I knew the Enviro 300 was around in Plymouth but i was surprised to see it on the 50 this morning! The demonstrators always used to stay on the 43, or at least they always seemed to. Sadly the 50 was going the wrong way for me this morning but it did appear at Derriford this evening, although by then I was already on my bus home. So I got off at Keswick Crescent and waited and sure enough two mins later it appeared and I had a quick ride down to Leigham.
Certainly a nice bright interior although like many Alexander built buses rather spoilt by the large areas of blue plastic like a 1970s bathroom suite. Alexander were never associated with Plymouth before they took over the Pointer from Plaxton although we did have the Western Welsh Atlanteans VUH-J batch with Western National in the 1970's. They had lots of blue plastic too.
They really are trying it out on every route possible at the moment. I saw it on the 26, a route that NEVER sees any demonstrators, and also a route that is a fair way down the list in terms how which darts are used.
ReplyDeleteMind you, that could be one way to attack First's new 1/1A service, and maybe even the 81 - extend all 26 journeys to Saltash and brand it the Cornwall Connect, or something along those lines?
Though the most likely scenario is that they're going to spread them across several routes, and trying to find out which routes are best-equipped.
The whole point of having use of a demonstrator is to discover where you might be able to use such a vehicle. We are trialing as many routes as possible for driver and passenger feedback plus to give a better overall idea of average fuel consumption. Probably now the most important consideration when bying a new vehicle apart from its size. You have to remember that when the vehicle reaches a time in its working life when it is no longer at the specification required for front line high profile routes it has to cascade to the next level and it is not much use if the bus won't fit these secondary routes. Don't know if we will decide to order these but they are an option.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian.
ReplyDeleteIt does make sense to try it out on different routes and is good to see.