Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Managed rides on 4621, 4630 and 4632 on their début yesterday and thought all three were great. Overall these buses are a big improvement on the Pulsars and in particular the heaters are fantastic. It was a nice gesture from Arriva to celebrate their arrival by offering free travel too, so kudos for that decision.

It really is remarkable the contrast between those three and the inexcusably dire 4401 which was on rail replacements on Sunday. This is surely Arriva's worst Enviro400 and I ended up bailing at Bootle New Strand feeling fit to throw up. The ride was terribly rough and crashy and the interior cold, smelly and complete with a questionable brown stain on one of the seats near the back. By comparison, 4429 offered a smoother, nipper ride and was much tidier internally. More what you would expect from a set of buses that are still only six years old.

Some of Bootle's older Enviro400s are clearly still good, but they appear to be getting rather few and far between. 4401 urgently needs an internal refurbishment, the heaters fixing and the body tightening in my opinion.