A friend who lives in the city but has family and friends in the shire is fast losing patience with assorted interdeck problems of one kind or another, not least the limited and almost non-existent capacity for passengers with reduced mobility. Also for various mechanical issues and technical faults also. Still absolutely no idea why a fleet of these were bought for the routes they operate.
I know that this is probably a side discussion and perhaps I will start it as such but do you think in future we will see Stagecoach buying a significantly large number of the panther LE.
Regarding Panther LE's the simple answer is no, they're too low capacity for the Buchan routes and management themselves ruled this out at one of the bus forums back in 2019 when the issues about accessibility were brought up. It's likely that when the Buchan fleet comes up for renewal it'll be a batch of E400MMCs similar to those on the 35. This in itself will be problematic as passengers constantly complain when a low floor bus turns up on a "coach route" with the E400MMCs proving unpopular from day one, additionally lots of cyclists use the Buchan Xpress services.
For the moment Bluebird is stuck with the Interdecks, there's nowhere really for them to go and they'll struggle to sell them on the second hand. Plaxton Panorama's would be the ideal vehicles for the Buchan network however Bluebird are generally moving away from coaches as buses like the E400MMCs are cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and offer greater reliability. Notably as of this month there are no longer any coaches in service in Aberdeenshire.
It has been doing that for quite a while. Pretty much all the Interdecks have their "quirks" now.
Why are Aberdeen having so much trouble with their Interdecks then?
I don't see people commenting that the Arbroath ones on the X7 are unreliable.
To be honest the Interdeck as an idea seems kind of flawed to me, they're just not really suitable for anyone with mobility issues, wheelchairs, buggies or prams.
Where does the PantherLE lose its seats from? It's a full-length bus so it should still have adequate seats.
Is a dual-axle version of the Panorama available? I think that would be ideal, lots of accessible space downstairs a la the LE, but with more seats.
I was on a new (2021) E400MMC a few days ago out to Banchory, and the suspension on it was appalling, you could feel every bump on the road! Are all the E400MMC-chassis vehicles like this?