Electric, Hydrogen & Hybrid Electric Buses in Ireland

bk

BTW Have the issues at Summerhill with charging at the weekends been sorted (or lessened)?

I see lots of EW buses out on the 123 on the weekends now, so I assume they have fixed the issue or worked around it.

VG31

I haven't been on the EWs much, but I noticed that the next stop screens often aren't working.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108239#Comment_122108239

The next stop screens are poorly implemented on them, versus how they are implemented on BE buses in Cork.

When you leave a stop, the screens are basically blank until they get very close to the next stop and it only displays the next stop when there is the audio announcement!

That is a really dumb setup and pretty useless to anyone upstairs.

At the very least, it should display the next stop as soon as the doors close and you pull off from the current stop.

But even better is the BE displays, which look to be the same physical display, but far better setup, they not only dislpay the next stop constantly, but also the next three stops and how many minutes you are too the stop. Very handy to give you time to prepare for the next stop.

VG31

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108309#Comment_122108309

The 2 or 3 times I've been on them the screens upstaris weren't working at all. One time it was blank and another time it just showed the manufacturer's logo.

They're fairly large screens so it's definitely a poor use of space to only show the next stop.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108309#Comment_122108309

Nevermind the fact that they have the green TFI logo in place, with a green background banner 🤦‍♂️😂 Almost impossible to see it!

dublinman1990

I read a very interesting article about Wrightbus from the Autocar website this morning. They have opened up a factory in Bicester in England to begin a programme of converting their previous diesel bus fleet stock to electric vehicles. The retrofitting is currently being done for their Streetdeck buses at the moment. They are going to do the Gemini 2 fleet as the next batch of older stock to electric vehicles in the next while.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/wrightbus-launches-electrification-drive-diesel-buses

The buses that eligible for this retrofit programme from Wrightbus have to be aged between 5 and 9 years old.

They carry out the work of decarbonising the buses from diesel power to electric batteries in about three weeks. The decarbonisation process from Wrights gives the older vehicles an additional lifespan of 10 years once they have been converted to electric batteries. The electric batteries give a charging rate of 150kw.

I'm not sure if the NTA would want to go through with this process of taking out a small number of buses at a time by shipping them over to England to carry out this work. Have they discussed anything with Wrights or the DoT about taking part in a retrofit programme for their current Wrightbus fleet stock within Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann & Go Ahead Ireland?

oliver_murray

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122300402#Comment_122300402

This looks brilliant, especially as the lifespan of the bus is increased. The hundreds and hundreds of SG's we have could be converted probably cheaper than buying new electric buses I'd say? but having new buses come and the old converted could benefit us in medium term

AX636

Would Volvo not have a say in this as the SG is on a Volvo chassis the bodywork is only Wrightbus

Hotblack Desiato

A refurbished and "re-engined" bus only having another ten years of lifespan is not great. This process isn't cheap.

thomil

I hope I’m not pulling this thread off-topic, but does anyone here know what the deal with those new hybrid buses in Cork is? It appears as if at least 2-3 of these well-rounded yokes are in operation on city bus routes, I’ve caught them twice on the 220 in recent weeks. Is this just to fill some gaps, or is a wider roll-out planned?

d51984

They are ex Limerick and will be in Cork for the foreseeable, well when ever the Cork fleet goes electric anyway.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122305726#Comment_122305726

There will be a wider rollout.

However it will need the new depot at Tivoli to come on stream for a significant expansion to happen.

mikeybhoy

I've also noticed there's now an ex Limerick VWL operating the 109b most days wouldn't like to be doing a journey that long on a city bus.

d51984

I remember years ago, an ex Dublin bus RH on the Dublin to Limerick run. Arrived 2 hours late.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122307119#Comment_122307119

I seriously doubt that anyone uses the 109b end to end, given that the 111 is there.

Most people using it would be on it for 45-50 mins max, which is shorter than many city bus runs.

They VWL is fine for shortish runs like that, for example they do Dundalk - Clogher Head - Drogheda every day.

AX636

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122305726#Comment_122305726

They are getting transferred from Limerick to Cork since Limerick now have electric buses

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122304375#Comment_122304375

Yep, I imagine this would only work for buses with their own chassis.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122306101#Comment_122306101

Speaking of Cork, and somewhat O/T as well….

Is there a Depot number for the services they run down there? Back in my days of using Dublin Bus, if there was an issue with a bus not showing or something else, you could just call Clontarf or Phibsboro or whatever and give out to the local controller who could then radio the driver.

In Cork it seems to go to some generic callcentre number that has no info on the service/bus at all. Given the recently published practises of drivers being instructed to skip stops or buses not showing at all, that's not much use - probably by design!

d51984

I Think most, if not all city services in Cork are operated by Capwell depo. I could be wrong tho.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325878#Comment_122325878

Capwell is currently the only depot in Cork, yes. A temporary depot in Tivoli is planned (planning application currently being sought). This will be required in advance of the bus connects rollout there, as currently Capwell is bursting at the seams!