On 27/02/2015 16:25, Basil Jet wrote:
I notice that the 125 bus has a new fleet of buses which look a tiny bit
like Borisbuses, but are not. Having spent all that money on designing a
New Bus For London, I imagined that it would replace all of the
double-deckers as they became life-expired, but it would seem not. Is
the Borisbus considered a failure? Have they stopped making them
already? Was it only ever going to be used in touristy areas, and if so,
why?

That'll be the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 body - and yes, it does look a
bit New Routemaster-esque - I think someone else commented on this here
a while back, and I certainly thought it the first time I saw one of
these buses in 2013 (?). It's the shallower top-deck windows that does
it, I think:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wirewiping/16395155167

https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonbusbreh1912/16615416021


Re the NBFL / New Routemasters (aka Boris buses) - as of October 2014,
only half the initial 600 ordered had been delivered, and TfL ordered an
extra 200 - so they're definitely still being manufactured.

There was never any plan that the NBFL would replace all other double
deckers.

Regarding the success or otherwise of the NBFL - well, despite some
assurances that all was now well, I think the issue of them getting too
hot in the summer - hence the Roastmaster nickname - is perhaps a
fundamental flaw in the design. They really aren't very pleasant when
it's hot, especially upstairs. Perhaps I'll reserve ultimate judgement
until this summer, but I'm not enormously hopeful.

Also, a number of NBFL routes are now operated without a conductor
throughout the day, so the much heralded opportunity to hop-on and
hop-off the rear platform doesn't exist (there's a door there instead).
And in terms of the potential for fare evasion - which was a significant
part of the Boris critique of bendy buses - the NBFL has three doors
which can all be used for entry and exit, and on those routes with a
conductor they nonetheless don't do any ticket checking - instead they
guard the back door (I've seen some looking out for possible fare
evasion, but they can't really roam from the rear platform).

Lets say I wouldn't put the NBFL in the unqualified success category.