(14 Oct 2024, 3:32 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Completely agree.
We’re always going to be lumbered with single door vehicles if revised or new build infrastructure cannot accommodate dual doors. 

Single door buses here feel so cramped and slow after coming back from cities with dual doors.
I’m sick of having to squeeze all the way to the front to get off crowded buses here.

If buses are crowded then dual door buses will make it worse as it's now got less seats. That's not a dual door problem, that's a frequency/capacity issue.

Dual doors buses terminating in a bus station have absolutely no benefits bar losing, at least 4 seats. The point of them is for services like the 39 and 40 so when they stop at somewhere like Blackett Street, people don't have to wait until everyone gets off, which results in faster boarding times and therefore a quicker service.

None of the cross city services serve bus stations though, so it's a pointless investment. Buses terminating in Newcastle don't have that issue since everyone is getting off heading into Newcastle or getting on leaving Newcastle, so you could put dual doors on something like the 10/10A/10B but other than 1 stop at the Metrocentre there's literally no benefits. Lots of negatives though; fare control and loss of seats being the main ones in particular.

The big difference between the European routes you've mentioned there is they don't have an obsession with bus stations in major cities and a fair chunk are cross city, London included in that.