A few comments on this.1) The CityExpress ones will have normal seats and are in standard livery. Hardly an improvement but in my opinion the Mercs are the least comfortable buses on the fleet.
2) In the Belfast area there are very few low bridges - in fact the entry to GVS is the only one I can think of on a road traffic'd by buses. It was responsible for the demise of the Wedding Bus.
3) The drivers on the 83/4 appreciate the shorter length of the decker compared to the B10BLEs, especially round Botanic and on the turn in ot Newton Park.
4) For being 18m in length the bendis offer only 8 seats more than a Cityliner - the deckers have 25 seats extra.
5) From travelling on deckers, most people genuinely appreciate them compared to a single decker, and it's not often these days Translink gets praise!