(26 Sep 2016, 3:57 pm)Dan wrote I don't think low-floor coaches would be appropriate for the Tyne Tees Xpress.
Adrian and I were at Showbus yesterday, and we had a snoop around one of Trent Barton's new coaches used on the Red Arrows service. The driver was answering questions about the coach and one of the things he told us was that the wheelchair lift takes ten minutes to operate. If a wheelchair user wished to use the Tyne Tees Xpress, it would add 20 minutes onto the journey time (10 mins for the wheelchair user to get on, then 10 mins for the wheelchair user to get off). The current timetable does not allow for this sort of increase in journey time.
In addition to this, this type of coach costs approximately £100,000 more per vehicle. That would be an additional £700,000 to replace all six branded Volvo B9TLs and 6084. Although they may last ten years on this route, they may not. There's always a degree of uncertainty in buying new vehicle types as it's impossible to tell what they'll be like later down the line, but it's an expensive gamble if the coaches aren't still completely reliable after ten years in service.
When they do need to be replaced; you'd then have the issue of which route you'd cascade them to, as Hexham wouldn't be able to accommodate anything larger than the former National Express tri-axle Scania Levantes that they're now using on scholars contracts. It would be difficult to sell them given they'd accumulate a very high mileage in ten years.
I don't think the idea for coaches on the TTX is inappropriate; just unlikely. To get around the wheelchair lift issue, maybe Volvo B11Rs with Plaxton Elite i bodys would be better. Due to the interdeck design, wheelchairs roll on and off as per any conventional bus, and there is some seating available on the lower deck for elderly passengers. Yesterday at Showbus, a mutual friend introduced me to Phill Southall, MD at Oxford Bus Company and we actually spoke about the TTX and he drew some comparisons to Oxford's X90 and how the Elite i works well.
The cost of the vehicles becomes a value concern. It could be argued a more expensive coach which needs replacing every 10 years then sold on is better value than a Volvo B9 which needs replacing after 5 or 6 years before being retired to local service work.