Go North East: Latest News & Discussion

Dan

Site Administrator

18,117

27 Aug 2015, 6:38 pm #1,125

(27 Aug 2015, 5:49 pm)jaimzm I was on the new Volvo today 9108 it's very good bus well impressed I hope they get a load of these and replace the Scania L94s

I decided to sample the demonstrator from Stadium of Light Metro to Houghton-le-Spring, given that the A690 / Durham Road & Houghton Cut stretch of the route is quite demanding which requires the bus to go flat out. It was also a good test, given that the buses between 16:00 and 18:00 are often fully-laden.

As I'd been speaking to the driver, I was on the seat just behind the cab for the duration of my journey. I discovered yesterday that there are three steps in total to climb as you navigate your way up the gangway, and the rearmost seats are located just above another step (just like Stagecoach's Scania gas buses in Sunderland), meaning that you really do have to duck down if you'd like to sit here. However, the seat behind the driver was perfectly comfortable as it had plenty of legroom.

I could barely hear the engine, and actually riding it gave a slightly different perspective to what it sounds like (although my opinion largely remains the same: it sounds almost Hybrid-like, as it's so quiet). Very few rattles, and a smooth ride indeed. Completely different to the usual Scania L94s on this route which do rattle like hell towards the front of the bus.

However, with any good, there's always a bad. With a full load; the max speed was around 45mph, which did impact on time-keeping somewhat. From a passenger perspective, it felt like it was flying up any sort of bank, but the driver said that a top speed of 45mph was not suitable for that route. Worth noting that most of the Scanias on this route usually get to around 52mph on the Houghton Cut stretch, so quite a big difference. It'd be interesting to see what a Streetlite would get to, given that they're limited to 50mph anyway... I've used the Streetlites on the 8/78 with a full load, and they seem to fly about everywhere, but I suppose speed can be quite deceiving.

Interesting statistics on capacity:
- 45 seated, 50 standing, 0 wheelchairs
- 39 seated, 61 standing, 0 wheelchairs
- 39 seated, 53 standing, 1 wheelchairs

All in all a very good ride though. Probably won't be long before the rattles start, though, as the Streetlites were almost rattle-free when they were new too.

Another shot of 9108 - basking in the sun this time and looking resplendent:

Go North East: 9108 / BA15BXS by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

The new dash:

Go North East: 9108 / BA15BXS by Daniel Graham, on Flickr