Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Meet the new London routemaster
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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It's the much-loved old design brought up to date and is a symbol of the resurgence of public transport in London. I think it looks great. The seats in this prototype seem a little utilitarian compared with the swooping line of the exterior; but I supposed there's not a lot of room to play with and they take the hard wear. I find myself using buses more and more: the Oystercard must take a lot of credit.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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I'm not going to be drawn on this one.. of course, I like many other (ex-) busmen am totally against bringing back open platform buses - One: they are dangerous and Two: are cold in winter.
Three: most London Bus fares are prepaid these days with very little cash changing hands, therefore employing a conductor to ride about with nothing to do is an expensive BoFolly..
You might like to read the discussion of ex-Busmen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45524017@N05/5166240093/
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BTW; I would have thought that at least Clive, with his 'war on wasting taypayers money' wouldn't have fallen for the spin and fibreglass/wood engineless mock-up shown here (well something has to be shown for all the expenditure - there's an election coming you know).
For every four one-manned* bendy buses, you'll need eight of these two-manned* monsters to transport the same amount of passengers - would you like to work out a costing on that one Clive?
*personed
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Stephen:
1: elphin saftey. I know this is sometimes alleged and suspected. I'm sure elphin safety would be aghast. But is there any evidence that open platform buses are a hazard?
2: winter cold Since they are picking and depositing people from the outdoors, presumably passengers are as appropirately attired for the inside temperatures as for the outdoor. The journeys are short and there's surely nieither space nor time to start undressing inside a bus? The buses with doors have two big doors, often opening, so there's not much chance of head retention. Surely not comparable with a train.
3. conductors. This is a fair point and the current driver-only buses watching Oyster cards being touched in is efficient. The new bus may be more appropriate on some routes than others.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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I'm OK with the swoosh effect part of the exterior (if that's what you call it) except at the front, where I'd have preferred a straight edge with the glass. Is the back deck open to the elements? Thought there was some sort of door (when Borris isn't doing his pose for photos in that BBC video).
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Stephen, relieved you're not going to be drawn on this ;-) These new buses are almost certainly not for every route, for taking weary commuters back home to outer suburbs, for example. The point you make about economics is entirely applicable there. However, for cramped central London and for tourist routes in particular, I think these would be just the ticket.
I think the design of the new bus is part of a larger effort (wholly desirable IMO) to make public transport seem more dramatic, exciting and interesting.
Early railway stations were proud monuments signifying the importance of a transport terminus; in some places subsequently, they were not a lot better than portakabins. Now we see a resurgence of design: for example, more adornment than was strictly necessary in the portico of Finsbury Park railway station.
The new landmark status of public transport nexuses is nowhere better expressed than on the Underground stations of the Jubiliee line extension.
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It would be nice to believe that the politicians (especially those right of centre, but not only those) really were interested in improving public transport. That would mean more than doubling the investment of the last ten years and keeping it that way for a generation.
But we've already heard noises from the coalition about wanting to privatise again. so I think the chances of that are -0-!
Yes, your idea about using them on central routes sounds ideal and plausible, but London's buses don't actually work like that.. There are actually very few routes that stay within say.. the Circle Line. Most services in the centre these days are radial routes that cross the centre and end at the far side.
You'd only need at a maximum 200 buses to cover that area, before having to force people off of other services by curtailing them at the centre in order to increase delivery numbers.
Building 200 vehicles is never going to make the project profitable and export markets in the UK and abroad will be needed to push the numbers up. But at the moment that is done, then it won't be a 'London Bus' anymore.. It will be just like all the others.
I really do hope Boris' successor scraps the whole scheme..
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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I'm glad to see Wrights of Ballymena making a few quid out of Boris's retro daydream - call it the (W)rightmaster. But since China will be running Asia/Africa/Europe and all their little offshore islands in a few years I'd prefer to see Wrights' robots working for two yuan and some noodles a week on Beijing's new Straddle Bus. The Straddle prototype is out next month and it would be nice to see Boris back in Beijing to wave the (Chinese Union) flag as awkwardly as he did in 2008.
The Straddle Bus will carry up to 1500 passengers above two lanes of traffic, be electrically powered, and (when the private car is rendered obsolete) the road below can easily be converted into endless allotments, outside gyms and children's playgrounds - if Beijing hasn't opted for a Zero-Child policy by then.
Seems to me, Steve & John, it would be ideal for Wightman Road. Indeed if Beijing & Boris award the western contract to Wrights of Ballymena I see a great future for the Wrightman Road Straddle Bus.
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OAE .. do you mean something like this.. ?
Which has been working in Wuppertal for over 100 years (and only two bad accidents in all that time)..
A more modern version wouldn't have such cumbersome supports..
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Please take that picture down Stephen. Somebody will see it and suggest running something similar above the New River. George Bennie tried to build something similar between Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1930s. QI points please :-)
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No getting stuck in traffic jams and no expensive tunnelling... :o)
I reckon with one of these Harringay - Euston Road via Camden Town in 15 minutes.. no?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Very Alpine. Thank you very much for the Sunday evening public transport porn.
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