21 Apr 2021, 11:23 am
#120
(20 Apr 2021, 9:44 pm)glen I wish I did not say anything now.
No, you asked a valid question, and got a reply that, although technically correct, possibly lacked a little, errr, "finesse" .....
The reality is that the Covid situation has made the future extremely uncertain, combined with the financial issues that operators will be facing. These two combined mean that it's going to be pretty difficult to justify spending money on things that aren't essential for a while. If you've already got a bus that meets regulations and isn't costing too much to put back together if or when it breaks down, then it's not going to be easy to fund replacing it. The exception will be where legislation requires a new(er) vehicle to be used, for example where emissions limitations are being introduced, which requires vehicles that have emissions better than a certain standard to be used. That may force purchase of new buses, but it may just as easily in these difficult times result in a reshuffling of existing vehicles to ensure the areas that need them have the better buses, and the rest end up in areas without the amended legislation.
