|
|
Post by wirewiper on Aug 2, 2020 9:00:11 GMT
I've already posted this to the Reading Buses thread but I will add it here:
Reading Buses has confirmed that the order for five Optare MetroDeckers for Green Line 702 has now been cancelled:
"It is now over two years since the order for five Optare MetroDeckers for Green Line 702 was placed. A combination of ongoing production delays, an inability to provide a delivery schedule, mixed reviews regarding the demonstrator and our very difficult financial situation due to Covid-19 means that we have taken the decision to cancel the order.
This may be disappointing given the significant amount of time and energy that has gone into developing these bespoke customer focused vehicles. When we do get back to a position where we can start considering fleet investment again, we will start a new process to select the best vehicles for the route." (Robert Williams, CEO, Reading Buses)
ADL Enviro400 MMCs 760, 761 and 762 are to be given Green Line branding on top of their Emerald two-tone green livery and temporarily allocated to the route, this is possible as Emerald routes 5 and 6 are still operating with a reduced PVR compared to pre-Covid and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. This will release generic-liveried MMCs 756, 757 and 759 back to the main fleet which will enable the blue East Lancs-bodied Tridents to depart the fleet. Optare Metrodecker demonstrator 899 is to be returned to Optare and will be repainted out of its Green Line livery at Courtney Bodyworks.
On a more positive note, National Express route 925 (Woking Station - Heathrow Airport), which is contracted to Reading Buses, will recommence from 10th August to its full timetable, save for one minor alteration.
|
|
|
|
Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Aug 2, 2020 10:31:34 GMT
Talking of Metrodecker delays, and the electric batch for First York are only just coming on stream now, with final deliveries expected in September.
On a positive note, this may mean those for Tower Transit route C3 arriving in time for October, with those for route 23 soon after that.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2020 10:47:00 GMT
London lockdown: M25 could become 'border point' and millions of over-50s told to shield under 'nuclear' plans to avoid second lockdown
Interesting if this happens. I assume London could pretty much carry on in its own little bubble so to speak.
|
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Aug 2, 2020 12:10:50 GMT
I've already posted this to the Reading Buses thread but I will add it here: Reading Buses has confirmed that the order for five Optare MetroDeckers for Green Line 702 has now been cancelled: "It is now over two years since the order for five Optare MetroDeckers for Green Line 702 was placed. A combination of ongoing production delays, an inability to provide a delivery schedule, mixed reviews regarding the demonstrator and our very difficult financial situation due to Covid-19 means that we have taken the decision to cancel the order. This may be disappointing given the significant amount of time and energy that has gone into developing these bespoke customer focused vehicles. When we do get back to a position where we can start considering fleet investment again, we will start a new process to select the best vehicles for the route." (Robert Williams, CEO, Reading Buses) ADL Enviro400 MMCs 760, 761 and 762 are to be given Green Line branding on top of their Emerald two-tone green livery and temporarily allocated to the route, this is possible as Emerald routes 5 and 6 are still operating with a reduced PVR compared to pre-Covid and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. This will release generic-liveried MMCs 756, 757 and 759 back to the main fleet which will enable the blue East Lancs-bodied Tridents to depart the fleet. Optare Metrodecker demonstrator 899 is to be returned to Optare and will be repainted out of its Green Line livery at Courtney Bodyworks. On a more positive note, National Express route 925 (Woking Station - Heathrow Airport), which is contracted to Reading Buses, will recommence from 10th August to its full timetable, save for one minor alteration. In regards to the demonstrator specifically, they've suddenly gone from positive to mixed views as I remember reading a route one article where Reading Buses liked it a lot |
|
|
|
Post by LJ17THF on Aug 2, 2020 15:41:33 GMT
"It is now over two years since the order for five Optare MetroDeckers for Green Line 702 was placed. A combination of ongoing production delays, an inability to provide a delivery schedule" Interesting that they have said this, Optare seemed to deliver their buses late the majority of the time, with examples being the 134's OME's, the 54/75's Olympuses and some others (not too sure about Quality Line's buses, I think they delivered them on time). Something that surprised me that it was only 5 buses, and that they have been waiting 2 years for it. Over the span of 2 years, other manufacturers have delivered many more buses, so surely they were doing something wrong. This must make them look extremely unappealing to operators, especially ones in London. If they really want to get some orders from operators, then they really have to do something about this, considering the fact that they are the one of the two double deck electric bus manufacturers. I do hope that they manage to actually deliver all their buses on time after the pandemic, all of their bus range do have potential. |
|
|
|
Post by capitalomnibus on Aug 3, 2020 8:46:32 GMT
Do you that Sadiq Khan would follow though on Boris’ demand and make the London Underground drivel’s? Does the track and signals really have to changed for the Tube to be driverless. The unions won't want driverless trains and will likely lock horns with TfL if any such proposal is bought forward for driverless trains, which I can't see happening and of course they can easily strike to use their leverage. For what its worth my view on driverless trains is that they've been an inevitability for a while. In this digital age lots of blue collar jobs can be digitalised with new jobs being in different sectors and in future I think we'll see a shift to white collar jobs at the expense of blue collar ones. Consider that on London Underground there used to be guards but getting rid of them was the thin end of a wedge which eventually leads to autonomy. I think guards are a good thing to have on long distance services to tend to the needs of passengers and in case of emergencies but don't see much need for them on a metro system, having some staff member on every train would be a niceity but would be expensive, a theoretical advantage of driverless train is you could save money on wages but in reality if they ever did happen TfL may have to redeploy the drivers and give them alternative employment given how unpopular driverless trains will be with the unions. What I'm trying to say is that I think driverless trains will happen eventually but that there'll be long hard battles with unions before we see them meaning its unlikely they'll happen any time soon. Part of the reasons for driverless trains is mainly down to union action. The unpopularity of the general public when it comes to a strike would also reflect this. The Unions hasn't done themselves any favours calling for strikes so often, compared to the buses which has far more pressing issues but have not striked anywhere on the same level. The whole point in driverless trains on the Underground isn't for the case of technology, but more to be done to eliminate strikes.
|
|
|
|
Post by capitalomnibus on Aug 3, 2020 10:04:22 GMT
I’ve been working in central London a lot over the last months. The cycling hasn’t in my opinion took off in a big way. There is evidence of extra leisure time use at weekends and evenings. Those people working from home make up a big proportion of cyclists , so things are far from normal even now. There is a big backlash against new cycle lanes on Euston Road and Park Lane. Locally, Tower Hamlets are facing protest groups after a scheme there has made Roman Road a traffic jam all day. I don’t think we will see true changes until next year. I think the inflation in cycling has been inflated a lot more than it should be. A lot of people are taking out the Santander bikes more so for leisure as there's nothing else to do as opposed to actually being used for commuting. It's all well and good having people cycling in the Sun in a pandemic where the weather is good and there's less traffic on the roads. However we need to accept the reality that once traffic returns people will either start to abandon cycling due to the danger it once again brings with it or just start using the bus and tube again. Cycling priority is very disproportionate in who it benefits. Bus lanes would be so much more productive - CS3 for example passes outside my house and is rarely used however a bus lane for the 173 would make that route a lot more reliable. The more cycle lanes we have, the less road space we have, the less road space we have the more traffic we have and then we just get more pollution of cars and buses running around in fuel consuming first and second gears. I'm a bit thankful Barking and Dagenham don't care about their roads that much, they're landmines however the big ones get their potholes filled and nobody there has considered setting up any cycle lanes yet. I think another factor people don't look at is mugging, it's a slightly morbid factor however crime for bikes is extremely rife in London and it does put off many people from using them. A point you have made about cycling is theft is rife and no matter what measures they do or say; it is pointless. If these people who steals these bikes gets a slap on the wrist when caught or only a few months it is nothing. Especially the ones that steal van loads of them and strip for spares or export them abroad. |
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 4, 2020 18:46:24 GMT
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331453This seems to have caused quite a stir elsewhere. They've managed to reach the threshold so will at least require a response from Parliament now so will be interesting to see what they come up with.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 19:06:46 GMT
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331453This seems to have caused quite a stir elsewhere. They've managed to reach the threshold so will at least require a response from Parliament now so will be interesting to see what they come up with. I see a bit of this on the ITV London news. A few things stood out, the girl being interviewed suggested she would be charged adult fare, has this been confirmed? she also suggested she would have to pay for a bus and tram when she would probably qualify for a hopper fare so the £6 per day is actually £3.
I do understand the hardship some will suffer and not getting into the debate again but don't think a free for all travel is ideal at the moment, it's a shame the system can't be set up to allow free travel at certain times for example 7am - 9am and again in the afternoon on Monday - Friday.
|
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 4, 2020 19:39:20 GMT
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/331453This seems to have caused quite a stir elsewhere. They've managed to reach the threshold so will at least require a response from Parliament now so will be interesting to see what they come up with. I see a bit of this on the ITV London news. A few things stood out, the girl being interviewed suggested she would be charged adult fare, has this been confirmed? she also suggested she would have to pay for a bus and tram when she would probably qualify for a hopper fare so the £6 per day is actually £3.
I do understand the hardship some will suffer and not getting into the debate again but don't think a free for all travel is ideal at the moment, it's a shame the system can't be set up to allow free travel at certain times for example 7am - 9am and again in the afternoon on Monday - Friday.
The issue is a lot of schools will have staggered finish times starting September and extra curricular activities usually take place outside of this time which would be unfair for children who live further from schools. I think this will end up being reversed sooner or later if it ends up in Parliament, it's going to be impossible to defend in any sort of debate if suitable provisions are not made. One solution I could think of is that each Zip card gets loaded with a set number of journeys free each week, so I'd say around 4 journeys which expire at the end of the week if left unused and they get refreshed at the start of the next. This will prevent children who don't need them all stacking up a load of free journeys and then passing their oyster around on the black market or something. It should also be able to get around the timing issue of schools. |
|
|
|
Post by galwhv69 on Aug 4, 2020 19:48:38 GMT
I see a bit of this on the ITV London news. A few things stood out, the girl being interviewed suggested she would be charged adult fare, has this been confirmed? she also suggested she would have to pay for a bus and tram when she would probably qualify for a hopper fare so the £6 per day is actually £3.
I do understand the hardship some will suffer and not getting into the debate again but don't think a free for all travel is ideal at the moment, it's a shame the system can't be set up to allow free travel at certain times for example 7am - 9am and again in the afternoon on Monday - Friday.
The issue is a lot of schools will have staggered finish times starting September and extra curricular activities usually take place outside of this time which would be unfair for children who live further from schools. I think this will end up being reversed sooner or later if it ends up in Parliament, it's going to be impossible to defend in any sort of debate if suitable provisions are not made. One solution I could think of is that each Zip card gets loaded with a set number of journeys free each week, so I'd say around 4 journeys which expire at the end of the week if left unused and they get refreshed at the start of the next. This will prevent children who don't need them all stacking up a load of free journeys and then passing their oyster around on the black market or something. It should also be able to get around the timing issue of schools. Whilst it's not a bad idea, each family has different needs such as shopping on Saturday or going to the shops after school etc. which would use up a new journey |
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 4, 2020 19:52:21 GMT
The issue is a lot of schools will have staggered finish times starting September and extra curricular activities usually take place outside of this time which would be unfair for children who live further from schools. I think this will end up being reversed sooner or later if it ends up in Parliament, it's going to be impossible to defend in any sort of debate if suitable provisions are not made. One solution I could think of is that each Zip card gets loaded with a set number of journeys free each week, so I'd say around 4 journeys which expire at the end of the week if left unused and they get refreshed at the start of the next. This will prevent children who don't need them all stacking up a load of free journeys and then passing their oyster around on the black market or something. It should also be able to get around the timing issue of schools. Whilst it's not a bad idea, each family has different needs such as shopping on Saturday or going to the shops after school etc. which would use up a new journey Despite being a supporter of free child travel, I think it's necessary to look at both sides. Going shops after school and shopping on Saturday is not something a 11+ year old might necessarily need to do. A lot of shops will be within walking distance and if they're going to spend money at a shop they can probably afford a bus journey. School provision end of the day is most important and it is vital in my opinion to keep that free as far as possible. |
|
|
|
Post by galwhv69 on Aug 4, 2020 20:12:03 GMT
Whilst it's not a bad idea, each family has different needs such as shopping on Saturday or going to the shops after school etc. which would use up a new journey Despite being a supporter of free child travel, I think it's necessary to look at both sides. Going shops after school and shopping on Saturday is not something a 11+ year old might necessarily need to do. A lot of shops will be within walking distance and if they're going to spend money at a shop they can probably afford a bus journey. School provision end of the day is most important and it is vital in my opinion to keep that free as far as possible. Sorry, meant more like doing a small family grocery shop after school etc. as parents are at work/stay at home with small children Also agree that it's not the best atm but for example, my closest supermarket is on the A3 which would usually involve a bus ride there as walking isn't the safest along a 40/50mph road |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2020 22:07:07 GMT
Whilst it's not a bad idea, each family has different needs such as shopping on Saturday or going to the shops after school etc. which would use up a new journey Despite being a supporter of free child travel, I think it's necessary to look at both sides. Going shops after school and shopping on Saturday is not something a 11+ year old might necessarily need to do. A lot of shops will be within walking distance and if they're going to spend money at a shop they can probably afford a bus journey. School provision end of the day is most important and it is vital in my opinion to keep that free as far as possible. I have to agree, I do support the idea of free travel but it should be for getting to and from school. If they choose to go out outside of designated hours there should be a subsidised cost to travel. Let’s say half the adult fare with a half adult fare cap being used. Yes, it would be a hardship to some but only the very few. Thousands of people growing up in London before free travel were able to cope and I’m sure these kids would as well. Imagine being so entitled that you demand free travel in the capital whilst outside of London hundreds of thousands of families have to pay out of pocket for their kids travel. |
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 4, 2020 23:31:06 GMT
Despite being a supporter of free child travel, I think it's necessary to look at both sides. Going shops after school and shopping on Saturday is not something a 11+ year old might necessarily need to do. A lot of shops will be within walking distance and if they're going to spend money at a shop they can probably afford a bus journey. School provision end of the day is most important and it is vital in my opinion to keep that free as far as possible. Sorry, meant more like doing a small family grocery shop after school etc. as parents are at work/stay at home with small children Also agree that it's not the best atm but for example, my closest supermarket is on the A3 which would usually involve a bus ride there as walking isn't the safest along a 40/50mph road Again, it's a case where if you can probably pay for a Grocery shop it's a case of adding a bus fare to a £10 to make it £10.75. What's dangerous about walking along a 40/50mph road? I honestly will hope as far as possible that free travel is maintained for as long as possible, it's what got me into buses and enjoying myself and I hope it will one day maybe return but I think that we do need to look at the fact now that if school provision is accounted for in a fair manner then there's no issue. I imagine the bus enthusiasts that rely on Zips will have a hard time but they're going to be pretty much the few people it'll affect, most people just use a bus getting A to B which is likely to only cost a little bit. |
|
