Last Friday saw the first definitive progress on the current London mayor's pledge to get rid of the bendibuses in London, when the latest round of tender result was announces. The services affected are the 38 and Red Arrow services 507 & 521, the latter pair being the first to operate with articulated buses.
The change will see the 38, which currently has a peak vehicle requirement of 47 Citaro artics, to 72 new double deckers from Jul 2009 (Remarkable increase of capacity as the 38 had a peak requirement of just 48 buses when it was RML-operated). The 507 will get 15 large single deckers in place of 9 Citaro Gs and 521 from 19 Citaro Gs to 32 single deckers, coming into effect from Jun 2009.
Other than these changes, all three services have been retained by their existing operators, Arriva London and London General respectively.
From what I remember, the 38 was converted in 2004, so for a standard 5-year contract period, mid-09 sounds about right for the contract renewal (and the change of vehicle as a result). God knows who came up with the idea that the 38 need 72 buses to replace the bendibus - as I said, in the past the 38 "only" need 48 RMLs! That is quite an increase, and will also propel the 38 to the service with most buses in London. We will also be looking at a frequency increase to, probably, around 2 mins a bus as well.
507/521 was converted back in 2002 and the contract was extended to 7 years as part of the Quality Incentive Contract, an obvious indication that LG was running those two services rather well (and also Arriva didn't do as well on the 38, but that doesn't stop them to retain the route).
From what I remember, the 38 was converted in 2004, so for a standard 5-year contract period, mid-09 sounds about right for the contract renewal (and the change of vehicle as a result). God knows wh ...
Rt 38 lost its Routemasters on Oct 2005, not 2004. Looks like there is no rule on which is to go first.
原帖由 iczer3 於 2008-12-8 06:57 發表
Why London not using 12m tri axle double deckers?
Whats the feedbacks after the trial of Leyland Olympian 331 of Citybus?
The maneuverability is a major issue esp for the street of London, even the long wheelbase, 10.6m buses struggles in turns from time to time.
When 331 was on trial in London, overall feedback was fairly positive. The reason why buses like it did not make it to the capital is many around the acquisition cost - the larger bus simply cost more, let alone having an air-cond unit. This is esp. when the smaller and more agile Titans, Metrobuses and Olympians can do much of the same drop without significant lost of capacity - in any case, the need for a bus of 331's size exists, but not large enough to justify the investment.
Having said all that, it didn't stop Capital Citybus, following the trial, put a bid in to operate the 29 with similar 12m Olympians though. Of course, they failed and the rest is history.
