Buses in Malta

[Bryan]

@Winston - Thanks for the info. Yes it is such a shame that there are so many ex London Mercedes Benz Citaro O530G bendy buses that are just sitting in depots and bus dealers all over the UK. I am quite surprised that more bus operators dont buy them especially as they are going for such cheap prices. With the ones that are still in Malta - i suppose that Arriva might possibly be interested in taking them back to the UK to use somewhere (maybe on some routes around Leicester - where they already have some or on Arriva Surrey & West Sussex route 38 from Guildford to Surrey University would be a good route to convert to bendy buses). Or maybe the remaining bendy buses in Malta will go to Sudan like they were originally intended to do so.

The reason they are so cheap to buy is very few operators wants them. Arriva are not going to go to the expense of bringing them back to the UK. They did after all get banned from operating the artics on Malta after three separate fires within three days.

It also has to be remembered they are not cheap to run compared to a double decker of similar capacity and they take up a lot of depot floor space. Drivers also need to be trained on them, an additional cost.

[Tony]

@Bryan - Yes but i think that it is a real shame that so many of them are just sitting all over the UK in depots and bus dealers doing nothing. They are not as bad as many people think. It is just Boris Johnson's fault for making them so unpopular. They are actually quite easy drive and these bendy buses can be used on much more routes than most people think. An 18m Mercedes Benz Citaro O530G bendy bus should be able to be used on any routes that a 12m Mercedes Benz Citaro O530N rigid bus could manage. With the bus fires - these buses have hardly ever caught on fire - many other types of buses have had many more fires than these Mercedes Benz Citaro O530G bendy buses. And no bendy buses in the UK (or in Malta) have ever caused any deaths. I think that if Boris Johnson was never elected as the Mayor Of London (which i wish that he never was as he has done some rediculous things during his time as the Mayor - getting rid of the excellent bendy buses / introducing the awful borismasters / getting rid of cash / etc - Ken Livingstone was so much better) then we would probably still have bendy buses all over London and the UK and they would probably still be very popular. I have driven many Bendy Buses (including Mercedes Benz Citaro O530G buses) and i can easily say that they are fantastic buses to drive and are no harder to drive than most non bendy buses. More bus operators should buy them - they are not as bad as people think at all.

I agree with you that they are nice buses to drive, and just as easy an any 12m bus, but they do have a high percentage of fires with the engine that was in the London ones. The Coventry ones have a different engine. They are all also over 10 year old now and cost a fortune to run

[barry619]

@Bryan - Yes but i think that it is a real shame that so many of them are just sitting all over the UK in depots and bus dealers doing nothing. They are not as bad as many people think...

The Citaro artics are not bad buses at all, and the suggestion that they are came about following the handful of fires which were encountered in London, plus the moaning about them blocking junctions.

Where the problem comes is how much they cost to operate. The 3-4mpg they do compared to 5-7mpg of a double-decker can only be justified where a capacity of 100+ passengers is needed. Additionally when the 'turntable' between the two sections goes wrong (and they do), it is horrifically expensive to put right.

[Tony]

The Citaro artics are not bad buses at all, and the suggestion that they are came about following the handful of fires which were encountered in London, plus the moaning about them blocking junctions.

Where the problem comes is how much they cost to operate. The 3-4mpg they do compared to 5-7mpg of a double-decker can only be justified where a capacity of 100+ passengers is needed. Additionally when the 'turntable' between the two sections goes wrong (and they do), it is horrifically expensive to put right.

And they cost 50% more to park.

For instance you can fit 135 buses in Yardley Wood garage, but it would be less than 100 if the routes were bendi operated

[winston]

Detailed article on Malta Public Transport & the Otokar order/final delivery of 143 being completed.

It also confirms that the Malta Op is nothing to do with NX Group, Autobuses de Leon (ALESA) is still privately owned by the Cosmen family

http://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/otokar-celebrates-malta/

[2900]

I assume Coventry citaros time is near to an end as well , IMO bendy buses a waste of time and money this country is geared up for double deck buses lets just stick to them they have served very well for the past 80 odd years, saying this the so called sprint service if it ever sees light of day will be using bendies of some description.

[winston]

I assume Coventry citaros time is near to an end as well , IMO bendy buses a waste of time and money this country is geared up for double deck buses lets just stick to them they have served very well for the past 80 odd years, saying this the so called sprint service if it ever sees light of day will be using bendies of some description.

Bendi buses in the UK were just a passing fad, people in the UK like a seat & don't want to stand, double deckers are the ultimate people movers with their seating capacities

I do wonder whether Sprint might now switch to dual door double deckers (as per 4798 recent demo), Bendi's with either one or two articulated compartments will just add to congestion on the Hagley Rd corridor due to their length

[Liberator9]

@2900

Exactly; bendis are just not ideal for the UK's roads - they're inflexible in terms of route allocations and are best suited on straight and wide roads. First have proven their issues - both in Swansea and York, where the FTR schemes failed in favour of conventional buses. Granted that York still use Mercedes Citaros on a couple of their Park and Rides, which do work as the routes are relatively straight roads.

Deckers have the benefit of the higher seating capacity and proven their worth over the years in London, so no need to change from that. Hopefully Sprint will recognise that and use suitable deckers, rather than bendis.

[Tony]

@2900

Exactly; bendis are just not ideal for the UK's roads - they're inflexible in terms of route allocations and are best suited on straight and wide roads. First have proven their issues - both in Swansea and York, where the FTR schemes failed in favour of conventional buses. Granted that York still use Mercedes Citaros on a couple of their Park and Rides, which do work as the routes are relatively straight roads.

Deckers have the benefit of the higher seating capacity and proven their worth over the years in London, so no need to change from that. Hopefully Sprint will recognise that and use suitable deckers, rather than bendis.

It's nothing to do with 'straight roads' bendis are far more manoeverable than some current rigid vehicles. Bendis work on routes where lots of people travel short distances.

That is why they did actually work on the London Red Arrow network. It was politically reasons that saw their removal, not that they didn't work

[barry619]

A bit of good 'gen' from someone in the know suggests the artics which remain dumped on Malta have been viewed by representatives of an operator from Pakistan... :o

The argument of artics being 'a passing fad' is questionable. Mercedes is bringing the Euro 6 Citaro artic here and bendies will be a feature of certain airport operations for a long time, hence MB's decision

[winston]

A bit of good 'gen' from someone in the know suggests the artics which remain dumped on Malta have been viewed by representatives of an operator from Pakistan... :o

The argument of artics being 'a passing fad' is questionable. Mercedes is bringing the Euro 6 Citaro artic here and bendies will be a feature of certain airport operations for a long time, hence MB's decision

Airport work ie short distance shuttle services or airside work is very different to urban bus operation. They take up too much road space in our already congested cities, too much depot space and offer no where near the mpg of a double decker. MB may well be bringing Euro 6 Artics to the UK, but they will never sell in the numbers the previously have

[barry619]

Right, thanks for that. And the grass is green and the sky is blue, yes?

[winston]

Right, thanks for that. And the grass is green and the sky is blue, yes?

The grass may be green but the sky definitely ain't blue....

[John]

I can definitely see why Arriva were using the ex-London bendi-buses over here. Most of the buses are small single deckers with a few longer Kinglongs and Citaros and they nearly always seem to be very overcrowded.

The only deckers about are on sightseeing tours mostly ex London again with very low open top decks

[DeanM66A]

I can definitely see why Arriva were using the ex-London bendi-buses over here. Most of the buses are small single deckers with a few longer Kinglongs and Citaros and they nearly always seem to be very overcrowded.

The only deckers about are on sightseeing tours mostly ex London again with very low open top decks

I could definitely see why short buses are much preferable throughout Malta. Several times I've been on a service (usually on a King Long) when it has taken a very time consuming series of manoeuvres to get past parked cars.
The Otokars seem ideal.  Services are extensive, reliable and frequent, and consequently well-used.

There are plenty of open-top double-deckers on the islands, though the ex UK contingent is declining.  Judging by my photos, somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters were built new as open-top; mostly King Long and, a little earlier, several Visionaire-bodied Scanias.