Sam Russell wrote: » Neither the 7 or the 7A go on the N11, or anywhere near Stillorgan Village. They go through Glenageary, Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Ballsbridge, Pearse Station.
LXFlyer wrote: » Sam you’re completely misunderstanding his post. He’s referring to when they took the 46a out of Stillorgan village. He’s comparing the comparative lack of opposition to that move when compared with the opposition to removing all route 7 and 7a services from Sallynoggin (which led to the compromise of the 7 bypassing it and the 7a going through it). The point being that most proposed changes in working class areas tend to result in a lot of ill-informed and sensationalist nonsense being expressed that results in the proposals being diluted. Monkstown Farm was one that they did manage to push through thankfully.
bk wrote: » Bray Head I believe under BusConnects, they will also be reorganising routes, so maybe they will do that, a nice idea. Though you would be limited to just 9 variants on corridors 10 to 16. Unless they moved to a 4 digit code. Maybe: Corridor 1: 1001 1002 ... 1010 Corridor 2: 2001 2002 ... 2010 Corridor 12: 1201
BonnieSituation wrote: » So that would be anticlockwise then? Cos the sea!
bk wrote: » Very interesting. That is a Wrigthbus StreetAir. I think the one pictured is a full EV model with a 300kWh battery and a range of 150 to 180 miles. Wrightbus also have an hydrogen fuel cell double decker version of this bus. For those who don't know Wrightbus have made almost all of Dublin Buses buses over the last few years in their factory up north, so these would be obvious replacements for the current buses. Though I'm surprised if they jump straight to these. I would have thought hybrids would be a stepping stone, but I'd certainly not complain if they made the jump straight to these. Of course this is just a photo op, so without seeing a contract, I won't get too excited.
LeinsterDub wrote: » Fully electric would be great for the air quality and noise levels in Dublin.
Stephen15 wrote: » A 100% electric fleet should be the long term goal but DB don't yet have the resources to charge large amounts of buses in their depots I'm not sure how practical electric vehicles are for city buses which are in constant use all day.
The focus is on the vehicle charging and battery technology, which are interchangeable within the rear module. The three different options available are: • Overnight charging utilising Nickel Manganese Cobalt batteries, with a range of 150 miles or 18 hours of service. Suitable for single deck;
AlmightyCushion wrote: » Leo did just say that all new DB and BE buses will be low or no emissions buses.
Stephen15 wrote: » The SGs or GTs don't pollute as much don't seem to pollute as much as older buses. When I'm out walking or cycling you definitely don't get as much of a raft of diesel fumes coming out of them as much as you used to or on older buses such as AVs or VTs.
Stephen15 wrote: » A 100% electric fleet should be the long term goal but DB don't yet have the resources to charge large amounts of buses in their depots I'm not sure how practical electric vehicles are for city buses which are in constant use all day. Perhaps they could have charging stations at terminuses so buses can charge while they are laying over without having to go back to the depot. I should hope GA have their Ballymount depot fitted with charging stations or at least have them all wired up and ready to go.
Sam Russell wrote: » Would it be possible to re-engine the bus fleet, or even upgrade them to EV?
bk wrote: » Sam Russell wrote: » Would it be possible to re-engine the bus fleet, or even upgrade them to EV? Most of the bus structure is the same - only the drive gear needs changing. London Transport are still running 40 year old Routemasters. [Not many though]. It is technically possible, there is actually one EV double decker prototype going around that was originally a Diesel bus. But I think it is too expensive and not really worth the effort. Probably better off just introducing new purpose built EV buses gradually and use them to phase out the oldest, most polluting buses in the fleet.
Sam Russell wrote: » Would it be possible to re-engine the bus fleet, or even upgrade them to EV? Most of the bus structure is the same - only the drive gear needs changing. London Transport are still running 40 year old Routemasters. [Not many though].
Sam Russell wrote: » I meant to just replace the current smoke causing diesel for a clean non-polluting latest diesel engine. It would only cost 10% of the cost of a new bus, I would guess.
bk wrote: » BTW EV buses are already very much here. China is now building 9,000 EV buses every 6 weeks! That is the entire London Bus fleet every 6 weeks! Only issue is they are all single deckers. Making really good single decker buses with plenty of range is actually relatively easy. What is hard is making double decker EV's. It doesn't really seem to have been cracked yet and that is obviously an issue for UK/Ireland. Though Cork would love to get some of those single decker EV's
Stephen15 wrote: » Perhaps they could buy bendy bus EVs for the busy and routes and normal single decker EV for less busy routes. Single decker EVs could be more economical than diesel double deckers. Double deckers are quite inefficient a three door single decker could carry more passengers with plenty of standing room could carry as many as a double decker and a bendy bus could carry up to twice as much.
bk wrote: » Ah.. right, the SG class, which are Euro 6, already make up close to half the fleet. I think around 450 of them delivered by year end. Already around 420. Then you have the very close GT class, Euro 5, pretty good too, there are 160 of those. So about 600 buses with new, clean engines. Then there are about 220 Euro 4 mid-life Euro 4 engined buses. There are around 76 AV class with their Euro 2 engine, but these are a special case, being the only "high capacity" tri-axles buses left in the fleet. There are about 150 AX class, Euro 2, but there are quickly been replaced by the new SG's, probably all gone in the next year. These would be the worst offenders and the ones needing gone the soonest. Leaving aside the issues with the AV's, once the AX are gone you have a pretty clean fleet. I'm not sure the Euro 4 would be worth replacing outside normal retirement. BTW important to remember that the oldest buses only come out at peak times, if at all. Some sit in depots in case of emergency. Thing is, reaching Euro 6 levels isn't just related to engine. It is the entire exhaust system, but also the overall weight of the bus. The newer GT and specially SG class buses are specially made out of lighter materials all round to hit the Euro 6 levels. I'd say you'd have to stick a hybrid, Diesel battery engine and battery in there with regenerative braking in order to meet Euro 6 engines and that certainly wouldn't be cheap or easy. Probably cost more then the bus is now worth! Anyway, at the current rate their are replacing the buses (more then 100 per year), you would hit an all Euro 5/6 fleet in just 4 years anyway.
Stephen15 wrote: » Wait how come the AXs are worse than the AVs as the AXs entered service in 2006 and the AVs all entered service before 2006.
bk wrote: » Oh god, brain fart, you are right. It is the VT's I was thinking of as a special case, them being tri-axles! Though they have Euro 4 engines. The AV's are the oldest bus and you are right they are the ones currently being retired. Less then 50 left outside of training school, tours, etc. Probably all gone in a years time.
Stephen15 wrote: » Interestingly but not surprising the NTA recently stated that it does plan to buy any additional tri axles. I assume that means that the VT won't be replaced by more tri axles and will be replaced by regular class of double deckers either SGs or a newer model which may introduced between now and then. Also hybrid buses will go on trial at some point this year before an order is made next year.http://dublinbuses.com
cgcsb wrote: » Electric only for Dublin Bus would be great, hybrids could do the longer running routes. It'd remove any case against using Parliament street for bus routes.
bk wrote: » Yes, it is a mixture of tradition and operational issues. The way that we operate buses here just isn't suited to that sort of speedy frequent service. You know single door, tip your hat to the driver, wait all day for the Leap card to work, bus stops every 100m and buses doing magically mystery tours of every estate in Dublin, simply doesn't lean itself to this sort of operation. To make single deckers work, you really need 3 doors. All doors open at all stops, quickly entry/exit through any door, zero interaction with the driver for ticketing. If you think about it, China is 1.4billion people, absolutely massive cities and they get by very well with only single decker buses, when operated in the correct manner. * * Yes Hong Kong is an exception with lots of Double Deckers. But it shows a lot of that is down from tradition. Hong Kong being a former British colony and following the British bus model.
Stephen15 wrote: » Interestingly but not surprising the NTA recently stated that it does plan to buy any additional tri axles. I assume that means that the VT won't be replaced by more tri axles and will be replaced by regular class of double deckers either SGs or a newer model which may introduced between now and then.
