EVs (new Dublin Bus type) enter service (inc pics)

Aquavid

The first of Dublin's new Volvo B9TL / Enviro400 buses entered service from Ringsend today.

While basically similar to existing lowfloor double-decks in interior style, these feature totally different and updated engine/electrical/chassis elements, built to a more strict emissions standard (Euro4 as opposed to Euro3) capable of running on biofuel mix.

The front and rear are very different looking, much more rounded, and featuring minature lights which seem to be all the rage on buses and coaches these days. Lots of curves.

From a passenger perspective, quieter, and nice big window at the front, and finally they have moved that annoying grabrail from out of your direct eyeline.

Special wheelchair retention system fitted downstairs (auto-operated bar that lowers to protect wheelchair user).

On the minus side, a couple of the seats on the offside upstairs have poor legroom, and there is an unfortunate guttering design that delivers constant running water onto the head of anyone entering/exiting in rainy weather (hopefully this will be fixed).

Aquavid

Poxyshamrock

What's with the two bars alongside the outside of the front upstairs window?

John R

Poxyshamrock wrote:

What's with the two bars alongside the outside of the front upstairs window?

It protects the window from tree branches.

Aquavid

The other big plus for passengers is that with the change to LED for the destination display, you finally have an electronic system that can be clearly seen and read even in bright sunlight. Much more readable from a distance too.

Aquavid

jlang

Although by the looks of the first pic, the destination sign is not as legible from a close-up oblique angle.

What routes will these be on? (apart from the 3)

paulm17781

Good to see they are determined to keep high dwell times by only having one set of doors. :rolleyes:

Red Alert

They do look smashing. What routes are they going to be on?

Finally the LED signs - now next up they should start fitting these to the AV's as well. Much more legible - don't know why CIE persisted with the others. More maintainable too!

Aquavid

jlang wrote:

Although by the looks of the first pic, the destination sign is not as legible from a close-up oblique angle.

What routes will these be on? (apart from the 3)

Actually, much more legible than would seem from the photo - LED displays on buses do not photograph well, and can sometimes come out as gappy or even blank. I think the fact I was using a slightly longer exposure due to the very dark conditions helped ensure it came out in the photo.

The routes:

First batch of 8 to Ringsend for the 1, 2, and 3.
then 14 to Clontarf, possibly for 32/42 (though Clontarf tend to be a bit random in the way they allocate buses to routes)
then 14 to Donnybrook for 145.
then 14 to Harristown, not sure which routes.

As the last of these are being delivered (October) then 50 of the long triaxles (the sort on the 46A) will start arriving:

3 to Donnybrook for 46A
47 to Phibsboro for 37/38/39 and 10.

Aquavid

Terrontress

Every time Dublin Bus get a new bus in, I always am interested and look forward to travelling in them. When I do, I always realise that they are just as uncomfortable as the onces that are already in service!

Have there been any innovations in passenger comfort / information in the past ten years or more? Some buses had individual seating but that seems to have been replaced by benches again.

The buses may look good from the outside but that is of no consequence if you are taking the 746 from the airport to Stillorgan!

Terrontress

I saw three of these buses driving along the A1 between Hillsborough and Banbridge on Friday night at about 8 o'clock.

Are they delivered by road from Alexanders?

ciaran76

Saw this bus going from Harristown to Blanchardstown this morning. Looked preety cool.
It was not on a run by the way it was going to the terminus either in Ongar or Mulhuddart I assume.

Chris_533976

Still one door

Wishbone Ash

Aquavid wrote:

First batch of 8 to Ringsend for the 1, 2, and 3.
then 14 to Clontarf, possibly for 32/42 (though Clontarf tend to be a bit random in the way they allocate buses to routes)
then 14 to Donnybrook for 145.
then 14 to Harristown, not sure which routes.

As the last of these are being delivered (October) then 50 of the long triaxles (the sort on the 46A) will start arriving:

3 to Donnybrook for 46A
47 to Phibsboro for 37/38/39 and 10.

Aquavid

There must have been 22 registered in the first batch as the registrations 07 D 30001 to 07 D 30022 were assigned to Volvo buses.

John R

Terrontress wrote:

Every time Dublin Bus get a new bus in, I always am interested and look forward to travelling in them. When I do, I always realise that they are just as uncomfortable as the onces that are already in service!

Have there been any innovations in passenger comfort / information in the past ten years or more? Some buses had individual seating but that seems to have been replaced by benches again.

The buses may look good from the outside but that is of no consequence if you are taking the 746 from the airport to Stillorgan!

The 20 VT class used on the 46A route have individual bucket seats and presumably the 50 more VTs due later this year will also have them.

Personally I prefer the bench seats, they have comfy deep cushions in contrast with just about every other design of bus seat I have used elsewhere.

The individual seats look better but 90mns sat in one may change your opinion.

Terrontress wrote:

I saw three of these buses driving along the A1 between Hillsborough and Banbridge on Friday night at about 8 o'clock.

Are they delivered by road from Alexanders?

Well, they were going to air-lift them across the Irish Sea but the RAF didn't have any chinooks to spare.

SickCert

Got to have a look at our 84x/145 batch in Donnybrook today.
some very uncomfortable seats towards the rear of the beast, you know the type on the Dart. I cant imagine the passengers noticing anything more different other than bars on the front window and different headlights.
Hopefully they dont suffer the same brake defects that the AX batch suffered!

dazberry

Aquavid wrote:

The front and rear are very different looking, much more rounded, and featuring minature lights which seem to be all the rage on buses and coaches these days. Lots of curves.

I saw one going thru' Inchicore recently (last week or the week before) - only saw it from behind, and it was amazing how curved the back Window is - looks like a big grinning mouth ? It wasn't on a route, took a left at the top of Tyrconnell Rd on to the Canal.

D.

BendiBus

I've used them a bit. I like the low grabrail. Much better view from up front. I noticed they have a crescent-moon shaped pattern on the floors. Never noticed patterned floors on a bus before. Is it supposed to make them look cleaner, keep them looking fresh or something?

loyatemu

still just a bus - its appropriate that it was photographed on a rainy day as i associate Dublin Bus with having water dripping on my head, rivers running beneath the seats and having my coat soaked by the pooling water on the windowframes.

Every time I get a Dublin Bus i'm disappointed by how slow and uncomfortable it is - there must be better solution than just more rattly old double-deckers?

Red Alert

Well they tried bendy buses and I think there was universal distaste for them - where the hell are the AW's now anyway?

ciaran76

Red Alert wrote:

Well they tried bendy buses and I think there was universal distaste for them - where the hell are the AW's now anyway?

I see about 2 bendy buses every morning used for the 39b.

dereko1969

dazberry wrote:

I saw one going thru' Inchicore recently (last week or the week before) - only saw it from behind, and it was amazing how curved the back Window is - looks like a big grinning mouth ? It wasn't on a route, took a left at the top of Tyrconnell Rd on to the Canal.

D.

so are you saying that the phrase 'looking like the back end of a bus' will have to be reviewed?:D

silverharp

A little off topic but I noticed that Dublin Bus have 6 wheeled busses. Any reason for this? Is the capacity bigger? Are there additional maintenance costs involved?

andrew163

Red Alert wrote:

Well they tried bendy buses and I think there was universal distaste for them - where the hell are the AW's now anyway?

The 4 uses them.

cast_iron

ciaran76 wrote:

I see about 2 bendy buses every morning used for the 39b.

Most of the 4 route is served with the bendy buses. I've seen some of the 39s and 25Xs (and other Xs) with them also.

Hotblack Desiato

John R wrote:

The individual seats look better but 90mns sat in one may change your opinion.

Exactly, any individual seat I've ever sat in on a bus has been designed for a midget. They seem to be sacrificing legroom big time on a lot of buses too, some seats are not usable by average adults. If they want buses to be used by a greater proportion of people then they need to be able to accommodate everyone in comfort not just 5'0" auld wans going to Mass.

Victor

silverharp wrote:

A little off topic but I noticed that Dublin Bus have 6 wheeled busses. Any reason for this? Is the capacity bigger? Are there additional maintenance costs involved?

Its a capacity thing. I think an extra 2 rows of seats.

Dublin Bus have been replacing existing small buses with larger ones across the fleet. As there is a cap on the fleet size, the only way to increase capacity is to use bigger buses.

dub_commuter

ninja900 wrote:

Exactly, any individual seat I've ever sat in on a bus has been designed for a midget. They seem to be sacrificing legroom big time on a lot of buses too, some seats are not usable by average adults. If they want buses to be used by a greater proportion of people then they need to be able to accommodate everyone in comfort not just 5'0" auld wans going to Mass.

Yes, I agree with this, prime example being the new EV's are not so long as the AX's, but they have more seats, I have not been on one yet, but suffice to say i would imagine leg room would be bad. Although hopefully no seats are as bad as the ones directly in front of the stairs on an RV upstairs!

dub_commuter

andrew163 wrote:

The 4 uses them.

They are also used on the odd 38/38a although it's very rare. Contrary to popular belief they can get around the corner at ballycoolin without a bother, better than some double deckers.

Harristown also has been known to use them on the 40/40A/40B/40C and a few weeks ago even the 13. They're running well now and Harristown are doing a good job with them.

_blank_

Aquavid wrote:

then 14 to Clontarf, possibly for 32/42 (though Clontarf tend to be a bit random in the way they allocate buses to routes)

It's defintely been on the 42 route lately.

I love this new bus, comfortable and, best of all, quiet.

Wishbone Ash

silverharp wrote:

I noticed that Dublin Bus have 6 wheeled busses

Apologies for being pedantic but all standard buses have 6 wheels - 2 on the front axle and 4 on the rear axle. What you mean is the tri-axle buses which have 8 wheels - 2 on front axle, 2 on foremost rear axle and 4 on the rear axle.

(Articulated buses have 10 wheels - 2 on front, 4 in centre and 4 at rear).

silverharp

Wishbone Ash wrote:

. What you mean is the tri-axle buses

Yes. Victor expained it for me thanks!

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Wishbone Ash wrote:

(Articulated buses have 10 wheels - 2 on front, 4 in centre and 4 at rear).

why do they use Articulated buses?

shltter

DesF wrote:

I love this new bus, comfortable and, best of all, quiet.

Personally I think they are ****e

The entrance door is too low anyone over 5'10 is going to take the top off their head

The seats at the back downstairs are ridiculous you nearly have to crawl out of them

And my personal favourite is the crazy restraining bar for the wheelchair spot that extends lethally into the gangway in the way of entering and alighting passengers particularly dangerous for younger children it is only a matter of time before some child has their faced smashed on this device particularly as the brakes are a bit tight on these as well.


Some good features like a reversing camera are outweighed by the bad design features.


And they are all quiet when they are new;)

MiniD

Ahmad Orange Pumpernickel wrote:

why do they use Articulated buses?

They can carry more people than a double decker. I think the type in service with Dublin bus carry 143 passengers.

The problem with articulated buses in Dublin, is that there was no on-street planning given to these vehicles. Bus bays were not extended and these buses often shared a stop with other frequent routes, making it near impossible to let people on or off safely. Because of this, the centre doors were not used by drivers, and passengers were forced to squeeze up through the whole bus to get off, delaying dwell time at stops.

As a result, Dublin Bus have swapped these buses from route to route, and despite being in service for years, there is still no priority given to this vehicle type, or the stops they serve. It is not uncommon to see the end of Grafton Street blocked by the tail of an AW picking up passengers on the number 4. Although, route 4 seems to suit these buses a lot better than the 10, where they ran for a few years.

This type of bus is used in other cities and operated much more efficiently using both doors with properly designed bus stops.

Wishbone Ash

MiniD wrote:

used in other cities and operated much more efficiently using both doors

Especially the Mercedes Citaro which has 3 doors.

Zoney

The articulated buses with multiple doors (or even the double-decks with twin doors) don't suit Dublin Buses ticketing and fare-evasion mitigation methods. Thus they end up with the same crazy queuing at the one entrance which is even worse if the bus is higher capacity like the articulated ones are. No reason a Luas-type ticketing approach with the random checks couldn't be used with articulated buses.

Bus Éireann plan to use fancy new articulated buses in the regional cities on high traffic routes; I fully expect it to be a disaster if they don't have new ticketing methods (not to mention the street design aspect). It'll be a disaster anyways in Limerick (UL->city centre) thanks to plonking retail parks, shopping centres and hotels and extra junctions/traffic lights along the clogged arterial routes that don't have bus lanes. Putting bus lanes in would be interesting, considering part of the route already has 3/4 lanes of normal traffic that get jammed solid at random times depending on how many people are using the retail parks.

BTW - these new DB double-deckers look like any others but prettified (read uglier) and less practical.

RuggieBear

i try to get the 4 as much as possible. i love the long buses. i do however suffer the problem of having to fight your way down the entire length when getting off a crowed one.

This bend in ballycoolin....is that the sharp narrow bend with the garden wall protruding right out on the 40D route? Now that's a mad bend!

I like to sit at the bottom rear of the buses as you get more leg room. these new buses are defo not going on the 40D route? Right? don't think my fat arse could cope with tose dart like bucket seats

Actually could someone explain the plaement of the bars at the bottom rear of soem of the slightly older buses...makes it uncomfortable to sit two people on the rear right seats facing backwards and on the left seated forwards...

markpb

Zoney wrote:

The articulated buses with multiple doors (or even the double-decks with twin doors) don't suit Dublin Buses ticketing and fare-evasion mitigation methods.

Fare evasion is always given as one of the reasons why the middle doors aren't used by DB. I can vouch for the fact that a lot of drivers on the 17A do let people exit by the middle doors on a regular basis and it's much faster for it. No-one in their right mind could accuse a bus travelling through Finglas, Ballymun, Coolock and Kilbarrack of being posh so I can think we knock that one on the head and go on to blame DCC and the Gardai for poor parking enforcement instead.

As an aside, I totally agree with you that DB should be moving towards pre-paid ticket machines and much higher ticket enforcement levels.

Wishbone Ash

RuggieBear wrote:

could someone explain the plaement of the bars at the bottom rear of soem of the slightly older buses...makes it uncomfortable to sit two people on the rear right seats facing backwards and on the left seated forwards...

Extra support for the upper deck??

RuggieBear

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Extra support for the upper deck??

yeah i suppose but there must be a more practical/elegant solution...:)

Victor

If you mean at waist level over the wheel arches its to stop people breaking the windows.

antoinolachtnai

markpb wrote:

Fare evasion is always given as one of the reasons why the middle doors aren't used by DB. I can vouch for the fact that a lot of drivers on the 17A do let people exit by the middle doors on a regular basis and it's much faster for it. No-one in their right mind could accuse a bus travelling through Finglas, Ballymun, Coolock and Kilbarrack of being posh so I can think we knock that one on the head and go on to blame DCC and the Gardai for poor parking enforcement instead.

As an aside, I totally agree with you that DB should be moving towards pre-paid ticket machines and much higher ticket enforcement levels.

My understanding was that insurance is the issue, rather than fare evasion.

KC61

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Extra support for the upper deck??

Nothing of the sort.

There has to be a grab bar available for someone getting up from a corner seat that they can hold onto and that was the reason.

Newer buses have grab rails in alternative locations.