Step access buses

[mbonwick]

No, it wouldn't. Wifi was not specifically fitted for the Olympics, its just that some vehicles that went had it fitted.

 

[wintonian]

It came up with the standard TfSH landing page as seen on Bluestar and First buses.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2

 

[BestWestern]

Which is possibly why Solent Blue Line are providing us with yet more new buses in the new year, despite the current ones only being a couple of years old. Mind you I can't think of anywhere they currently run with buses that aren't low floor.

I imagine they will cascade the older stock over to other Go South Coast fleets; as with most of the larger groups the delivery of new vehicles in one location can have broader benefits across the whole operation.

Wilts & Dorset currently have a sizable fleet of Leyland and Volvo Olympians, including quite a number with ECW bodywork which are now getting really very old. They do a good job of keeping them shiny, but they are clearly due for replacement. They're spread across both the main W&D fleet and also the Damory operation, there are quite a few running out of Poole depot and I believe there are some in the New Forest as well. I would hazard a guess that perhaps there might be some cascading across the fleets at some point soon, with older low floors replacing them.

There have already been some recent arrivals from Bluestar I understand, in the shape of Tridents with East Lancs bodywork. I assumed they were ex-Brighton, but apparently not. They've been joined by at least one with Plaxton President bodywork and some newer East Lancs examples with the revised front end, painted plain yellow and running with Damory. There have also been some Wright Cadet/DAF SB120s turn up, which again are ex-Blue Line. It seems W&D get the cast-offs, though thankfully they do a decent job of keeping them tidy! There were some Welsh Optare Tempo jobbies floating around at one point, though these have been moved on it seems.

W&D seem to have been quite canny, selling off their step entrance DAF/Optare Spectra fleet and retaining the much older Olympians instead. Presumably the DAFs were worth more on the used market while they are still 'legal', whereas of course both fleets will become effectively worthless when the new legislation comes in, and so they opted to retain the Ollys and run them until they are life expired and 'cash in' the DAF's while they still have value.

 

[Lrd]

Bluestar pretty much swapped their Cadet's for Wilts and Dorset Citaro's. One or two of the Cadet's went to Marchwood though to help them out a bit, as one Citaro decided to engulf itself in flames.

The reason they did it, afaik is for capacity reasons on the Bluestar 18 as we had some rather overcrowded buses at times and the Citaro's are just that bit bigger and can handle the loads a bit better.

 

[Charlie2555]

What are some examples of step access buses in the South West and where would be a good place to see them? I always like to see and travel on older buses. Are Dennis Darts/ Plaxton Pointers like these step access or am I mistaken?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76998601@N03/8345985651/in/photostream

Thanks

 

[richw]

What are some examples of step access buses in the South West and where would be a good place to see them? I always like to see and travel on older buses. Are Dennis Darts/ Plaxton Pointers like these step access or am I mistaken?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76998601@N03/8345985651/in/photostream

Thanks

n235kae has been operating routes out of Camborne depot daily, as are numerous mid 90s deckers.

 

[anthony263]

I believe there are a few step entrance darts still being used by First Devon & Cornwall.

Not sure if any are in use around Bristol though.

First Cymru have put one of the step entrance buses which arrived recently from Hampshire on local routes around Port Talbot.

It is normally found on service 8 Margam - Port Talbot - Sandfields during the daytime.

Anyway I have to admit I find the older step entrance buses to ride far better and be more reliable than the newer low floor stuff in particular those darts built by Transbus (Those of you on facebook may have read a post by myself earlier this evening about an event involving a transbus dart operated by Firts Cymru today)

 

[richw]

I believe there are a few step entrance darts still being used by First Devon & Cornwall.

Sources I have close to me say there are:
30-40 Volvo Olympians, N***SOS, P***RYO, and R***LGH, K***ORL, P***UCW, S***AAE, N***UHP (all on private regs), K***LAE
around 20 Dennis Tridents (T Reg, many on private registrations, not sure if they are step entrances)
There are around 20-30 Darts, S***SUX, S***TJX, P***SCV, P***ORL, R***CCV, S***AFB,
N235KAE, N325ECR

Not sure if all the above are step entrance though

 

[martinsh]

around 20 Dennis Tridents (T Reg, many on private registrations, not sure if they are step entrances)

They would be the first ever step entrance Tridents if they were !

 

[richw]

They would be the first ever step entrance Tridents if they were !

I wasn't sure, was looking at age of them, having never travelled on one!

 

[plymothian]

What are some examples of step access buses in the South West and where would be a good place to see them? I always like to see and travel on older buses. Are Dennis Darts/ Plaxton Pointers like these step access or am I mistaken?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76998601@N03/8345985651/in/photostream

Thanks

Target Travel have a few knocking around from time to time and Plymouth Citybus still have some Volvo B10 Citybuses in service - fleet numbers 177, 178, 181-187

 

[richw]

Whoever operates the asda Falmouth free shopper bus uses a variety of old step access buses. Some are plain white liverys others are in an asda livery. No. Company branding, I have suspicions it may be group travel based near bodmin

 

[anthony263]

Seems First cymru were short fo low floor buses today as they had one of the step entrance darts working service X1 Bridgend - Swansea which is one of First's major routes

 

[Ivo]

We still have a fair few; Bristol still did as of last month so I assume they do too. Almost all are Darts, with the one exception I know of being an S-reg Vario.

 

[BestWestern]

Sources I have close to me say there are:
30-40 Volvo Olympians, N***SOS, P***RYO, and R***LGH, K***ORL, P***UCW, S***AAE, N***UHP (all on private regs), K***LAE
around 20 Dennis Tridents (T Reg, many on private registrations, not sure if they are step entrances)
There are around 20-30 Darts, S***SUX, S***TJX, P***SCV, P***ORL, R***CCV, S***AFB,
N235KAE, N325ECR

Not sure if all the above are step entrance though

The S-plate Darts will be SLF, or Super Low Floor types. The S-SUX baych are ex-Hong Kong I believe, and there are some in the Portsmouth area also.

 

[mbonwick]

Out of those darts, only the 2 N-regs are step entry, but none will be DDA certified.

 

[90sWereBetter]

First Eastern Counties have only a dozen or so step-entrance vehicles left in service, all of which are Volvo Olympians. These regularily turn up on the Lowestoft to Martham service.

That said, there's a big fleet of P and R reg SLF Darts in service with EC which I'm not sure can conform to DDA regulations (although most of them are pretty much life-expired anyway).

Anglian Bus are all low-floor apart from a couple of MB Varios which I believe are needed for the Beccles town service, and a pair of Dublin Olympians confined to school services.

 

[34D]

Have to ask does 7.5 tones cover the mini buses such as old 709d?

Yes, it does. Note that this only applies to buses and coaches used on service work, including long distance express services, and not vehicles used soley on excursions, tours and private hire.

Merc 709s in general are caught. http://yorkshiredifferentiatedtransport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/psv-accessibility-regulations.html is a useful summary I've found (with links to the source legislation). Note that vehicles with 21 or less passenger seats aren't covered (so sprinters, etc) mainly as such vehicles are a lifeline to rural communities I think.

If I was a betting man, I would wager that there may be some kind of relaxation of the Accessibility Regulations. My guess is that vehicles may be allowed to operate for (say) 3 years after the deadline as long as they have ONE of the certificates. This would allow:
-the late step entrance buses that kneel, have colour-coordinated handrails, etc (which would be eligible for a schedule 2 certificate)
-the early low floor buses that have a ramp but don't have side destination blinds etc (which would be eligible for a schedule 1 certificate).

The above is only a personal opinion, however.

Dedicated school services are exempt from DDA compliance, but if the running board has public service work attached then the bus will need to meet full DDA standards and have an accessibility certificate for doing that public service work. School dupe's and diversions open to the public must be operated with DDA certified buses by the relevant deadline.

Not quite. If it is a Registered Service or each child (or some children) pay a fare then it must be DDA. If it isn't registered AND everyone travels with a free council permit then it can just be classed as coach hire (whether the vehicle is a coach or a bus). It must operate on tacho though, in this circumstance.

Whoever operates the asda Falmouth free shopper bus uses a variety of old step access buses. Some are plain white liverys others are in an asda livery. No. Company branding, I have suspicions it may be group travel based near bodmin

I know the people at Group Travel, and most of their darts are low floor. Can you check the legals? Indeed, I delivered them two darts (one I drove from yorkshire to Bodmin, 40mph all the way).