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Post by M1104 on Sept 30, 2018 10:36:26 GMT
Out of interest Allison are coming out with a 9 speed variant box. Not sure whether or not this could tip future single deck orders in their favour. Would be interesting to know what the gear ratios will be like as I imagine gear changing habits will be different from the six speed variant MMCs. www.route-one.net/articles/Allison_announces_nine_speed__box9 speed is a lot of gears, I imagine it could be an engine where it upshifts earlier and frequently than a 6 speed Allison? Most likely so I also reckon. To my knowledge I've not yet travelled in a 6 speed Allison but I imagine they change a bit quicker than the 5-speed variant. |
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Post by snowman on Sept 30, 2018 11:56:34 GMT
Out of interest Allison are coming out with a 9 speed variant box. Not sure whether or not this could tip future single deck orders in their favour. Would be interesting to know what the gear ratios will be like as I imagine gear changing habits will be different from the six speed variant MMCs. www.route-one.net/articles/Allison_announces_nine_speed__box9 speed is a lot of gears, I imagine it could be an engine where it upshifts earlier and frequently than a 6 speed Allison? Extra gears might be useless in London, especially if the top ones are for 40-50mph running and the intermediate lower ones help accelerate up steep hills. |
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Post by cl54 on Sept 30, 2018 12:16:11 GMT
Returning to my rant about early running buses on my nearest route (the 386).
I regularly use the third bus of the day towards Blackheath Village. In recent weeks drivers have been running early.
On Friday the bus was even earlier. I managed to flag him him down and he stopped. He stated he was on time. After a while he said he could prove it and pointed to the cab display. This actually showed he was still 51 seconds early.
I had never seen this display before and it means that a driver on a low frequency route has no excuse for early running.
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Post by cl54 on Sept 30, 2018 12:27:47 GMT
Last night I got to North Greenwich about 8.45pm.
I headed up to wait for a 486. A lot of people were waiting.
After about 5 minutes the bus turned up and everybody boarded. All seats were occupied.
Buses used to have priority in the area but not now. We were held at every red light until Charlton station.
Having been passed by an empty bus going to Bexleyheath the announcement was made that our bus would be turned short at Welling Corner.
Whilst at Charlton Station a bus that should have got to North Greenwich was turned short.
These turns at Charlton are becoming more frequent. It certainly explains longer waits at North Greenwich.
The busway near the O2 will shortly go to be replaced by a standard dual carriageway with bus lanes.
The performance on the route is being ruined by TfL traffic management and Greenwich Council.
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Post by vjaska on Sept 30, 2018 13:31:15 GMT
Last night I got to North Greenwich about 8.45pm. I headed up to wait for a 486. A lot of people were waiting. After about 5 minutes the bus turned up and everybody boarded. All seats were occupied. Buses used to have priority in the area but not now. We were held at every red light until Charlton station. Having been passed by an empty bus going to Bexleyheath the announcement was made that our bus would be turned short at Welling Corner. Whilst at Charlton Station a bus that should have got to North Greenwich was turned short. These turns at Charlton are becoming more frequent. It certainly explains longer waits at North Greenwich. The busway near the O2 will shortly go to be replaced by a standard dual carriageway with bus lanes. The performance on the route is being ruined by TfL traffic management and Greenwich Council. One other thing that I think needs to be sorted is this practice of allowing a bus going the full route to overtake the turned one because all is mean those going further than the curtailment point having a longer wait once the bus is curtailed. This seems to becoming increasingly common which is quite annoying. |
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Post by M1104 on Sept 30, 2018 13:36:49 GMT
9 speed is a lot of gears, I imagine it could be an engine where it upshifts earlier and frequently than a 6 speed Allison? Extra gears might be useless in London, especially if the top ones are for 40-50mph running and the intermediate lower ones help accelerate up steep hills. I'd imagine they're variable gear settings available for the speed of the changes to match city, suburban, motorway and country driving alike. The ZF boxed E40Ds that were software amended change into 6th much earlier than they did when new. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2018 14:24:43 GMT
Last night I got to North Greenwich about 8.45pm. I headed up to wait for a 486. A lot of people were waiting. After about 5 minutes the bus turned up and everybody boarded. All seats were occupied. Buses used to have priority in the area but not now. We were held at every red light until Charlton station. Having been passed by an empty bus going to Bexleyheath the announcement was made that our bus would be turned short at Welling Corner. Whilst at Charlton Station a bus that should have got to North Greenwich was turned short. These turns at Charlton are becoming more frequent. It certainly explains longer waits at North Greenwich. The busway near the O2 will shortly go to be replaced by a standard dual carriageway with bus lanes. The performance on the route is being ruined by TfL traffic management and Greenwich Council. One other thing that I think needs to be sorted is this practice of allowing a bus going the full route to overtake the turned one because all is mean those going further than the curtailment point having a longer wait once the bus is curtailed. This seems to becoming increasingly common which is quite annoying. This happens a lot. If there are two buses running together common practice is to allow the on time one to overtake and holding back the late bus and turning it. |
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Post by wirewiper on Sept 30, 2018 14:32:26 GMT
Last night I got to North Greenwich about 8.45pm. I headed up to wait for a 486. A lot of people were waiting. <snip> Having been passed by an empty bus going to Bexleyheath the announcement was made that our bus would be turned short at Welling Corner. <snip> One other thing that I think needs to be sorted is this practice of allowing a bus going the full route to overtake the turned one because all is mean those going further than the curtailment point having a longer wait once the bus is curtailed. This seems to becoming increasingly common which is quite annoying. It's even more annoying as passengers for Bexleyheath would have boarded that bus with no reason to assume it would not be doing the full route. Had the curtailment been agreed before it departed North Greenwich it would have been displaying Welling Corner and passengers for Bexleyheath could have chosen to wait for the following bus. It would not then have mattered if that bus had overtaken the first one, as the Bexleyheath passengers would already be on it. |
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Post by sid on Sept 30, 2018 14:37:30 GMT
One other thing that I think needs to be sorted is this practice of allowing a bus going the full route to overtake the turned one because all is mean those going further than the curtailment point having a longer wait once the bus is curtailed. This seems to becoming increasingly common which is quite annoying. It's even more annoying as passengers for Bexleyheath would have boarded that bus with no reason to assume it would not be doing the full route. Had the curtailment been agreed before it departed North Greenwich it would have been displaying Welling Corner and passengers for Bexleyheath could have chosen to wait for the following bus. It would not then have mattered if that bus had overtaken the first one, as the Bexleyheath passengers would already be on it. Exactly, I think curtailing buses mid journey is unacceptable other than in exceptional circumstances. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2018 14:45:20 GMT
It's even more annoying as passengers for Bexleyheath would have boarded that bus with no reason to assume it would not be doing the full route. Had the curtailment been agreed before it departed North Greenwich it would have been displaying Welling Corner and passengers for Bexleyheath could have chosen to wait for the following bus. It would not then have mattered if that bus had overtaken the first one, as the Bexleyheath passengers would already be on it. Exactly, I think curtailing buses mid journey is unacceptable other than in exceptional circumstances. That's a ridiculous idea! Buses are not always late leaving the stand. Most of the time they lose the time during the trip for any number of reasons. |
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Post by sid on Sept 30, 2018 14:53:13 GMT
Exactly, I think curtailing buses mid journey is unacceptable other than in exceptional circumstances. That's a ridiculous idea! Buses are not always late leaving the stand. Most of the time they lose the time during the trip for any number of reasons. What is ridiculous is the situation described, a bus leaving North Greenwich for Bexleyheath is curtailed and then to add insult to injury a bus that is actually going to Bexleyheath overtakes. And you wonder why people are abandoning bus travel! Why was the bus not blinded for Welling Corner when it left North Greenwich? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2018 14:57:05 GMT
That's a ridiculous idea! Buses are not always late leaving the stand. Most of the time they lose the time during the trip for any number of reasons. What is ridiculous is the situation described, a bus leaving North Greenwich for Bexleyheath is curtailed and then to add insult to injury a bus that is actually going to Bexleyheath overtakes. And you wonder why people are abandoning bus travel! Why was the bus not blinded for Welling Corner when it left North Greenwich? Usually you don't get given a turn until you are actually on the trip as you often lose more time during the trip. The bus going to Bexleyheath would overtake as it is standard practice in order to keep that bus on time. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2018 14:59:56 GMT
The performance on the route is being ruined by TfL traffic management and Greenwich Council. I wouldn't say that having driven the 486 before when on loan to BX the evening running times are impossible. |
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Post by sid on Sept 30, 2018 15:00:29 GMT
What is ridiculous is the situation described, a bus leaving North Greenwich for Bexleyheath is curtailed and then to add insult to injury a bus that is actually going to Bexleyheath overtakes. And you wonder why people are abandoning bus travel! Why was the bus not blinded for Welling Corner when it left North Greenwich? Usually you don't get given a turn until you are actually on the trip as you often lose more time during the trip. The bus going to Bexleyheath would overtake as it is standard practice in order to keep that bus on time. Did the bus really lose that much time between North Greenwich and Charlton to necessitate being curtailed at Welling? Unfortunately some people seem to have overlooked the whole reason for running buses. |
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Post by lwldriver on Sept 30, 2018 15:29:35 GMT
The performance on the route is being ruined by TfL traffic management and Greenwich Council. I wouldn't say that having driven the 486 before when on loan to BX the evening running times are impossible. Having also driven the route in recent weeks, I agree the evening running times are impossible, adding another 5 minutes running time which could easily be achieved by cutting the standtime (which generally is good in evenings) would be handy. I find it odd that from Welling Corner to Bexleyheath on a 486 in the evening you get 5 minutes to do it, yet on the N89 in the early hours of the morning you get 7 minutes to cover that distance. |
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