Luton Airport- new shuttle service

Hello,

as of last week, First took over the shuttle service from London Parkway Rail service to Luton Airport.  The train service is also operated by First.
First drafted those Volvo B7TL with 7.7 litre engines and horrible looking Wright bodies: 1 from Leeds, and 4 diverted from an order for Swansea. Those buses are underpowered.

Here is 19030 leaving the airport.

regards

原帖由 yblumann 於 2008-1-29 21:52 發表
Hello,

as of last week, First took over the shuttle service from London Parkway Rail service to Luton Airport.  The train service is also operated by First.
First drafted those Volvo B7TL with 7.7 li ...

These are B7LA (or B9LA as Volvo's Euro 4 offer?). B7TL is a double decker.

And what do you mean "horrible looking"? The Streetcars are stunning looking thing, inside and out. Well, but then beauty lies on the eyes of beholders...

Agree they are desperately underpowered though, esp. when you consider they are 3 tonnes heavier than a Fusion-bodied B7LA.

[ 本帖最後由 NV58 於 2008-1-29 22:41 編輯 ]

Thanks for the correction; indeed those buses are either B7 or B9LA- depending on their age.
The buses are certainly underpowered.  the result is that a full up bus struggles to go up the gentle hill slope when it leave the train station full with passengers and their luggage!
[this is one of the reasons why Volvo articulated buses do not serve in London- when one example was tried in London- on routes 436 507 18 25 149 - it was found to be underpowered.]

In my opinion, and having done 2 round trips on 2 different buses:
1. I am not impressed by the seat arrangement- the 'round table' arrangement at the rear suits a pub and not a bus.  the un-necessary 'slope'  front design actually wastes space ,so the  bus is actually longer than the fusion design. it needs a longer turning circle.

2.  I do not like the design- i.e.  the concept of trying to convey an image of a 'tram like' machine. for me, it is 'spin' - something I consider First to be good at . With this design also came a certain 'service vision' - which had to be modified rather quickly when those buses were introduced in York. there is now a conductor on board to sell tickets  as far as I know [I am open to correction here]. The ticket machines put on the buses or at the bus stops did not work properly- in view of the complex fare structure.

3. A serious drawback is that this layout does not permit a third door- something specified by London Buses- and TfL services have the largest UK articulated bus fleet of 400....

As you say, beauty lies on the eyes of beholder... it is a matter of taste!

Those machines are at Luton for a short time anyway- the swansea service would require them later in 2008, and the loaned bus-19031 -should go back to Leeds.

For those who wish to see and sample the service:
it runs every 10 minutes, trip is 10 min. The service requires 3 buses, but you are likely to see 4 buses, as buses run to and from the parking lot where they are kept.
5 buses were sent to Luton for the service :19030/1/3/4 plus YN07SYJ.
Service is run by First Rail Support.
It is free if you can show a rail ticket [i.e. FROM the station you can show a rail ticket TO Luton Parkway Station, and FROM the airport if you can show a rail ticket FROM Luton Parkway station]. If you do not have a rail ticket, you must pay the conductor at the airport or the station £1.  The service has one stop en route: at the Holiday Inn.

Finally, here is an offside view of 19031- on loan from Leeds- with some aircrafts in the background...

Regards

Yoram

sorry! I pressed the wrong buttom...
here is 19031...

How much does a ride cost? You know last time I missed the easybus which was free.  I took green line from Victoria to Luton, it costed me a fortune.

原帖由 sunnykam 於 2008-1-31 01:38 發表
How much does a ride cost?  

As Yoram said,

原帖由 yblumann 於 2008-1-30 18:43 發表
It is free if you can show a rail ticket [i.e. FROM the station you can show a rail ticket TO Luton Parkway Station, and FROM the airport if you can show a rail ticket FROM Luton Parkway station]. If you do not have a rail ticket, you must pay the conductor at the airport or the station £1.

原帖由 yblumann 於 2008-1-30 18:43 發表
1. I am not impressed by the seat arrangement- the 'round table' arrangement at the rear suits a pub and not a bus.  the un-necessary 'slope'  front design actually wastes space ,so the  bus is actually longer than the fusion design. it needs a longer turning circle.

In HK, there is some coaches suit with 'round table' seats, well, personal speaking it do suits with a COACH, but not a BUS.  Ideas for NX, haha~

原帖由 yblumann 於 2008-1-30 18:43 發表
3. A serious drawback is that this layout does not permit a third door-something specified by London Buses- and TfL services have the largestUK articulated bus fleet of 400....

According to press releases from Wrightbus, the Streetcars for Las Vegas will have 3 doors. I don't know where they put the third door though...

原帖由 AD156 於 2008-1-31 23:12 發表


According to press releases from Wrightbus, the Streetcars for Las Vegas will have 3 doors. I don't know where they put the third door though...

I think it depends on the chassis used. For the RHD version, Wright uses Volvo B7LA/B9LA chassis, but for the LHD version, the chassis are suppiled by Hess (Swiss)

原帖由 sutrak 於 2008-2-1 01:49 發表


I think it depends on the chassis used. For the RHD version, Wright uses Volvo B7LA/B9LA chassis, but for the LHD version, the chassis are suppiled by Hess (Swiss)

So I suppose the third door will be placed after the third axle?