Enviro 400H Ride - Stagecoach North East 12065 / NK11 DHD

In this video I ride a 2011 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400H (Hybrid) based at Stagecoach North East (Newcastle) Walkergate bus depot. Bus 12065 / NK11 DHD.

I ride this bus on route 12 in the Wallsend / Walker area.

These Enviro 400H buses have a very nice green version of the old stagecoach interior. They used to have a green version of the stagecoach livery on the outside but now just have the standard Stagecoach local livery.

The Enviro 400H has changed quite a bit over the years and these older examples are showing their age now but I still find (most of them!) nice to ride. One big difference between the old and new models are that on the new models the engine cuts out when not required but on these older versions this does not happen. When these buses were newer they were much quieter than a standard full diesel Enviro 400 but all seem to have loud fans on the engines now. This is actually one of the more quiet ones in the area. On some of the other members of the fleet if you sit in the same seat I did, you will find it uncomfortable with loud fan noise but this one is ok for that. 12065 is a bit creaky at times but is overall a good Enviro 400H.

I find it interesting how these buses sound compared to a full diesel. You will notice at first the engine revs quite a bit but then after this initial speed up it will sound much quieter compared to the more constant sounds on a full diesel bus. I like the sounds on these!

I would love to ride one of these buses at speed but that does not really happen with any of the ones at Stagecoach Newcastle. Most routes are fairly slow and stop start which I guess suits these buses as I think they have a top speed of 45mph so would not be good on many routes due to that. Acceleration is good though which is perfect for start stop routes. The only place with a bit of speed these serve is on the route 22 between Newcastle and Throckley, but even that is limited.

What do you think of the Enviro 400H? I like them but I know not everyone does due to issues with reliability and loud fan noise.