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Post by snoggle on Oct 2, 2013 11:36:05 GMT
According to Twitter NB4L LT3 has arrived by ship in Hong Kong today. It apparently had a little difficulty negotiating the ramp between ship and dock. As it clearly travelled overnight it saw fit to display N73 blinds on arrival  photo linksecond photo link (courtesy of KM30192002 on Flickr) |
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Post by vjaska on Oct 2, 2013 12:48:58 GMT
According to Twitter NB4L LT3 has arrived by ship in Hong Kong today. It apparently had a little difficulty negotiating the ramp between ship and dock. As it clearly travelled overnight it saw fit to display N73 blinds on arrival photo link Can they keep it lol. |
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Post by guybowden on Oct 2, 2013 21:12:46 GMT
Do anyone know how long it will be out there for?
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Post by snoggle on Oct 3, 2013 14:58:15 GMT
Do anyone know how long it will be out there for? Based on stuff from Twitter it looks like it will be there for a couple of months. linkUnfortunately LT3 has conked out at the docks with compressor failure, engine failure and the computer has locked up. No one can fix it according to info from someone who works at the docks. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.    |
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Post by vjaska on Oct 3, 2013 15:36:50 GMT
Do anyone know how long it will be out there for? Based on stuff from Twitter it looks like it will be there for a couple of months. linkUnfortunately LT3 has conked out at the docks with compressor failure, engine failure and the computer has locked up. No one can fix it according to info from someone who works at the docks. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Money well spent there. |
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Post by eggmiester on Oct 6, 2013 0:48:59 GMT
Probably due to the fact its been sat on a ship for about 10 days......
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Post by snoggle on Oct 6, 2013 12:27:55 GMT
Probably due to the fact its been sat on a ship for about 10 days...... I really don't see why. Buses go back and forth between the UK and Hong Kong by ship all the time and are perfectly capable of being taken off the boat and then heading to the operator or a vehicle preparation location. This also applies to bare chassis that are driven to factories to be bodied with kits - KMB have a lot of their buses bodied from kits exported to mainland China. If Wrightbus seriously expect to sell any NB4Ls to Hong Kong then I'd have expected them to take due care of the demonstrator and ensure someone was around to be able to deal with any issues - especially as Wrightbus have offices in Hong Kong so it's not as if they have no presence or resources there. |
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Post by snoggle on Oct 11, 2013 23:18:35 GMT
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Post by snoggle on Oct 15, 2013 21:44:33 GMT
Looks like Wrightbus have eventually got LT3 to move as it has been seen at the Star Ferry terminal in Kowloon alongside some other KMB preserved buses. Not my photos but from a Flickr contact photos |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 19:46:31 GMT
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Post by snoggle on Oct 17, 2013 22:16:30 GMT
And the bit you carefully omit is that the KMB buses are very old and are preserved. I rather expect they didn't break down for days on arrival in HK! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 22:44:08 GMT
And the bit you carefully omit is that the KMB buses are very old and are preserved. I rather expect they didn't break down for days on arrival in HK! The most respectable buses in the entire HK bus industry. But I wonder if open platform buses are banned in HK because the Daimler bus have a window door on the open platform part of the bus. But I wonder why NBFL have their doors shut while they are having a photoshoot. I think the HK bus industry should trial the NBFL one one of its routes like what is currently doing to the BYD eBus.  I do understand that there are some ex London Transport buses had been operating on the streets of HK. Like one picture I found of a Daimler Fleetline which retained the red exterior and the legendary Roundel. www.imcdb.org/vehicle_21405-Daimler-Fleetline.html |
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Post by snoggle on Oct 17, 2013 23:22:10 GMT
And the bit you carefully omit is that the KMB buses are very old and are preserved. I rather expect they didn't break down for days on arrival in HK! The most respectable buses in the entire HK bus industry. But I wonder if open platform buses are banned in HK because the Daimler bus have a window door on the open platform part of the bus. But I wonder why NBFL have their doors shut while they are having a photoshoot. I think the HK bus industry should trial the NBFL one one of its routes like what is currently doing to the BYD eBus. I do understand that there are some ex London Transport buses had been operating on the streets of HK. Like one picture I found of a Daimler Fleetline which retained the red exterior and the legendary Roundel. www.imcdb.org/vehicle_21405-Daimler-Fleetline.htmlI recognise you have not been to Hong Kong but I have - several times - and have travelled by bus extensively across the territory. The thing that most people on this group will have no real sense of is the sheer scale of demand for buses in HK. There is literally never ending demand for buses which is why the operators have to have a hierarchy of routes - express, cross harbour, local and feeders (to the MTR rail network). There are also thousands of public light buses (minibuses) which may be fairly small vehicles but run frequently on fixed routes and often to places off the main bus network. The scale of demand means buses have to have very large carrying capacities even with peak frequencies of 2-3 minutes on many routes. It is a regular workday occurrence to have queues of hundreds of people waiting for buses at Hung Hom (Kowloon) to cross to Hong Kong through the (central) Cross Harbour tunnel. It is not unusual to have queues of buses lined up waiting to move on to a stop as soon as the bus in front is full. HK still retain proper queue lines at bus stops to ensure there is order in marshalling people on to buses - none of the London rugby scrum. It is unlike anything I have seen in London. With the very greatest of respect the NB4L is just the wrong design for HK. The carrying capacity is woeful for some London routes and completely useless for the majority of HK routes. It is therefore pointless running it in HK. HK operators would also never tolerate crew operation or open boarding. Where I think the NB4L could do well is if it was redesigned to be a tri-axle 12m vehicle and lost the second staircase and rear platform. Hong Kong has very severe air quality problems and a growing environmental lobby and the good environmental performance of the NB4L and plush ride could be a winner. The current design is a complete loser. We should be extremely grateful that the HK bus companies remain pretty loyal to UK bodybuilders with huge orders for Volvo / Wright and Alexander Dennis products. The converse is that HK bus operators keep demanding innovation which is why Wrights and AD have redesigned their products several times and keep innovating. The fundamental issue is if anyone can design a hybrid bus that can also cope with full air conditioning and carry around 120+ passengers. I suspect that is a big problem to fix (very heavy and axle weight problems) which is why one has not yet appeared. I have some doubts as to whether the NB4L could be fully air conditioned even in tri-axle form but Wrightbus might surprise us! |
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Post by vjaska on Oct 18, 2013 0:49:11 GMT
'snoggle' - does Hong Kong have lots of hills, because the current NBfL is extremely poor when it encounters one - it's as if your riding a bus that's 30 years old which is expected to struggle rather than a modern machine.
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Post by M1104 on Oct 18, 2013 10:49:19 GMT
'snoggle' - does Hong Kong have lots of hills, because the current NBfL is extremely poor when it encounters one - it's as if your riding a bus that's 30 years old which is expected to struggle rather than a modern machine. It's a pity a gas powered prototype was not built for the NB4L, baring in mind TfL appear appear not to show any interest in that option. |
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