Arriva King Long Demonstrator?

[MCW]

Been on the wmbusphotos site and found arriva midlands fleet 900

this bus seems to be quite interesting.

does anyone know what's going on here? is it a one of demonstrator for evaluation or are arriva considering buying a load of these things?

http://wmbusphotos.com/Arriva/0900.html

 

[mbonwick]

It's a demo I believe, although I think Arriva are seriously looking at them after their success in Malta.

 

[MCW]

It's a demo I believe, although I think Arriva are seriously looking at them after their success in Malta.

be interesting to see where and when they would be put into use....

I don't quite know if they would be bought as extra buses or used to replace others, if replacing others, which types? mulling it over has got me thinking.

Within the arriva midlands fleet there really isn't a true standardised form of Single decker, apart from the midi version of the dennis dart.

 

[tbone]

Spent a while at Derby operating on the 37 route, currently operated by Dennis Dart/ ALX 200s. It has since moved on, not sure where to though

 

[Schnellzug]

Hopefully it's just a one off. haven't we got quite enough cheapo junk from Turkey, Egypt, China and lord knows where else already? has anyone seen those open top double deck tour buses in London? I think they're Chinese, aren't they. Deng Xiao Pings or whatever.

 

[MCW]

Hopefully it's just a one off. haven't we got quite enough cheapo junk from Turkey, Egypt, China and lord knows where else already? has anyone seen those open top double deck tour buses in London? I think they're Chinese, aren't they. Deng Xiao Pings or whatever.

King Longs aint that bad really... to be honest they might be of a better build quality compared to some Wrightbus and ALX bodies....

 

[WestCoast]

Hopefully it's just a one off. haven't we got quite enough cheapo junk from Turkey, Egypt, China and lord knows where else already? has anyone seen those open top double deck tour buses in London? I think they're Chinese, aren't they. Deng Xiao Pings or whatever.

Why does Chinese automatically equal "junk"? King Long were Bus Builder of the Year 2010.

I've been on a few King Longs in Spain and they are less rattly than certain other UK models.

 

[Roughytuffy]

I would rather Arriva purchased British built products for the UK fleets. We need to support British industry.....surely?

 

[185]

Urban Garage Long Yang

(UGLY)

 

[starrymarkb]

Hopefully it's just a one off. haven't we got quite enough cheapo junk from Turkey, Egypt, China and lord knows where else already? has anyone seen those open top double deck tour buses in London? I think they're Chinese, aren't they. Deng Xiao Pings or whatever.

The CitySightseeing ones are Ayats Bravos built in Spain. I believe they came about when East Lancs stopped making left hand drive vehicles following problems with Lolynes in Paris. They are basically the Bravo double deck coach mounted on a bus chassis (Volvo B7 IIRC)...

 

[BuhSnarf]

If we're not able to make decent quality buses then I see no reason why we shouldn't source from overseas, it might give incentive to British builders to improve the quality!

Sent from my Galaxy S2 with Tapatalk.

 

[Ivo]

Buses recently suggested it was due to stay with Derby until the end of last month, and then move on; if what I can find on Flickr is anything to go by, it is currently with Bains Coaches, a King Long dealer based in Aberdeenshire. Not sure what will happen to it next.

If we're not able to make decent quality buses then I see no reason why we shouldn't source from overseas, it might give incentive to British builders to improve the quality!

Sad but true

 

[83G/84D]

Group Travel in Bodmin have a 12 plate King Long coach that I looked at and I must say that from the brief look I had it I was impressed.

Obviously not sure what the drivers and fitters make of it.

 

[MCW]

If we're not able to make decent quality buses then I see no reason why we shouldn't source from overseas, it might give incentive to British builders to improve the quality!

Sent from my Galaxy S2 with Tapatalk.

Hit the nail right on the head and lodged it straight into the wood...

think is think about what British manufacturers also charge for such vehicles, when compared to the probably great King Long Build quality, hands down, the chinese one will win, why? cause it's cheaper.

Bombardier proved this (kinda) with train contracts. look at the pendolino's, look how long they took to build and the cost. think about it, if you are getting a better quality product in a shorter amount of time for less money its a no brainer.

(Different topic so I'll save it for another time but this is why Bombardier, deserve everything thrown at them, it's their bloody fault they took so long!)

 

[Schnellzug]

If we're not able to make decent quality buses then I see no reason why we shouldn't source from overseas, it might give incentive to British builders to improve the quality!
.

That's been going on ever since Volvo entered the Uk market. There's a difference, though, between manufacturers that have a known reputation for quality and longevity, like all the major European manufacturers, and, well, something that's as yet an unknown quantity. Anyway, this is nothing to do with quality, is it. Is anyone really trying to suggest that China is likely to be able to make better quality? surely this is about cost, and nothing else?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Bombardier proved this (kinda) with train contracts. look at the pendolino's, look how long they took to build and the cost. think about it, if you are getting a better quality product in a shorter amount of time for less money its a no brainer.

(Different topic so I'll save it for another time but this is why Bombardier, deserve everything thrown at them, it's their bloody fault they took so long!)

Bombardier, although this is indeed a subject for a different discussion, didn't seem to do too badly with the Voyagers, neither in speed of delivery of reliability..

 

[90019]

Bombardier proved this (kinda) with train contracts. look at the pendolino's, look how long they took to build and the cost.

That doesn't really help that argument, since they were built by Alstom.

 

[MCW]

That doesn't really help that argument, since they were built by Alstom.

D'oh, my bad! LOL!