Stagecoach has
issued a press release regarding the operation of the TFL purchased New
Routemaster buses on their Tayway 73 route in Scotland.
Stagecoach is to
test alternative bus technology as two hybrid vehicles from London go into
service in Dundee.
The new Routemaster double deck vehicles went into
service today (Monday 3 November) on the Tayway 73 route which operates between
Dundee and Arbroath.
The buses are a redesigned version of the historic
Routemaster vehicles which operated in London between 1956 and 2005. The two
new vehicles are on loan to Stagecoach from London, where they are being rolled
out across various routes in the city.
Stagecoach Chairman Sir Brian Souter who is driving one
of the buses as part of the testing said: “We had an opportunity to take these
two vehicles on trial for a short period and we are using this to specifically
evaluate the various alternative power options available in the bus market.
Technology that makes buses an even greener choice of transport over the car is
advancing rapidly and Stagecoach has been at the forefront of investing in new
hybrid electric vehicles in the UK.”
Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director, Stagecoach East
Scotland said: "We're looking forward to testing this new hybrid
technology and the red livery of the buses will definitely stand out in
Dundee. More importantly, it’s about
what’s under the bonnet and we’ll be analysing the fuel consumption of the
hybrids on the route over the next few months.”
The two vehicles are expected to be in service in Dundee
for around three months as Stagecoach tests the hybrid technology that is used
to power them. The analysis will include looking at the fuel consumption and
reliability of the vehicles as well as the feedback from drivers and customers.
Separately, Stagecoach previously announced plans to
invest in a new fleet of hybrid buses for the Tayway route next year. The
company already operates nine hybrid-electric vehicles in Perth.
The Tayway route 73 operates between Ninewells Hospital,
Dundee and Arbroath via Dundee city centre, Monifieth, and Carnoustie. There are journeys every 10 mins from the
city centre out to Ninewells and Monifieth, every 20 minutes to Carnoustie and
approximately every 30 minutes to Arbroath (Mondays to Fridays).
For more information on the Tayway routes visit www.stagecoachbus.com.
One of the new Routemasters will be showcased to the
public at Murraygate outside the Wellgate entrance between 11am and 4pm on
Monday 3rd November.
Currently,
Stagecoach operates New Routemasters on route 8 in London. Soon, in early 2015
route 55 is due to be operating with New Routemasters as part of the new
contract. So it will be interesting to see how Stagecoach’s Tayway route 73
operates as a trial in Scotland. The Stagecoach Tayway 73 route is one of the
few bus routes in Great Britain (not London Buses) to have 2nd crew
members on ‘One person Operated’ spec buses.
From LOTS news
·Forty LTs (317-356) for Arriva route 137should start
arriving shortly. Laid down for
production some months ago before the switch from the intended route 159 to the
137, they are Euro-V engined. Although
the 159 would have had 'conductors', the 137 will now be all driver-only
operation Daily.
·Meanwhile, in the past week a few more LTs have entered
service on the 453, allowing the cascade of E400s to Camberwell to get under
way. This is partly to cover a frequency increase on route 185 although other
E400s will allow Volvos to move on elsewhere.
So what this means
is that the original plan was to have New Routemasters on route 159 with 2nd
crew (open platform) but instead TFL decided to put them on route 137. Now both
of these routes are operated from Brixton Garage (BN) so there will be a chance
of route 159 having New Routemasters in the near future. But with route 137
having no 2nd crew members, I decided to check on Arriva London’s
website and found that they haven’t opened any vacancies for route 137
conductors.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400’s, on route 453 are being
replaced with New Routemasters which will enable route 185 to use the
'Enviro400's' instead and move the Volvos to another garage, or to Go Ahead’s
subsidiaries in various areas across England.
I have also discovered that First Group have introduced a
new webpage for the ‘New Bus for West Yorkshire’. They are using the New
Routemaster (LT2 which was the very first New Routemaster to enter London Bus
service) to promote new services operated by First Group for the users in West
Yorkshire. They won’t necessarily have ‘New Routemasters’ but their website
does state the following: “the introduction of new, iconic vehicles, similar
in concept to the "New Routemaster". Now you may be interested to
see their leaflet and take part in their survey. First Group wanted to have
open boarding similar to the concept of what the New Routemaster and bendy
buses provide on the Central London Bus routes, but they're not ready to use
open boarding because they are still using cash fares and haven’t made any
proposals to have Contactless bank cards like London Transport services
currently provide.
In my opinion, West Yorkshire Metro (Public Transport
Executive) should look at how Tyne and Wear councils have backed plans to
regulate bus services under the Quality Contracts Scheme and then have
regulated and subsidised bus services in the same style as London Buses are
doing. Instead of proposing to have a trolleybus for Leeds, they could
introduce new vehicles like a hybrid bus, Hydrogen or battery powered electric
bus. I also think they should introduce middle doors in order to speed up
boarding like London Bus services provide.
Currently, there are two bus operators that have shown
interest in the New Routemaster, the first one being 'First Group' whose
proposals for West Yorkshire includes the introduction of new, iconic vehicles,
similar in concept to the "New Routemaster" that's used in London,
and Secondly, Stagecoach are to trial New Routemasters purchased by TFL on
their Tayway route 73 on November 3rd. Ironically those two companies are based
in Scotland.
Now don’t forget to place a comment below the article and
express your opinion regarding the news about the New Routemaster. Also, please
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