17 Nov 2017, 12:03 pm
#202
(17 Nov 2017, 10:44 am)mb134 I think we all know that Streetlites are cheaper to buy initially, run and to an extent maintain, than the current heavyweight vehicles available. Indeed, the Government isn't going to pay companies to operate Citaros and B8RLEs.
However my concern is that, as we've seen with multiple Arriva examples, operators are thinking short term a bit too much. Obviously, we have no evidence to base the life expectancy of a Streetlite on, but I think it fair to assume in majority of cases that it will be nowhere near as long as the vehicles they're replacing. I know it may not be the case in this instance, going back to the point Dan made about the Citaros probably not being needed on this route initially, but in quite a few cases across both companies, they have been allocated to routes where a heavyweight vehicle would probably be more suited. It also begs the question, if Stagecarriage can buy heavyweight vehicles when required, why can't 2 of the main North East operators?
Obviously, my main experience with Streetlites are with First in Aberdeen. All of which are allocated to inner-city routes, and yet at just 3 and a half years old, there are a number that feel shockingly bad to travel on. I boarded one last night, and as it dropped me off home, an alarm was ringing in the cab. About an hour later, by chance I caught it home from Morrisons and the same alarm was ringing, this time for pretty much the duration of the journey. As I got off, the driver switched it off, and then it completely failed to start up on first time of asking. Second time was alright, though it was evident something wasn't quite right.
This demo example arrived in to Houghton just after 10 this morning if anyone is trying to track it down.
What I noticed on this one, was the seating. Appreciate GNE may look at alternatives, but dear me...
I also started to think about this particular vehicle and it's maintenance. Granted fitters are required to work and maintain a specific standard, but if each depot within a group has its own quirks, imagine how many quirks depots within multiple groups have.
Will Wright (or whoever is maintaining the vehicle between trials) be able to fix and iron out these depot quirks, or will it reflect on the performance?
'Illegitimis non carborundum'
