Electric bus sounds like a Tube train!

[Welly]

This electric bus now in service on the no 36 route in London sounds remarkably like a tube train!

 

[djpontrack]

That was an interesting little film welly. It was unfortunate with the woman constantly talking which seems to be compulsory on public transport these days. The 36 has changed a bit since the RM days I remember. Thanks for sharing it with us Welly.

 

[Welly]

^^
I'd rather have a chattering woman over a bunch of noisy 4 year old kids! It's odd not hearing the throb of diesel on a bus.

By the way, I did not make this video, just found it on YT.

 

[DasLunatic]

...Have they already disabled that "please hold on" announcement, then? That didn't last long...

 

[Tetchytyke]

Sounds just like the Designline electric buses we had up here 10 years ago.

Let's just hope these ones don't like turning into mobile barbecues.

 

[Busaholic]

I wonder whether any of the passengers in the Harrow Road area remember travelling on the 662/664 trolleybuses down to Paddington Green. They were virtually silent, certainly from inside, and capable of remarkable acceleration. Funnily enough, the 36 route was home to the diesel bus with (in my experience) the best acceleration, almost too much in fact, the Metropolitan until they were removed to opo routes, the 36 being unassailably crew operated at the time. The 164 strong fleet of Metropolitans, always assigned to SE London garages, weren't flavour of the month with LT. but one has been preserved.

Regarding the Metrodecker, does it have a second door, and isn't the staircase rather too far forward for TfL?

 

[theageofthetra]

Why are there so few opening windows-will be hopeless in summer.

 

[Deerfold]

...Have they already disabled that "please hold on" announcement, then? That didn't last long...

It seems not. I had the pleasure of it on the 205 today.

 

[507021]

It's odd really, when I tried Arriva's new BYD electric buses for the first time, I didn't miss the diesel noise whatsoever. They're very quiet and ride very well, hopefully there will be more of this type in the area in the future.

 

[Welly]

Today, for the first time in my life I rode an electric bus. It was a Park and Ride service in Nottingham and it was odd yet refreshing to be in a bus completely free of vibration when stopped and hearing electric motors almost like the above YT clip in motion.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's odd really, when I tried Arriva's new BYD electric buses for the first time, I didn't miss the diesel noise whatsoever. They're very quiet and ride very well, hopefully there will be more of this type in the area in the future.

The ones on trial in MK have some very nasty high pitched[1] electronic noises, though. That needs some work, though I don't recall noticing the same in the BYD ones in London, so perhaps it's been solved - they are now a few years old and so a fairly old design in tech terms.

But yes, they basically have most of the upsides of trolleybuses with none of the downsides.

[1] Despite being in my late 30s I can hear those "teenager repellent" high pitched sounds, it's not dissimilar to those. I bet kids hate the noise.

 

[AM9]

... But yes, they basically have most of the upsides of trolleybuses with none of the downsides. ...

They sound slightly like trolleybuses of old, with a slightly faster acceleration profile.

 

[PeterC]

They sound slightly like trolleybuses of old, with a slightly faster acceleration profile.

I only made one trip on a trolleybus about 55 years ago but that seems noiser than I remember. Of course the trolley may just have seemed so quiet compared with the buses of the time.

 

[AM9]

I only made one trip on a trolleybus about 55 years ago but that seems noiser than I remember. Of course the trolley may just have seemed so quiet compared with the buses of the time.

The trolleys were heavier than buses (at least the LT ones that I travelled on were) and the tyres made most of the noise when at road speeds. The pitch of the motor whine was similar to the attached video but slightly softer as the floors were wood and the motors were DC so didnt have the magnetostriction noise of variable frequency ac produced by on board electronics that the bus has.

 

[Mikey C]

Went on one of the new ADL/BYD electric E200s on the 46 the other day. Impressively smooth, though the rear seating section did seem extra high to fit in the motors/batteries