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Re: NEW PURCHASES
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PB Jim
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16/09/2010 08:27:47
I may be mistaken but have LC's not already been used on high profile FAI/IRFU/state movements in the glare of world media? I have some notion I have cringed while watching some VIP getting on/off an LC on the news, thinking to myself, is that the best we can do? I know for a fact that on Man Utd's recent visit here they turned down the coach sent to collect them by BE due to the lack of a toilet and the general condition of the vehicle sent. I believe the vehicle was dirty and grubby and hadn't even seen the good end of a mop despite the job at hand. A private operator had to be deputised and turned up with a vehicle mush older than what BE had sent but you could've eaten your dinner off the floor and it had a toilet. I truly believe that all other issues are compounded by the fact that there seems to be an attitude in certain areas in BE of "it's a new coach, what's the problem?". The private bus was pulled off another job in Dublin at short notice so it's fair to assume that is how the vehicle is turned out on a daily basis.
In alot of the promotional material Volvo issued with the B9R they are selling it as a successor to the B10M, a crown the B12 never lived up to. They are arguing that 380hp is huge for the likes of local private hire and express service work and the B9R strikes a cost effective balance of power, performance and reliability. I'd also feel the move to a smaller bore engine may be to try to stem fuel economy issues that the B12 range were dogged with. The first 2 B13R right hand drive coaches are in service with Edinburgh Coach Lines (A subsiduary of Bernard Kavanagh & Sons/Eirebus) in Scotland on Leger Tours contracts and are been run on an evaluation basis leading up to the official launce of the chassis at this years Euro Coach Expo in Birmingham.
I agree the Scania Irizar PB suffer from body issues, mainly internally, but these were never designed as front line express coaches but as high end flagship tour coaches which would be a much easier life. Irizar retained the Century model as it's express offering. It's notable that in the UK/Ireland big groups like ComfortDelGro/Natex/BE have bought PB's for express work yet on the continent and in Spain you only really see this model doing what it was intended for with the Century being the preferred express coach.
I'd have no issue with Scania K310 (9 litre) carrying Irizar Century bodies as this is a proven combination and I don't beleive that most BE work justifies large horsepower other than to flatter the driver's macho side. I have recently driven a 1998 Scania Century (formerly a BE SI vehicle not sure which one tho!) which is now in private hands, has over 1000000km on the original engine and is still going strong, the vehicle easily completed a significant round trip of 533km (just checked my tacho!) and yes it lost a bit of momentum on hills but I don't accept that it took any longer to do the trip overall or even was much more uncomfortable than the PB's I have driven. The guy who owns the vehcile says it uses less fuel than B10M's he owns and passengers prefer the body to similar aged Plaxton's he owns. Having frequent cause to cover BE services I often find that on a lot of services you're actually killing time to stay on schedule so it wouldn't matter if you had 500hp it's no advantage. Regarding the new version of this chassis I'd think that largely it's the exact same engine but as emissions regulations have changed and tightened, EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) technology has been used which will change the "sound" of the engine and I do know some of these fancy exhaust systems have given trouble but the actual power plant itself should be pretty much unaffected.
Edited 1 time by
PB Jim
16/09/2010 08:38:59.
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