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Posts: 7130
26/05/2011 18:55:39
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Posts: 661
26/05/2011 21:26:21
Redstarcastles wrote: The difference between now and 20 years ago is that DB buses have a resale value. In addition standards have changed in terms of accessibility, emission standards, fuel efficiency etc. As I said, I like the RVs, but they are no use if your mobility ain't the best. The other cities have had fully accessible buses for some time, which is a good thing. Refurb is only worthwhile if you get a good return on your investment. The MCs with a bit of work would last another 10 years. The ADs were withdrawn relatively early, no surprise considering their structural issues! In a way its a pity that DB and BÉ didn't get more MCs back in 2000, a well proven vehicle, very solid and great maintenance aspects. They don't age too badly either. The MC's are an absolute disaster maintenance wise, speaking to people on the garage floor in Limerick they will tell you parts are expensive, parts can be difficult to get and they are not the easiest vehicle to work on, there are usually more of them off the road than on the road in Limerick. I remember back in 2002 in Limerick there was an awful lot of trouble with them, in fact two mercedes technicians from Germany spent a month in the garage sorting out the particular problem! nice bus to drive alright and they do look well when they are painted up, rant over!
Posts: 1661
26/05/2011 21:29:34
Posts: 2158
26/05/2011 22:47:27
Posts: 55
27/05/2011 19:01:41
27/05/2011 20:40:06
Posts: 3348
28/05/2011 20:30:31
Rt78a wrote: "Stagecoach is upgrading 50 midlife Dennis Tridents by replacing their Euro 3 Cummins ISBe engines with the latest Euro 5 versions. The conversion will cost £500,000 and will be carried out over 12 months. Stagecoach says the repowering will cut fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent, reduce carbon emissions and improve reliability. The upgraded buses will be spread across the group’s UK Bus businesses.The managing director of Stagecoach UK Bus, Les Warneford, explains: “Many of the vehicles are around 8-10 years old and are in good condition but require new engines. It makes sense to fit newer greener engines to pro-long their life.” It is easy for Stagecoach to undertake this type of work on its ADL buses as both Stagecoach and ADL are in common ownership , you can rest assured that no-one other than Stagecoach would get that price for re-engining , that plus ADL will sell on the Euro 3 engines that are removed.The cost of refurbishing an ex-London Volvo B7TL with Alexander ALX400 body is STG£35,000 BEFORE engine and gearbox upgrade/replacment , STG£60,000 is the total package price per bus I've seen quoted .The big risk with refurbishment is by prolonging the lifespan of a bus you are running the risk of falling fowl of future legislation , a prime example of this would be emmissions standards , I know of one UK operator who bought a 00 Dennis Dart with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork , they spent £20,000 refurbishing it only to find it was'nt LEZ compliant (Low Emmission Zone) so not only could the bus not be used for the service for which it was bought , but after refurbishment its resale value was only £12,000 , that company LOST £18,000 by going the refurbishment route and had a narrow escape as they had aquired 10 Darts and had planned to refurbish them all.
30/05/2011 18:00:43
Posts: 2697
30/05/2011 19:52:43
30/05/2011 20:25:34
Posts: 7859
31/05/2011 10:26:05
RM1986 wrote:Dublin Commuter 07, in response to your post in today's observations about this, I see high spec EVs could be on the cards. Why didn't Dublin Bus opt for a higher spec VG for the Airlink, or why not have ordered similar spec VGs to the VWDs? From a passenger perspective, I see absolutely no problems with the VGs. I have been on some Airlinks, and including VG47 on the 123, and I saw nothing wrong with them. I have noticed though that the driving poisition seems to be mounted fairly high compared to other buses in the fleet, but this shouldn't be an issue. Perhaps it's to do with maintenance? I recall an article in a recent edition of Buses comparing engines of both an Enviro400 and a Gemini. It seems that different components in the Enviro400 engine are much easier to access than those of a Gemini and some parts are quicker to replace and fix in the Enviro 400 than in the Gemini. So it could all be down to this sort of thing?
Posts: 321
31/05/2011 10:36:12
Posts: 1507
31/05/2011 18:09:29
31/05/2011 18:10:37
Stevek211 wrote:Didn't Wrightbus make both the WV's and AW's? Both of which were the first 00's vehicles to be withdrawn/sold for scrap
31/05/2011 19:08:16
31/05/2011 22:45:21
31/05/2011 23:18:12
01/06/2011 18:47:10
01/06/2011 19:52:12
01/06/2011 20:11:50