If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

B2003

wrote:
If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

B2003

Newer ones could theoretically replace older bendies on routes in London
(remember there'll still be a need for 100-odd bendies by the 2012
Mayoral campaign, so Boris isn't removing bendies any more than
Livingstone removed Routemasters). I'll stick my neck out and say
there'll be a damn sight more bendies in service on the date of the next
Mayoral election than Routemasters old or new.

Plenty of other cities in the UK have bendies now, remember the Bendy
Myths all date from about 2005, when this wasn't the case so much.
Indeed, one of the refutations of the policy is that the Jihad is purely
London-specific and exists in a mainly political context - no one uses
major newspapers to attack private companies putting bendy buses on the
streets of Swansea (although there are doubtless pro- and anti-
campaigners, there's nothing like the heat and gibberish produced in
London).

Tom

In message
,
writes

If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

They're already used in a number of other UK cities, particularly by
Arriva and Go-Ahead.

--
Paul Terry

On 22 Jan, 18:34, wrote:

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:53:55 +0000, Paul Terry
wrote:
In message
,
writes

If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

They're already used in a number of other UK cities, particularly by
Arriva and Go-Ahead.

And in most places across Europe.

Where they could be "effectively used" to diminish the population,
given that the doors open on the wrong side - is that what you meant?

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:59:10 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

Most of them, I'd say, just as they *are* effectively used in London,
give or take some childish campaigns against them.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:53:55 +0000, Paul Terry
wrote:

They're already used in a number of other UK cities, particularly by
Arriva and Go-Ahead.

Where do Arriva use them? I thought First was the most prolific user
of them.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:27:21 GMT, wrote:

I have only seen First with them in London and Manchester I have never
seen Stagecoach with any they probably will get some to snarl up the
streets of Preston with once the buyout of PB is completed .

Stagecoach seem to be a fan of pretty much exclusively Alexander
Dennis products, whose range doesn't (as I recall) include a bendybus.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:59:10 -0800 (PST), wrote:

If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

there is a suggestion that some will end up in Malta. The government
there has employed consultants who have come up with a scheme to
completely revise the Maltese bus system. This would scrap the current
scheme that uses largely second hand buses run by owner drivers in a
form of cooperative. The proposals envisage a hierarchy of services
with bendies on the very high demand corridors. There are very few
double deck buses in Malta as there was long term resistance to their
use so single decks are the main bus type. The article is in the latest
Buses Magazine.

My own theory is that most of them will sit in yards and decay. The big
problem is the third door in the rear section. All other bendies -
apart possibly from those on the Eden project shuttle - are two doored
because there is no open boarding elsewhere in the UK. I doubt any UK
commercial operators will adopt open boarding so it entirely depends on
whether Mercedes can remove the third door. If they can there might be
a market for the vehicles elsewhere in the UK - particularly if they are
offered cheaply and operators want to push up their compliance with the
approaching low floor vehicle legislation. The other big issue is garage
space and whether they can be accommodated - this was an issue in London
so can't be ignored outside.

I'd be perfectly happy for bendies to stay in service in London but we
know what the policy is.
--
Paul C

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:59:10 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

If Boris does get his way and boot all the bendies out of london where
would they go? Theres a lot of them, they can't be sold off in europe
because they're RHD, they're far too new to scrap and they're really
only suitable for a city enviroment. Are there any other cities that
they could be effectively used in?

B2003

With apologies to Joan Baez and various others, in anticipation:

Where have all the Bendies gone?
Long time a passing
Where have all the Bendies gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the Bendies gone?
Gone to Malta everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn
etc...

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:39:52 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

My own theory is that most of them will sit in yards and decay. The big
problem is the third door in the rear section. All other bendies -
apart possibly from those on the Eden project shuttle - are two doored
because there is no open boarding elsewhere in the UK.

I assume they could be locked out of use. But as the Citaro can be
ordered in a single-door or dual-door bendy form, I suspect it'll just
be a module swap of some sort.

The other potential market for them is airports, where the 3 doors may
prove an advantage.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.