developed a catastrophically unhealthy engine, with a loud whirring/whistling coming from what sounds to be the gearbox while it is accelerating, particularly low to medium revs in gear 1 and 2. And it was even louder outside than it was inside. It is unlike any noise I have heard any other VDL product make, or any bus make for that matter! Utterly dreadful and desperately needs it seeing to soon as it was not good.

I'll also be making a complaint tomorrow to Arriva regarding their ridiculously bad punctuality on the 79C corridor, with any journies that I get from Hough Green Farm (Runcorn bound) often running 10 minutes late, if not more. It has been a recurring issue over the past few months regardless of time of day (For gods sake, even early morning Sunday servcies that I have got have ran over 15 mins late!)