Low floor coach - third time lucky?

[SouthEastBuses]

Apart for certain times, and drivers smashing the tail wing, the Panther LE are not bad coaches. Said coaches can happily can go to Glasgow will a full load. provide a better class of travel sitting while give better Wheelchair access. Must be other route that would deem worthy?

* Trent barton Red Arrow?
* X17 in Warwick?

Is there any other routes like that?

Maybe Greenline 724 could work with Panther LEs.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

Oh and @Jordan Adam, just out of interest, the isle of Skye has the same geographical terrain conditions as the highlands north of Scotland, but most of the vehicles there are low floor buses. Stagecoach's Skye depot only have 4 coaches, the rest of the fleet based at their depot are low floor buses. (They've got the SY07 reg B7RLE Wright Eclipse there)

 

[Yorks185]

A Panther LE might work on routes like the Hexham > Newcastle express routes by GNE (could be abit tight going round Ovington on X84) or used on the SD workings of route 685 Carlisle > Newcastle.

Oh and @Jordan Adam, just out of interest, the isle of Skye has the same geographical terrain conditions as the highlands north of Scotland, but most of the vehicles there are low floor buses. Stagecoach's Skye depot only have 4 coaches, the rest of the fleet based at their depot are low floor buses. (They've got the SY07 reg B7RLE Wright Eclipse there)

At a guess,that could be due to isle of Skye school contracts requiring less capacity than the highlands?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Oh and @Jordan Adam, just out of interest, the isle of Skye has the same geographical terrain conditions as the highlands north of Scotland, but most of the vehicles there are low floor buses. Stagecoach's Skye depot only have 4 coaches, the rest of the fleet based at their depot are low floor buses. (They've got the SY07 reg B7RLE Wright Eclipse there)

Not sure i'd agree the conditions are the same at all, most the routes are shorter than those in the Highland Mainland not to mention slower, Skye just has different operational requirements. Again the classic says "Just because it works in location A it doesn't mean it'll work in location B".

At a guess,that could be due to isle of Skye school contracts requiring less capacity than the highlands?

Actually they do, two of the coaches there are 70 seaters and they have a pair of custom built 60 seater 12.8M E300s.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The layout is truly dreadful and screams of a cheap conversion job / hack of an existing product than a proper design in it's own right.

That coach is rather like a German or Austrian "Regionalbus" type vehicle - never really intended to be a coach per-se, but instead an upgraded semi-low floor bus intended for middle distance regional routes (stuff like the Stagecoach United Counties X5 or 99, or plenty of the Scottish stuff) - the kind of service which runs for an hour or more but people aren't typically making multi-day trips, and thus the overhead luggage rack is adequate. In Germany this type of vehicle is extremely common and I've long wondered why you don't get them here. They'd suit the X5 very well - dwell times suffer on the all-stops section towards Cambridge, and hardly anyone puts big bags underneath.

No use for NatEx or Megabus, but arguably ideal for most of the Scottish commuter type stuff (as distinct from the very rural Citylink services).

 

[SouthEastBuses]

That coach is rather like a German or Austrian "Regionalbus" type vehicle - never really intended to be a coach per-se, but instead an upgraded semi-low floor bus intended for middle distance regional routes (stuff like the Stagecoach United Counties X5 or 99, or plenty of the Scottish stuff) - the kind of service which runs for an hour or more but people aren't typically making multi-day trips, and thus the overhead luggage rack is adequate. In Germany this type of vehicle is extremely common and I've long wondered why you don't get them here. They'd suit the X5 very well - dwell times suffer on the all-stops section towards Cambridge, and hardly anyone puts big bags underneath.

No use for NatEx or Megabus, but arguably ideal for most of the Scottish commuter type stuff (as distinct from the very rural Citylink services).

I 100% agree with you on that. These seem quite common in Italy too, but probably due to many mountains there (I really don't get why), most of the rural Italian services are run with coaches such as the Iveco 380 Euroclass. To make matters worse, most of the rural Italian services aren't accesible to wheelchairs at all. Plus most, if not all of the rural Italian services in my opinion need to be run with the sort of German/Austrian "Regionalbus" type, so you can combine coach comfort with easy access.
But you do get those "Regionalbus"-like in Italy, just more on short distances near big cities (e.g. short Cotral journeys from Rome to Tivoli).

 

[overthewater]

We used to have Dual purpose buses, ie PS, Leyland Tiger, T type. but those days are sadly gone.

 

[PG]

We used to have Dual purpose buses, ie PS, Leyland Tiger, T type. but those days are sadly gone.

Also the Bristol RELH with ECW DP body, all fine machines in their day.
I do wonder if, much like TOCs can use an accessible taxi to transport a wheelchair passenger to their destination if for any reason the TOC is unable to convey them, could a bus operator using a non LF vehicle do similar in order to comply with the PSVAR?

 

[LOL The Irony]

If ADL are indeed making an "E300 MMC" (It's the Volvo B8RLE single decker supposedly in development), then the Panther LE will certainly be a flash in the pan.

 

[overthewater]

How many seats are on this new ADL B8RLE?

 

[LOL The Irony]

How many seats are on this new ADL B8RLE?

I haven't the foggiest as it's just a rumour/idea. Also if they are making it, surely they'll keep the specs secret for as long as possible.

 

[ClydeCoaster]

The continental Europeans get it right on dual purpose buses, the so called "regionalbus" types. It's a constant surprise how many step entrance (albeit lift fitted) buses are still entering service across the continent. I'm just back from a long weekend in Tenerife and most of the vehicles operating in the Las Americas conurbation are step entrance with a centre lift available. I do think the UK has gone a bit low floor mad, and it results in the most unsuitable of buses being deployed - the Isle of Arran for example, where coach seated PS-bodied B10Ms with 49 seats (even then standing packed to the gunnels at summer peaks) easily took on the very hilly, very twisty island terrain were replaced with 38-seater Wright StreetLites, which immediately had to be downseated to increase luggage space and apparently re-geared because they struggled to get up hills.

 

[Jordan Adam]

The continental Europeans get it right on dual purpose buses, the so called "regionalbus" types. It's a constant surprise how many step entrance (albeit lift fitted) buses are still entering service across the continent. I'm just back from a long weekend in Tenerife and most of the vehicles operating in the Las Americas conurbation are step entrance with a centre lift available. I do think the UK has gone a bit low floor mad, and it results in the most unsuitable of buses being deployed - the Isle of Arran for example, where coach seated PS-bodied B10Ms with 49 seats (even then standing packed to the gunnels at summer peaks) easily took on the very hilly, very twisty island terrain were replaced with 38-seater Wright StreetLites, which immediately had to be downseated to increase luggage space and apparently re-geared because they struggled to get up hills.

Said Arran Streetlites also had to get the suspension modified as they kept grounding out!

 

[PG]

The continental Europeans get it right on dual purpose buses, the so called "regionalbus" types. It's a constant surprise how many step entrance (albeit lift fitted) buses are still entering service across the continent. I'm just back from a long weekend in Tenerife and most of the vehicles operating in the Las Americas conurbation are step entrance with a centre lift available. I do think the UK has gone a bit low floor mad, and it results in the most unsuitable of buses being deployed - the Isle of Arran for example, where coach seated PS-bodied B10Ms with 49 seats (even then standing packed to the gunnels at summer peaks) easily took on the very hilly, very twisty island terrain were replaced with 38-seater Wright StreetLites, which immediately had to be downseated to increase luggage space and apparently re-geared because they struggled to get up hills.

I couldn't agree with you more...

Low floor was ONE solution to the accessibility problem not the ONLY solution but for whatever reasons the UK rushed headlong down that road without looking far enough to see what might be coming the other way!

 

[SouthEastBuses]

Said Arran Streetlites also had to get the suspension modified as they kept grounding out!

Arran could have got E200 MMCs, they seem better at climbing hills than Streetlites do.

 

[cnjb8]

The continental Europeans get it right on dual purpose buses, the so called "regionalbus" types. It's a constant surprise how many step entrance (albeit lift fitted) buses are still entering service across the continent. I'm just back from a long weekend in Tenerife and most of the vehicles operating in the Las Americas conurbation are step entrance with a centre lift available. I do think the UK has gone a bit low floor mad, and it results in the most unsuitable of buses being deployed - the Isle of Arran for example, where coach seated PS-bodied B10Ms with 49 seats (even then standing packed to the gunnels at summer peaks) easily took on the very hilly, very twisty island terrain were replaced with 38-seater Wright StreetLites, which immediately had to be downseated to increase luggage space and apparently re-geared because they struggled to get up hills.

Manufacturers or operators don't seem to recognise that passengers or the route the bus will operate won't want creaky StreetLites or Enviro200s.

 

[duncombec]

Said Arran Streetlites also had to get the suspension modified as they kept grounding out!

Am I correct in my vague recollection that the vehicles were specified by SPT?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Am I correct in my vague recollection that the vehicles were specified by SPT?

Yup, they clearly just went with what was cheapest on the market and could seat 40 passengers.

 

[ClydeCoaster]

What is there in the way of "dual purpose" buses just now in the UK market? I'm not sure I'd class the Leopard Interurban in it, it seems a bit *too* coach. The Irizar i4? I see Transdev looked at a tri-axle i4 for their CityZap route but are now trialling a Tourismo (definitely not dual purpose).

 

[LOL The Irony]

What is there in the way of "dual purpose" buses just now in the UK market? I'm not sure I'd class the Leopard Interurban in it, it seems a bit *too* coach. The Irizar i4?

If Scania started selling the Citywide in the UK, there is an interurban version that has high backed seats on a floor raised from the aisle like a lot of coaches do - and it's low floor as well. Since Scania don't sell an integral city bus, the closest is the i4. But I think there might be an interurban version of the i3.

 

[ClydeCoaster]

If Scania started selling the Citywide in the UK, there is an interurban version that has high backed seats on a floor raised from the aisle like a lot of coaches do - and it's low floor as well. Since Scania don't sell an integral city bus, the closest is the i4. But I think there might be an interurban version of the i3.

There were tri-axle Irizar i3s on Volvo chassis out there, definitely step entrance so I'm guessing B8Rs. I guess it's a case of no demand rather than what is actually available, given the low volumes of RHD i3s in the UK I can't see them knocking back an RHD i3 bodied B8R order for example.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

What is there in the way of "dual purpose" buses just now in the UK market? I'm not sure I'd class the Leopard Interurban in it, it seems a bit *too* coach. The Irizar i4? I see Transdev looked at a tri-axle i4 for their CityZap route but are now trialling a Tourismo (definitely not dual purpose).

A bit too late replying (sorry!) but I realised there is a high floor Sunsundegui SB3 in the UK, which, looks more like an interurban step entrance bus than a real coach. I know some operators locally (one of them being AMK Chaffeur Drive based somewhere near Haslemere in Surrey, South East of England) having them on a Volvo B8R chassis.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

If Scania started selling the Citywide in the UK, there is an interurban version that has high backed seats on a floor raised from the aisle like a lot of coaches do - and it's low floor as well. Since Scania don't sell an integral city bus, the closest is the i4. But I think there might be an interurban version of the i3.

Citywide is also available as a city bus (the LF version which replaced the OmniCity SD), but sadly, no Citywides have ever been made in Right Hand Drive let alone for the UK.