Sandwell Travel

[Steveminor]

Well if they've come from the dealer I think they've come from (who I will not name but some will know who I mean ) they'll probably be waiting for said dealer to put any remidial problems right before they even make it onto the road.

[PM]

Well if they've come from the dealer I think they've come from (who I will not name but some will know who I mean ) they'll probably be waiting for said dealer to put any remidial problems right before they even make it onto the road.

Neither of these have been in service for quite a while. Various dealers have had ex London leased darts sat around ages, here's EOV last year

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shedinagarden/20466863845/

[countryliner]

@Steveminor @DiamondDart - Yes both RN52 EOV and RN52 EOX appear to have been out of service and stored at a bus dealers for quite a while.

@fleetline6477 - Thanks for the info. That is interesting to hear.

[PM]

I guess a fair few will have recently been snapped up as operators prepared for DDA. Obviously their book value was higher than their real value which was why they weren't selling. Not every fleet wants ex London Darts that on certain routes would require an expensive single door conversion.

[Tony]

I guess a fair few will have recently been snapped up as operators prepared for DDA. Obviously their book value was higher than their real value which was why they weren't selling. Not every fleet wants ex London Darts that on certain routes would require an expensive single door conversion.

And the irony is the single door conversion makes them non-DDA, so you might just as well by a non London single door bus and convert that

[PM]

And the irony is the single door conversion makes them non-DDA, so you might just as well by a non London single door bus and convert that

Exactly, you have to do 2 conversions and not 1! Only good thing I guess is they tend to be newer so there's a chance of recouping investment.

[sarai949]

Well we do have a idea what to do with both RN52 buses which doesn't require converting to single door.

[justlookingaround]

And the irony is the single door conversion makes them non-DDA, so you might just as well by a non London single door bus and convert that

How are they non-DDA after single door conversion? Fitting of a ramp and moving of seats / disabled area / etc should make them compliant, am I right?

[Tony]

How are they non-DDA after single door conversion? Fitting of a ramp and moving of seats / disabled area / etc should make them compliant, am I right?

Exactly, you have to do all the further work to make them DDA again

[PM]

Well we do have a idea what to do with both RN52 buses which doesn't require converting to single door.

Leave them as they are?

[Tony]

Leave them as they are?

If you want a dual door bus, yes, but most operators don't which is why these have been sitting in fields all over the country unused for so long

[Steveminor]

@justlookingaround you have to remember it's not just moving the stuff around but it has to all be perfectly placed & to re dda the bus it will be measured with laser accuracy again & then there's the all important push test  this will all add an extra £2k to the cost of the purchase of the bus money that won't add to the book value of the vehicle. That's why so many people won't buy them.

[countryliner]

@Steveminor @Tony @DiamondDart @justlookingaround - Yes i suppose that is why there are so many dual door buses that are sitting around in bus dealers. Most bus operators seem to prefer to convert them to single door rather than operating them in service as dual door vehicles. I know that many bus operators all over the UK have converted their buses from dual door to single door but i suppose it can be very expensive to do.

@sarai949 - So are RN52 EOV and RN52 EOX going to be converted to single door or will they be kept as dual door vehicles.

[Tony]

@Steveminor @Tony @DiamondDart @justlookingaround - Yes i suppose that is why there are so many dual door buses that are sitting around in bus dealers. Most bus operators seem to prefer to convert them to single door rather than operating them in service as dual door vehicles. I know that many bus operators all over the UK have converted their buses from dual door to single door but i suppose it can be very expensive to do.

@sarai949 - So are RN52 EOV and RN52 EOX going to be converted to single door or will they be kept as dual door vehicles.

He answered that 6 comments above, they are staying two door, which I can fully understand as the conversion costs would probably be almost as much as the cost of buying the vehicles!

[countryliner]

@Tony - Ok. Thank you. I was just confused as first he said that they were converting them and then he said that they were not converting them. Thanks for confirming. I know that converting vehicles from dual door to single door can be expensive but i did not realise that it was that expensive. I suppose with all the DDA compliance rules it will cost much more and there will be a lot more work that needs to be done to them.