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My electric bus journey on brand new buses for 507/521

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jaig

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https://youtu.be/v8pb-gznkSc

For anyone who wants to see how these brand new buses are, here is a video showing a ride that I took!! Interestingly, this batch of buses is the first to have a bigger, better, more informative, new-style iBus as standard! These buses are 12m long and were ordered for both route 507 and 521. The Citaros will go to route 108 along with the Irizar electric buses which sadly didn't impress others as much as the BYD bus! However, I preferred the Irizar electric bus over the BYD bus as they seemed more spacious, had Esteban upholstery and had a similar battery to that of the New Routemaster! The ride was smooth and the speakers were crisp and clear. It was 27C today and the windows and air conditioning kept the bus cool.

507 - Victoria >> Waterloo
521 - Waterloo >> London Bridge

So, you can have a fully electric bus ride from Victoria to London Bridge!

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk
 
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AB93

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https://youtu.be/v8pb-gznkSc
Interestingly, this batch of buses is the first to have a bigger, better, more informative, new-style iBus as standard!

That's ironic, as when their predecessors the current rigid Citaros entered service, such was the urgent rush to meet Boris' bendy withdrawal target, they entered service without the iBus fitted..... :roll::lol:
 

Be3G

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The Citaros will go to route 108

I read in a TfL consultation that the 108 was to be getting longer single-deck buses and whilst I hoped for something more like the X26, I feared these ex-Red-Arrow buses might be what was meant. Don't get me wrong, I like the buses, but the standee-focussed design doesn't particularly suit a route with an end-to-end journey time that can easily reach an hour.
 

Busaholic

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I like the buses, but the standee-focussed design doesn't particularly suit a route with an end-to-end journey time that can easily reach an hour.

Or about two and a half hours, if you get diverted via Tower Bridge! Happened to me once, funnily enough the last time I used the service, about 25 years ago.:)
 
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jaig

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Or about two and a half hours, if you get diverted via Tower Bridge! Happened to me once, funnily enough the last time I used the service, about 25 years ago.:)



What buses did they have back then


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Bungle965

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https://youtu.be/v8pb-gznkSc

For anyone who wants to see how these brand new buses are, here is a video showing a ride that I took!! Interestingly, this batch of buses is the first to have a bigger, better, more informative, new-style iBus as standard! These buses are 12m long and were ordered for both route 507 and 521. The Citaros will go to route 108 along with the Irizar electric buses which sadly didn't impress others as much as the BYD bus! However, I preferred the Irizar electric bus over the BYD bus as they seemed more spacious, had Esteban upholstery and had a similar battery to that of the New Routemaster! The ride was smooth and the speakers were crisp and clear. It was 27C today and the windows and air conditioning kept the bus cool.

507 - Victoria >> Waterloo
521 - Waterloo >> London Bridge

So, you can have a fully electric bus ride from Victoria to London Bridge!

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

I also liked the Irizar bus over the BYD, I felt that there was more quality in the Irizar than the BYD.
However it should be interesting to see how the BYD and ADL partnership progresses, I am going down to London quite soon so I will hope to try them out.
Sam
 

jaig

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I also liked the Irizar bus over the BYD, I felt that there was more quality in the Irizar than the BYD.

However it should be interesting to see how the BYD and ADL partnership progresses, I am going down to London quite soon so I will hope to try them out.

Sam



I'm hoping to try and get a fully electric ride from Victoria to London Bridge with 507 and 521. Only problem with the Irizar buses was that they were very irregular in service - correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure they only ran in the peak hours on weekdays. I wonder how they will perform on route 108.

I hope the partnership between BYD and ADL will continue to get stronger [emoji132]


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Busaholic

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What buses did they have back then


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From memory, Leyland Nationals. My backside has never quite recovered! I lived in Blackheath, 200 yards from the 108 bus stop, and with no Overground or DLR service to Lewisham then it just seemed like I had no alternative from Stratford on a Saturday afternoon that would realistically take much less time: mind you, I was thinking 90-120 minutes would do it. Actually, I'm including the 20 or so minutes I had to wait for the bus at Stratford in that timing - no way of telling then how long before the next departure, unless you could find an inspector to ask, and probably even then you'd be none the wiser.
 

MotCO

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I like the buses, but the standee-focussed design doesn't particularly suit a route with an end-to-end journey time that can easily reach an hour.

I assume that they will be fully seated.
 
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