Electric, Hydrogen & Hybrid Electric Buses in Ireland

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

I'd love to see the costs of the new bus stop poles....

Painting of the buses.

Dont forget storage of buses too. Amazes me they are paying Ardee coach trim to store buses and coaches when there is tons and tons of space in Inchicore.

The Dublin bus trim is set to be changed too... €€€€€ Someones gonna get rich.

bk

Buses are repainted every few years anyway, just to keep them clean and fresh looking, so a new livery isn't a big deal or all that much extra cost.

Reading comments like this pains me, I would have thought most people involved in public transport at this stage would realise that the biggest challenge it faces is attracting people out of their cars and onto buses, etc.

Buses (and bus stop infrastructure) need to be modern, reliable, well maintained, clean and well presented, if we want to attract people out of their car and onto buses. No one is going to give up their car for old dirty buses that break down all the time and look unattractive.

Compared to the cost of wages which by far make up the fast majority of costs and the cost of the bus itself, a bit of paint to keep things looking fresh and presentable is a drop in the ocean.

2 Billion was allocated to BusConnects and I'd assume that included budget for rebranding, new livery, new bus stops, etc. along with all the other elements of BusConnects, ticketing, network redesign, infrastructure.

That was all pre-covid, where the unexpected money comes up, is the €460 million extra that has been needed up to the end of 2020 (and more since) to keep public transport running and wages paid.

Of course all of this is a drop in the ocean to the overall cost of Covid19, 19 Billion deficit in 2020 and more to come in 2021. Which is actually quiet good to the originally estimated deficit of 30 Billion!

Luckily interest rates are at an all time low, in fact they are negative, so lenders are actually paying us to take on our debt!

Of course in the long term we will have to pay all this back in our taxes. But after the last recession, I would hope people here have learned how damaging fiscal austerity is and be glad that we aren't in this situation at the moment and can continue to invest in improving infrastructure, etc.

punisher5112

Don't get me wrong as in I know buses are repainted but imo too frequent and not oy that most that are at near retirement end up going out with near new paint.

The AV class were even given brand new steelies which is just bizarre.

I honestly can't see how a bus pole is going to improve a service and honestly money could be better spent elsewhere.

To attract more out of cars we need people to feel safe but also have people educated on how to go about traveling without impacting on others.

A bus isn't a restaurant or a bar but many use it as such and still do, rubbish left everywhere, I've come across many a needle too over the years.

Security or Garda patrols that actually get on, could cut out the antisocial behaviour onboard and this would improve it for everyone.

bk

punisher5112 wrote: »

Don't get me wrong as in I know buses are repainted but imo too frequent and not oy that most that are at near retirement end up going out with near new paint.

From what others have said, it will just be the SG's in the DB fleet getting the new branding, not older buses. The SG's will continue to be in the fleet for many years too come. And many of them most have been approaching their repaint date anyway.

punisher5112 wrote: »

The AV class were even given brand new steelies which is just bizarre.

Yep, I certainly can't say that there isn't waste going on. Pretty common in any large organisation unfortunately. Usually down to the spend all the budget or lose it next year mentality

punisher5112 wrote: »

I honestly can't see how a bus pole is going to improve a service and honestly money could be better spent elsewhere.

It is about presentation of the service. Bus poles and shelters are basically a major, permanent advertisement for the service.

Most non transport companies would kill to have that much onstreet public advertisement presence for free, which is why ads on bus shelters is such a lucrative business.

I'll readily admit bus poles and shelters in Dublin are in relatively good condition. But that is because they are regularly maintained and replaced.

In Cork, they were in an incredibly bad shape until the recent NTA replacement. I'm talking rusting, falling over, even dangerous in places. They looked really bad and that reflected very poorly on the service.

I'll never forget the bus shelter near my parents house as a kid, big metal thing with massive holes rusted through it! Things like this really turned people in Cork off the bus service.

As I said, not as bad in Dublin, but that is because frequent maintenance and replacement was already been done anyway. I've seen the bus stop near my home in Dublin replaced about twice over the last ten years. The change the NTA is making is just more obvious as they are a new style of pole, but replacing poles needs to happen any way.

Honestly I'm glad that we have moved away from the idea of just sticking a pole in the ground and leaving there unmaintained for 50 years. Companies, including the likes of ESB, Eir, etc. are getting better at understanding the need to properly maintain infrastructure and replace it as needed.

punisher5112 wrote: »

Security or Garda patrols that actually get on, could cut out the antisocial behaviour onboard and this would improve it for everyone.

I agree 100%, always been in favour of a proper transport police service.

But perception is also important. Buses covered in graffiti, burned seats, dirt everywhere, looking old, poor lighting, damaged/burned out bus stops and shelters all lead to a perception of a service being unsafe.

Fortunately operators and the NTA have realised this and have put a lot of effort into making the services feel, clean, well maintained, brightly light, etc. which helps make people feel safer about the service.

GT89

I can't see the point on repainting the SGs in the new livery and then repainting the GTs in the old livery seems a bit ridiculous. As members of the GT class will be due repainting in the coming years. I wonder will Go-Ahead buses be repainted under the same timeline as DB which is every 3 years I believe. Bus Eireann buses do not receive resprays near as often DB.

Euro 6 conversion kits are available I wonder will the NTA see these as an attractive option in order to further reduce emissions from current buses such as the GT class which are Euro 5 something which may increase the service life of Euro 5 buses.

https://baumot.co.uk/products/bnox-scr-system/

dublinman1990

The February edition of Buses Magazine has a feature article written up about the new ADL Hybrids for Dublin Bus & Bus Eireann in Galway. The article is called "A Greener Irish Journey". I read the notification about it through my emails tonight.

I am not sure if Easons is open during L5 restrictions to purchase a physical copy. You can buy a digital copy on the Pocket Mags website.

There is also a short preview of the article on keybuses.com below. However you need an active subscription to access all of it.

https://www.keybuses.com/article/greener-irish-journey

L1011

Eason branches are generally open for news, magazines and stationary which are allowed

d51984

Im really hoping some sort of logo is applied to the front before entry in to service. They look horrific from the front.

punisher5112

d51984 wrote: »

Im really hoping some sort of logo is applied to the front before entry in to service. They look horrific from the front.

Yeah very bare looking and to be honest the yellow will show a lot of battle scars more so now as it's the whole front.

The Wright symbol on front of SG is meant to be chrome but they painted over.

Have a great day or something nice on it to cheer people up, hell even name each bus like planes etc....

.anon.

punisher5112 wrote: »

The Wright symbol on front of SG is meant to be chrome but they painted over.

GAI's 182-reg Volvos have the chrome Wright symbol, with black on the inside, and it looks so much better. On their ex-DB SGs, the chrome is painted black, with yellow on the inside, and even that looks a million times better than the plain yellow. DB and the NTA have an awful habit of ignoring the design of the bus when applying the livery. The GTs (and the ones that transferred to GAI), for example, would look much better if the livery at the front followed the lines of the bus.

punisher5112

.anon. wrote: »

GAI's 182-reg Volvos have the chrome Wright symbol, with black on the inside, and it looks so much better. On their ex-DB SGs, the chrome is painted black, with yellow on the inside, and even that looks a million times better than the plain yellow. DB and the NTA have an awful habit of ignoring the design of the bus when applying the livery. The GTs (and the ones that transferred to GAI), for example, would look much better if the livery at the front followed the lines of the bus.

Indeed, suppose it's easier just spray, but the chrome bit actually pop off...

The black around the lights looks good too.

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

Indeed, suppose it's easier just spray, but the chrome bit actually pop off...

The black around the lights looks good too.

One of your SGs in Donnybrook has the crome...

d51984

Used to do my head in when the RVs began to loose their Volvo badges.

punisher5112

d51984 wrote: »

One of your SGs in Donnybrook has the crome...

Has it? Never seen

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

Has it? Never seen

Yea, dont know fleet num, maybe one of the buffs will know...

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

Has it? Never seen

My bad.. Quick google tells me its Summerhills SG106.

d51984

Double post.

.anon.

It'd look even better if they filled it with black (or even navy blue). Also, the white stripe above the headlamps (which would look better with a black surround) looks quite stupid, like they just ignorantly slapped the livery on, regardless of the shape of the bus.

d51984

.anon. wrote: »

It'd look even better if they filled it with black (or even navy blue). Also, the white stripe above the headlamps (which would look better with a black surround) looks quite stupid, like they just ignorantly slapped the livery on, regardless of the shape of the bus.

On the ball anon... The little things that make the difference, that looks a million times better!

john boye

.anon. wrote: »

It'd look even better if they filled it with black (or even navy blue). Also, the white stripe above the headlamps (which would look better with a black surround) looks quite stupid, like they just ignorantly slapped the livery on, regardless of the shape of the bus.

If you zoom in close enough you can see that the chrome wasn't intentional. Not sure how but most of the yellow seems to have fallen off.

d51984

john boye wrote: »

If you zoom in close enough you can see that the chrome wasn't intentional. Not sure how but most of the yellow seems to have fallen off.

Dont get you... Chrome was put on factory fresh.

punisher5112

john boye wrote: »

If you zoom in close enough you can see that the chrome wasn't intentional. Not sure how but most of the yellow seems to have fallen off.

That's just reflection.

They were all meant to be like that and also a big Wright symbol and name on rear glass between the upper and lower deck.

Other then that the SG has no features on the rear as it was used for the tfi logo.

john boye

https://flic.kr/p/BxMNai

There it is before the yellow started to fall off. I remember when it first started to disappear. It was a small section of chrome at first but more and more yellow had fallen off every time I saw it over the next few weeks.

I don't know what caused the initial spot but I assumed the brushes in the wash had caused the rest to fall off.

GT89

.anon. wrote: »

GAI's 182-reg Volvos have the chrome Wright symbol, with black on the inside, and it looks so much better. On their ex-DB SGs, the chrome is painted black, with yellow on the inside, and even that looks a million times better than the plain yellow. DB and the NTA have an awful habit of ignoring the design of the bus when applying the livery. The GTs (and the ones that transferred to GAI), for example, would look much better if the livery at the front followed the lines of the bus.

Bus Eireann also went for the chrome Wrights logo on their Geminis and Eclipses which I think looks far better.

It's a shame they went for the the Gemini 1 front on the GTs in order to be the same as the VGs which are Gemini 1. Bus Eireann have Gemini 2 B9TLs which have a similar front to the SGs which I think looks far better from the front than the DB and GAI GTs.

This is how they look
https://transportsceneireland.smugmug.com/BusSceneIreland/BSI-February-2015/i-pFkpVKr/A

GT89

First buses in the new livery have gone into service today
https://www.flickr.com/photos/darren_hall/50888341372/

punisher5112

GT89 wrote: »

First buses in the new livery have gone into service today
https://www.flickr.com/photos/darren_hall/50888341372/

I'll have to look tomorrow to see is 311 out as it was parked up beside the crashed GT. 8 or 6 can't recall.

p_haugh

punisher5112 wrote: »

I'll have to look tomorrow to see is 311 out as it was parked up beside the crashed GT. 8 or 6 can't recall.

It was 8 iirc, that's still in the depot then I take it?

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

I'll have to look tomorrow to see is 311 out as it was parked up beside the crashed GT. 8 or 6 can't recall.[/quote

Think were (Clontarf) is getting 311 of yous in due course.

d51984

punisher5112 wrote: »

I'll have to look tomorrow to see is 311 out as it was parked up beside the crashed GT. 8 or 6 can't recall.

Beat you to it, yours truly behind the wheel in Mr Halls photo

d51984

Sorry for all the posts, boards acting up.