Bus fire in Southend town centre (From Southend Standard)

does it matter that it was a female driver?

not surprising considering most buses both first and arriva use are all clapped out pieces of junk, about time both companies invested in some more new buses for southend.

belfairs wrote:
does it matter that it was a female driver?

Yes it does.

She should be at home, baking soda bread.

'Firefighters from Southend fire station where able to extinguish the flames within 30 minutes with.'
who checks this cr@p writing?

Forget the Olympic Flame this was worth seeing.

joeski97 wrote:
not surprising considering most buses both first and arriva use are all clapped out pieces of junk, about time both companies invested in some more new buses for southend.

Totally agree. Hopefully the bus in question has now been scrapped rather than being patched up and put back on the road. Bus fares are astronomical and for the price paid, the least a passenger should be able to expect, is a decent bus that will get them form A to B without feeling that the bus they are travelling on is about to conk out at any minute which is what the current fleets (apart from the new no.9s) do.

Number 9 buses between Shoebury and Rayleigh are super, such a
smooth pleasant ride. Why can't all Southend's buses be as nice? No money, I s'pose. But there's money to build a new library we prob. don't really need yet.

There was a time that Southend buses were so good they were sold on to other councils. (When Southend Council ran the buses).Now you are never sure if the bus is going to make it. Plus there is not enough room if two prams are on it.

Many of these buses during summer run with their internal heaters running on full blast so passengers cook on those rare hot summer days. When passengers request for the heaters to be switched off the drivers say nothing they can do. Maybe it's all to do with cooling the vintage engines.

well most buses apart from the ones on the 9 are more than 10 years old and in desperate need of replacement and not refurbishment!

I saw the bus in question on Saturday. Given the age of the bus(if my memory serves me right it was an 'R' registration) and looking at the damage I would be surprised to see it back on the road.. Mind you, they like vintage vehicles on the 25 route, I regularly see an 'N' reg double decker on it and have even seen an 'L' reg on it in recent months!

was the driver keeping her fish and chips warm on the engine after getting the idea from reruns of 'on the buses'?

It was a disaster for Stan and Jack too.

As said before, no towns in this country have a brand new bus fleet and so new, mid-life and older vehicles should be expected for which both Arriva and First operate vehicles in all three catagories in this town.

Buses catch fire every now and again and considering the amount of driving they do this isn't a surprise. Be glad this vehicle caught fire early on a Saturday morning when it would be quiet and whilst it was already stopped.

The L and N reg double deckers on the 25 are potentially to cover for workings that pick up school loadings and need double deckers. I believe the 25 route is also made to pass under a low bridge that means all new low floor double deckers are too high to pass under without ripping the roof off (including the supposedly low height Wright Gemini 2 model). Thus the old step entrance double deckers will still be round for a while and was the reason Arriva kept theirs for so long.

Also, bus fares are relatively cheap in Southend so stop your moaning! For perspecive, a day rover in Chelmsford is £4.40 compared to £3.40 in Southend.

Ray Von wrote:
As said before, no towns in this country have a brand new bus fleet and so new, mid-life and older vehicles should be expected for which both Arriva and First operate vehicles in all three catagories in this town.

Buses catch fire every now and again and considering the amount of driving they do this isn't a surprise. Be glad this vehicle caught fire early on a Saturday morning when it would be quiet and whilst it was already stopped.

The L and N reg double deckers on the 25 are potentially to cover for workings that pick up school loadings and need double deckers. I believe the 25 route is also made to pass under a low bridge that means all new low floor double deckers are too high to pass under without ripping the roof off (including the supposedly low height Wright Gemini 2 model). Thus the old step entrance double deckers will still be round for a while and was the reason Arriva kept theirs for so long.

Also, bus fares are relatively cheap in Southend so stop your moaning! For perspecive, a day rover in Chelmsford is £4.40 compared to £3.40 in Southend.

arriva southend had low floor double deckers but they sold them to kent and replaced them with old clapped out E and F reg ones.

joeski97 wrote:

Ray Von wrote:
As said before, no towns in this country have a brand new bus fleet and so new, mid-life and older vehicles should be expected for which both Arriva and First operate vehicles in all three catagories in this town.

Buses catch fire every now and again and considering the amount of driving they do this isn't a surprise. Be glad this vehicle caught fire early on a Saturday morning when it would be quiet and whilst it was already stopped.

The L and N reg double deckers on the 25 are potentially to cover for workings that pick up school loadings and need double deckers. I believe the 25 route is also made to pass under a low bridge that means all new low floor double deckers are too high to pass under without ripping the roof off (including the supposedly low height Wright Gemini 2 model). Thus the old step entrance double deckers will still be round for a while and was the reason Arriva kept theirs for so long.

Also, bus fares are relatively cheap in Southend so stop your moaning! For perspecive, a day rover in Chelmsford is £4.40 compared to £3.40 in Southend.

arriva southend had low floor double deckers but they sold them to kent and replaced them with old clapped out E and F reg ones.

Yes that is correct joeski and that is the only model of double deck that was available in a low height that was low enough for Southend. Being pedandic they wouldn't have been sold to Arriva in Kent, its just an inter-company transfer. To be honest at the time Southend was very lucky and one of the earliest non-London companies to recieve low floor double deckers so if they didn't earn the money, of course they'd have gone elsewhere. Companies work for profit since deregulation.

Ray Von wrote:

joeski97 wrote:

Ray Von wrote:
As said before, no towns in this country have a brand new bus fleet and so new, mid-life and older vehicles should be expected for which both Arriva and First operate vehicles in all three catagories in this town.

Buses catch fire every now and again and considering the amount of driving they do this isn't a surprise. Be glad this vehicle caught fire early on a Saturday morning when it would be quiet and whilst it was already stopped.

The L and N reg double deckers on the 25 are potentially to cover for workings that pick up school loadings and need double deckers. I believe the 25 route is also made to pass under a low bridge that means all new low floor double deckers are too high to pass under without ripping the roof off (including the supposedly low height Wright Gemini 2 model). Thus the old step entrance double deckers will still be round for a while and was the reason Arriva kept theirs for so long.

Also, bus fares are relatively cheap in Southend so stop your moaning! For perspecive, a day rover in Chelmsford is £4.40 compared to £3.40 in Southend.

arriva southend had low floor double deckers but they sold them to kent and replaced them with old clapped out E and F reg ones.

Yes that is correct joeski and that is the only model of double deck that was available in a low height that was low enough for Southend. Being pedandic they wouldn't have been sold to Arriva in Kent, its just an inter-company transfer. To be honest at the time Southend was very lucky and one of the earliest non-London companies to recieve low floor double deckers so if they didn't earn the money, of course they'd have gone elsewhere. Companies work for profit since deregulation.

do you know if southend is due to get anymore new or buses newer than t-reg?

Parents pay a lot of money for the school transport and the children are provided with ancient buses to travel on. It's a wonder that more buses of that vintage aren't catching fire. I would be interested to know where all the money that is paid is going - as it certainly isn't being spent on the provision of decent transport for the children.

joeski97 wrote:

Ray Von wrote:

joeski97 wrote:

Ray Von wrote:
As said before, no towns in this country have a brand new bus fleet and so new, mid-life and older vehicles should be expected for which both Arriva and First operate vehicles in all three catagories in this town.

Buses catch fire every now and again and considering the amount of driving they do this isn't a surprise. Be glad this vehicle caught fire early on a Saturday morning when it would be quiet and whilst it was already stopped.

The L and N reg double deckers on the 25 are potentially to cover for workings that pick up school loadings and need double deckers. I believe the 25 route is also made to pass under a low bridge that means all new low floor double deckers are too high to pass under without ripping the roof off (including the supposedly low height Wright Gemini 2 model). Thus the old step entrance double deckers will still be round for a while and was the reason Arriva kept theirs for so long.

Also, bus fares are relatively cheap in Southend so stop your moaning! For perspecive, a day rover in Chelmsford is £4.40 compared to £3.40 in Southend.

arriva southend had low floor double deckers but they sold them to kent and replaced them with old clapped out E and F reg ones.

Yes that is correct joeski and that is the only model of double deck that was available in a low height that was low enough for Southend. Being pedandic they wouldn't have been sold to Arriva in Kent, its just an inter-company transfer. To be honest at the time Southend was very lucky and one of the earliest non-London companies to recieve low floor double deckers so if they didn't earn the money, of course they'd have gone elsewhere. Companies work for profit since deregulation.

do you know if southend is due to get anymore new or buses newer than t-reg?

Southend already have buses newer than T reg; First have X reg signle deckers, First have V/W/Y/51 reg double deckers, Arriva have 04 and 12 plated single deckers. We're doing quite well compared to other areas in the country and I would hardly call T reg old.

In anycase, I'm still pleased to see the PxxxFPK single deckers are Arriva, which were the last new buses to wear Southend Transport livery.

Stephenson's have the best buses although their sad excuse for the free Asda Bus is very old .... They have some 12 plates, Arrivas ones are 61 ... I saw a 51 plated Arriva bus today, still 10 years old ... T reg is very old!! As are the R and S ones run by First. Regal Busways have some nice ones and a few old specimens as well!

Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote:
Stephenson's have the best buses although their sad excuse for the free Asda Bus is very old .... They have some 12 plates, Arrivas ones are 61 ... I saw a 51 plated Arriva bus today, still 10 years old ... T reg is very old!! As are the R and S ones run by First. Regal Busways have some nice ones and a few old specimens as well!

what route was the arriva 51 reg bus on?

joeski97 wrote:

Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote:
Stephenson's have the best buses although their sad excuse for the free Asda Bus is very old .... They have some 12 plates, Arrivas ones are 61 ... I saw a 51 plated Arriva bus today, still 10 years old ... T reg is very old!! As are the R and S ones run by First. Regal Busways have some nice ones and a few old specimens as well!

what route was the arriva 51 reg bus on?

The 51 plated Arriva bus was not on any route, it is currently being used as a driver shuttle plus driver familiarisation at a guess as it is a new type of bus.

Southed is due a number of these vehicles in the coming weeks/months and they are ex-London vehicles which means they are having to undergo a single door conversion and repaint before service. I have known about the arrival of these for some months joeski but it was not my place to say they were due to arrive when you asked in an earlier comment above.

Whilst T reg might be seen as old, I still don't understand the complaints. We have new buses (61 plated), mid-life (04/51/T plated) and these "old" (P plated) vehicles. This is normal for every bus depot in the country (unless you are lucky and get local authority funding like in Manchester) and I do not see any reason to moan. In anycase, I think these older vehicles are better than the ones on the number 9.

Ray Von wrote:

joeski97 wrote:

Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote:
Stephenson's have the best buses although their sad excuse for the free Asda Bus is very old .... They have some 12 plates, Arrivas ones are 61 ... I saw a 51 plated Arriva bus today, still 10 years old ... T reg is very old!! As are the R and S ones run by First. Regal Busways have some nice ones and a few old specimens as well!

what route was the arriva 51 reg bus on?

The 51 plated Arriva bus was not on any route, it is currently being used as a driver shuttle plus driver familiarisation at a guess as it is a new type of bus.

Southed is due a number of these vehicles in the coming weeks/months and they are ex-London vehicles which means they are having to undergo a single door conversion and repaint before service. I have known about the arrival of these for some months joeski but it was not my place to say they were due to arrive when you asked in an earlier comment above.

Whilst T reg might be seen as old, I still don't understand the complaints. We have new buses (61 plated), mid-life (04/51/T plated) and these "old" (P plated) vehicles. This is normal for every bus depot in the country (unless you are lucky and get local authority funding like in Manchester) and I do not see any reason to moan. In anycase, I think these older vehicles are better than the ones on the number 9.

well the 61 plated buses do sometimes end up on other routes other than the 9, i've been on one on the 7 before. the small 04 plated buses always seem to be on 7s and 29s so it means the other routes get stuck with mainly the old p plated buses. hopefully the 51 plated ones will go on anything.