VWL119 wrote:


The 2008 VWDs aren't sounding as healthy as they used to, or as healthy as the B9TLs my local First division has (which would be slightly older than the 08 reg VWDs). I was also disappointed to hear a clunking sound from the front suspension of VWL154 yesterday, all the First Volvos in my area make the exact same sound, but the Bus Éireann ones never used to. I can only assume that the unreliability of the DDs is impacting on maintenance of the other buses in the fleet. It's a pity that standards have dropped, especially as Capwell no longer have the unreliable VC300s to deal with (yes I know they still have a lot of them, but only on schools, so they're not going to take up anything like as much time as they used to when they were far more intensively used as road passenger coaches).

Are the DD's really that unreliable? When I was in Cork pretty much every DD was out in service that day, none were in the garage getting looked at, meaning there was no impact on maintenance at all. Also by checking the obs everyday I can see that most DD's are out and about every day. I think the DD's are being used as scapegoats to be honest. VWD's (or any B9TL Gemini's) are often glorified to the extent that they're an almost perfect bus, and while yes they are a good solid bus they're very, very far from perfect. Time to accept the fact that the VWD's are just not that good a bus, they're getting old and showing their age, just like the DD's have.