The end of the bend!

joegriffinjnr

Rumour has it the the Dublin bus bendy (AW class will cease operation this weekend, can anyone confirm? Its a shame as I thought these buses settled down well on the 4/4A. With a bit of work from Dublin Bus the AW class could of been a great success. If they are withdrawn Harristown will be down 20 buses, where will they get the buses to replace them?

SickCert

Heard they are up for sale.
With route changes 20 buses will be along shortly.

Oliver1985

I didnt think there was 20 of them!!!
Member being on one for the first time years ago , kept thinking it was gonna crash

SickCert

I think their new bill requires less buses too.

Oliver1985

I had one of these, cant find it now

L1011

There was more work for Dublin CC to do than Dublin Bus - double length bus bays, etc. DB needed to sort out ticketing to allow them to work to their best, though (to allow entrance/exit by all doors)

devnull

Actually pretty worrying whats going to happen on the 4's next week with a 30% cut in frequency on weekdays, and 50-60% at weekends, along with reduced running time and a route extension and buses that carry less people!

Having got the 4's for a few years to/from work, the bendys during the crazy busy time between 7.30am and 8.30am have been the difference between a bus going past full and being able to get on.

But the fact that the ticketing system in Dublin Bus etc were never suited to these buses meant they never really reached their potential.

honru

I love these buses. Got what appears to be my last ride on one from Ballymun yesterday.

Very surprised about the cutbacks, I had the impression was that it was a successful route.

Delighted if they're being withdrawn, they're terrible to overtake when cycling.

devnull

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

I love these buses. Got what appears to be my last ride on one from Ballymun yesterday.

Very surprised about the cutbacks, I had the impression was that it was a successful route.

It is a successful route, if you read the network review thread on here you will see there are a number of people shocked by it.

Oliver1985

Id say some night club with buy a few of these !! A lot of night clubs outside the city centre are offering bus services now and have bought a few old double deckers already!!

Cookie_Monster

Its just another typical reflection of good old backwards Ireland. The rest of Europe (UK aside) manages to use these buses effectively in nearly every major city but DCC and DB between them can't manage it. And just like the Mk3 rail coaches these buses are being disposed far before their time

patrickbrophy18

Oliver1985 wrote: »

Id say some night club with buy a few of these !! A lot of night clubs outside the city centre are offering bus services now and have bought a few old double deckers already!!

Just as a matter of interest, what night clubs are offering bus services and where do they go to?

Oliver1985

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest, what night clubs are offering bus services and where do they go to?

Time in Naas im nearly sure does and that Venue place in swords the bus goes from town!!
There is a few more dont know all off the top of my head dude!!

parsi

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Its just another typical reflection of good old backwards Ireland. The rest of Europe (UK aside) manages to use these buses effectively in nearly every major city but DCC and DB between them can't manage it. And just like the Mk3 rail coaches these buses are being disposed far before their time

In Luxembourg they use bendy buses with 3 units quite successfully. Mad long.

See --> http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-a/3813845225/

I wonder how much of their failure over here is due to the UK media's obsession with Bendy Busses being the spawn of the devil ? The redtops have a fairly significant malevolent influence.

oharach

parsi wrote: »

In Luxembourg they use bendy buses with 3 units quite successfully. Mad long.

See --> http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur-a/3813845225/

I wonder how much of their failure over here is due to the UK media's obsession with Bendy Busses being the spawn of the devil ? The redtops have a fairly significant malevolent influence.

Same in Hamburg. 4 doors!!!

Run_to_da_hills

oharach wrote: »

Same in Hamburg. 4 doors!!!

They are probably the same overall length as the Irish bendies but have shorter sections to allow them tighter turning circles.

These busses never made any sense in this country with the current one door driver ticketing / exit system.

A Dub in Glasgo

Double deckers are a much more efficient use of scarce road space.

Cookie_Monster

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Double deckers are a much more efficient use of scarce road space.

while that may be true I've always found it strange that few cities in Europe outside of UK & IE seem to use them.

Run_to_da_hills

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Double deckers are a much more efficient use of scarce road space.

As a cyclist / motorcyclist I personally don't like thses busses in the city center.

In theory if a bendy is used correctly it should be a lot more efficient than a double decker. The ideal route would be along a straight streatch such as a dual carriage way leading into a feeder system / terminus outside of the city where people can take other forms of transport. Ie The N6 leading into Heuston Station.

All exits should be used in conjunction with prepaid ticketing and the driver totally isolated from passengers (just like the luas). Maybe if Dublin Bus sold these on to Veolia they could run them effectivly.

Telchak

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

As a cyclist / motorcyclist I personally don't like thses busses in the city center.

In theory if a bendy is used correctly it should be a lot more efficient than a double decker. The ideal route would be along a straight streatch such as a dual carriage way leading into a feeder system / terminus outside of the city where people can take other forms of transport. Ie The N6 leading into Heuston Station.

All exits should be used in conjunction with prepaid ticketing and the driver totally isolated from passengers (just like the luas). Maybe if Dublin Bus sold these on to Veolia they could run them effectivly.

So... a BRT line then? :P

markpb

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Double deckers are a much more efficient use of scarce road space.

That depends on your point of view. Road space isn't scare in the city centre, just in-efficiently used.

devnull

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Double deckers are a much more efficient use of scarce road space.

That really isn't helpful to the passenger who gets the four, who now has less buses than they had this time last week, and the ones still there now have less capacity.

Don't get me wrong the artics are not suited to Dublin as much as other places, and DUblin Bus and the city council never made the most of them, but for people who get the four very often during peak they will be missed.

A Dub in Glasgo

markpb wrote: »

That depends on your point of view. Road space isn't scare in the city centre, just in-efficiently used.

I don't know why people think a bus that is twice the size (in length) of a double decker is in-efficiently used. It takes, by definition, more road space than a double decker

A Dub in Glasgo

devnull wrote: »

That really isn't helpful to the passenger who gets the four, who now has less buses than they had this time last week, and the ones still there now have less capacity.

Don't get me wrong the artics are not suited to Dublin as much as other places, and DUblin Bus and the city council never made the most of them, but for people who get the four very often during peak they will be missed.

It is a genreral observation, maybe DB should put a double decker on the 4 route or maybe they ado not justify one?

devnull

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

It is a genreral observation, maybe DB should put a double decker on the 4 route

The fact is right now, the loads on this corridor southbound are huge in morning peak and go past full, this is even before the cutbacks.

The bendy buses in morning peak have well in excess of 100 people on them, sometimes I would say 130. A standard Double deck from Dublin Bus holds around 85 max. You do the maths.

KD345

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

It is a genreral observation, maybe DB should put a double decker on the 4 route or maybe they ado not justify one?

The bendy bus holds over 140 passengers compared to 100 on a double decker. The point being made is that there is now less space and less frequency!

dowlingm

Any hint of tech issues? Some bendys don't last well, problems in artic joints etc.

I agree that without all door loading they're useless. Maybe RPA should buy them, paint them silver and operate them in the fashion of LUASes from say the Green Line terminus to Bray. (off the top of my head, there may be better ideas)

Aard

BRT with bendies on the main QBCs is the way to go. Obviously with many doors, not just one at the front. And prepaid ticket only. And ticket checkers. Hmm... I don't see this working for some reason.

markpb

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

I don't know why people think a bus that is twice the size (in length) of a double decker is in-efficiently used. It takes, by definition, more road space than a double decker

True but the combination of multiple doors and no stairs means passengers can load and unload much faster which means the bus has a lower dwell time which is good for all traffic. The lack of stairs also means more net useable space inside.

angel01

They seem to still be around. Saw one this morning.

devnull

Actually got on one myself this morning too, a little busier than normal for around 7.30 or so but not dreadful, normally it's just after then they start to get very busy.

Nice surprise though!

KC61

To clarify something about these buses. Dublin Bus actually did not choose to buy these buses, but rather it was a DTO decision.

They was never a co-ordinated process to put proper infrastructure in place in order to operate them properly - i.e. longer bus bays etc.

stop

There number has been up ever since DB heads got scared by this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkOD47hKqYs

Cool Mo D

dowlingm wrote: »

Any hint of tech issues? Some bendys don't last well, problems in artic joints etc.

I agree that without all door loading they're useless. Maybe RPA should buy them, paint them silver and operate them in the fashion of LUASes from say the Green Line terminus to Bray. (off the top of my head, there may be better ideas)

Something like that might be a good option for Metro West?

Aidan1

Or they could send them to Cork, and operate a BRT style service from Carrigaline into the City. Or to Galway, and use them as an orbital service bringing people from the west of the city out to where they work on the East. Or to Limerick to do the UL/City Centre route.

Cookie_Monster

or to the airport as carpark buses

Run_to_da_hills

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

or to the airport as carpark buses

They also make ideal airport tarmac busses.

Telchak

Seen a bendy bus as a 10C today. Strange introducing them to a route that will cease to exist in a few weeks

Ham'nd'egger

Telchak wrote: »

Seen a bendy bus as a 10C today. Strange introducing them to a route that will cease to exist in a few weeks

They actually served on the 10 some years back. Chances are that it was a spare bus covering a breakdown or some other gap in the service.

AngryLips

Weren't they prone to spontaneously bursting into flames?

KC61

AngryLips wrote: »

Weren't they prone to spontaneously bursting into flames?

That was a different bus model in London.

Bazzer2

Telchak wrote: »

Seen a bendy bus as a 10C today. Strange introducing them to a route that will cease to exist in a few weeks

That was a bus from Harristown Garage which had most likely worked to Belfield as an express. Rather than have the bus return empty to the garage, it helps out in service. In this instance, a short trip from Belfield on the 10 to City Centre only, hence 10C.

When the 10 route ceases, it will probably change to doing a 46C to Parnell Square, or 46E to Mountjoy Square. It may even do a 39A the whole way to Blanchardstown!

devnull

Doubt the 46C should be used, as it no longer exists!

Although what I will say is on a lot of routes, they use the C suffix to indicate a short working to the city centre, such as 10C, 13C, 4C, 19C etc, but as the 46C was used for a totally different route, maybe not best to use it?

KC61

Well given it is only being used going towards the city rather than outbound I don't think it will be that much of an issue.

devnull

Any truth in the report that they ran their last day of service on Friday with double deckers displaced from elsewhere hitting the 4 on Monday?

Can see that being fun on Monday if so been bad enough to have the peak timetable cut on the 4 already a jammed service the withdrawal of these will reduce the capacity even more.

Baron de Robeck

AW10 ran on the 10 on Saturday as part of the farewell event as an extra but did pick up passengers along the route. Maybe this was destined to be a bendi farewell too...........

devnull

Hopefully not! Should things deteriorate any more on my route to work I will just go back to the car, the only logical thing to do, if they removed the AW's is to reinstate the frequency back to the 15 minute it used to be during peak.

AlekSmart

Hopefully not! Should things deteriorate any more on my route to work I will just go back to the car, the only logical thing to do, if they removed the AW's is to reinstate the frequency back to the 15 minute it used to be during peak.

Devnull,I firmly believe that your sentiment should be printed out and stuck on the Desks of the Network Direct "Team" in the manner of Harry S Truman`s "The Buck Stops Here".

devnull

I'm a customer, what do I matter!!!!

KD345

The AW buses were still in service this morning.