Messages

If anything, cyclists using the roads and holding up buses should be even more of a reason for segregated cycle lanes. As I've said, if cycling infrastructure is built properly, then more cyclists will get off the road and traffic can be reduced. 

Recently there has been a lack of focus on active travel, with the vacant Cycling & Walking Commissioner only just being addressed by the new mayor alongside BCC's terrible decision to remove the Cabinet Member for Transport just a few days ago.

The cycle lanes you mentioned are decent, however they aren't comprehensive enough and they end quite abruptly. I'm sure there are enough people willing to switch to cycling, but unfortunately the infrastructure is still very lackluster.

I would also love to see new bus lanes introduced, I quite like what is going on along the 50 route where there have been some extensions to existing bus lanes. Personally, I think the new mayor should squeeze as much money as possible from the central Gov for a wide variety of transport methods. London's already had their fare share, so should we.

There's too much focus (and money being spent) on 'active travel' and cycle lanes; 

I pretty much agree with everything apart from this bit. Enhancing active travel does play a big part in reducing congestion if done correctly. A lot of car journeys that people take can usually be done via means of walking or cycling. The road system here is extremely hostile to cycling, we don't have to look very far to see the benefits of good cycling infrastructure (Paris, London, Netherlands). Bus lanes and cycle lanes please.

Excellent public transport is the solution, the West Midlands has some of the highest car usage of any urban area in the UK and Europe. This requires radical investment, and with radical investment there will be some form of disruption. Franchising is a very very small piece of the puzzle in terms of transport improvements.

The Platinums are probably some of the most uninspiring buses ever conceived.

Platinums were an upgrade over existing vehicles, boasting many new comfort features to attract new passengers. This has allowed the platinum spec to become standard for National Express fleet. What makes you think they are uninsipring?

@Tony that article I posted on my Facebook page yesterday has definitely attracted a lot of negative/ignorant comments for some reason!

It's so common on Facebook to see all of these low functioning doom and gloom people commenting nonsense about electric buses blowing up. They are everywhere and have nothing better to do. Your article was amazing, don't let them hinder your work.

1887 SCANIA OMNISHITE, What an awful bus first of all cab heaters stuck on just what you need on a hot day, i had the great privilege of driving this gem on the 87 service, no more deckers available due to the uselessness of WB's platinums,
it takes forever to get to 20 mph, its like driving a bouncy castle while stuck in a sauna.
I WOULD gladly drive this to PVS myself for free

I'm not sure if I asked this before, but what do you dislike about the platinums in your experience? I thought they were the most reliable double deckers in the NX fleet.

Yet another bus fire, this time it's Stagecoach South's 18379 (MX55 KRN) who decided enough to go out in style.

https://www.hantsfire.gov.uk/incident/double-decker-bus-blaze-in-bordon-tackled-by-on-call-crews/ 

E244 seen in town dropping a few staff off.

The route 27 will have a bit of an issue in the coming years. The bridge at Bourneville station is a triange 9' 9, in which a 10' 6(?) Omnilink can fit under nicely. However, since Omnilinks are getting replaced relatively fast (presumably all withdrawn by late-2025 ) and all new electrics seem to be too tall for that bridge. It may require a re-routing of that portion of the 27 because the adjacent Mary Vale Rd looks to be too impractical for any NX bus.

There will probably still be some 2009/10 Scanias lingering around after this batch of electrics. Hopefully NX don't eat into the 2007 Enviro 400s with this batch, they are still doing very well.

Thanks for the reply. I've been seeing that the Electroliner is making waves across the UK, especially London. I really do hope that NX order big for this bus, it also seems to be good from a passenger perspective.

The next order, which is likely to start delivery later this year, that I cannot give details of yet, but it will not be BYD

Have you had the chance of driving another electric bus asides from the BYD ones and the electroliner? If so, what is your favourite electric bus so far?

That's good to hear. The interior on the BYDs are very awkward, 39 seats upstairs for a 10.8m bus is a bit lack luster too.

I did a 'lap' of the 8C one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago now - yes, I was bored and wanted something different to do!

In my opinion, under 'normal circumstances', the route copes quite well with single decks at its current frequency levels (every 12-15mins).

The problems with overcrowding come when the buses get delayed and start running late, but then the same can be said for any other bus service that uses single decks.

In the rush hours it gets very busy, especially because it goes past so many schools and is a convenient link to many bus routes. It gets into traffic in basically almost every suburb that it passes through, so it ends up regularly getting late and often bunches together.