So you take the standard dutch or german design (doors and accessible seat + toilets in the vestibules with massive doors) and then have the bottom deck with the gangway offset to the left or right with blocks of 3 seats in each "compartment" like BR of old.
One would have to duck under the above gangway to sit down but that's what we currently do to get to our seats right now.
The above deck could then be exactly like those in holland or germany. Sure there would be less capacity downstairs, but there would be a huge increase overall.
There wouldn't, though.
Taking the German end-vestibule design and using that layout, you have two decks in roughly the middle 2/3 of the vehicle between the bogies, plus 8 seats at either end towards the gangway in 4 facing bays of 4. Assuming a 23m vehicle, that's 5 bays upstairs and downstairs (as it is on 23m 170s and the likes), though if you use airline seats you might get an extra 4-6 seats in.
So a typical British double-deck coach of that type, assuming 3 across downstairs and 4 across upstairs (way too narrow for 3+2 as the coach side would curve in) you would get 5*6=30 downstairs, and 5*8=40 upstairs, plus 16 at the ends, or a total of 86 seats.
A 23m single-deck vehicle seated 3+2 throughout (23m vehicles are usually not 3+2 in the UK, but they can be - the Class 323 is) would give you 2+5+2 bays of 10, or 90 seats, or again slightly more if all-airline.
So what's the point of the double-decker again?
Neil
