Bus with Shortest working lives

[cnjb8]

The MAN buses from that period were why Stagecoach had a falling out with them. The same thing happened to the MAN powered Solo's; every time one failed, it was replaced with a Cummins unit. In fact, you'll find areas where older buses are still in front line service whilst MAN E300's from 2009 are in the training fleet despite only being 10-11 years old. And if my memory serves me correct, some have been scrapped.

A lot of the MAN E300's have been scrapped (at least 25). Quite a few are in training fleets and lots of those in service have Cummins engines. The MAN engined ones are terribly unreliable, the buses here with Stagecoach Midlands have been out of service for over a year now, despite there being 04-reg Darts and Tridents still in service.

But at least they've used it to increase the number of Euro 6 buses, so every cloud had a silver lining

 

[Strathclyder]

It may have already been mentioned but Strathclyde's Buses Leyland Olympian LO47 (J136 FYS) was new in August 1991 and destroyed in the Larkfield Depot fire in May 1992.

Another fairly youthful bus destroyed in the Larkfield Depot fire was Alexander RV-bodied Volvo B10M-50 Citybus G289 OGE (AH41; new September 1989). It was based at Parkhead Depot, but was at Larkfield for a repaint when the fire broke out. The prototype Marshall-bodied Citybus ESU 378X (AH1; new March 1982) was nearly another victim of the fire, but survived (was driven out of the blaze with it's rear end alight), was repaired, and managed to last into First ownership (withdrawn and scrapped c.1998).

 

[Swanny200]

I heard a rumour once that after Larkfield went up, Strathclyde borrowed buses from the likes of Tayside and Grampian but also got a few Demonstrators in and that one of the Demo's was vandalised badly days after being brought in?

 

[GusB]

I heard a rumour once that after Larkfield went up, Strathclyde borrowed buses from the likes of Tayside and Grampian but also got a few Demonstrators in and that one of the Demo's was vandalised badly days after being brought in?

There were quite a few companies which provided buses after the Larkfield fire. I recall seeing Grampian Atlanteans (with the fronts painted Strathclyde Red).

Edit: Victoryguy has a selection of photos here:

Strathclyde Buses "After the Larkfield Fire" 1992 - 1993 - Victoryguy

Strathclyde Buses suffered a huge loss of vehicles after a massive fire at the Larkfield bus depot in May 1992. With almost sixty vehicles completely destroyed. the company had great difficulties meeting peak requirement even after reinstating several very tired Atlanteans were reinstated. Hired...

victoryguy.smugmug.com

PS Feel free to start a new thread if you feel this subject warrants further discussion - it was certainly an interesting time.

 

[Strathclyder]

Two from Ireland, both involving CIE Bombardiers.

The original KC124 is another contender for the "0 miles in service" category, being written off on its delivery run after a runaway fire tender ran into it. The KC124 which eventually arrived was a renumbered KC174.

Meanwhile KD111 lasted just a few months in service before losing an argument with a bin lorry. An extra bus was added on to the CIE order as a replacement and this became KD366.

There was another Bombardier KD withdrawn after a fairly short time in service: KD317 (GSI 317; new March 1983). It was completely gutted in a arson attack in the yard of Donabate station in August 1984.

 

[Class465pacer]

Does anyone know what happened to those BYD electric demonstrator buses that were on the 98 route in London? According to LVF they were withdrawn from service in 2019 after 3 years of service

 

[MotCO]

Does anyone know what happened to those BYD electric demonstrator buses that were on the 98 route in London? According to LVF they were withdrawn from service in 2019 after 3 years of service

I think that Uno have bought all five of them to use on school services.

 

[507021]

Arriva North West's MX61 AVE (3098) was written off two years and ten months after entering service as a result of being very badly damaged in a head-on accident with a car.

I would certainly say it was the shortest working life of a Wrightbus Pulsar.

 

[M60lad]

I think this is the one that happened near Manchester Airport and caused Gridlock in/around Airport for most of the day that it happened as it didnt help that on the same day it happend the M56 was closed in the same area for the whole weekend for major roadworks in relation to A556 reconstruction works.

 

[Boo_]

Caetano Boa Vista double deck coaches with National Express (Airports) on A1 did not last long they off loaded them to Edwards Coaches.

 

[OmniCity999]

Caetano Boa Vista double deck coaches with National Express (Airports) on A1 did not last long they off loaded them to Edwards Coaches.

Edwards operate that route for National Express, im sure they owned them from the start

 

[cnjb8]

Caetano Boa Vista double deck coaches with National Express (Airports) on A1 did not last long they off loaded them to Edwards Coaches.

Edwards operate that route for National Express, im sure they owned them from the start

Yes, they are on loan to Edwards

 

[Boo_]

Yes, they are on loan to Edwards

Lots of Edwards coaches are ex NX Airports.

Looking at tracker they not been used since March.

I know they had issues with them on the A1. I used to work at VCS and looked after the Airport coaches so can see their issue. There be no way they could carry the baggage and would of been lots of issues finding bags mid route.



They are underpowered and gearboxes are not geared for the job so I can`t see them getting anymore.

What happened to the National Express new double deckers?

Last October National Express brought into service six Boa Vista double deckers. Five were put into service on their London Victoria - Luton Airport service while the sixth went to Edwards Coaches for use on the South Wales-London corridor. The five coaches on the Luton Airport run has...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[6Gman]

I've never seen a metro - scania single decker or a metropolitan but I've been watching old you vids and both look amazing.

They were!

 

[Strathclyder]

Another example that comes to mind, this one coming from the Far East (Hong Kong to be precise): Kowloon Motor Bus Neoplan Centroliner JU 4667 (AP69; new November 2000). It was written off on 10th July 2003 when it was struck by a container lorry on a elevated section of Tuen Mun Road in Ting Kau (in the New Territories), breaking through the 1 metre high anti-collision barrier (and hanging precariously on the edge for 90 seconds) and finally plunging nose-first 30 meters (98 feet) into a hillside within the Ting Kau village. 21 people died and 20 more seriously injured in what remains KMB's worst accident and Hong Kong's worst traffic accident to date.

What was left of AP69 (as a measure of respect for the victims of this horrific accident, I won't be linking images of the wreck here; they are readily available online anyway if you know where to look) was stored at a Long Win Bus* depot before finally being scrapped in 2008. In short, a total service life of just over 2 and a half years.

*: For those unfamilar (and briefly going off-topic), Long Win is a wholly owned subsidy of Transport International Holdings (much like KMB itself) established in 1996, responsible for running services linking Chep Lak Kok Airport, the new town of Tung Chung and North Lantau with the New Territories. Citybus, through it's Cityflyer brand, holds the franchise for airport services linking Chep Lak Kok with Kowloon & Hong Kong Island.

 

[Statto]

Bexleybus, London Transport low cost operation had a batch of E*** KYR N/C Olympians in 88, all built to GM Buses spec, but GM Buses cancelled the order, they were leased & they didn't stay in London long, they then went to Hull, Newcastle one each went to Fareway of Kirkby, & Bullocks in Manchester

 

[GB71]

I remember reading about a batch of Leyland Lions that were destined for Kelvin Scottish but were then cancelled and sent to Clydeside Scottish where they ran for a while on Quicksilver services with Clydeside Scottish fleetnames but Kelvin Scottish livery.

I also recall that when I was living up in the highlands that Highland Scottish bought a batch of Leyland Tigers in 1987 (D271FAS - D279FAS) the first 5 were Duple 340 bodied and must have run up a massive mileage on Scottish Citylink work where they did a huge mileage. The last 4 were Alexander TE bodied Tigers - to my knowledge they ran for a month or so up and down on the 19 between Inverness and Fort William and the Sunday Citylink 959 Inverness/Thurso/Inverness that was run mainly for students. They seemed to be dispersed very quickly elsewhere in the SBG

 

[DunsBus]

Bexleybus, London Transport low cost operation had a batch of E*** KYR N/C Olympians in 88, all built to GM Buses spec, but GM Buses cancelled the order, they were leased & they didn't stay in London long, they then went to Hull, Newcastle one each went to Fareway of Kirkby, & Bullocks in Manchester

If I'm correct, these Olympians were actually in build when GM Buses cancelled the order and it was picked up by Kirkby Central, the dealer. Three of them had already been fitted out with coach seats but Kirkby's had the spec changed in the other 25 to bus seating. After Bexleybus, the three coach-seated ones went abroad, four went to Fareway and the remaining 21 were bought by Busways who split them between their City and Sunderland fleets.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Oct 2020 ==

I remember reading about a batch of Leyland Lions that were destined for Kelvin Scottish but were then cancelled and sent to Clydeside Scottish where they ran for a while on Quicksilver services with Clydeside Scottish fleetnames but Kelvin Scottish livery.

I also recall that when I was living up in the highlands that Highland Scottish bought a batch of Leyland Tigers in 1987 (D271FAS - D279FAS) the first 5 were Duple 340 bodied and must have run up a massive mileage on Scottish Citylink work where they did a huge mileage. The last 4 were Alexander TE bodied Tigers - to my knowledge they ran for a month or so up and down on the 19 between Inverness and Fort William and the Sunday Citylink 959 Inverness/Thurso/Inverness that was run mainly for students. They seemed to be dispersed very quickly elsewhere in the SBG

I seem to recall that the six Kelvin Lions were just about ready to be delivered when the order was cancelled, Kelvin being unable to commit to it due to financial problems. One of the six was then used as a demonstrator whilst the other five sat outside Alexander's coachworks for six months before all six were picked up by Clydeside. The demo one kept its booked registration, D852RDS, but the others got new E-YGB registrations before entering service. Apparently, the money to buy them came from Clydeside selling its 14 DMSs to London Buses for the Bexleybus unit.

Regarding the four Highland Alexander TE-bodied Tigers, Lowland got L276, which became their 576 and then 376. Fife received L277-9, which retained their Highland fleetnumbers but minus the L prefix.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Regarding the four Highland Alexander TE-bodied Tigers, Lowland got L276, which became their 576 and then 376. Fife received L277-9, which retained their Highland fleetnumbers but minus the L prefix.

As seen here https://www.flickr.com/photos/77000...hotolist-hBEZzS-V9oGwg-hBEYVW-qy1J2Z-2iGkmbq/

 

[Statto]

If I'm correct, these Olympians were actually in build when GM Buses cancelled the order and it was picked up by Kirkby Central, the dealer. Three of them had already been fitted out with coach seats but Kirkby's had the spec changed in the other 25 to bus seating. After Bexleybus, the three coach-seated ones went abroad, four went to Fareway and the remaining 21 were bought by Busways who split them between their City and Sunderland fleets.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Oct 2020 ==

Correct, GM Buses ordered a batch of 28 Northern Counties Olympians, some were fitted with coach seats for the express network, however the uncertain market after d-red lead GM Buses to cancel the order, but the buses were in the process of being built[i think some were already built], so they passed to the dealership, who leased them to Selkent for the low cost Bexleybus operation, Bexleybus was beset with poor industrial relations, mostly due to Bexleybus being low cost, & cost cutting involved with that, Bexleybus only lasted a couple of years, so Bexley depot[where Bexleybus was based at] became London Central, the Olympians went back to the dealer who sold them on.

GM Buses did however re-order a batch of 28 Northern Counties Olympians which had a new frontal style on F reg plates, but none of them were fitted with coach seating

 

[M60lad]

Cant remember which one but one of the F-reg's that GM Buses actually bought did actually end up being fitted with coach seating later on in its life.