On 30.09.16 18:52, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-09-30 15:34:43 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

Oh well nice to see I am not alone in finding Roastmasters nausea
inducing heaps. I refuse to use them so my central London travels and
bus usage have fallen off a cliff as a result. Still I am in the
position to make that choice but many people are not.

I know you don't like the physical bus, on which I differ,

The design is cool, I will agree, though practical use is another
matter, IMHO.

On 02.10.16 19:04, wrote:
On Sun, 2 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0100, Bryan Morris
wrote:

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973

Before you get too excited look at the photos of the front, especially
the headlights..
That model is not what has become known as Roastmaster.

G.Harman

Not a Roastmaster.

On 02/10/2016 19:37, wrote:

In article ,
() wrote:

On Sun, 2 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0100, Bryan Morris
wrote:

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973

Before you get too excited look at the photos of the front, especially
the headlights..
That model is not what has become known as Roastmaster.

My thoughts exactly. The registration and fleet number location aren't right
for a New Routemaster either. Which other buses have that front and
staircase styling now?


It's an Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City model, which is a hybrid:
http://www.alexander-dennis.com/prod...viro400h-city/

The windowed staircase in particular is familiar from the NBFL design,
as are the curved front windows.

On 2016-09-30 15:34:43 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.

Well we like them. The 76 is our local bus - when is it switching?

E.

Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sat, 1 Oct 2016 08:58:11 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:

In message of Fri, 30 Sep
2016 16:34:43 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.


Where do you find the plans to change 48 and 76 to NB4L?

I participate in forums where the tender results are announced almost
as soon as the info is released inside TfL. I also usually get to see
the official award notice. That's how I know about things like
vehicle type conversions. With the 48 and 76 the operators are also
changing with Arriva taking on the 48 from Ash Grove and London
General the 76 from Northumberland Park. Bang goes decades of
accumulated operating experience with the existing operators but hey
that's the tendering system for you.

Is it like railway TOCs, where most of the staff and management stay put
when the ownership of the franchise changes? If so, most of the operational
experience shouldn't be lost.

On 18.10.16 15:21, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sat, 1 Oct 2016 08:58:11 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:

In message of Fri, 30 Sep
2016 16:34:43 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.


Where do you find the plans to change 48 and 76 to NB4L?

I participate in forums where the tender results are announced almost
as soon as the info is released inside TfL. I also usually get to see
the official award notice. That's how I know about things like
vehicle type conversions. With the 48 and 76 the operators are also
changing with Arriva taking on the 48 from Ash Grove and London
General the 76 from Northumberland Park. Bang goes decades of
accumulated operating experience with the existing operators but hey
that's the tendering system for you.

Sounds like my friend at one office where he worked.

There were several people there who were quite professional, experienced
and put out a very good product. Then, for whatever reason, management
chased out all the managers and put someone in who had no experience in
the field. That individual was not properly qualified, blindly followed
upper management's orders and pushed out all the experienced people in
favour of 20-somethings.

Needless to say, the quality of that company's product sharply declined.
This also meant that earlier buyers were going elsewhere for the
product. Upper management refused to believe that they were the reason
why this happened, and instead either blamed everybody else or simply
employed doublethink when the numbers were staring right in their face.

In message of Tue, 18 Oct
2016 18:41:48 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield
writes

This is not directly relevant, but is typical of mismatches between bus
services on the ground and on tfl.gov.uk/buses. https://tfl.gov.uk/mode
s/buses/?cid=buses contains a rectangle entitled "Bus service changes"
which has a link to https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/bus-
service-changes.pdf
Several routes now run between different termini. The lists of stops do
not reflect those changes.

OTOH, they eventually updated the 78 stop list to reflect the
consequences of the Tower Bridge closure.

Operators and CentreComm seem REALLY good at tracking road changes.
There seems little effort to keep service information correct on the web
site.
--
Walter Briscoe