Alexander Y type - why did it have an emergency door at both sides?

[PG]

As per the thread title. The Y type remained in production for nigh on 20 years and they all seemed to have two rear emergency doors - one on each side.

I've never quite figured out why, as other builders contemporary bodywork seemed to only have an offside rear emergency door...
Just to illustrate what I'm on about...
Seddon Pennine VII/Alexander Y Type by Jim MacRae, on Flickr

 

[GusB]

As per the thread title. The Y type remained in production for nigh on 20 years and they all seemed to have two rear emergency doors - one on each side.

I've never quite figured out why, as other builders contemporary bodywork seemed to only have an offside rear emergency door...
Just to illustrate what I'm on about...
Seddon Pennine VII/Alexander Y Type by Jim MacRae, on Flickr

I'm guessing operator preference. I've searched for images of the following vehicles: JSS201V, XSA4Y and GSO90V which were on Ford, Dennis and Leyland Leopard chassis respectively. Neither had a nearside emergency exit.

Edited to add that I've looked at those photos again, and I should revisit Specsavers! I clearly wasn't looking properly and it would appear that you're right. It's honestly something I hadn't really thought about. I've had a look through a few old books and it would seem that the original T-type had nearside emergency exits as well.

It's worthwhile bearing in mind that while the Y-type is often viewed as the "standard" SBG bodywork, it was actually anything but standard. Aside from the obvious differences between the AY and AYS versions (big parallelogram windows with forced air ventilation as opposed to smaller, squarer windows with hopper vents), there were other options like narrow two-leaf doors versus wider four-leaf doors, boot or no boot, single- or double-headlight arrangements etc, all of these features seemed to be interchangeable.

 

[Roger1973]

According to the (Harry Barker) history of the Alexander Y type, it was a requirement of the 1965 version of Construction and Use Regulations that new single deck buses / coaches with more than 45 seats were required to have a nearside emergency exit as well. (I'm not quite sure when this requirement was changed again.)

Some builders did this with a hinged window instead (e.g. this ECW coach Bristol RE - see the rearmost nearside window) - presume a door in the middle of the rear (as in the standard bus RE) passed the requirement.

As an aside, I have met a Y type (I can't now remember whether it was a Leopard or what) where the nearside emergency door had been extended down, and part of the boot space used to form a walk-in luggage compartment - think it had been used somewhere in the Highlands where there was a need to carry skis as well as passengers.

 

[Man of Kent]

Maidstone & District had to fit a second emergency exit when it upseated some Leyland Leopards from 45 to 52 seats.

Conversely, there are examples of shorter, lower capacity Y types, such as this Alexander Midland LH (not my picture) https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=139597 without a nearside emergency door.

 

[DunsBus]

I'm guessing operator preference. I've searched for images of the following vehicles: JSS201V, XSA4Y and GSO90V which were on Ford, Dennis and Leyland Leopard chassis respectively. Neither had a nearside emergency exit.

Edited to add that I've looked at those photos again, and I should revisit Specsavers! I clearly wasn't looking properly and it would appear that you're right. It's honestly something I hadn't really thought about. I've had a look through a few old books and it would seem that the original T-type had nearside emergency exits as well.

It's worthwhile bearing in mind that while the Y-type is often viewed as the "standard" SBG bodywork, it was actually anything but standard. Aside from the obvious differences between the AY and AYS versions (big parallelogram windows with forced air ventilation as opposed to smaller, squarer windows with hopper vents), there were other options like narrow two-leaf doors versus wider four-leaf doors, boot or no boot, single- or double-headlight arrangements etc, all of these features seemed to be interchangeable.

Not just the Y-type. I'm sure the T-type did as well, in its original version. The later TC/TE/TS variants had one emergency door, at the rear offside.

 

[JModulo]

Not just the Y-type. I'm sure the T-type did as well, in its original version. The later TC/TE/TS variants had one emergency door, at the rear offside.

The T type does have 2 aswell. The TE has an OS door, but the rear window is also an emergency exit (break glass).

 

[PG]

Some builders did this with a hinged window instead (e.g. this ECW coach Bristol RE - see the rearmost nearside window) - presume a door in the middle of the rear (as in the standard bus RE) passed the requirement.

Interestingly, though I travelled on ECW bus bodied REs for years in my youth, I never realised that they had an offside hinged emergency window as well as the centre rear emergency door as can be seen in this photo (not mine).
https://flic.kr/p/npG9cy

I can only assume Alexanders decided that a mirror image door arrangement was the best way to meet the C&U requirement.