Remaining bendy buses
 

Remaining bendy buses
 

In message , at 12:23:25
on Mon, 27 Jun 2011, remarked:

The Cambridge Guided Bus was also "sold" on the basis of having a
similar trendy looking bendy bus in the fliers - but once it was
approved the promoters backpedalled and said that they never
intended to imply it would have anything other than normal buses.
Yeah, right.

To be fair, that was a change of promoters. Cambridgeshire County
Council have never sold the scheme on the basis of bendy buses.

So who was it produced the documents in question. Weren't they
circulated around the time of the infamous "would you like high
quality transport" questionnaire?

I have to admit I've forgotten who they were. I know it wasn't the County
Council because those other people upset my constituents big time by
proposing various road alterations close to Drummer Street that the County
knew nothing about.

The incursion into Christ's Pieces to give more room for turning. That
was a bunch called "SuperCAM" - see September 2002 thread "Fears over
6ft city buses".

The story seems to start in July 2002 - or is that typo for 2003?:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Camb...n-its-bid-for-
SuperCAM-cash.htm

"CAMBRIDGESHIRE'S bid for a mammoth cash hand-out to build a new
rapid transit system was being sent off to the Government today.
The county has carried out a study into re-opening the former
Cambridge-St Ives railway line as a route for guided buses."

And in July 2003, Council minutes report that SuperCam have abandoned
the scheme leaving the County as sole candidate.

Then in August 2003 (another typo? see Sept 2002 above):

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home...-of-city-from-
guided-bus-plan.htm

"The plan is for a transport system that will run along the old
Cambridge St-Ives railway line using tram-like guided buses. The
£70 million SuperCam scheme, proposed by a consortium led by
Stagecoach and developers Gallagher, is expected to be up and
running by 2006."

A picture of the bendy-tram (with OHL!):

http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/38/article8.html

They've been anti-guided bus ever since, even though
it will barely affect them if at all. The County denied all knowledge of
the original promoters with bendies and started their own proposals some
time later.

We need to get the dates sorted out before making a firm comment on
that.
--
Roland Perry

Remaining bendy buses
 

In article ,
Peter wrote:
On Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:21:29 +0100, Basil Jet
wrote:

On 2011\06\26 10:30, Peter wrote:

I suspect that they will be recycled. Swansea has had a number of
second-hand bendy buses imposed upon it - no idea where they came
from. thjey all have personalised number plates to hide the fact from
the morons in the council that they are rejects.
They were initially planned torun as far as Mumbles, but then it was
discovered that it was impossible for them to turn around to make the
return journey!

Then I'd call that a proposal rather than a plan.

No, it was a plan - the council wanted something to replace the
Mumbles Railway and came up with a bendybus route to the village.

Surely the solution is clear: fit the bendybuses with a driving position
at each end, guided by flanged wheels on a steel bar (or two) of some
sort ?

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

Remaining bendy buses
 

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at 12:23:25
on Mon, 27 Jun 2011, remarked:

The Cambridge Guided Bus was also "sold" on the basis of having a
similar trendy looking bendy bus in the fliers - but once it was
approved the promoters backpedalled and said that they never
intended to imply it would have anything other than normal buses.
Yeah, right.

To be fair, that was a change of promoters. Cambridgeshire County
Council have never sold the scheme on the basis of bendy buses.

So who was it produced the documents in question. Weren't they
circulated around the time of the infamous "would you like high
quality transport" questionnaire?

I have to admit I've forgotten who they were. I know it wasn't the
County Council because those other people upset my constituents big
time by proposing various road alterations close to Drummer Street that
the County knew nothing about.

The incursion into Christ's Pieces to give more room for turning. That
was a bunch called "SuperCAM" - see September 2002 thread "Fears over
6ft city buses".

The story seems to start in July 2002 - or is that typo for 2003?:


http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Camb...-bid-for-Super
CAM-cash.htm

"CAMBRIDGESHIRE'S bid for a mammoth cash hand-out to build a new
rapid transit system was being sent off to the Government today.
The county has carried out a study into re-opening the former
Cambridge-St Ives railway line as a route for guided buses."

And in July 2003, Council minutes report that SuperCam have abandoned
the scheme leaving the County as sole candidate.

Then in August 2003 (another typo? see Sept 2002 above):


http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home...-from-guided-b
us-plan.htm

"The plan is for a transport system that will run along the old
Cambridge St-Ives railway line using tram-like guided buses. The
£70 million SuperCam scheme, proposed by a consortium led by
Stagecoach and developers Gallagher, is expected to be up and
running by 2006."

A picture of the bendy-tram (with OHL!):

http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/38/article8.html

They've been anti-guided bus ever since, even though
it will barely affect them if at all. The County denied all knowledge
of the original promoters with bendies and started their own proposals
some time later.

We need to get the dates sorted out before making a firm comment on
that.

Who cares the exact dates. They faltered, just as Gallaghers have at
Northstowe.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Remaining bendy buses
 

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:55:59 +0000 (UTC), Nick Leverton
wrote:

In article ,
Peter wrote:
On Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:21:29 +0100, Basil Jet
wrote:

On 2011\06\26 10:30, Peter wrote:

I suspect that they will be recycled. Swansea has had a number of
second-hand bendy buses imposed upon it - no idea where they came
from. thjey all have personalised number plates to hide the fact from
the morons in the council that they are rejects.
They were initially planned torun as far as Mumbles, but then it was
discovered that it was impossible for them to turn around to make the
return journey!

Then I'd call that a proposal rather than a plan.

No, it was a plan - the council wanted something to replace the
Mumbles Railway and came up with a bendybus route to the village.

Surely the solution is clear: fit the bendybuses with a driving position
at each end, guided by flanged wheels on a steel bar (or two) of some
sort ?


FFS, don't suggest that to Swansea council...

--
Cheers

Peter

(Reply to address is a spam trap - please reply to the group)

Remaining bendy buses
 

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:55:59 +0000 (UTC), Nick Leverton
wrote:
Surely the solution is clear: fit the bendybuses with a driving
position
at each end, guided by flanged wheels on a steel bar (or two) of
some
sort ?

There is a publicity shot re the Luton busway that consists of a bus
parked on the railway, looking rather like a new generation low floor
Pacer...

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

Remaining bendy buses
 

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:00:30 +0100, Peter
wrote:
FFS, don't suggest that to Swansea council...

You wouldn't rather have what is being described, i.e. a train
service?

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

Remaining bendy buses
 

In message , at 16:34:21
on Mon, 27 Jun 2011, remarked:

We need to get the dates sorted out before making a firm comment on
that.

Who cares the exact dates.

It matters quite a lot because the County filed their plans for a bus
either a year after, or just before, the Christs Pieces incident, the
planning ramifications of which were in any event apparently known to
the council. So it's all about who knew what, and when.

They faltered,

It's late (5 years late if you believe early estimates of 2006) but the
County has doggedly ploughed on since applying for the money.

just as Gallaghers have at Northstowe.

Latest plan seems to be 150 homes by 2012, 800 by 2016, 9,500
eventually. Must be fairly scattered to start with, or they wouldn't
need three different Primary Schools by 2016 (and surely not thirty of
them eventually).

http://www.cambridgeshirehorizons.co...ojects/project
_timeline.aspx?ID=3
--
Roland Perry

Remaining bendy buses
 

On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:00:26 +0100
"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote:
I'm not so sure. I think there was a small very vocal minority who
couldn't
stand them and made damn sure everyone knew it , but the vast majority of
users were more than happy with them. I used them intermittently for a
while
and I found them a pleasure to use. Far nicer than having to crawl up the
staircase in a double decker and hang on for dear life while the driver
floors it and then when I get to the top deck its more like a greenhouse
than
a method of transport. And thats without the obligatory yoofs hanging
around
on the back seat.

There were yoofs on the bendies as well. And I used the new doubledecker 25

Yes, but because they're not hidden away they don't cause to much grief.

both ways today - much more pleasant, a much better chance of getting a
seat, a much more realistic official capacity and far less of the crush
crowding so hated on the bendies.

How can a bus with less seats offer more chance of getting a seat? As for
crush crowding I've yet to see 4 people fall down a staircase on a bendy
as I have on a double decker. I realise double deckers are seen to be
British and worthy and all that nonsense but IMO they are the worst bus
design on the planet without a single redeeming feature. There's a good
reason that very few countries use them - they're crap.

B2003

Remaining bendy buses
 

In message , at 08:29:14 on Tue, 28 Jun
2011, d remarked:

And I used the new doubledecker 25 both ways today - much more
pleasant, a much better chance of getting a seat, a much more
realistic official capacity and far less of the crush crowding so
hated on the bendies.

How can a bus with less seats offer more chance of getting a seat?

Because you can almost always find one upstairs if you can be bothered
to look.
--
Roland Perry