Why are Irish busses so rattly?

ClosedAccountFuzzy

I’m not aware of the technical details, but I regularly (pre COVID) take busses in cities in Belgium, France, Germany etc and they run quite smoothly.

I’ve always noticed in Ireland, even on very smooth roads, the city busses by and large have terrible suspension. You hear rattles, banging glass panels and you feel very tiny bump.

Is there some strange specification used by Dublin Bus & Bus Éireann?

I really don’t buy the excuse that it’s the road surfaces as I’ve noticed this on very smooth roads and the surfaces in Belgium are often worse, yet the busses don’t rattle like they do here.

CoBo55

Because they're ****e...

mickdw

The dublin bus generally is very basically fitted out and tends to make noise and rattle.
Bus eireann coaches are for the most part top notch.

ClosedAccountFuzzy

mickdw wrote: »

The dublin bus generally is very basically fitted out and tends to make noise and rattle.
Bus eireann coaches are for the most part top notch.

Seems to be the same with the Cork City busses. Absolute bone shakers, even the new ones. It just puts me off using them. Never find the experience great. It’s all rattles and often poor ventilation.

Just find on the continent they’re usually much more slick.

punisher5112

It's a Wright's thing.....

We aren't getting any more of those for now as Alexander won the tender.

Many were sent from factory with the floors not even tied in proper, you would be driving empty and it would sound like someone walking over head.


Main reason was buses previous to 2014 were heavier and better build quality, Wright's had an issue catching up to the fuel savings and light weight options so rushed through cheap and crap designs imo.

ClosedAccountFuzzy

It just sounds sometimes like you’re on a flatbed truck. You can hear this kind of slapping noise as the bus goes over any kind of bump and the glass panels seem to judder and rattle all the time.

Overall it’s just a poor experience relative to what I’ve been on elsewhere.

They’d want to put a bit more thought into passenger experience though if they’re going to try to take more passengers out of cars and onto public transport.

CoBo55

FuzzyThinking wrote: »

It just sounds sometimes like you’re on a flatbed truck. You can hear this kind of slapping noise as the bus goes over any kind of bump and the glass panels seem to judder and rattle all the time.

Overall it’s just a poor experience relative to what I’ve been on elsewhere.

They’d want to put a bit more thought into passenger experience though if they’re going to try to take more passengers out of cars and onto public transport.

Ha ha yea right!! Private bus operators?? Now that's a teeth losing experience.. UK castoffs absolute piles of junk.

punisher5112

FuzzyThinking wrote: »

It just sounds sometimes like you’re on a flatbed truck. You can hear this kind of slapping noise as the bus goes over any kind of bump and the glass panels seem to judder and rattle all the time.

Overall it’s just a poor experience relative to what I’ve been on elsewhere.

They’d want to put a bit more thought into passenger experience though if they’re going to try to take more passengers out of cars and onto public transport.

Wright's went bang after the owner was gifting all the funds to his church

john boye

punisher5112 wrote: »

It's a Wright's thing.....

We aren't getting any more of those for now as Alexander won the tender.

Many were sent from factory with the floors not even tied in proper, you would be driving empty and it would sound like someone walking over head.

Main reason was buses previous to 2014 were heavier and better build quality, Wright's had an issue catching up to the fuel savings and light weight options so rushed through cheap and crap designs imo.

Wright's are generally awful for it nowadays but the Alexanders that came before them were hardly much better. The EVs rattle like two skeletons riding and many batches of AVs were very bad for years, especially the 03-05 ones.

punisher5112

john boye wrote: »

Wright's are generally awful for it nowadays but the Alexanders that came before them were hardly much better. The EVs rattle like two skeletons riding and many batches of AVs were very bad for years, especially the 03-05 ones.

Ev engine noise is terrible and they always smell musty.
They were rockets though but the seat gaps upstairs were terribly bad.
Can't comment on 05Av but when the others were overhauled they were in most part a smashing bus to drive, 03 ones were quite quick too.

Ax could be rattly but nothing is anywhere as bad as the Wright's, the wv single decks were shocking too and couldn't handle, they were like trying to drive a boat and the brakes were insanely dangerous.

I was on a intercity bus this weekend, we didn’t want to drive and trains were booked out. Very smooth.

Dublin buses are rattly alright.

john boye

punisher5112 wrote: »

Ev engine noise is terrible and they always smell musty.
They were rockets though but the seat gaps upstairs were terribly bad.
Can't comment on 05Av but when the others were overhauled they were in most part a smashing bus to drive, 03 ones were quite quick too.

Ax could be rattly but nothing is anywhere as bad as the Wright's, the wv single decks were shocking too and couldn't handle, they were like trying to drive a boat and the brakes were insanely dangerous.

Yeah the overhauls generally sorted out the AVs in fairness. The EVs have always been boneshakers though in addition to the other problems you mentioned.

punisher5112

john boye wrote: »

Yeah the overhauls generally sorted out the AVs in fairness. The EVs have always been boneshakers though in addition to the other problems you mentioned.

Indeed, they were poorly done, I honestly think they were a rush job, also I do wonder as in the UK they were near all hybrid at that point too, not sure if that made any impact.

Ra and RV were best I ever drove and if we still had them I'd still love todrive them, especially before they messed with the limiter on them....

Glaceon

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bus as rattly as the one used for the Eastpoint Business Park shuttle, a 2015 ADL Enviro 200. It’s fine while running but it’s really bad when stopped.

punisher5112

Glaceon wrote: »

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bus as rattly as the one used for the Eastpoint Business Park shuttle, a 2015 ADL Enviro 200. It’s fine while running but it’s really bad when stopped.

That's usually if tock over is wrong as some twerk fuel amount going in to try save.

GT89

punisher5112 wrote: »

Indeed, they were poorly done, I honestly think they were a rush job, also I do wonder as in the UK they were near all hybrid at that point too, not sure if that made any impact.

Ra and RV were best I ever drove and if we still had them I'd still love todrive them, especially before they messed with the limiter on them....

It's probably because they're Volvo chassis with an ADL body whereas the buses in the UK are integral.

john boye

GT89 wrote: »

It's probably because they're Volvo chassis with an ADL body whereas the buses in the UK are integral.

Yes that's it. I knew there was something odd about the body and chassis combination from when they were new a long time ago but I couldn't remember it.

GT89

john boye wrote: »

Yes that's it. I knew there was something odd about the body and chassis combination from when they were new a long time ago but I couldn't remember it.

It's funny because the APs will be the first large order of a non Volvo bus with DB for many years. I think the last non Volvo double decker bus was the RHs which were Leyland which was ended up being taken over by Volvo. Many cities I've visited on the continent have a wide range of different buses from different manufacturers for example Berlin has buses from MAN, VDL, Scania, Solaris and Mercedes.

punisher5112

GT89 wrote: »

It's funny because the APs will be the first large order of a non Volvo bus with DB for many years. I think the last non Volvo double decker bus was the RHs which were Leyland which was ended up being taken over by Volvo. Many cities I've visited on the continent have a wide range of different buses from different manufacturers for example Berlin has buses from MAN, VDL, Scania, Solaris and Mercedes.

Oh and not to take away I see you sat double decker....

Mercedes and don't forget DAF for singles

In 94 the imp or 93 and then in 93 or 94 there was tha DAF single deckers, they had the air horn.....

Lately the ws single deckers X2 are mercedes

The Volvo chassis has been with db since 94 with the Ra/RV design.

Vic_08

DT class were ALX400 body deckers on Dennis Trident chassis with Cummins engines, only one order of 10 were bought.

There is a good argument for the sort of standardisation DB have pursued, smaller parts requirements, less suppliers to deal with and mechanics dealing with a single range get very familiar and (hopefully) more proficient at diagnosing and fixing them.

The trick is to standardise on a good product to begin with and hope they keep their standards up.

When DB initially switched from ADL to Wrights they were a better product but the design and build quality has nosedived since, largely in an attempt to compete with the cheap and light products favoured by UK commercial operators.

punisher5112

Vic_08 wrote: »

DT class were ALX400 body deckers on Dennis Trident chassis with Cummins engines, only one order of 10 were bought.

There is a good argument for the sort of standardisation DB have pursued, smaller parts requirements, less suppliers to deal with and mechanics dealing with a single range get very familiar and (hopefully) more proficient at diagnosing and fixing them.

The trick is to standardise on a good product to begin with and hope they keep their standards up.

When DB initially switched from ADL to Wrights they were a better product but the design and build quality has nosedived since, largely in an attempt to compete with the cheap and light products favoured by UK commercial operators.

Forgot the DT..... They were meant to be smashing to drive, no door brake and fast, nice roar off them too.

Was thinking after of course they had the gas bus too years back in 97.

GT89

punisher5112 wrote: »

Forgot the DT..... They were meant to be smashing to drive, no door brake and fast, nice roar off them too.

I've heard maintenance hated them though

punisher5112

GT89 wrote: »

I've heard maintenance hated them though

Looked like the engine covered were lower and possibly harder to get into....

john boye

punisher5112 wrote: »

Looked like the engine covered were lower and possibly harder to get into....

Think it was how often they had to open the engine cover that was the problem.

bk

GT89 wrote: »

Many cities I've visited on the continent have a wide range of different buses from different manufacturers for example Berlin has buses from MAN, VDL, Scania, Solaris and Mercedes.

Definitely a major downside of being right hand drive and mostly double deckers. Pretty small market, not much interest from the big manufacturers mostly focused on single deckers and left hand drive.

We really suffer in this regard from our history with the UK. Between this and Irish gauge.

SimonTemplar

At least we no longer have the situation with Dublin Bus whereby any decent amount of rain would cause a torrent of water to be sloshing around on the upper deck.

punisher5112

SimonTemplar wrote: »

At least we no longer have the situation with Dublin Bus whereby any decent amount of rain would cause a torrent of water to be sloshing around on the upper deck.

That was a serious design flaw on manufacturers not db.
The RV was an absolute pleasure to drive, maintenance could fix like mcGyver, comfortable too, rarely let you down.

Burt Renaults

punisher5112 wrote: »

That was a serious design flaw on manufacturers not db.
The RV was an absolute pleasure to drive, maintenance could fix like mcGyver, comfortable too, rarely let you down.

It's surprising that they never successfully engineered a solution to that problem. Bit of drilling and a few pipes would've sorted it. It was actually disgusting.

punisher5112

Burt Renaults wrote: »

It's surprising that they never successfully engineered a solution to that problem. Bit of drilling and a few pipes would've sorted it. It was actually disgusting.

They did with the open top buses but never bothered with the rest.....

Remember many a time taking a corner and it would flow down the telescope....

Burt Renaults

punisher5112 wrote: »

They did with the open top buses but never bothered with the rest.....

Remember many a time taking a corner and it would flow down the telescope....

My favourite was when the bus braked halfway through a corner and it came down the stairs like a mini-waterfall.

That reminds me of a recent incident. Someone vomited upstairs and then got off without saying anything. All the windows were open, so there was no tell-tale smell and nobody sitting upstairs. The first I knew was when I got off the bus at the terminus and saw a load of sick rolling down the outside of the bus.

punisher5112

Burt Renaults wrote: »

My favourite was when the bus braked halfway through a corner and it came down the stairs like a mini-waterfall.

That reminds me of a recent incident. Someone vomited upstairs and then got off without saying anything. All the windows were open, so there was no tell-tale smell and nobody sitting upstairs. The first I knew was when I got off the bus at the terminus and saw a load of sick rolling down the outside of the bus.

Yes regular enough, recently someone did it down the back downstairs, it was on seats x6, windows, wall, floor and it was flowing down towards middle door, not one person said a thing, bus was busy enough too, luckily noticed at the terminus and got changed.....


Seriously if someone isn't well tell us, we would rather stop and let them off to do it.


I feel terrible for whoever has to clean it and then anyone that sits there after... Cloth seats, the bearer of many bodily fluids....