Article: Region. Double-decker buses?

[ozbob]

From Parra Mattas click here!

Region. Double-decker buses?

Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Region. Double-decker buses?

Hillsbus owner ComfortDelGro Cabcharge has confirmed it has been in talks with Bustech, the Gold Coast manufacturer of double-decker buses. The buses seat 96 passengers, compared with 64 on the extra long articulated, or bendy, bus and would provide safety to those on express services, which travel up to 100 kilometre per hour on the M2, Bustech director Joe Calabro said. The Parramatta-based BusNSW, representing more than 700 private bus and coach operators, supports the new bus design.

[SurfRail]

They have been interested in the concept for a long time for the M2, but nobody has been able to offer a product for testing.  Custom Coaches had a concept for a 1 1/2 deck vehicle which came to nothing.

The Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 decker that toured a few years ago (diverted from delivery to its operator in HK) did not comply with ADRs as it was overwidth.  The Bustech offering has been built from the ground up with ADRs in mind.

None of the other manufacturers were interested in offering a DD product for the Australian market without firm commitments to purchase a largeish tranche of them (Volgren has previously built DDs for export).  Bustech would likely not have done so either without government backing - so basically TransLink has taken on some of the testing burden for other states and operators.

[somebody]

I support deckers for Sydney, but Parramatta would be an odd place to deploy them.  They should be deployed on the M2 express services, and perhaps Xnn eastern suburbs expresses (rockets) and Enn Northern Beaches expresses.

Here's an article from the Terror:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/its-a-tall-order-but-the-top-deck-fills-it/story-e6freuy9-1226097824906

Double decker bus could return to reduce congestion on busy NSW roads like M2
    July 20, 2011

    Australia's first two double decker buses built in Queensland in recent months. The buses will be brought to Sydney by company Bustech in coming months as part of the NSW Bus and Coach.

    SYDNEY commuters could soon return to the age of the double decker bus to reduce congestion on busy roads like the M2, industry experts said.

    Bus companies in Sydney are about to start trialling a new Queensland-built vehicle that would be ready, if needed, to start taking passengers by the end of this year.

    The Department of Transport yesterday confirmed it would be willing to approve the double decker vehicle if it meets tough compliance criteria.

    The sight of double decker commuter buses on Sydney streets would be a nostalgic return to a mode of transport phased out in the 1980s.

    It can be revealed Gold Coast manufacturer Bustech has been in talks with all of the major Sydney bus companies, including M2 operator Hillsbus, and expects to have the first trial bus in town within a fortnight.

    The bus seats 96 passengers, compared with 64 on the extra long articulated, or bendy, bus and would provide safety to those on express services, which travel up to 100km/h on the M2, Bustech director Joe Calabro said.

    "I can see it being attractive for the M2 because they run on roads with express lanes and high speed limits, and you wouldn't like to have people standing all the way on those," he said. "These cost less to make than the bendy buses, seat about 30 more passengers and take up less room on the road."

    Mr Calabro said Bustech could build 200 double decker buses each year at its Gold Coast headquarters.

    "I was operating bendy buses and they take up too much road space and block off lanes of traffic, so I designed this bus that goes up instead."

    Mr Calabro said the vehicle meets Australian state and federal regulations.

    The biggest hurdle manufacturers have faced is the weight restrictions, which this new vehicle comfortably meets, he said.

    Hillsbus owner ComfortDelGro Cabcharge yesterday confirmed it had been in talks with Bustech. "We are aware that Bustech intends to bring a double deck to Sydney ... to demonstrate to local operators," a spokesman said.

    The state government yesterday said it was willing to see if the bus is compliant.

    "Under the current bus contracts, contractors are able to request types of buses required for their specific operating environments," a spokesman said.

    BusNSW, representing more than 700 private bus and coach operators, supports the new bus design.

    "The Australian-built Bustech double decker is a high capacity bus that would take many cars off the road and help to resolve Sydney's road congestion," executive director Darryl Mellish said.

3 cheers for CDC.  STA could be dragging the chain though.