|
|
Post by SILENCED on Oct 14, 2024 14:24:44 GMT
Even if you keep the different interior colour styles, the interiors still need to be more consistent across the board. Take Arriva for example - the ES's come with woodern effect flooring whilst the refurbed HV's at N don't. Now extend it beyond Arriva - the Abellio Electroliners come with glass pillars whilst the WDE's, ES's and Stagecoach examples don't. This also extends to refurbs - HV's down here getting a proper refit whilst North London ones are receiving bog standard refurb just because of a different length of contract at play which creates yet more inconsistencies Oh yes good point, certain things should be specified. Eg, wooden floor, standardised iBus screens, properly programmed screen blinds, high back seats for new vehicles (wouldn’t say they’re necessary for refurbs tbh), same exterior layout (like the extra glass on the Electroliners), TfL buses badge roundel on the front, but leave the colour choice and seat trims down to the operators  So if TfL standardised on the lowest common denominator would you be happy? |
|
|
|
Post by DE20106 on Oct 14, 2024 14:38:44 GMT
Oh yes good point, certain things should be specified. Eg, wooden floor, standardised iBus screens, properly programmed screen blinds, high back seats for new vehicles (wouldn’t say they’re necessary for refurbs tbh), same exterior layout (like the extra glass on the Electroliners), TfL buses badge roundel on the front, but leave the colour choice and seat trims down to the operators So if TfL standardised on the lowest common denominator would you be happy? Yes I would, nothing wrong with different colour schemes imo for the reasons I outlined earlier |
|
|
|
Post by SILENCED on Oct 14, 2024 14:43:10 GMT
So if TfL standardised on the lowest common denominator would you be happy? Yes I would, nothing wrong with different colour schemes imo for the reasons I outlined earlier But if they told Abellio they could not order the glazed pillars for example? |
|
|
|
Post by DT 11 on Oct 14, 2024 15:13:51 GMT
I agree with you but would stop short at the different interiors. I know that makes things consistent, but I say this purely for the reason there are some really nice designs of London interiors, which it’d be a shame to lose. Arriva, TUK, RATP, all have extremely nice interiors imo, and I wouldn’t want to see them go (GAL is mediocre and Metroline’s I unequivocally don’t like, it’s very dated now). Sticking with Stagecoach I really like the TfL interior they’ve gone for, but I wish they’d have stuck with the exact dark red and gold colour schemes on the ex-HCT buses. I have the same feelings about Manchester tbh as new buses come in with the new Bee Network design. It’s very smart but I’ll certainly miss the Stagecoach colours on the 192. Privatisation has been ingrained in London Buses for 40 years now so I think it’s fair the customer is reminded of the privatised system with different interiors. If all the separate interiors were crap though I’d deffo be saying get rid of them 😂 Even if you keep the different interior colour styles, the interiors still need to be more consistent across the board. Take Arriva for example - the ES's come with woodern effect flooring whilst the refurbed HV's at N don't. Now extend it beyond Arriva - the Abellio Electroliners come with glass pillars whilst the WDE's, ES's and Stagecoach examples don't. This also extends to refurbs - HV's down here getting a proper refit whilst North London ones are receiving bog standard refurb just because of a different length of contract at play which creates yet more inconsistencies Overall it’s a shame the 66 103 & 370 are not getting the same refurbishments as N, would save the need for ordering more Smart blind sets. I don’t think it’s worth the energy to refurbish buses to that specification for 3 year contracts though. As a whole it is what is specified in the contracts, some other routes in other firms may also receive these kind of refurbishments. |
|
|
|
Post by exbox on Oct 14, 2024 15:29:20 GMT
Do Stagecoach EV's need to have a break or something on Sundays ? Notice on Sundays there are more Diesels/Hybrids out on EV routes , 173 always has a few see today the 86 has a Evoseti out on it and 323 usually has a real E200 running and the 174 is nearly full Diesel today ? Sundays does tend to have other buses out but maybe the very cold temperatures are a small factor. It has been mentioned that electrics dont perform as well in the cold, so a cold Sunday could influence that. Last Sunday was mild and most the electrics were out on the 174 but it seemed to be all diesel yesterday. On the weather just reading an article that it could be 20c this week, yet as I type it is absolutely pouring it down! Makes you wonder how they manage in Norway during their winters when it often gets down to -30c in the countryside and -10c routinely in Oslo. |
|
|
|
Post by joefrombow on Oct 14, 2024 15:55:34 GMT
Even if you keep the different interior colour styles, the interiors still need to be more consistent across the board. Take Arriva for example - the ES's come with woodern effect flooring whilst the refurbed HV's at N don't. Now extend it beyond Arriva - the Abellio Electroliners come with glass pillars whilst the WDE's, ES's and Stagecoach examples don't. This also extends to refurbs - HV's down here getting a proper refit whilst North London ones are receiving bog standard refurb just because of a different length of contract at play which creates yet more inconsistencies Oh yes good point, certain things should be specified. Eg, wooden floor, standardised iBus screens, properly programmed screen blinds, high back seats for new vehicles (wouldn’t say they’re necessary for refurbs tbh), same exterior layout (like the extra glass on the Electroliners), TfL buses badge roundel on the front, but leave the colour choice and seat trims down to the operators Why ? It's good to have a bit of variation and differences infact buses in London are very boring compared to the 80s and 90s and up to 2010 when there was a lot of variety in livery's and onboard buses plus uprated engines , derated engines etc now every single deck is a E200 of some sort mainly and apart from the BZLs no new bus "engine" has any character whatsoever , and also mainly costs any standardising everything would give someone a monopoly over producing which would increase costs , a bit of competition and different parts from different producers creates a bit of competition. |
|
|
|
Post by SILENCED on Oct 14, 2024 16:09:02 GMT
Oh yes good point, certain things should be specified. Eg, wooden floor, standardised iBus screens, properly programmed screen blinds, high back seats for new vehicles (wouldn’t say they’re necessary for refurbs tbh), same exterior layout (like the extra glass on the Electroliners), TfL buses badge roundel on the front, but leave the colour choice and seat trims down to the operators Why ? It's good to have a bit of variation and differences infact buses in London are very boring compared to the 80s and 90s and up to 2010 when there was a lot of variety in livery's and onboard buses plus uprated engines , derated engines etc now every single deck is a E200 of some sort mainly and apart from the BZLs no new bus "engine" has any character whatsoever , and also mainly costs any standardising everything would give someone a monopoly over producing which would increase costs , a bit of competition and different parts from different producers creates a bit of competition. I actually am wondering if Arriva and Abellio have decided to retrofit LEDs on some buses as spares for smart blind units are getting harder to come by, so are creating their own pool of spares. Just a theory! |
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Oct 14, 2024 16:20:05 GMT
Even if you keep the different interior colour styles, the interiors still need to be more consistent across the board. Take Arriva for example - the ES's come with woodern effect flooring whilst the refurbed HV's at N don't. Now extend it beyond Arriva - the Abellio Electroliners come with glass pillars whilst the WDE's, ES's and Stagecoach examples don't. This also extends to refurbs - HV's down here getting a proper refit whilst North London ones are receiving bog standard refurb just because of a different length of contract at play which creates yet more inconsistencies Overall it’s a shame the 66 103 & 370 are not getting the same refurbishments as N, would save the need for ordering more Smart blind sets. I don’t think it’s worth the energy to refurbish buses to that specification for 3 year contracts though. As a whole it is what is specified in the contracts, some other routes in other firms may also receive these kind of refurbishments. Those routes aren't 3 year contracts. |
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Oct 14, 2024 16:34:34 GMT
Oh yes good point, certain things should be specified. Eg, wooden floor, standardised iBus screens, properly programmed screen blinds, high back seats for new vehicles (wouldn’t say they’re necessary for refurbs tbh), same exterior layout (like the extra glass on the Electroliners), TfL buses badge roundel on the front, but leave the colour choice and seat trims down to the operators Why ? It's good to have a bit of variation and differences infact buses in London are very boring compared to the 80s and 90s and up to 2010 when there was a lot of variety in livery's and onboard buses plus uprated engines , derated engines etc now every single deck is a E200 of some sort mainly and apart from the BZLs no new bus "engine" has any character whatsoever , and also mainly costs any standardising everything would give someone a monopoly over producing which would increase costs , a bit of competition and different parts from different producers creates a bit of competition. Because it creates a uniform look rather than a scattergun approach that makes it look like each operator is completely separate to the TfL network that they run under. The lovely liveries aren't returning so you may as well go the full hog otherwise you create this odd halfway house approach we are currently within where operators aren't allowed to paint their bus anything but 100% red but can spec what interior they like. By standardising interior parts, you could save a lot of money and it doesn't need to create a monopoly at all - the interior designs aren't wedded to one particular designer other than maybe seats. For example, seats don't have to be standard to one particular manufacturer but should be high backed regardless of which seat you choose. |
|
|
|
Post by WH241 on Oct 14, 2024 16:47:14 GMT
Do Stagecoach EV's need to have a break or something on Sundays ? Notice on Sundays there are more Diesels/Hybrids out on EV routes , 173 always has a few see today the 86 has a Evoseti out on it and 323 usually has a real E200 running and the 174 is nearly full Diesel today ? As you say Sundays are really bad which always seems a little odd to me. I have read a few different things here such as the 173 has more diesels out on Sundays so that electric buses are charged for the Monday run out, that don't make sense to me as they manage fine the rest of week unless I am missing something?
The Sunday issue seems to really only affect Stagecoach unless this happen at other operators?
|
|
|
|
Post by WH241 on Oct 14, 2024 16:50:09 GMT
So if TfL standardised on the lowest common denominator would you be happy? Yes I would, nothing wrong with different colour schemes imo for the reasons I outlined earlier I appreciate what you are saying but it brings nothing to the passenger experience. Its all about branding, the Overground and Elizabeth line have private companies running them but use TfL specified colours. |
|
|
|
Post by SILENCED on Oct 14, 2024 17:01:11 GMT
Yes I would, nothing wrong with different colour schemes imo for the reasons I outlined earlier I appreciate what you are saying but it brings nothing to the passenger experience. Its all about branding, the Overground and Elizabeth line have private companies running them but use TfL specified colours. It may bring nothing to the customer experience, but does it detract from the customer experience? Unless a company goes for a visually offensive colour scheme, I would suggest not. Let's look at what TfL went for on the LT. To me it is a bit too dark and is overbearing. I wouldn't want that on every bus, I prefer the brighter colours of the private companies. |
|
|
|
Post by ServerKing on Oct 14, 2024 17:41:04 GMT
Why ? It's good to have a bit of variation and differences infact buses in London are very boring compared to the 80s and 90s and up to 2010 when there was a lot of variety in livery's and onboard buses plus uprated engines , derated engines etc now every single deck is a E200 of some sort mainly and apart from the BZLs no new bus "engine" has any character whatsoever , and also mainly costs any standardising everything would give someone a monopoly over producing which would increase costs , a bit of competition and different parts from different producers creates a bit of competition. I actually am wondering if Arriva and Abellio have decided to retrofit LEDs on some buses as spares for smart blind units are getting harder to come by, so are creating their own pool of spares. Just a theory! I think so. Even McKenna want to move away from them, as they have their own LED blinds now, the process of making them is very time consuming and there's a long queue for those wanting inserts or new sets. There's a video somewhere of the whole process on YouTube. Was a surprise when some Stagecoach Electroliners at TL and NS came with SmartBlinds when even Arriva, late to the LED party is now retrofitting LED's down in Norwood. |
|
|
|
Post by lj61nwc on Oct 14, 2024 18:07:27 GMT
I actually am wondering if Arriva and Abellio have decided to retrofit LEDs on some buses as spares for smart blind units are getting harder to come by, so are creating their own pool of spares. Just a theory! I think so. Even McKenna want to move away from them, as they have their own LED blinds now, the process of making them is very time consuming and there's a long queue for those wanting inserts or new sets. There's a video somewhere of the whole process on YouTube. Was a surprise when some Stagecoach Electroliners at TL and NS came with SmartBlinds when even Arriva, late to the LED party is now retrofitting LED's down in Norwood. Would you say McKenna wanted to move away or were they forced to adapt to the "times". I recall a member on here saying someone high up at McKenna advocated the smart blinds over the LEDs |
|
|
|
Post by cl54 on Oct 14, 2024 18:18:10 GMT
I think so. Even McKenna want to move away from them, as they have their own LED blinds now, the process of making them is very time consuming and there's a long queue for those wanting inserts or new sets. There's a video somewhere of the whole process on YouTube. Was a surprise when some Stagecoach Electroliners at TL and NS came with SmartBlinds when even Arriva, late to the LED party is now retrofitting LED's down in Norwood. Would you say McKenna wanted to move away or were they forced to adapt to the "times". I recall a member on here saying someone high up at McKenna advocated the smart blinds over the LEDs Smart blinds are significantly cheaper over the London life of a bus IF a maintenance contract is taken out. This covers updates and repairs. Unfortunately most operators have chosen not to take out the contract and McKenna has been forced to reduce the number of maintenance crews which has impacted the service. |
|
