As dusk fell on 20 March, many staff and enthusiasts watched on as the sole remaining Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated bus in the National Express Coventry fleet returned to the depot for the last time, says David Cole. Its final day’s duty on service 4 brought an end to nearly 15 years of bendy bus operation […]
I see The Times appears to have fallen into the trap of inventing its own reasons for statistics, in this case the rise in NOx in central London. The Times has an understandable political zeal to bad-mouth Labour mayors. One of them introduced the Congestion Charge and Mayor Khan will be (eventually) charging extra for the […]
That must have been a tonic for the soul, because I perked up straight after my visit to Trafford Park, taking a two-hour ride while ‘Coach Stig’ toured the north-west’s motorways and A roads chipping in with his comments for the benefit of the review. Our driver is hugely experienced, not just driving the average […]
The tendency for unintended ignition was jumped upon and resolved very quickly, as you’d expect from Mercedes-Benz. But only a few weeks ago, a vehicle dismantler we spoke to said time-expired Citaros crumble to dust when faced with a cutting torch. So maybe they weren’t as durable as you may suppose. We can balance this […]
In this week’s issue, B&CB visits the community of bus dismantlers and recyclers just outside of Barnsley. It was, above all else, humbling. Carving buses apart with a cutting torch is a hard business. Even in snow, the work goes on; tough men working in the grime of smoke, grease, oil and mud to reduce […]
While the council had been presented with a ‘softer’ option of gradual introduction of higher emissions limits, it plumped for the most aggressive, essentially on the basis that Oxford has got away with it for years. Operators will, of course, cope with this but the losers will be bus passengers, who will at best see […]
The ‘commute’ to suggest the daily trip to work is among the more modern words in the English lexicon. Until the end of the 19th century, the commuter didn’t exist, and then came public transport and, eventually, cars. Now, we discuss commuting as if it’s an inevitable part of going to work, and by commuting, […]
The vehicles chosen for rail replacement are certainly variable. When National Express is called in, the quality is excellent, but I have seen coaches at Peterborough which don’t even have a full complement of windows. Though I have no doubt that most coaches provided are serviceable and legal, a great many are out on school […]