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Post by rmz19 on Feb 28, 2020 14:16:48 GMT
Bring them out to the suburbs. I will happily ride on one any day. That would be great! Dispersing some LTs to the suburbs would mean more conventionals in Central London therefore not having to deal the boredom of their sheer omnipresence anymore
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Feb 28, 2020 14:48:12 GMT
Bring them out to the suburbs. I will happily ride on one any day. No thanks we have 50 too many out in East London.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2020 14:49:26 GMT
LTs don't like anything above 40mph, I remember doing rail replacement from Canning Town to Aldgate East and on my way back to the depot on the A406 (Junction with the M11) it conked out. I was actually scared and had to force myself onto the central reservation with traffic coming at each side. Another time I was on the A13 doing the same job and it just conked out. Awful buses to drive and only beaten by a Voith MAN 12.240 and Daimler Streetlite. I don't understand how Tfl helped with the procurement of the original DB300H and withdrew them early for whatever reason and then proceeded to purchase 1000 of literally the same thing. I think LTs promote antisocial behaviour and its a not a bus I feel secure on, the few times I have been a passenger on one. Also what you find is when they are running on diesel mode, they're Euro3/4 and the braking and handling are compromised as a result. I had a controller tell me that it was fine once, I parked the bus up and an HV was brought out for me. The bendies were just far better and actually fit for purpose. The earlier models should at least be Euro 5, no? That's quite shocking to read. The early models are Euro5, but once they go into diesel mode, they're no longer Euro5, more Euro 4.
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Post by redbus on Feb 28, 2020 15:30:02 GMT
As has been said any withdrawal of NB4L cannot be compared to the bendy buses. In terms of the Mayoralty I seem to recollect that Boris promised to be rid of the bendy buses, and so simply kept his election promise. None of the Mayoral candidates as far as I am aware has promised to withdraw them, indeed a potential Mayor would be silly to do so, for it will simply cost a lot of money and gain few votes (sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear). Indeed there are those who like LTs and such a policy may even lose votes. As others have said there would be little resale value in LTs (unlike the bendy buses), TfL own the buses and are facing challenging financial times. When the bendy buses were withdrawn bus services were expanding, now they are contracting. How would you pay for their withdrawal and replacement, cut more services, or is there a money pot somewhere?
I am afraid I think LTs are here to stay, and will be replaced at end of life, probably with electric buses.
I think the design of LTs has not been sufficiently developed and that is why they have the well noted deficiencies. I'll probably be shot for saying this, but after the first buses they should have been further developed noting the failings of the first ones and a MK2 LT produced fixing all the issues.
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Post by Londonbuses54 on Feb 28, 2020 16:04:48 GMT
From a driver perspective, they're brilliant, very comfortable and responsive. They're up there with my favourite to drive along side E200EVs and B7RLE's.
That said, they're horrible when they're on diesel mode, very sluggish and loud. A lot of drivers will force them into diesel mode for better AC.
How to you make it go into diesel mode? (unless battery is depleted)
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Post by TP1 on Feb 28, 2020 16:06:51 GMT
From a driver perspective, they're brilliant, very comfortable and responsive. They're up there with my favourite to drive along side E200EVs and B7RLE's.
That said, they're horrible when they're on diesel mode, very sluggish and loud. A lot of drivers will force them into diesel mode for better AC.
I imagine they would do the same for the heating? I was told by a driver that hybrid buses in general are not as effective with the heating as regular diesel buses, though I'm not sure if that driver was talking of any particular type of hybrid. Yes, same with the heating. I found the climate control on the MK3 WHV's alright. The best I found was either the WS's or SEe's, of course the SEe has a diesel AC unit.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2020 17:16:52 GMT
From a driver perspective, they're brilliant, very comfortable and responsive. They're up there with my favourite to drive along side E200EVs and B7RLE's.
That said, they're horrible when they're on diesel mode, very sluggish and loud. A lot of drivers will force them into diesel mode for better AC.
How to you make it go into diesel mode? (unless battery is depleted) There's a switch on the dashboard with a "bolt" symbol.
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Post by LK65EBO on Feb 28, 2020 18:25:46 GMT
Any bus can be withdrawn - not just LTs.
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Post by cl54 on Feb 28, 2020 21:22:33 GMT
As has been said any withdrawal of NB4L cannot be compared to the bendy buses. In terms of the Mayoralty I seem to recollect that Boris promised to be rid of the bendy buses, and so simply kept his election promise. None of the Mayoral candidates as far as I am aware has promised to withdraw them, indeed a potential Mayor would be silly to do so, for it will simply cost a lot of money and gain few votes (sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear). Indeed there are those who like LTs and such a policy may even lose votes. As others have said there would be little resale value in LTs (unlike the bendy buses), TfL own the buses and are facing challenging financial times. When the bendy buses were withdrawn bus services were expanding, now they are contracting. How would you pay for their withdrawal and replacement, cut more services, or is there a money pot somewhere? I am afraid I think LTs are here to stay, and will be replaced at end of life, probably with electric buses. I think the design of LTs has not been sufficiently developed and that is why they have the well noted deficiencies. I'll probably be shot for saying this, but after the first buses they should have been further developed noting the failings of the first ones and a MK2 LT produced fixing all the issues. I think ADL did it with the City versions of their buses. The electric version now being developed is the latest stage.
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Post by cl54 on Feb 28, 2020 21:26:10 GMT
The earlier models should at least be Euro 5, no? That's quite shocking to read. The early models are Euro5, but once they go into diesel mode, they're no longer Euro5, more Euro 4. The Euro rating is for emissions not how they drive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2020 21:29:24 GMT
As has been said any withdrawal of NB4L cannot be compared to the bendy buses. In terms of the Mayoralty I seem to recollect that Boris promised to be rid of the bendy buses, and so simply kept his election promise. None of the Mayoral candidates as far as I am aware has promised to withdraw them, indeed a potential Mayor would be silly to do so, for it will simply cost a lot of money and gain few votes (sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear). Indeed there are those who like LTs and such a policy may even lose votes. As others have said there would be little resale value in LTs (unlike the bendy buses), TfL own the buses and are facing challenging financial times. When the bendy buses were withdrawn bus services were expanding, now they are contracting. How would you pay for their withdrawal and replacement, cut more services, or is there a money pot somewhere? I am afraid I think LTs are here to stay, and will be replaced at end of life, probably with electric buses. I think the design of LTs has not been sufficiently developed and that is why they have the well noted deficiencies. I'll probably be shot for saying this, but after the first buses they should have been further developed noting the failings of the first ones and a MK2 LT produced fixing all the issues. I think ADL did it with the City versions of their buses. The electric version now being developed is the latest stage. I agree the City is a great bus also like the diesel version that Blackpool Transport have. The buses with the TfL interior are much brighter internally than the LT !
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linus
Driver
If it ain't broke, fix it till it is.
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Post by linus on Feb 29, 2020 10:06:44 GMT
I use LTs regularly on the 16 and 189 and find them no better or worse than other buses for seats, heating, cooling, bells or anything else. I shall miss the 3-door loading, but not nearly as much as the thousands who board the 59, 68, 168 etc at Waterloo. That's where multi-door loading really shows its value and dwell time will increase catastrophically as a result.
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