Associate
I thought they had to get rid of the old hop on hop off buses due to H&S?
I do like the idea of bringing them back.
I do like the idea of bringing them back.
New Routemaster bus
- Thread starter robfosters
- Start date
Man of Honour
It can run with the door open, or closed.
Man of Honour
Nothing to do with health and safety to the best of my knowledge - it was down to costs (conductors) and the low floor regulations they imposed. That's what got rid of the Routemasters.
Soldato
Makes me want to become a bus driver!
NAT!!!!!!!!
Looks quite cool for a bus, aren't they meant to be building electric buses these days?
NAT!!!!!!!!
Looks quite cool for a bus, aren't they meant to be building electric buses these days?
Still can and do in central London. Useful if you've missed the bus by a few seconds and the bus is stopped in traffic.
Indeed - heritage routes through central London still run old routemasters, chased many down Fleet Street....
Man of Honour
I think it looks pretty cool. Wonder how long it'll be until it gets trashed.
I thought it cost £1.3m to develop? Which if you think about it is quite a small price for development of a new vehicle no?
Still, 100% better than those ridiculous bendy busses which are just not suited to London's roads.
I think I heard that when stationary the back hop on door, opens. It closes as the bus starts to move.
I thought it cost £1.3m to develop? Which if you think about it is quite a small price for development of a new vehicle no?
Still, 100% better than those ridiculous bendy busses which are just not suited to London's roads.
I think I heard that when stationary the back hop on door, opens. It closes as the bus starts to move.
Soldato
I think this will be dubbed "Emo bus"
http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=ps....,cf.osb&fp=440660d03c957758&biw=1920&bih=915
http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=ps....,cf.osb&fp=440660d03c957758&biw=1920&bih=915
Soldato
Man of Honour
I don't see how constantly charging a battery is more efficient than a normal engine, personally. You've got an engine constantly ticking over to keep the battery charged and provide power to the electrics, and it generates electricity when braking.
Put a small diesel engine engine in, rather than the massive engines that are used now.
Put a small diesel engine engine in, rather than the massive engines that are used now.
Soldato
They've been test driving them around the local roads here for a while now before they ship them over to Landan town and they look pretty nifty.
It's just a pity that we'll never get to actually use anything like that over here.
It's just a pity that we'll never get to actually use anything like that over here.
Public transport isn't exactly under subscribed in London?
Soldato
Cos the engine is much smaller, its cleaner and far better for smog and noise.
The route-masters are between £300,000 and £330,000 depending on unit orders. Which is still a little more expensive than the average price for a DD, but they have a longer London lifespan and will be cascaded down to other operations once their TfL service lifetime is spent. The huge fuel savings (11mpg from a bus is pretty spectacular) will account for a significant part of the unit cost especially as the fuel subsidy is being cut by 20% and the Bendy Buses will be cascaded down to other operations as well.
The BBC probably took the £1.3m unit price from the initial costs for the 5 design prototypes which were around £7m.
So surely the point then would be to make it reliable considering the bus has to cover absolute moon mileage - something I would have thought hybrid technology and a "modern diesel" would be completely at odds with?
Soldato
A bus in a city location is the ideal application for a hybrid powertrain.
Soldato
Hardly. Its almost aerospace like with their usage... Save a kg when you make it as the fuel savings are so great over its lifetime. Less brake replacement work aswell with regen braking.