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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 21, 2019 12:04:22 GMT
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Post by snowman on Sept 21, 2019 15:35:41 GMT
I suspect are worse than have been made public. The suggestions of needing an urgent cash injection of £30m is more consistent with teetering on collapse than long term development funds which wouldn't be urgent. If bidders who are probably seeing the management accounts and order book (via a non disclosure agreement) are walking away then clearly not looking good. Maybe burning through £1m+ every 3-4 weeks which would not be sustainable.
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Post by LK65EBO on Sept 21, 2019 15:48:16 GMT
No more will be built because the final agreement was to build 1000 models which was met. The current ones are due to go through a refurb as many have recently begun new contracts and once they've gone, they'll be replaced by convetional vehicles or if another mayor decides to poke his nose in where it's not required in terms of proposing a new bus. The problem is the buses are quite poorly packaged, having been intended to operate some of the time with open rear platform. They were overweight and have never been rated to carry the minimum of 87 passengers that TfL expects from double decks. Wrightbus quality left much to be desired, not so much in the parts on show, but in the robustness of some of the equipment they chose, everything from poor batteries to feeble air cooling, not helped by design issues which allowed engine heat into the saloon in summer. As they are already paid for, probably get used 14-16 years, no point in paying for alternative until these are life expired, but if electric buses take over central London routes some could easily end up working out their days on suburban routes. TfL doesn’t really operate peak hour extras (its between the peaks service level is not much lower than peak), but there is a possibility that cost cutting could see these reintroduced with much lower normal (off-peak) frequencies on some routes. If so TfL might decide something along lines of awarding a route with say 20 buses plus 7 LTs for peak hours only, almost a supplementary service at peak hours. And if they are by then in the suburbs, a mix of peak and school route usage in their twilight years could happen (and if only used part time, some might survive nearer 17 years). Wierd that a 10.6m Gemini 3 can hold more than a 11.2m Routemaster
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Post by southlondonbus on Sept 21, 2019 16:33:37 GMT
Not really. The 11.2 Routenaster has the 2nd symtaircase taking up space.
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Post by busaholic on Sept 21, 2019 18:03:15 GMT
If yet another bailout for a Northern Ireland firm and its workers is approved by the Johnson government at the same time as the venerable Thomas Cook is left to its own devices, and possible repatriation bill of £600 million to be footed by U.K. taxpayers, then there should be an almighty stink created, but in the current febrile political and economic atmosphere it might just get lost in the ether, unfortunately.
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Post by ServerKing on Sept 21, 2019 18:34:01 GMT
I wonder what Rattled them (pun intended) It is a shame but in these times of uncertainty some may not want to invest in a firm who doesn't make such an exciting range of products? Yes the Gemini 3S was edgy with all the sharp angles (unlike the first G3 from 2014) but choice of engine let down the StreetDeck which could have been a success and good replacement for the DB300. With First Group's imminent slow shutdown (as they want to concentrate on US market), who were their biggest customer, it's not good when even Arriva turn their back or buy no more than 40 or so for a year. Add in Brexit and it all looks rather bleak for them. As for the NRM, too many early high profile accidents and bumps involving costly windscreen repairs...
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Post by John tuthill on Sept 21, 2019 18:35:04 GMT
Not really. The 11.2 Routenaster has the 2nd symtaircase taking up space. THEY ARE NOT ROUTEMASTERS!!thank you
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Post by Nathan on Sept 21, 2019 18:56:04 GMT
Not really. The 11.2 Routenaster has the 2nd symtaircase taking up space. THEY ARE NOT ROUTEMASTERS!!thank you
Well actually, it's a Route naster 😂
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Post by redbus on Sept 21, 2019 19:38:34 GMT
Very sadly it doesn't look great.
It has hit the mainstream UK press.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49775262
I agree with much of what has been said, the G2 was a decent bus, but the G3 simply doesn't do it. It hasn't helped that MCV have come in with what I suspect is a cheaper product (the buses certainly feel cheaper) on the same Volvo hybrid chassis.
I hope the company can be saved, I certainly don't want it to go into administration or for people to lose their jobs. Reading another article in the Telegraph I am surprised if it is true that Bamford walked away over the cost of leasing the headquarters, I would have thought that could have been resolved, but as ever we surely don't know the whole story.
As for a government bailout who knows what might happen given Boris is now PM and the DUP is critical to the government. Also Northern Ireland is often different so I would not make an analogy with Thomas Cook. Manufacturing jobs historically have had a greater importance than a travel company. Much will also depend upon what can be done within the EU state aid rules.
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Post by snowman on Sept 23, 2019 13:37:56 GMT
Looks like Wrightbus has had some shady financial dealings, whilst claiming development grants and Northern Ireland grants, money has been siphoned off into charity with the parent company paying £4.1m to charity in 2017 (most recent published accounts) Now seems the money was going to a church (Green Pastures) that alledgely supports the DUP..... and 26% of Wrights is owned by an Evangelical church, suggested they bought £75m of land for £4m + £1 No wonder all the bidders are running away politics.ie/threads/wrightbus-the-next-rhi.272884/twitter.com/i/web/status/1175407666430128128
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Post by capitalomnibus on Sept 23, 2019 17:19:12 GMT
If yet another bailout for a Northern Ireland firm and its workers is approved by the Johnson government at the same time as the venerable Thomas Cook is left to its own devices, and possible repatriation bill of £600 million to be footed by U.K. taxpayers, then there should be an almighty stink created, but in the current febrile political and economic atmosphere it might just get lost in the ether, unfortunately. Thomas Cook however was a different situation and has been in trouble and is likely to have only been temporary if they got the £250m loan. The company was £1.6bn in debt and hasn't even have proper measures of the business being turned around. Wrightbus seems to be slow on electric buses, considering they have had prototypes around 15 years ago!
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Post by capitalomnibus on Sept 23, 2019 17:24:47 GMT
I wonder what Rattled them (pun intended) It is a shame but in these times of uncertainty some may not want to invest in a firm who doesn't make such an exciting range of products? Yes the Gemini 3S was edgy with all the sharp angles (unlike the first G3 from 2014) but choice of engine let down the StreetDeck which could have been a success and good replacement for the DB300. With First Group's imminent slow shutdown (as they want to concentrate on US market), who were their biggest customer, it's not good when even Arriva turn their back or buy no more than 40 or so for a year. Add in Brexit and it all looks rather bleak for them. As for the NRM, too many early high profile accidents and bumps involving costly windscreen repairs... The Streetdeck is a step backward imo compared to the DB300. It isn't even just the engine. It is plagued with constant electrical unit problems, from ECU's, batteries. Also the driving cab position isn't like by many, the adjustment for the steering is madness, the footswitch only works when the engine is off and ignition on. The Streetdeck is based on VDL (DAF) hardware and components like the DB300, but it seems like it is a mess imo.
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Post by busaholic on Sept 23, 2019 19:38:39 GMT
Looks like Wrightbus has had some shady financial dealings, whilst claiming development grants and Northern Ireland grants, money has been siphoned off into charity with the parent company paying £4.1m to charity in 2017 (most recent published accounts) Now seems the money was going to a church (Green Pastures) that alledgely supports the DUP..... and 26% of Wrights is owned by an Evangelical church, suggested they bought £75m of land for £4m + £1 No wonder all the bidders are running away politics.ie/threads/wrightbus-the-next-rhi.272884/twitter.com/i/web/status/1175407666430128128Funny that any company that Boris Johnson seems keen to promote, in one way or another, is discovered at a later stage to be smelling of roses, those being sold off at a drastically reduced price in a filling station a week after Valentine's, that is.
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Post by richard on Sept 23, 2019 20:21:38 GMT
THEY ARE NOT ROUTEMASTERS!!thank you
Well actually, it's a Route naster 😂 But they are not from the 1960s 😉
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Post by richard on Sept 23, 2019 20:22:43 GMT
Not really. The 11.2 Routenaster has the 2nd symtaircase taking up space. THEY ARE NOT ROUTEMASTERS!!thank you
Totally agree i hate it when people refur to them as RMs
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