Recent content by Mrwerdna1

Indeed, Farage particularly.

Indeed and it's worth pointing out that the EU is not perfect, far from it. In fact, the 4th railway package is a good illustration of how Brussels for decades now has been pushing some of the same neoliberal reforms UK governments have implemented since Thatcher. This semi-privatisation...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but GBR in its overall structure could still exist, no? However, it may not be able to directly operate the contracts in-house, unless GBR rail (let's just say, the arm's long publicly owned operator), was awarded the competitively tendered contracts or directly awarded...

Ah, oh dear. Hope they get it up and running again soon.

604, B&H's first Electroliner (of 29?) had its first day of service on April 1st, on line 7, though it has apparently not been operating since April 2nd. Teething issues maybe?

That is excellent news. A significant capacity upgrade, no doubt. True, I suppose. Do I detect by implication then that we may see some tri-axle EVs after all? Actually, I'm sorry, I've pestered you enough for one day, I think. ;) Please forget what I just wrote. In any case, many thanks for...

What type? Will the XLBs still be cascaded onto the city network or sold? Interesting, once again, that Lothian opted for 20 Wright Electroliners and 40 ADL/Volvo EVs for their city network. If the Electroliners (or possibly ADL/BZLs) aren't tri-axle, I'm not quite sure I see the reasoning...

Apparently, ADL have declined any current interest in doing that. Can someone confirm?

I suppose this here is the only real downside and potential risk of keeping the current private model for B & H (i.e. Go-Ahead) in place. They are, undoubtedly, operating a very fine bus service in Brighton at the minute. But as they are a still a private company seeking to make a profit...

Ach... well as has been said, not surprising, particularly given ADL's pretty dismal showing in the ScotZEB 3 awards round, but still sad. My sympathy for those facing possible redundancy having to read this news, whilst also seeing millions going towards Yutong buses and McGill's bid for ADL...

Good points. The 20 Wrightbus deckers could end up being 3 axle & dual door, although that would be taking a bit of a risk, seeing Wrightbus only recently launched the extended tri-axle variant of the StreetDeck Electroliner. Still, as much as I would like to see more dual door buses introduced...

Exactly, the truth is in the middle. Complete protectionism and the often ensuing lack of competition is certainly bad, just have a look at the North American bus market, which is shocking. At the same time though, there ought to be some strategic amount of protection or large-scale investment...

Which just makes the prospective ADL/Volvo EV partnership all the more baffling. Why did Lothian not simply opt to buy 40 bog standard Enviro 400EVs (or 60 Wrightbus deckers, rather than the 40/20 split) and why has ADL decided to go for this partnership? What do Lothian and ADL, respectively...

In Brighton the status quo (albeit I would argue, preferably with additional investment in bus signal priority, bus lanes and cheaper fares) may well be preferable to both franchising and municipal ownership. That said, if we except the political tides turning in favour of public ownership...

Reading between the lines, I feel like this is a rather disastrous showing for ADL, at least insofar as their EV double deck range (Enviro 400EVs) is concerned. I strongly hope the ADL 400EV BZL product (or whatever it ends up being) will cut the mustard, because setting this aside, a measly 16...