Citaro woes.
Posted: 12:01 Tuesday 30th April 2019
Having ridden on the Woosh 'park and ride' Citaros some years ago in the City and to Redditch on the 350 route, before the operation closed down, I thought the type was a good top quality heavyweight vehicle. However the 17 year old examples recently cascaded to Worcester, despite cosmetic refurbishment, are showing their age with a number of basic undesirable features;
A) Dirty exhaust noted when 64014 pulls away and when accelerating, therefore polluting streets which are already above the safe limit in Worcester City. If only built to Euro III emissions standard then the whole batch including 08 registered buses are infinitely worse than the Streetlites and in need of conversion to Euro 6, which isn't likely to happen unless the City Council voice their disapproval and seek Government grants for the work.
B) When the next batch arrive to replace the Streetlites I can only see Worcester's fuel bill rising by a considerable amount as the Wrightbus product, like them or loathe them, are reportedly extremely frugal with excellent fuel consumption and low, low emissions. Are we heading for a similar outcome at Worcester as happened in March 2013 at Redditch some six months after hordes of ex-London Tridents arrrived, ie sold off to Rotala's Diamond operation?
C) My friend who regularly uses the Warndon buses has been complaining for months about lack of leg room in the Citaros which I took with a pinch of salt as the similar sized 'Salt Way' Volvos are acceptable throughout. However, since the Citaros have been used regularly on my local 37 I have the sore kneecap which proves his point, certain seats are OK but others especially on the nearside mean even a short person has to sit sideways. Therefore it pays to weigh up the legroom before you sit! On top of all that the seat backs (I assume as a result of refurbishment) are held on with a multitude of protruding Philips round head screws and washers just right to snag women's tights and cause bruises if emergency braking is needed.
D) I have noted that some of the Citaros and indeed some of the Volvos have loose ceiling panels which rattle and bang continuously when the bus is on the move, the roof panel of one Citaro has been stuffed with old cigarette packets just behind the cab to try and stop the racket but it still drums against a stanchion upright. Both types suffer from rattling noisy suspensions as well.
E) At least one of the Citaros gives a nasty jerk just as it pulls up at a stop which is not the norm for such vehicles; another bus has been running around for some time with a 15 degree lean to the nearside - this may have been rectified by now though. Yet another bus had a serious water leak which was luckily spotted by the driver, before any major damage was done as there was allegedly no warning light or buzzer of fluid loss.
A) Dirty exhaust noted when 64014 pulls away and when accelerating, therefore polluting streets which are already above the safe limit in Worcester City. If only built to Euro III emissions standard then the whole batch including 08 registered buses are infinitely worse than the Streetlites and in need of conversion to Euro 6, which isn't likely to happen unless the City Council voice their disapproval and seek Government grants for the work.
B) When the next batch arrive to replace the Streetlites I can only see Worcester's fuel bill rising by a considerable amount as the Wrightbus product, like them or loathe them, are reportedly extremely frugal with excellent fuel consumption and low, low emissions. Are we heading for a similar outcome at Worcester as happened in March 2013 at Redditch some six months after hordes of ex-London Tridents arrrived, ie sold off to Rotala's Diamond operation?
C) My friend who regularly uses the Warndon buses has been complaining for months about lack of leg room in the Citaros which I took with a pinch of salt as the similar sized 'Salt Way' Volvos are acceptable throughout. However, since the Citaros have been used regularly on my local 37 I have the sore kneecap which proves his point, certain seats are OK but others especially on the nearside mean even a short person has to sit sideways. Therefore it pays to weigh up the legroom before you sit! On top of all that the seat backs (I assume as a result of refurbishment) are held on with a multitude of protruding Philips round head screws and washers just right to snag women's tights and cause bruises if emergency braking is needed.
D) I have noted that some of the Citaros and indeed some of the Volvos have loose ceiling panels which rattle and bang continuously when the bus is on the move, the roof panel of one Citaro has been stuffed with old cigarette packets just behind the cab to try and stop the racket but it still drums against a stanchion upright. Both types suffer from rattling noisy suspensions as well.
E) At least one of the Citaros gives a nasty jerk just as it pulls up at a stop which is not the norm for such vehicles; another bus has been running around for some time with a 15 degree lean to the nearside - this may have been rectified by now though. Yet another bus had a serious water leak which was luckily spotted by the driver, before any major damage was done as there was allegedly no warning light or buzzer of fluid loss.