(25/04/2019 22:32)Citibus Wrote: [ -> ]Also an older VW and Mercedes-Benz 616 in a mostly white and orange livery are readying for service
Nice original? Little Gem sign
![[Image: D43RVLlWwAYVPe-.jpg]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D43RVLlWwAYVPe-.jpg)
https://twitter.com/littlegembus/status/...5649021955
Hidious. Think I’d rather walk than jump on one of them. Wonder how long it is until they are replaced by convientional buses.
Van derived buses are back and here to stay. In the past few years they’ve found a home in the big operators (Arriva, Stagecoach, Diamond) and many smaller operators. They fit the bill for a lot of marginal routes where supporting budgets are being cut, passenger numbers are low and working around estates where parked cars exclude a conventional bus.
GM is (relatively) lucky to still have the amount of tendered bus services it does. If van derived buses are the way to keep them operating then I welcome them.
(25/04/2019 22:32)Citibus Wrote: [ -> ]Also an older VW and Mercedes-Benz 616 in a mostly white and orange livery are readying for service
Nice original? Little Gem sign
https://twitter.com/littlegembus/status/...5649021955
The tweet says waiting for a route but in 2019 don't they need a proper destination display first?
(25/04/2019 23:54)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]Hidious. Think I’d rather walk than jump on one of them. Wonder how long it is until they are replaced by convientional buses.
Nothing wrong with the Mercedes-Benz but the VW is another matter, Mercedes has a history of bus manufacturing so the product should be reasonable. VW has absolutely none directly and therefore its likely to be total rubbish, as is the new Fiat.
I accept though that buses like this will be the way to keep marginal services going, we'd all rather ride on some sort of modern decker, but they will not fit around estates now because of parked vehicles outside people's homes and traffic calming measures such as chicanes. However what is needed is someone in the industry to develop one using some big bus parts in a small minibus package, then we will have a winner... e.g. Alexander Dennis, Optare or Wrightbus, that would allow for inter-changeable parts, e.g. maybe a small Cummins engine and a ZF or Voith gearbox are the sort of parts I mean.
Is that Merc a Vario or a Sprinter?
I wonder if it lacks a display board because it might have been design as a local authority bus e.g. special school?
(26/04/2019 19:30)gilesbus1 Wrote: [ -> ]Nothing wrong with the Mercedes-Benz but the VW is another matter, Mercedes has a history of bus manufacturing so the product should be reasonable. VW has absolutely none directly and therefore its likely to be total rubbish, as is the new Fiat.
I accept though that buses like this will be the way to keep marginal services going, we'd all rather ride on some sort of modern decker, but they will not fit around estates now because of parked vehicles outside people's homes and traffic calming measures such as chicanes. However what is needed is someone in the industry to develop one using some big bus parts in a small minibus package, then we will have a winner... e.g. Alexander Dennis, Optare or Wrightbus, that would allow for inter-changeable parts, e.g. maybe a small Cummins engine and a ZF or Voith gearbox are the sort of parts I mean.
I’m interested to find out what the bus on the left is and what it’s for. It looks like a vw Lito. But they have a low seating capacity when space is left for wheelchairs.
(26/04/2019 20:21)acocker96 Wrote: [ -> ]Is that Merc a Vario or a Sprinter?
I wonder if it lacks a display board because it might have been design as a local authority bus e.g. special school?
It's a Sprinter.
Are you sure it lacks a display? The top 30% or so of the windscreen is obscured by something that looks more substantial than merely a sun visor.
They look like ice cream vans.
