In message of Fri, 30 Sep
2016 16:34:43 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield
writes
On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 15:16:41 +0100, "
wrote:

I had the distinct ... erm ... pleasure of riding on Roastmaster (a.k.a.
Borisbus) the other day.

I am neither a designer nor an automotive engineer, but I think that it
is safe to say that this is a poorly designed vehicle pretty much by
anybody's standards and that this is also what happens when you push
through a vanity project. Where was the oversight committee on this?

I was on one bus that had openable windows on its upper deck, though I
still felt extremely nauseous. I did this after the heatwave and I don't
easily get motion sickness, thus making me wonder if there are issues
with exhaust venting.

The seats were extremely narrow and uncomfortable; While it would
probably benefit me to lose a couple of kilos, as with many people, I am
not grossly overweight.

The promised A/C doesn't work, and fare evasion can be rife. Indeed, I
thought that one of the many reasons for being rid of Bendis was to
combat fare evasion.

I also understand that the cost of these busses came in well above what
something like a Volvo would cost.

IMHO, this has to be one of the worst passenger vehicles plying London's
roads these days, making the bendibus look good in comparison.

The design that they have now should have either gone through several
additional iterations, been a mock up as part of an exhibition called
"Transport of the Future" in some place like London's Design Museum or
simply remained a concept drawing as part of a design studio's PR action.

In any event, the fiasco that is the current Roastmaster has likely
killed off any prospect of getting a new Routemaster on London's road
any time in the foreseeable future.

Oh well nice to see I am not alone in finding Roastmasters nausea
inducing heaps. I refuse to use them so my central London travels and
bus usage have fallen off a cliff as a result. Still I am in the
position to make that choice but many people are not.

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.


Where do you find the plans to change 48 and 76 to NB4L?
I don't like them. I find mountaineering into seats at the back of the
lower deck unreasonable. The handle bars on the front stairs have a
horizontal bar, which forces one to let go and try again.

I can find the registration numbers of approaching buses with the "Bus
Times" Android app. It is better than 90% reliable.
Do you know how to locate a particular bus?
I reported a fault, yesterday. (The registration number did not appear
on either deck's comments poster.) I trust I will get a "fixed" response
and want to check it.
--
Walter Briscoe

In article ,
(Walter Briscoe) wrote:

I can find the registration numbers of approaching buses with the "Bus
Times" Android app. It is better than 90% reliable.
Do you know how to locate a particular bus?
I reported a fault, yesterday. (The registration number did not appear
on either deck's comments poster.) I trust I will get a "fixed" response
and want to check it.

A minor advantage of the New Routemasters is that they are the first London
buses for many years with fleet numbers matching registration marks due to
all having Northern Ireland marks.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973
--
Bryan Morris

In article ,
() wrote:

On Sun, 2 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0100, Bryan Morris
wrote:

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973

Before you get too excited look at the photos of the front, especially
the headlights..
That model is not what has become known as Roastmaster.

My thoughts exactly. The registration and fleet number location aren't right
for a New Routemaster either. Which other buses have that front and
staircase styling now?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 02/10/2016 19:37, wrote:

In article ,
() wrote:

On Sun, 2 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0100, Bryan Morris
wrote:

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973

Before you get too excited look at the photos of the front, especially
the headlights..
That model is not what has become known as Roastmaster.

My thoughts exactly. The registration and fleet number location aren't right
for a New Routemaster either. Which other buses have that front and
staircase styling now?


It's an Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City model, which is a hybrid:
http://www.alexander-dennis.com/prod...viro400h-city/

The windowed staircase in particular is familiar from the NBFL design,
as are the curved front windows.

On 02.10.16 19:04, wrote:
On Sun, 2 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0100, Bryan Morris
wrote:

One got so hot it burst into flames
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37534973

Before you get too excited look at the photos of the front, especially
the headlights..
That model is not what has become known as Roastmaster.

G.Harman

Not a Roastmaster.

Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sat, 1 Oct 2016 08:58:11 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:

In message of Fri, 30 Sep
2016 16:34:43 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.


Where do you find the plans to change 48 and 76 to NB4L?

I participate in forums where the tender results are announced almost
as soon as the info is released inside TfL. I also usually get to see
the official award notice. That's how I know about things like
vehicle type conversions. With the 48 and 76 the operators are also
changing with Arriva taking on the 48 from Ash Grove and London
General the 76 from Northumberland Park. Bang goes decades of
accumulated operating experience with the existing operators but hey
that's the tendering system for you.

Is it like railway TOCs, where most of the staff and management stay put
when the ownership of the franchise changes? If so, most of the operational
experience shouldn't be lost.

In message of Tue, 18 Oct
2016 18:41:48 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield
writes

This is not directly relevant, but is typical of mismatches between bus
services on the ground and on tfl.gov.uk/buses. https://tfl.gov.uk/mode
s/buses/?cid=buses contains a rectangle entitled "Bus service changes"
which has a link to https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/bus-
service-changes.pdf
Several routes now run between different termini. The lists of stops do
not reflect those changes.

OTOH, they eventually updated the 78 stop list to reflect the
consequences of the Tower Bridge closure.

Operators and CentreComm seem REALLY good at tracking road changes.
There seems little effort to keep service information correct on the web
site.
--
Walter Briscoe

On 18.10.16 15:21, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sat, 1 Oct 2016 08:58:11 +0100, Walter Briscoe
wrote:

In message of Fri, 30 Sep
2016 16:34:43 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield

Even though we are nearing the end of NB4L production (hooray) the
wretched things are to be inflicted on two routes, 48 and 76, that I
do use from Central London if I don't fancy a train or a tube ride. So
that's two more bus routes that I can't use come next year.


Where do you find the plans to change 48 and 76 to NB4L?

I participate in forums where the tender results are announced almost
as soon as the info is released inside TfL. I also usually get to see
the official award notice. That's how I know about things like
vehicle type conversions. With the 48 and 76 the operators are also
changing with Arriva taking on the 48 from Ash Grove and London
General the 76 from Northumberland Park. Bang goes decades of
accumulated operating experience with the existing operators but hey
that's the tendering system for you.

Sounds like my friend at one office where he worked.

There were several people there who were quite professional, experienced
and put out a very good product. Then, for whatever reason, management
chased out all the managers and put someone in who had no experience in
the field. That individual was not properly qualified, blindly followed
upper management's orders and pushed out all the experienced people in
favour of 20-somethings.

Needless to say, the quality of that company's product sharply declined.
This also meant that earlier buyers were going elsewhere for the
product. Upper management refused to believe that they were the reason
why this happened, and instead either blamed everybody else or simply
employed doublethink when the numbers were staring right in their face.