22 Jan 2016, 9:35 pm
#524
(22 Jan 2016, 8:57 pm)DaveyBowyer Does it matter whether the Streetlites will be Euro 5 or Euro 6 or for that matter, ANY bus? As long as the buses ordered are:
- Reasonably efficient
- Reasonably reliable
- To company and passenger requirements
Then that is fine. At least GNE are willing to invest in their fleet unlike Arriva who are happy to use 13-14 year old cast offs from London on their MAX routes and 57 plate E400s on a 'premium SAPPHIRE service' which have been battered during their time at Blyth and Redcar for the majority of them.
And, the only reason that GNE ordered B9TLs for the 47 was because of:
- Their price (end of line discount and kept in dealer stock)
- Commonality with Riverside's decker fleet (TEN and TTX)
- Proven vehicle type
- Streetdeck wasn't proven at the time of the order
- 47 despite being a profitable route and requiring extra capacity, didn't justify the expenditure of all the extra bells and whistles like the TEN, Fab 56, Cobalt Clipper etc although the 45/46 do have the extra bells and whistles
If GNEs Merc engined Citaro's can last nearly 9 year (original Red Arrows batch), then surely the Streetdeck will last as long despite being a little bit slower (or the same depending on setup) than a conventional decker.
The thing is its a disappointment that GNE always now go under and order Euro 5s when Euro 5 buses are barely the trend now ( Only Arriva ad GNE had a full Euro 5 order last year )
Going back to the past GNE were always off the mark with the lastest Buses on the Market, to name a few:
2000/2001 First Scania L94 Solars were on the market and GNE ordered one of the first batches
2006/2007 First Euro 4 Scania Omnicity appear on the market, GNEs off the mark and orders one of the first batches
2007/2008 First Euro 5 Mercedes Benz Citaros appear on the market, GNE orders again one of the first batch
Examples like that were back in the day when GNE always had the passenger in mind and Futureristic looking fleet with being first of the mark to order new types.
Now its changed.....
Even if it didn't justify extra " Bells and Whistles " If your going to make a route part of the same brand that has brand new, shiny, extra bells and whistles,
and then add a route with Dealer Stock B9s chucked in it trashes the brand in my view
GNE in 2001 could've gone under and kept ordering B10BLEs ( Like Transdev) until 2002 when the last ones were registerd, But instead went new and ordered what is now the Y Reg batch of Scanias.
In 2006 GNE could've gone under and ordered a final batch of Scania L94UBs ( Like Reading Buses ) But went new and bought Omnicitys
They could've stayed at Euro 4 a mere few months later but went further and ordered the first Euro 5 Citaros.
It shows GNE went the extra mile and ordered what the passenger would like and improved the company image.
Even if the Streetlites are Euro 5, The Streetdecks can only be Euro 6 so wouldn't it not be better to have the same engine ( DAimler OM904 ) in the Streetlite for maintenance purposes?
