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Bendy Buses

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:33 pm
by PFX
Here in Belfast we're rapidly approaching the introduction of the new Belfast Rapid Transit system. Sounds great no? Months and months of traffic disruption on main routes upgrading for this. Ah, trams?

Nope, we're getting bendy buses, or 'Gliders' as some kack wizard has decided to name them.

These -
Image

I'm sure I recall a lot of cities getting rid of bendy buses as they're no good on older, narrow streets? These will be running alongside conventional buses but the city still lacks any circular routes and getting from one side of Belfast to the other involves a trip into the city centre, change of bus and a trip out the other way.

Trams on the cheap I suppose.

Rant over.

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:44 pm
by Shippy2013
I remember my home town of Nottingham introducing them in late 99 early 2000, think they’d got rid of them by 2010 after a few bumps with cars on the narrow streets round st Anne’s and the Meadows.... then they spent millions extending our tram....

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:25 am
by cyberdonblue
I think a lot of cities have had a play about with these crappy things at one time or another. Birmingham got rid of them donkey's years ago, mostly likely because of the same issues Shippy highlighted I'd say. Birmingham also tried "Guided Buses." That's, "We can't be arsed to dig the streets up and put rails in for a proper tram so we'll bugger up a dual carriageway with very high kerbs and put funny wheels on the sides of the bus so the driver can roll a fag while he's going along! - Oh and never mind the extortionate cost and the traffic chaos that we cause throughout our little experiment." I'm not sure how long this "trial period" lasted in Birmingham but it was obvious to even the most anti-rail lunatic in the world that these things were never going to be even remotely useful and they vanished completely silently (over night?) Needless to say, they have never been heard of or spoken about in our city since.

Some of these anti-train lunatics should be charged for the losses incurred in installing some of their more stupid ideas. Then they might realise a little quicker that there are far more sensible and cost effective options available for the long term. We can always hope they might anyway.

Cheers

Dave

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:50 am
by klambert
Gliders? More like Benders.

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 1:02 pm
by PFX
klambert wrote:Gliders? More like Benders.
HAHA! Or 'Grounders'? https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belf ... g-14781147


Dave, I think there's a guided busway that runs almost alongside what passes as the tramline in Edinburgh. While they eventually did manage to install a working tramline, it was a total balls from the start and it's still quicker to get the air coach from the city centre to the airport than it is the tram.

Speaking of balls, after my original post, I had to take 4 buses this morning to get to hospital and back, so I got to experience the full joy of a city with no circular routes. £1.45 for each bus on what could have been a single journey each way given the zone charging we have. The joys.

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 1:47 pm
by clam1952
You couldn't make this up lol.
So now they have to "modify" the roads to suit the buses? thus probably costing the taxpayer more money.

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 3:38 pm
by PFX
Who knows? I'm not sure why this has happened though as the buses have been based there for quite a while and have been out on test over recent weeks without this happening. Hard to say from the picture but perhaps the articulated section has broken.

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:44 pm
by Briggsy
We had them here in Coventry for a few years - but they got rid of them last year because they were taken off their original route and put onto another route - but then the route planners discovered that they couldn't negotiate the roads on the new route they moved them too - or any other route - so they ditched them.

They are very restricted when turning - and they can't negotiate round many of the roundabouts we have here.

Pointless idea. Why not just stick a double-decker on the route instead. *facepalm*

Re: Bendy Buses

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:59 pm
by welsh37/5
Although unsure when they where officially launched, in Swansea first experimented with Wright bodied bendy buses based on the volvo b7 chassis which where branded ftr and run under first on designated "metro lanes" for a number of years until about 3 years ago it was announced that the routes served would be replaced with single deck shorter wheelbase E200's. Known as purple slugs for obvious reasons served between Swansea m.e.t university and Morriston hospital. Impracticable as with a number of other designs, poor wheel lock, overheating and poor fuel economy eventually lead to their withdrawal. In Leeds, First there also had wright streetcars for a similar branded ftr route but again replaced with normal single and double deck buses.

Edit: Finally in Cardiff, there are Bendy buses based on Scania Omnicity chassis which are normally used for services around the bay but lack the problems associated with the volvo based bendy's but again to be replaced in the near future.