Bus Manufacturer News & Discussion

[Gag Halfrunt]

Beulas build double-decker open-top buses for sightseeing tours, so it's not that much of a stretch.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Beulas build double-decker open-top buses for sightseeing tours, so it's not that much of a stretch.

As far as I'm aware, they've never made a service bus for the UK, so that's why they're a surprise player.

 

[Mikey C]

As far as I'm aware, they've never made a service bus for the UK, so that's why they're a surprise player.

Agreed, there's a massive difference between sightseeing double decker coaches and a London spec double decker.

A rookie powertrain company paired with a rookie (in this field) body builder...

 

[MotCO]

A rookie powertrain company paired with a rookie (in this field) body builder...

Were MCV renown for double deck bodies when they bodied the EvoSeti? Admittedly they were partnered with Volvo, but presumably still a risk nonetheless.

 

[MCR247]

As far as I'm aware, they've never made a service bus for the UK, so that's why they're a surprise player.

I’m not sure if they ever made any but I’m sure they announced last year they were working with a dealer to offer coaches to the UK market

 

[GusB]

Agreed, there's a massive difference between sightseeing double decker coaches and a London spec double decker.

A rookie powertrain company paired with a rookie (in this field) body builder...

Rubbish! If you can build a coach body, you can build a bus body. The only real difference is how it's fitted out - the structural elements are the same.

 

[Mikey C]

Were MCV renown for double deck bodies when they bodied the EvoSeti? Admittedly they were partnered with Volvo, but presumably still a risk nonetheless.

MCV are a massive bus body builder, and had already dipped their toe in the water with the unsuccessful MCV DD103, which had problems meeting the TfL weight limits. Plus they would have inherited some UK knowledge from the purchase of Marshall Bus.

 

[Eyersey468]

MCV are a massive bus body builder, and had already dipped their toe in the water with the unsuccessful MCV DD103, which had problems meeting the TfL weight limits. Plus they would have inherited some UK knowledge from the purchase of Marshall Bus.

Did Marshall Bus body any double deckers?

 

[iantherev]

Did Marshall Bus body any double deckers?

Yes - Newport had two batches of Scanias and Bournemouth took 20 Olympians.

 

[CBlue]

MCV are a massive bus body builder, and had already dipped their toe in the water with the unsuccessful MCV DD103, which had problems meeting the TfL weight limits. Plus they would have inherited some UK knowledge from the purchase of Marshall Bus.

I'd hope that MCV's newer designs owed nothing to the old Marshall ones! Even more so if you consider the last 'deckers Marshall built was back in the early 1980s and if I recall right weren't exactly a quality product...

The Evora I travelled on was rather impressive in terms of construction quality - streets away from say, a Marshall Capital body which often felt like it had the structural integrity of a paper bag.

 

[Strathclyder]

Did Marshall Bus body any double deckers?

Yes - Newport had two batches of Scanias and Bournemouth took 20 Olympians.

The prototype Volvo B10M Citybus (ESU 378X; new as Strathclyde's AH1 in March 1982) and two Volvo Ailsas (A483-484 UYS; new as Strathclyde's A117-118 in February 1984) are also worthy of note in answering this query, considering that Strathclyde never ordered in bulk from Marshall and the above machines remained oddballs in a decker fleet dominated by Alexander-bodied products.

 

[Eyersey468]

Yes - Newport had two batches of Scanias and Bournemouth took 20 Olympians.

The prototype Volvo B10M Citybus (ESU 378X; new as Strathclyde's AH1 in March 1982) and two Volvo Ailsas (A483-484 UYS; new as Strathclyde's A117-118 in February 1984) are also worthy of note in answering this query, considering that Strathclyde never ordered in bulk from Marhsall and the above machines remained oddballs in a decker fleet dominated by Alexander-bodied products.

Thank you

I'd hope that MCV's newer designs owed nothing to the old Marshall ones! Even more so if you consider the last 'deckers Marshall built was back in the early 1980s and if I recall right weren't exactly a quality product...

The Evora I travelled on was rather impressive in terms of construction quality - streets away from say, a Marshall Capital body which often felt like it had the structural integrity of a paper bag.

I've no experience of the Evora, but the build quality of our Evolutions and Evosetis isn't great. To be fair the Withernsea ones aren't too bad but the 67 plates felt from day 1 like they were going to fall apart.

 

[Robertj21a]

Yes - Newport had two batches of Scanias and Bournemouth took 20 Olympians.

Not sure, but I thought Derby had some Marshall bodied buses too.

 

[iantherev]

Not sure, but I thought Derby had some Marshall bodied buses too.

They did - Ailsas and Citybuses IIRC.

 

[Swanny200]

The prototype Volvo B10M Citybus (ESU 378X; new as Strathclyde's AH1 in March 1982) and two Volvo Ailsas (A483-484 UYS; new as Strathclyde's A117-118 in February 1984) are also worthy of note in answering this query, considering that Strathclyde never ordered in bulk from Marshall and the above machines remained oddballs in a decker fleet dominated by Alexander-bodied products.

Could it not also be argued though, that being a Scottish bus company, would they have wanted to stay Scottish and that the Marshall vehicles were because of needing vehicles (maybe to replace ones that had expired) and Alexanders had full books? Around the same time, a lot of the SBG companies were taking on buses with ECW bodies before switching back to Alexanders soon after. Marshalls products though were to put it bluntly, horrific... Local bus company to me had a Marshall Midibus, was 3 months old and was leaking, bits falling apart and not well built at all, Marshall didn't want to know so the company got a 2nd hand Metrorider and ditched the Marshall.

 

[GusB]

Interesting though this discussion of Marshall vehicles may be, it is not bus manufacturer news and is therefore outwith the scope of this thread.

Please remain on topic. Thanks

 

[LOL The Irony]

I’m not sure if they ever made any but I’m sure they announced last year they were working with a dealer to offer coaches to the UK market

BASE, who they've had quite a long relationship with via Holmeswood.

 

[Bayum]

Another manufacturer looking to offer a RHD zero emissions double decker is Equipmake who've partnered with Beulas to produce the Jewel E.

Jewel E offers the longest range of any electric double decker bus

A new entrant has rolled into the electric bus game and might just take things to the next level, taking the shape of a big and bright red people-mover with claims of unparalleled range. The newly introduced Jewel E electric bus boasts the largest battery and longest range of any electric double…

newatlas.com

Plus there's the long awaited new electric Volvo/MCV decker, of which at least one pre-production (?) example for Metroline has been pictured.

Is this model of bus available elsewhere? Quite a refreshing facade compared to all the sharp, straight edges seen adorning buses nowadays.

Wrightbus unveiling two new zero emissions buses​

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/wrightbus-unveiling-two-new-zero-21631206

I much prefer this to do the double decker variant.

 

[Strathclyder]

@Swanny200 Seems plausible enough. We've been gently told to knock this particular tangent on it's head though, so let's just leave any further discussion for any future threads dedicated to Marshall lol

 

[Volvodart]

Volvo BZL Electric e-bus chassis range launched (with double-decker model)​

https://www.sustainable-bus.com/electric-bus/volvo-bzl-chassis-electric-bus/

​

Volvo BZL Electric is the name of the new battery-electric bus chassis range launched by the Swedish manufacturer and focused on Australian, Mexican and British markets. With this new launch, Volvo is now able to offer a battery-electric bus chassis to the UK, therefore debuting as a new player in a growing market (London has committed to introduce only zero emission city buses from now on, to mention just one example) where the joint venture between Chinese BYD and local manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited has so far got the lion’s share.
They are to be launched on market later this year, it has been said during the presentation.

Volvo BZL Electric chassis range launched​

The range is made of a 12-meter single deck e-bus chassis and a 10.5-meter double decker chassis (the latter is named Volvo BZL DD Electric). The two versions will be both powered with a 200 kW central electric motor, with the possibility of equipping the single deck with two e-motors and then reaching 400 kW. The vehicle can be charged via pantograph thanks to OppCharge standards at a maximum power of 300 kW. Battery capacity can reach 470 kWh.

 

[Mikey C]

I'm glad Volvo haven't joined in with the fad of giving their electric models silly names, in an attempt to sound like funky and overhyped NASDAQ tech startup

 

[hst43102]

I'm glad Volvo haven't joined in with the fad of giving their electric models silly names, in an attempt to sound like funky and overhyped NASDAQ tech startup

Have any of the established manufacturers given their electric models silly names? I can't think of any in particular.

 

[TRAX]

Plus, that’s a new chassis we are talking about. Chassis almost always have codes, not names.

In its chassis nomenclature, Volvo just replaced the number that usually describes the combustion engine displacement with a Z. B7L > BZL.

 

[Shernan]

The double decker is too short. It should be 12 m at the minimum. The current version limits the potential of the BZL

 

[GALLANTON]

The double decker is too short. It should be 12 m at the minimum. The current version limits the potential of the BZL

Not everywhere requires 12m double-deckers and I'm certain that Volvo will build longer versions of the chassis on request as they have done with other previous chassis.

 

[cnjb8]

The double decker is too short. It should be 12 m at the minimum. The current version limits the potential of the BZL

I disagree. The tri axle B8Ls are 12m I think, just over 10m seems average for a two axle double decker

 

[borage]

The double decker is too short. It should be 12 m at the minimum. The current version limits the potential of the BZL

10.5 metres appears be the standard length of double deckers in London – it's even specified in this Service Specification for the route 125 tender (that's a link to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file), for example:

Current Maximum Approved Dimensions

10.5 metres long and 2.55 metres wide

but maybe they'll eventually offer a longer version for the provinces.

 

[TRAX]

The double decker is too short. It should be 12 m at the minimum. The current version limits the potential of the BZL

Standard UK double deckers are approx. 10-11 m long. 12 m long deckers are the tri-axle ones, which aren’t very commonplace in the UK.

 

[Goldfish62]

10.5 metres appears be the standard length of double deckers in London – it's even specified in this Service Specification for the route 125 tender (that's a link to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file), for example:


but maybe they'll eventually offer a longer version for the provinces.

I wouldn't take a lot of notice of that. It's a legacy of the days of Tridents and B7s when that was the longest bus provided by each manufacturer. It's also only an indicator that no bus longer than that has been formally approved for the 125, not that nothing longer will fit.

The standard length E400EV is 10.9m and the Borismaster is 11.2m. However, both have found to be unsuitable for a fair number of routes hence why ADL is now offering a 10.3m version of the E400EV.

 

[Shernan]

Right, looking forward to buses that are longer and resembles the E500 MMC.