Lothian Buses and ECB Discussion

[Darklord8899]

.....I only hate the heating when its cranked up full blast....
I mean, we all dress for the weather, woolies, thick coats etc, we don't need a bus to be 40°C ......
Yes, by all means have heating on, to take the chill away.....its little wonder people reek of BO.....

 

[computerSaysNo]

The heating/ventilation on the Gemini 3s seems to comprise of a fan near the back of the bus (above the engine?) which pushes heated air through pipes above the windows, where it is released into the saloon by gaps in said pipes. This is good because it is quiet and spreads the warm air throughout the bus.

However in the newer E400 XLBs (and also, incidentally, in older E200s I used to use), the entire heating system seems to compromise of a fan in a box under a passenger seat*; not only is this a lot noisier but it also means some parts of the bus are too hot and others too cold as the air is not spread around.

What was the reason for this seemingly backwards step?


*This is just from my observations from sitting on the top deck of the Airlink; are the City-batch XLBs the same? Is the same system used on the lower deck?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Heating/cooling on the newer Wright products is generally sh**e. The Streetlites being the worst for me, regardless of the weather they're always far too hot, the hopper windows are too minimal and on certain examples they slam shut at the slightest bump (which is often on a Streetlite).

In the contrast i found Renowns were always nice a toasty. Can't say i've had issues on Lothian vehicles, albeit most times i've been down in Edinburgh (excluding last Wednesday - Saturday) it's been outside the winter period.

However in the newer E400 XLBs (and also, incidentally, in older E200s I used to use), the entire heating system seems to compromise of a fan in a box under a passenger seat*; not only is this a lot noisier but it also means some parts of the bus are too hot and others too cold as the air is not spread around.

What was the reason for this seemingly backwards step?

That system is standard on most ADL products, our Enviro500s and B7LAs have also had it retrofitted in house. I actually find it works fairly well and generally isn't too loud, i would agree though that if you're sitting on a seat directly above the unit it can be a bit initiating, The E300s are probably the worst for this.

 

[tattyseal]

Rumours of the 6 finishing at the beginning of February and the 61 changing to another operator

 

[ScotRail158725]

Rumours of the 6 finishing at the beginning of February and the 61 changing to another operator

id assume the 61 is changing to another operator simply because its been getting all doubles recently and for a service like that its not very cost efficient, id assume its going to Prentice same as 69 considering there no other operators likely to run it i can think of

 

[Jordan Adam]

id assume the 61 is changing to another operator simply because its been getting all doubles recently and for a service like that its not very cost efficient, id assume its going to Prentice same as 69 considering there no other operators likely to run it i can think of

The 61 is probably using a decker because the B7RLEs are too long. This is perhaps further backed up by the fact that it tends to be one of the Ex-London deckers.

 

[ScotRail158725]

The 61 is probably using a decker because the B7RLEs are too long. This is perhaps further backed up by the fact that it tends to be one of the Ex-London deckers.

never thought of that however the 61 is run by central which has just those volvos which i think are shorter than B7RLEs

 

[Jordan Adam]

never thought of that however the 61 is run by central which has just those volvos which i think are shorter than B7RLEs

All the 2 axle deckers Lothian have are shorter than the B7RLEs.

 

[ScotRail158725]

All the 2 axle deckers Lothian have are shorter than the B7RLEs.

yeah ik, im on about the singles 1-50

 

[ejstubbs]

When a bus is late it often builds up more of a delay if is stopping to pick up people at every stop.

I am aware of that, and support the basic principle of letting a lightly loaded bus that has caught up overtake the heavily loaded bus and relieve it of the delays caused by having to pick up the backlog of delayed passengers at later stops (though IME what usually happens is that after a couple of stops to the two buses end up leap-frogging each other until they've each disembarked enough passengers for control to be able to tell them to put all the remainder on one bus).

What is extremely unhelpful is if the late and overloaded bus is known to be stopping short of the terminus but the lightly loaded one immediately behind hasn't waited to take on passengers who want to travel further along the route. I did complain to LRT when this happened to me and they did say it shouldn't have happened and they would take steps to reduce the likelihood of it happening again.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Are there any temporary stopping restrictions for the 33 near Haymarket (Stop HC) today? My Grandmother was waiting to get a 33 to the hospital and had at least 4 in a row drive past her for no reason whatsoever. She ended up having to get a 31 and then a 7 to get to the hospital so is now over an hour later than planned, thankfully she was just visiting so no huge issue, but a big inconvenience nonetheless.

 

[ScotRail158725]

359 & 360 returned from repaint in December without the 100 years thing under the logo, guessing the ones with it will have it removed

 

[NorthClyde320]

id assume the 61 is changing to another operator simply because its been getting all doubles recently and for a service like that its not very cost efficient, id assume its going to Prentice same as 69 considering there no other operators likely to run it i can think of

What about Edinburgh Coach Lines, do they still operate the 13, Horsburgh or even First? Assuming it won't be the same criteria as the 69 service.

 

[Jordan Adam]

What about Edinburgh Coach Lines, do they still operate the 13, Horsburgh or even First? Assuming it won't be the same criteria as the 69 service.

Yeah ECL still do the 13. I can't see First having much interest in the 61, but you never know.

 

[lastbus]

Seen at least 4 ex Lothian double deckers in JMB travel, Newmains yard can only assume these are for school work.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Seen at least 4 ex Lothian double deckers in JMB travel, Newmains yard can only assume these are for school work.

B7s? they seem to be selling well considering their age, a lot better than the tridents

 

[ScotRail158725]

Yeah ECL still do the 13. I can't see First having much interest in the 61, but you never know.

tbh i never knew ECL were still around they appear to have just vanished from the face of the earth since about 2017

 

[OmniCity999]

tbh i never knew ECL were still around they appear to have just vanished from the face of the earth since about 2017

Except for private tours, Scottish Rugby coach, Citylink work, standby work and service 13? Their very prominent actually... their owned by a company which has operations in Ireland too and they see work over there as well as all over the UK. Their a very small company with a lot of work.

 

[Jordan Adam]

tbh i never knew ECL were still around they appear to have just vanished from the face of the earth since about 2017

They haven't really. As @OmniCity999 says they've got decent about of Citylink work, most of the Citylink Irizars you see on the East Coast are from ECL, including the Golds.

 

[lastbus]

B7s? they seem to be selling well considering their age, a lot better than the tridents

Yes B7s couldn’t get registrations due to the way they were parked.

 

[ScotRail158725]

Except for private tours, Scottish Rugby coach, Citylink work, standby work and service 13? Their very prominent actually... their owned by a company which has operations in Ireland too and they see work over there as well as all over the UK. Their a very small company with a lot of work.

They haven't really. As @OmniCity999 says they've got decent about of Citylink work, most of the Citylink Irizars you see on the East Coast are from ECL, including the Golds.

tbh other than the 13 ive not seen any of their vehicles for a long time so i thought they had scaled right down or something

Yes B7s couldn’t get registrations due to the way they were parked.

what livery variant were they in? could hint as to what they are

 

[OmniCity999]

tbh other than the 13 ive not seen any of their vehicles for a long time so i thought they had scaled right down or something

what livery variant were they in? could hint as to what they are

Just because you havent seen any of their motors for a while doesnt mean their scaling back. Their part of a huge company.

As well as the citylink work, service 13, tours and work around the UK, they even have buses based in the south of England. Their yard also services other operators very regularly. Alot of their fleet isnt branded for their company its branded for tour companies and other bus companies. Busy company making good business.

Their yard is very small but it houses nearly 30 buses, as well as other yards they have across central scotland.

 

[stantheman]

Do Lothian still have the electrics in the 28x series , they used to b3 on the 24 and other routes , have not seen them for a while

 

[ScotRail158725]

Do Lothian still have the electrics in the 28x series , they used to b3 on the 24 and other routes , have not seen them for a while

as said like 3 or 4 times before, no

 

[90019]

They're all parked in Central, not in use.

 

[ScotRail158725]

They're all parked in Central, not in use.

omnicity999 had said last time it was mentioned that they’re likely heading to volvo or wherever

 

[OmniCity999]

omnicity999 had said last time it was mentioned that they’re likely heading to volvo or wherever

Never said such the thing.

They were made by Wright, thered not a single volvo part in them.

I might have said they could goto volvo for a small engine to be fitted.

 

[ANWP Tom]

Does seem the B7s are selling well and good to see them continuing their working life.


**Coach line aside**
ECL do seem to do well as OmniCity999 said, the depot servicing is on a turn up and pay by the bus basis (well that's the traveller choice arrangement) offering toilet drop and wash facilities. Used and liked by their tour drivers from what the driver I know tells me.

Usually if you see a coach heading empty down Easter Road or Leith Walk its generally where its headed.

Stirling Citylinks produce their blue Irizars and Gold Irizars are also regular at the bus station.

Easter road good place to see members of their core fleet.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Does seem the B7s are selling well and good to see them continuing their working life.


**Coach line aside**
ECL do seem to do well as OmniCity999 said, the depot servicing is on a turn up and pay by the bus basis (well that's the traveller choice arrangement) offering toilet drop and wash facilities. Used and liked by their tour drivers from what the driver I know tells me.

Usually if you see a coach heading empty down Easter Road or Leith Walk its generally where its headed.

Stirling Citylinks produce their blue Irizars and Gold Irizars are also regular at the bus station.

Easter road good place to see members of their core fleet.

Without veering off topic too much I'm pretty sure they do most M92 runs too.

 

[A330Alex]

From the BUS2020 document:

This year, 100% of our vehicles will reach the minimum Euro 5 emission standard (Fig 6). In order to do so, a large batch of 80 Euro 6 vehicles will be delivered, removing the remaining Euro 3 vehicles from our fleet.

Does anyone know what the fleet mixture is like Euro wise these days with the XLBs? I'd have thought if another significant order was needed it wouldn't be too long until we heard about it.

Time between the initial XLB order annoucement and entry into service was ~9 months IIRC.