Given the Merseyside franchising order for Cummins powered Ultroliners, have Volvo not missed a trick building a standard Bi-Axile B8TL decker?

Electrification despite it being the way forward is still out of reach for many services.

Unless operators go tri-axile, there isn't a truly heavy duty decker currently on the market.

(6 hours ago)L469 YVK wrote Given the Merseyside franchising order for Cummins powered Ultroliners, have Volvo not missed a trick building a standard Bi-Axile B8TL decker?

Electrification despite it being the way forward is still out of reach for many services.

Unless operators go tri-axile, there isn't a truly heavy duty decker currently on the market.

Not sure a heavy duty vehicle is needed in Merseyside. It's arguably the sort of place a light weight decker is actually ideal. Same with the likes of London and what not.

(5 hours ago)Storx wrote Not sure a heavy duty vehicle is needed in Merseyside. It's arguably the sort of place a light weight decker is actually ideal. Same with the likes of London and what not.

It's still quite a statement for an Cummins Ultroliner being ordered for such work though. Especially when a Daimler powered Ultroliner or standard E400MMC would be enough.

To be fair, MTL & Arriva did have a fair number of Cummins & Volvo D10 powered Palatine II's operating in the area.

Quite a lot of the NECA area work would benefit from a heavy duty decker:

Northumberland
* X14/X15/X16/X28/X20/X30
* X21/X22
* 10/10A/10B/12
* 685 (depending how this goes as cross border)

Gateshead & Washington
* X1

County Durham
* X10
* X21
* X30/X31/X32
* X45 & 47
* X70/X71/X72/X73

That alone would be quite a sizeable order. Then add on other operators and routes such as the X93/X94, Transdev's Coastliner.