In article , Terry Harper
wrote:
My view is that they should be restricted to a free shuttle
the full length of Oxford Street, and that all other buses be
diverted from it.

Melbourne has retained some W-class trams running a free City
Circle route: http://www.victrip.com.au/city_circle/trams.html

--
Tony Bryer

Very True Martin.
The combination of low gross vehicle weight and new engine/transmision
technology allow the Routemaster to return embarrasingly good economy
figures indeed.
Where present RM operations fall down is due to individual operators taking
a decision to reduce maintenance input,ie:non-replacement of damaged body
panels or leaving failed interior light tubes unattended to.
However yet again it is a mark of the Vehicles overall good design that it
takes far more to disable a RM than for example a Volvo B7tl which can and
does become immobile at the soft Ding of a warning bell.
My points are not intended as an anoraks "Keep the RM at all costs" but as a
recognition that the vehicles continue to have a necessary and important
role in Central London Public Transport provision.

Alek wrote:

Very True Martin.
The combination of low gross vehicle weight and new engine/transmision
technology allow the Routemaster to return embarrasingly good economy
figures indeed.

Do you know how low? One of the major criticisms of Routemasters has
been the extra cost of employing the conductor. Does the fuel saving
make up for this?

Terry Harper wrote:
"Ian Jelf" wrote...

I still await (with baited breath) the "tourist routes" on which the RMs
will (apparently) be retained indefinitely. As I said in previous
posting, I thought when I first heard this that it would be the 9, 11
and 15 but events have proved me wrong. So where will they be?

My view is that they should be restricted to a free shuttle the full length
of Oxford Street,

So missing nearly everything that the tourists want to see!

and that all other buses be diverted from it.

You want to ban wheelchair accessible buses from Oxford Street????


Why is it that so many people want to take the buses away from
Central London's main bus interchange? 'Tis not as if there's a viable
alternative.

--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society

So why have you come up with the most anti-routemaster proposal yet?

(Matt Ashby) wrote in message . com...
Unfortunately the Routemaster isn't capable of performing the task
required of it - safe and accessible road transport. Routemasters are

Really? Its managed it for 40 years , why suddenly has this changed (apart
from the political correctness getting in on the act of course)?

not accessible to wheelchairs, buggies or the elderly, and are
extraordinarily unsafe (as demonstrated by the people you occasionally
see trying to push other people off the platform).

Ah rubbish. They're only unsafe for the terminally stupid.


Their engines also contribute far more than modern buses to our city's
pollution levels.

Most of them have new engines.

B2003

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 20:53:14 +0000, Neil Williams
wrote:

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 08:37:20 +0000, Graham J wrote:

So these low floor buses might be more
accessible in terms of boarded and alighting but the same considerations can
greatly reduce the number of usable seats for many and add several new
dangers. Indeed on some of the double decker low floor buses there are only
about four seats that are really suitable for many people.

I've yet to see a two-doored low-floor double-decker with a sensible
layout. You can just about fit a sensible number of seats in a
single-doored standard length vehicle, but this slows boarding/alighting
too much.

Better would be to make the vehicles longer to give enough
space on the lower deck. Having two staircases and the main exit door
right at the back (stepped) would also be worthy of consideration.

Neil

How about Blackpool tram sort of layout?
www.unseenlondon.co.uk
www.blackpooltram.co.uk
www.happysnapper.com
www.boilerbill.com - main site
www.amerseyferry.co.uk

When I did a stint in the Chiswick bus development office as an engineering
student in the mid-1960s, RMs were averaging about 9mpg in service.
Furthermore, whereas RT engine life averaged out at 4 years, after 4 years
98% of RMs were still on their original engines. I always felt that this was
due to the RM's automatic gearbox limiting the revs; RT drivers often revved
right up to the governor in each gear!

Does anyone know the average mpg of, say, Tridents?

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...
(Matt Ashby) wrote in message
. com...
Unfortunately the Routemaster isn't capable of performing the task
required of it - safe and accessible road transport. Routemasters are

Really? Its managed it for 40 years , why suddenly has this changed (apart
from the political correctness getting in on the act of course)?

not accessible to wheelchairs, buggies or the elderly, and are
extraordinarily unsafe (as demonstrated by the people you occasionally
see trying to push other people off the platform).

Ah rubbish. They're only unsafe for the terminally stupid.


Their engines also contribute far more than modern buses to our city's
pollution levels.

Most of them have new engines.

B2003

My own info on the Volvo B7tl appears to indicate an average of 6mpg in City
Service.
The Trident using a somewhat larger Cummins power unit may well be slightly
better as in our service the smaller engined B7`s are constantly being
thrashed especially when loaded.
I would like to get accurate figures for the Marshall spec Cummins/Allison
combination but I would be wary of any of the "Official" TfL ones as I
should imagine any figure which would show a good average might have to be
"Amended".......Conspiracy Theory.....You Bet.!

"Aidan Stanger" wrote in message
...
Terry Harper wrote:

My view is that they should be restricted to a free shuttle the full
length
of Oxford Street,

So missing nearly everything that the tourists want to see!

and that all other buses be diverted from it.

You want to ban wheelchair accessible buses from Oxford Street????

Why is it that so many people want to take the buses away from
Central London's main bus interchange? 'Tis not as if there's a viable
alternative.

So why have you come up with the most anti-routemaster proposal yet?

I haven't. Their days are numbered, but Peter Hendy has said that some will
always remain, so why not put them to work in London's biggest tourist
trap.

Wheelchair accessible buses would still cross Oxford Street, but be able to
get on with going places, rather than clog up the already congested street.

As for calling Oxford Street London's main bus interchange, a long street
with interminable queues of buses trying to get onto blocked stops does not
make an interchange. Aldwych or Victoria are a lot more effective.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

"Jack Taylor" wrote in message
...

"Terry Harper" wrote in message
...

My view is that they should be restricted to a free shuttle the full
length
of Oxford Street, and that all other buses be diverted from it.

Interesting idea! Buses from the west could loop at Marble Arch, returning
back from whence they came and feeding into the Routemasters along Oxford
Street. Buses from the north to the centre of Oxford Street could loop
back
at Cavendish Square. Not sure about the eastern end (Holborn?) or how you
would handle buses from the south that currently approach via Regent
Street.
Then there's the problem of people who want to make through journeys
across
the central zone.

Nevertheless, with a bit of thought many of those problems could probably
be
very easily solved. It certainly sounds like an idea worth further
investigation!

There is no reason why buses can't cross Oxford Street, say at Tottenham
Court Road, Oxford Circus and Baker Street, and also run alongside it using
Welbeck Street. It's just the stupidity of running a large number of
near-empty buses at less than walking place that gets me. People who want to
make through journeys don't want all the delay involved.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/