More B****y Streetlites

[bmmoboy]

Another 4 Streetlites were collected from Bradford on Tuesday. 47478-81 have appeared.

[ANDREW]

That's an early Christmas present for you !! Interestingly Bustimes has had these as Worcester buses for four weeks now. I guess they had only been transferred on paper.

[AdamH]

They probably set out weeks ago but have only just arrived!

[TimBrown]

Another 4 Streetlites were collected from Bradford on Tuesday. 47478-81 have appeared.

I realise from recent comments that these Streetlites are not popular with drivers, but they are a more environmentally friendly Euro5 emission rating than the Citaros, which kick out black smoke when pulling away - except of course the 'spare bus' pair converted to Euro 6 standard. As an ex-driver I am of the opinion that Wrights went on a cost-saving exercise when fitting out the driving controls - the speedometer is about a quarter the size of the one in my Skoda Fabia! No doubt you drivers could quote numerous other problem areas.

From a relatively tall passenger's point of view the seats are comfortable and legroom spacing is reasonable in a Streetlite unlike the cramped nearside accommodation of the ex-airport service Citaros, plagued with those massive offside luggage racks. On the down side, Streetlites and Streetdecks suffer from very harsh suspension which can jarr the back and spine over the admittedly bad road conditions of our undermaintained local network.

From listening to service staff in the past it appears that Streetlites are economical and use a lot less fuel than comparable Volvo and Mercedes single-deckers, which may help to retain current level of Worcester's shrunken City and County services. But how do Streetlites compare for reliability; are they good, bad or about the same as other buses?

[bmmoboy]

The list of faults with Streetlites is endless. The drivers seat (and passenger seats) are simulated leather, which is bloody freezing first thing in the morning, and unbearably hot and sticky in Summer. When the headlights are switched on (which is all the time) the dashboard goes dim, as if driving at night, so is unreadable in bright sunlight. The adjustable steering function only works when the ignition is switched on, before the engine is started. Reversing is awkward at the best of times, very jerky. There is no “kick-down” facility, meaning you have to take your life in your hands when pulling out into traffic or at roundabouts. There is very little room in the cab (deckers are worse), and the security screens make it very difficult to see the near side, especially in bright sunlight, or in the dark of Crowngate with the interior lights on. The main bugbear is the fact that most of them switch themselves off after between 2 and 10 minutes, with no warning, switching the ticket machine, and more importantly, the saloon lights off, which is poor, especially in the dark recesses of Crowngate. They also rattle and vibrate continuously, due to the poor build quality, they are cheap, and that is why First have bought hundreds of them. When they first arrived, I was told that First employees had an input in the design, well it obviously didn’t include any driving staff!
The only positive is that our original vehicles 47513-18, have air conditioning, which is welcome in the Summer (when it works).
Some of the latest arrivals are marginally better, especially the ones from York, who have better acceleration, and you can actually hear the bell!
I think that Wrights would be better getting the Leyland National design team back together, however I think that most if not all have passed on by now, as they knew how to design a bus with the driver in mind.
So as you can see, I am not the Worlds greatest Streetlite fan and I don’t know how much longer I will be at Padmore Street.
Finally, there were 6 of the useless things at Bradford, to be collected for Worcester. Staff went up to bring them back, but only 4 made the journey, the remaining 2 not even making it through Bradfords’ depot gates. One which did make it hasn’t got any back seats - yet another example that we get everybody else’s crap!

[AdamH]

I always found they were very difficult to brake smoothly. With various engine systems only being used when needed, and thus constantly switching on or off, you could be braking for a stop or traffic lights and all of a sudden the engine note would change and with it you suddenly got a different amount of engine braking. Sometimes the gearbox would even change up while braking! Depending on what the bus decided to do, it could mean less or more engine braking force, but the end result was always the same. The driver would have to compensate with their right foot on the peddle, resulting in a not so smooth experience for the passenger, and occasionally overshooting the intended stopping point by a couple of meters.

Don't get me wrong, if you stepped on the brakes they always stopped, but the way they were designed made it extremely hard to provide a nice smooth ride, and I always felt they made it look like I was a bad driver... I don't need any help with that!

[TimBrown]

You know reading both of your reported problems, I wonder why representation wasn't made to management via the union and if it was why something hasn't been done to rectify the obvious problems. Like Adam I hated driving buses with on-off brakes and in the distant past those Nationals which dragged their brakes on long after your foot had come off the brake pedal on to the accelerator. I seem to remember your foot needed to be on top of high mounted brake pedal of the Lances otherwise they locked-up as well.

The other problems of excessive reflections caused by perspex security panels ought to have been dealt with when new as a safety critical issue. Not sure about the 'leather cloth' seats as I have had to sit on a moquette driver's seat which is wringing wet from previous driver' sweat in the very hot weather in those oven-ready Mercedes Vario sauna cabs! At least a vinyl seat can be wiped clean and dry at start of a turn. In the past I noted many drivers brought a towel to put on Vario seats, so it is a historical problem.

As a passenger I have ridden on Diamond's Streetlites and they are much higher geared than First's with low revs at 50 MPH when they eventually get there; downside on long dual carriageway climbs the speed drops off rapidly and the engine struggles because gearbox won't change down and bus becomes a sitting duck at 15 to 20 MPH on a 70 MPH road. Methinks those who complain get the "Well if you don't like it find another job" treatment. As an aside when I reported a bus with an under registering speedo at WR many years ago I was told by a certain 'Mr No' that "I should know how fast I was doing as a professional driver". Some months later the bus was transferred to KR and within days it had a new speedo generator fitted. Point being, unless everyone stands firm it is easy for management to fob off the lone voice individual.

[asb]

In the past I noted many drivers brought a towel to put on Vario seats, so it is a historical problem.

I remember after passing my test, on my first day with my mentor he went through my bag and said "get a towel" for just that reason! It made sitting on damp seats tolerable, but vinyl seats would have had their issues too, so without air con (and therefore no sweating) it is a difficult thing.

I've never driven a Streetlite, but have heard it's more how the engine is configured (by the computer) rather than being outright underpowered. They can be nippy if the owners want them to be!

[DD12]

47440 has been added to the bustimes.org list of WR vehicles, ex Hengrove, Bristol.

Apparently it has a green front.

Coincidentally, I was in a pub in Ombersley around 2PM, when I thought I got a glimpse of the rear of a StreetLite in "olympia" livery behind a tow truck, heading north, --

I bet I never get to know what THAT was !! -- ?

[ANDREW]

47480 has not been used for a few weeks. Maybe Diamond have acquired it ?!?