I have lots
of bus news for you today from around Britain and Ireland and have selected
various articles from the Web which I’ll re-print here and comment on, so let’s
begin.
First up, we
have the news that Stagecoach East
Scotland has ordered the Volvo B5LH with Enviro400 MMC bodywork for their
routes 20 and 21.
From Bus and Coach
Stagecoach has ordered seven Volvo/ADL
hybrid double-decks for its Dundee and Angus bus fleet with delivery due next spring.
The new buses will be introduced to routes 20 and 21, which run between
Brechin, Forfar, Kirriemuir and Dundee providing regular journeys for
commuters, students and shoppers into the city as well as providing vital local
links to Stracathro Hospital.
The Volvo B5LH hybrids will have ADL E400 MMC bodywork and come with
high-back Lazzerini Evoke e-leather seating, free wi-fi access and USB charging
points.
The order forms a £2.1m investment by Stagecoach, of which £300,000 will be supported by the Scottish Green Bus Fund provided by
the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Green Bus Fund has so far
assisted with the purchase of 269 low
carbon emission buses across Scotland, including 18 hybrid buses in 2015, which are currently running on the Tayway 73 route between Dundee and
Arbroath.
"We're committed to improving public
transport in Angus and Dundee and I am therefore delighted to announce our
further investment in the fleet for this area,” says Andrew Jarvis, managing
director, Stagecoach East Scotland. "Our fleet in Dundee was the first
public transport operator in Scotland and one of the first in the UK to be
awarded five stars as part of the EcoStars fleet evaluation project. These new
vehicles will complement our existing 18 electric-hybrid buses already in the
area, helping reduce our environmental impact and hopefully encourage more
customers to opt for our greener, smarter travel."
I’ll just
add that the Volvo B5LH with the Enviro400 MMC body work is also on London Buses routes 47, 135 and 177.
Now on to Arriva
who have just launched their new Enviro400 MMC’s for their Southend services.
From Bus and Coach
Arriva
has launched 18 Enviro400 double-deck buses in Southend, representing an investment of £3.8million. The 73-seat buses have
free 4G wi-fi, USB charging points and eco-leather seats. The buses will run
between Rayleigh, Thundersley, Hadleigh, Leigh, Westcliff, Southend,
Southchurch, Bournes Green, Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness.
“Travelling by bus will now be a much more
luxurious and convenient experience," says Ant Comber, Arriva general
manager, Southend. "USB charging points built into seats mean you can
check emails, catch up with friends or simply charge your phone or tablet. This
is a huge investment for the area and we are very proud to be bringing such a
quality service to Southend.”
The buses were officially launched at an
event held at the Southend depot, followed by a ride to the Cliffs Pavilion.
Guests at the launch event included James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and
Southend East, councillor Judith McMahon, mayor of Southend-on-Sea, and
representatives from Rochford, Castle Point and Rayleigh councils.
Moving on,
we find out that the new West Croydon bus station finally opens in South London.
Extract from
TFL press release
The station, which cost £4.5m, has been completely rebuilt with an open,
pedestrian-friendly layout, and 21% increased capacity.
The station will serve 25 bus routes and 150 buses per hour at peak times, with 23,000
passengers able to use it every day.
Situated on the site of the previous
station, it will provide close links to the London Overground station and Tram
station.
The new bus station was designed by TfL's
in-house team. They ensured the new low-rise building will make a significant
and positive contribution to both the immediate environment and the wider Croydon
town centre.
The
new facilities include:
·
A large
sheltered waiting area
·
Real time
travel information
·
A modern
public address system
·
State-of-the-art
CCTV and improved lighting
·
Accessibility
improvements
·
18% more
seating
·
A retail
outlet
·
A fully
accessible public toilet
·
Fifteen
solar panels on the roof of the building
The reopening of West Croydon bus station
comes one month after the launch of the new Hopper fare - which allows
passengers to switch from bus to tram, tram to bus or tram to tram for free
within an hour. The new fare has already been a huge success and many more
people will benefit thanks to the easy interchange between buses and trams at
this site.
The West Croydon London Overground station
is also within a minute's walk of the bus and tram stations and completes this
site's value as key transport hub and interchange for TfL customers.
Below you
can see an interesting photo that I found of the West Croydon bus station when
the previous building was opened back in 1985.
On to Dublin
now, in Ireland; Dublin Bus
introduces three new bus routes serving Dublin City University.
From Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is committed to improving
connections for students by continuously monitoring and improving our routes
serving schools, colleges and universities across the Greater Dublin Area.
Therefore, we are pleased to announce the introduction of three new routes,
providing direct connections to Dublin City University (DCU) from Monday 17 October.
These routes will provide students with
further transport options to DCU while also catering for commuters working in
the area. These routes will be further enhanced by the introduction of
additional peak journeys across the Ballymun, Finglas, Lucan, Templeogue,
Malahide and Harold’s Cross bus corridors from Monday 17 October. These
improvements are aimed at easing our customers’ commute and making their
journey a little more comfortable.
New
route details:
Route 31d will provide a morning and evening
service between Baldoyle and DCU, serving Strand Road, Dublin Road, Howth Road
and Collins Avenue. The bus will depart from Baldoyle at 07.45 (arrives to DCU
at 08.35) and will depart DCU at 17.15.
Route 42d will provide a morning and evening
service from Portmarnock to DCU, serving Strand Road, Wendell Avenue, Blackwood
Lane, The Hill, Malahide Village, Yellow Walls Road, Swords Road, Holywell, M1
and M50, Ballymun Road and Collins Avenue. The bus will depart from Portmarnock
at 07.30 (arrives to DCU at 08.40) and will depart DCU at 17.10.
Route 70d will provide a morning and evening
service from Dunboyne to DCU, serving Clonee, Blanchardstown Village,
Castleknock Road, Navan Road, Nephin Road, Ratoath Road, Ballyboggan Road,
Finglas Road, Old Finglas Road, Griffith Avenue Extension and Ballymun Road.
The bus will depart from Dunboyne at 07.15 (arrives to DCU at 08.30) and will
depart DCU at 17.05.
Next I have
an update regarding the two door 1 staircase New Routemaster, which is
officially known as the SRM (Son of
Routemaster). There’s three photographs of the VHR45206 which were taken at
Heysham Docks on 14th October 2016.
After all
six have been delivered, the long wait will be finally over!
And finally,
we have a news update from LOTS:
1) The
18 new E40D/E400 (MMC)s for Arriva Southern Counties at Southend (6499-6516)
entered service there on route 1 last weekend. In consequence, `13 Versas
(4200-12) are in the process of transferring from Southend to Guildford (albeit
some are working at Maidstone whilst en-route). At GF they will replace some
Cadets to the training fleet plus some E200s for transfer elsewhere.
2) Delivery of the 17 new E20D/E200 buses
(1221-1237) for CT Plus began in the past week.
These are for the assumption from 26th November of route W19 (Ilford-
Walthamstow) and will be the first TfL buses to operate from the new Walthamstow Stadium (code AW) Garage.
At Arriva just two (LT813/4) of the 32
LTs delivered for route 253 has finally entered service; the batch LT813-844 has been in store for about
two months awaiting Oyster reader equipment. Meanwhile, two or three LTs per day from the 73 allocation have
been used on the 253 for a few weeks now so as to get the conversion started.
As always, I
invite you to follow me on Twitter
and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92
Image attribution
West Croydon
Bus Station wider view by Kate_Pugh https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/30215103405/
