Recliner wrote:
Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , Recliner
writes
Marland wrote:

Isn't a coach simply a bus with lots of secure luggage space (normally
under the floor) and capable of cruising at motorway speeds (ie, ?100 km/h)
all day?

These days, it would also have seat belts, aircon and quite possibly a
toilet and refreshments. It might also have overhead luggage racks and some
sort of AV system.

BEA / BOAC used double deck coaches mainly for luggage on the lower deck
whilst passengers mainly sat upstairs (diverging I remember when
downstairs a bus was called "inside" as opposed to "outside" for
upstairs)

Yes, those airport buses met my definition of a coach, though of course
they didn't have modern mod-cons.


But public transport coaches are often referred to as single decker
buses.

Those public transport buses are not coaches, however many decks they have.
Most buses are not coaches. It's nothing to do with the number of decks.


In fact see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-deck_bus .
Whilst not exclusively British, double deckers are rare in many
countries.

Most single-deck buses are not coaches. But all coaches, whether single or
double-deck, are buses.



Is their an actual definition somewhere or are we just advancing our own
interpretations?

Mine for what its worth would be a vehicle that has dedicated luggage
compartments like the underfloor lockers or on really old examples a boot
would be a coach.
If the only luggage area is a cubby hole under the stairs or a small area
for shopping ,push chairs etc then it is a bus.
That doesn’t preclude a coach being used as bus as often happens in rural
areas where an operator uses a small fleet that might be taking a bowling
club to a fixture and next day using the same vehicle on a registered
service as the once a week bus to town on market day.
Buses too can be hired for outings but the passengers may well not be able
to bring as much personal gear and once upon a time going any distance like
London to the seaside in an RT was a bit masochistic, modern buses are less
challenged on the performance front.
Some operators once had a couple of vehicles with a more up market finish
like some seats with tables
for such business, I remember when Southampton got a couple as we found the
two years they did an evening
mystery tour on Wednesdays was fun as they always ended up at a pub, on one
occasion the driver took a wrong turn and we ended up in a farmyard near
Basingstoke surrounded by a bemused herd of Holsteins.


Perhaps there is an official definition in the various vehicle construction
and use regs but as its sunny I’m
not going to wade through them now.

Got things to do.

GH


















lockers