Development Of The MMC

Out of all the new buses I've been on this year the most impressive was the E400MMC I'm grateful yet again to Tim Miller for pointing me in the direction of this video produced by Alexander Dennis showing how the MMC was developed in conjunction with all the major operators. It's a really interesting video and worth a watch. I'll make my observations below.

One of the things that made me smile was when a "rattle free bus" was described as the Holy Grail. Erm try an Olympian or Routemaster and I think you'll find the Grail was found many, many years ago. However it was good to see eliminating rattles was important to them and shows I wasn't the only whinging git regarding them!

Also funny to see the guy from Lothian Buses saying how good they were and no reason why they shoudn't buy them. Lothian then went straight down the Wrightbus road!

**I have subsequently been informed that Lothian did in fact originally order Volvo B5LH's with E400MMC bodies. (Didn't even know ADL put bodies on Volvo chassis) However ADL were unable to meet the deadline to qualify for finding b the Scottish Green Bus fund so the order was diverted to Wrightbbus. Many thanks, Paul for the info**

Alexander Dennis stated they have made over 200 changes to the E400 by listening to customers. That's really good, and the new E400 is a huge improvement, but my word it's a massive indictment on the old model. Those who have constantly criticised it, myself included can feel rather vindicated. Perhaps in a small way we can all feel responsible for this vastly improved bus.

Aberdeen Special

I thought about splitting this into two parts but since the next few days might be a bit in the air I'll do it all in one, so happy reading.

On the final day of my long weekend in Scotland I had booked train tickets to Aberdeen. Two and a half hours each way, a round trip of over 250 miles for £22 return. Thanks Scotrail. So I settled down in my Class 170 and enjoyed a glorious journey up Scotland's East Coast in unbroken sunshine. This was the view of Dundee and the Firth of Tay. It was raining in East Anglia when I took this!

Dundee from the train

I know we have some 170's in our area but since they stopped running through to London they don't really get a chance to spread their wings and really motor. The Scottish ones do and I have to say they are an extremely pleasant train to ride on for long periods. It didn't seem like two and a half hours before we were in Aberdeen.

170457 at Aberdeen Station

My primary mission was to get on the big Van Hool Hydrogen Buses running in Aberdeen (see here) but to my great surprise and delight there were many, many more things to see. We'll start with Stagecoach. The first place I had to find was the bus station, which seems to be solely used by Stagecoach and a right mix of vehicles they have there apart from the hydrogen buses. The first to catch my eye were a pair of Olympians that seem to be used for school services. The Olympian at the front 16116 has the chersihed plate JAZ 9854 but is in fact former Stagecoach London R116 XNO

Stagecoach Bluebird Volvo Olympian 16116 JAZ 9854

Also observed were E400's E200's and hybrid E300's. However Stagecoach also have a number of longer distance routes under a couple of brands. Megabus obvously and Buchan Express. If you look at the hydrogen bus I travelled on you will notice it was on route X17 to Elrick. Not sure what the X stands for as I didn't note much express to it but apart from the hydrogen bus I noted E400's and E200's also on the route. And this. Sorry the picture is blurred so I can't give a positive ID on the vehicle except it's a 12 plate, but I think I can be forgiven in not expecting to see this on a local bus route!

Megabus monster on the local X17 to Elrick

The Buchan Express coaches operate between Aberdeen and Peterhead/ Fraserburgh/Ellon and carry over 25,000 passengers a week. Stagecoach have recently invested in 17 Plaxton Elite-i coaches costing £323,529 each. The coaches, which are pay as you enter like normal buses boast leather reclining seats. free wifi, toilet, tinted windows, usb charging points, climate control and bike lockers.

They also boast enormous presence. When I saw them last Monday and took this picture I was unaware ths was their very first day in service. I think that's what is called timing. Now to return and ride them!

Stagecoach Bluebird 54253 on its first day in service

So on to First, and of course Aberdeen is the Headquarters of First, so you would expect a fleet of the finest vehicles in their home town. Actually that is not the case. The newest vehicles were the now ubiquitous Streetlights with some E200's thrown in for good measure. Some 57 reg Geminis were operating on a platinum service but there were a huge amount of old Wright Renown and Floline Scanias and Volvos. So many I'll be amazed if they are all replaced by the new year. Since none appeared to be repainted I'm fairly certain they haven't been convertd to DDA compliant.

However what really caught my eye and totally unexpected were the bendibuses First have up there. This is 10168, a Wright Eclipse Fusion bodied Volvo B7LA.

First Aberdeen 10168

At the moment there are 3 types of bendi in Aberdeen. The examples as above have been refurbished and had the leather treatment etc. But two older models are still pounding the streets. You would need a cattle prod to get me on this one! W7 FAL is also an Volvo B7LA but has a Wright Eclipse Fusion 1 body which means seats from hell like the B7l's at Norwich and Yarmouth

First 10052 W7 FAL

The final example is even older and I presume not long for this world. 10044 is a Volvo B10BLA with Wright Fusion bodywork. Only 2 or 3 of these are left in service so this may well be my one and only glimpse of one. Apologies for the van getting in the way

First Aberdeen 10044 V601 GBB

And so with enough time left a ride on one of these bendis was needed. Knowing my backside had a 24 hour journey back to Suffolk ahead of it I bravely waited for one of the leather seated examples to turn up and went for a trip. I was lucky to have an extremely friendly lady driver who had no problems with pictures and questions.

First 10163 SV05 FXL at Ashwood terminus

She told me that First are due some tri-axle deckers imminently - I presume E500's and when I said I was from East Anglia raised an eyebrow as she had heard a whisper some of the bendis might be heading this way for a Uni route. That can only be the 25/26 but have heard nothing this end.

Interior of First Bendibus 10163

What a superb few hours in the Granite City. I'm going to need a few days there next time but will wait for longer days to come back first. It's a shame Aberdeen is so far away as it's by far the most interesting and diverse city I've seen buswise for decades, and I include London in that. Loved it.

To cap it all I bumped into an old friend there. I had read on Clive's blog that former Ipswich and Yarmouth Volvo B10LE 60813, originally sent to the South West for retirement had somehow found its way to Aberdeen (blow driving it all that way) and as luck would have it I saw her and managed to get one final pic of her before she suffers death by DDA at the end of the year.

Former Ipswich and Yarmouth 60813 in Aberdeen

Oh and for those purists among you yes the Overground sign is still there!

Borders Railway Special

On September 9th The Queen opened the longest new domestic railway to be built in the UK in over 100 years. Borders Railway runs from Edinburgh to Tweedbank along 30 miles of new track, 21.5 of which is single track. 7 new stations have been built, and while I was up in Scotland I decided a trip on the new line was essential.

First of all the cost. The distance from Edinburgh to Tweedbank is roughly the same as Ipswich to Witham. An off peak day return from Ipswich to Witham is £16.10. A return from Edinburgh to Tweedbank is £11.20. I know public transport in Scotland is cheaper than England but for a 55 min journey this is good value and judging by how busy both journeys were is paying dividends.

Journeys are operated by either Class 158 or 170 Dmu's. My vessel for the return trip was 158702, and very nice it was too. Here it is at one of Edinburgh Waverley's hidden platforms - quite possible the Northern Hogwarts Express leaves from Platform 9E!

158702 bound for Tweedbank

The route out of Edinburgh starts slowly, but does give some good views of carriage sidings. Unfortunately I was the wrong side of the train going out and we were going too fast coming back to get any decent pictures, which was ac shame as one of the last Network Rail liveried class 31 locos was there, as was a lone Cross County HST loco attached to an increasingly rare Class 08 shunter.

However we were soon on the new line and to be honest the first half hour is fairly sedate with regular stops. It is only after leaving Gorebridge that the line opens up, the scenery becomes spectacular and the train gets a move on. Scenes such as this are regular.

One of the numerous rivers the Borders RAilway crosses

The expanse of the Scottish Borders

Excuse the quality of those pics - we were doing about 80mph at the time! All to soon we had passed through the picturesque town of Galashiels and were at the terminus of Tweedbank, where there was a 10 min layover to strech legs and get souvenir picture!

158702 at Tweedbank terminus

Now there is one feature of the railway that caught my eye, and that is the novel way the line is protected from landslips. There are miles of dry stone walls constructed from ballast held in chicken wire cages. I have no idea how long thess took to construct but I think they add character to the line and show the amount of thought that went into it.

The dry stone ballast walls protecting Borders Railway

The railway was constructed in just 5 years and on time. My only quibble is that it doesn't connect with anything at the Tweedbank end. Surely these days no more dead end lines should be built. I just wonder if there was a case for extending the line to Berwick via Kelso maybe, to provide an alternative to the ECML during engineering works, for example, which would also attract people to the line from the likes of Newcastle too. Just a thought.

Anyhow I liked the line, and hopefully will spend a day next Summer exploring it, and the places it stops at more.

Of course Edinburgh Waverley station normally throws up a few good photo opportunities and the Saturday morning I was there proved no exception. We begin with an icon still possessing great presence, even if the soundtrack doesn't sound quite right these days.

Virgin Trains East Coast HST 43314 at Edinburgh Waverley

There are quite a few Emu's in Scotland I have yet to sample. One of these was parked up just waiting to be photographed.

Scotrail 380 107 at Edinburgh Waverley

There were two locos in situ that I assume had been used as part of the Caledonian Sleeper the previous night. 67030 and 90044 were rather conveniently sitting on adjacent platforms.

90044 and 67030 at Edinburgh Waverley

And finally my favourite pic of the day - two old relics in the same picture. I thought originally I had got part of Edinburgh Castle in shot but it turns out it's another rather old building close to the castle. Still like the pic though.

Two old relics together in Edinburgh

Streetdeck Wright?

When is a Streetdeck not a Streetdeck? Here is a little pictorial test for you all. Which of the following are Streetdecks and which are not.

Brighton & Hove Streetdeck?

Streetdecks or not Streetdecks?         pic by KLConnected

What about this?         pic by David Oakley

Is this a Streetdeck?

Congratulations to anyone who spotted that pictures 1 and 3 are Streetdecks. Pictures 2 and 4 are Volvo B5LH's apparently. Nope I can't see any difference whatsoever either. I'm grateful to Peter Abbey for pointing out that the Lothian Streetdecks I had been so scathing about were not actually Streetdecks. That was embarrassng but I think forgivable. So here is another question for you. Which of these is a Gemini 3 body?

Is this a Gemini 3?     Pic by EDDIE

Or is this a Gemini 3?                 Pic by EDDIE

The rather confusing answer is that they are BOTH Gemini 3 bodies. However one in my opinion is far better than the other. So the final question is what the hell are Wrightbus playing at? Is one Gemini 3 body cheaper than the other - it certainly feels so - and what is the official body on a Streetdeck? Years ago you could get Atlanteans and Fleetlines with similar bodies but it was easy to tell from engine noise which was which. These days it's not that easy and Wrightbus have now made things very confusing. Thanks boys! All sounds rather Irish to me....

The Ultimate Bus Comparison Part Four

If you haven't yet read Parts One, Two, and Three yet you really need to or this will all seem rather confusing.

On Sunday afternoon after lunch in Edinburgh City Centre the rain closed in so my friend and I decided to go to the cinema to see the new Bond film. I'm not here to review the film but can someone give the director a slap and tell him the 15 does NOT go over Westminster Bridge, or indeed any bridge over the Thames! However to get to the cinema meant a ride on one of Lothian's Volvo 7900 Hybrids. I wasn't expecting one of these to be part of the comparison but I'm glad it was.

I went on one of Lothian's older models last year, as well as the ones First Essex have on the 100 Chelmsford - Lakeside service and hated them so much I even tweeted Volvo to say so. But I had a pleasant surprise - the newer ones are a vast improvement. The gap between electric motor cutting out and diesel engine cutting in is much shorter, the horrible vibrations have gone - it's feels far less than a B6 now, and it was a good comfortable ride. My only concern, which my friend who travels regularly on them brought up, is that they are stuffy with no opening windows. I'm not sure in a capital city that is a good move as the climate never has a chance to settle. I would think in Summer they can get extremely hot, but still a massive improvement on the original 7900's.

Lothian Buses 38 Volvo 7900 Hybrid BG64 FXL in Princes Street Edinburgh

I had saved what I hoped would be the best till last. On Monday I caught a Scotrail Class 170 up the east coast in glorious sunshine to Aberdeen. Ever since I read about a joint venture between First and Stagecoach in Aberdeen involving some Van Hool tri-axle A330 hydrogen buses I had wanted to ride one.

First of all they are very big, however are still only 42 seaters which is surprising as it looked more. Anyhow I quickly located the bus station, and boarded one of the Stagecoach versions to Westhill, a suburb of Aberdeen about a 30 min journey away. I must say they look rather impressive.

Stageoach 29905 Van Hool A330 Hydrogen bus SV64 BRZ in Westhill, Aberdeen

As you would expect from a gas bus they are quiet. What I didn't expect, though, was that they only appear to have one gear, so sound more like a tram than a bus, and top speed seems very low, 40 - 45 at a very maximum. The air conditioning was ok and if it hadn't been for one major point I would have loved them.

Rear of 29901

Quite simply they have no suspension. None at all. Aberdeen is not blessed with silky smooth roads and whenever we hit a pot hole it wasn't just the bus that rattled - and to be fair it didn't rattle much - but I rattled too. On several occasions my spine was jarred and I've never experienced that on a bus before. I can't help wondering if that has something to do with the tri-axle element of the vehicle. But whatever the reason it lets this otherwise decent bus down badly, and that's a shame as there ae many things to like about them.

First 64994 SV14 FYR in aberdeen

There was much more to see in Aberdeen, including one of the most bizarre rare workings I've ever seen, and a fleet of buses I heard very interesting whispers about, but I will do a separate post for that. Suffice it to say Aberdeen was the most interesting and varied place for buses I've been to for decades and I'm definitely making a return visit soon.

And so I need to declare the winner - what is the best new bus around at the moment. Obvously for town work it's the Borismaster, but since it's not possible to travel on one out of town yet they can't really be included in an overall survey. So these are the contenders.

ADL E400MMC
ADL E200MMC
Wright Streetlight
Wright Steetdeck
Volvo B5tl Gemini 3
Volvo 7900 Hybrid
Van Hool A330 Hydrogen Cell Bus

I knew which had come bottom but as I travelled from Norwich to Beccles 24 hours into my return journey on Tuesday I was still pondering which vehicle should win. Nothing is perfect and ticks all of my boxes. Then reality kicked in and I realised I was traveling on a bus that was quiet, smooth, comfortable, didn't rattle, not stuffy despite a full load, still pulled away well despite a full load, in fact all round the best bus I had travelled on all trip. So the winner of best new bus on the market is a 7 year old Volvo B9tl Gemini 1.

37568 seen in Norwich Bus Station last year

However it would be unfair if I didn't pick a winner from my list and it must be said that Alexander Dennis have put their act together whereas Wright have gone decidedly wrong. Those who are mournng the fact Norwich lost out on the Streetdecks can breath a sigh of relief. Chris - your aim should be to get as many Geminis as possible for Eastern Counties as they last the pace better than anything else! New vehicles go for MMC's as they are the best new buses around. So if I was waiting at a bus stop not knowing what was about to turn up, this would be my order of preference from the vehicles I sampled last weekend.

1. ADL E400MMC
2. ADL E200MMC
3. Volvo B5tl Gemini 3
4. Volvo 7900 Hybrid
5. Van Hool A330 Hydrogen Cell Bus
6. Wright Streetdeck
7. Wright Streetlite

Look out for special posts on Aberdeen and Borders Railway but I hope you've enjoyed this completely unscientific survey. I always say I'm a passenger first and foremost and these reviews are based soley on the pleasure I derived from traveling on them. Of course cost, fuel economy, emissions etc all play a part in what operators purchase but my backside doesn't take that into account.