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#1
The Playground / Re: What PT did you get today?...
Last post by triumph - Today at 10:24:01 PMYesterday
309 (R3)
511 (R4) Next R4, timetabled 6 min later from Cohen St, overtook us at ANU stop opposite Clunies Ross St. - consequence of bus I was on commencing 2min late and loading passengers who should have been on the following service, leading to compounding further delay. Traffic was very light. By Woden 7min late. 2nd following R4 had almost caught up too.
371 (57)
658 (57)
001 (R1)
542 (R9)
329 (R3)
309 (R3)
511 (R4) Next R4, timetabled 6 min later from Cohen St, overtook us at ANU stop opposite Clunies Ross St. - consequence of bus I was on commencing 2min late and loading passengers who should have been on the following service, leading to compounding further delay. Traffic was very light. By Woden 7min late. 2nd following R4 had almost caught up too.
371 (57)
658 (57)
001 (R1)
542 (R9)
329 (R3)
#2
Fleet / Re: 26 Scanias: 2022-24
Last post by L94UBbusfan - Today at 07:29:51 PMBecause no one has said anything yet, 732 has entered service today. It was first sighted doing an R9 Belconnen to Watson this morning
#3
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by L94UBbusfan - Today at 07:27:49 PMFor the very short term, TC will be fine. It will be when 5-10 more CNG L94s are retired and before the Yutong's have some significant deliveries they will be having problems with fleet availability (roughly May-September) and as mentioned MyWay+ works and other maintenance problems will also affect the fleet. I also wondered if some of the 26 Scania's would go to Tuggeranong short-term to cover for L94UBs, but probably too much of a hassle just to be there for a few months.
Anyway, 933 has been updated as retired.
Anyway, 933 has been updated as retired.
#4
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by Snorzac - Today at 05:42:27 PMThere's a lot of factors at play here as highlighted, from observation it seems a lot of Belconnen shifts which come on the road around the 9-10am mark both school term and school holidays tend to be Irisbus or artics which may indicate a shortage of standard low floor buses at Belconnen.
Tuggeranong tends to be pretty sound with bus types appearing on the same shifts/runs however I imagine with the number of buses Tuggeranong are without and the potential more will need to be removed they may soon run into issues.
At the moment there's also many factors at play which will further limit fleet availability, as highlighted on ACT Bus social media if appears the early work for MyWay + is well underway, if you're travelling down Scollay st you can see a shipping container place in the sheds and in off peak times typically 2-3 buses will be parked there getting worked on, one would assume this is a contractor carrying out the work for NEC so there is a further limiting factor on bus availability.
I think for now they will be fine, further retirements may cause issues however, will be interesting to see what happens on the first really cold morning of the year when a lot of the buses end up at the workshops due to heaters not working as they should, this could make for a very turbulent day as far as service reliability goes with the current state of the fleet.
Tuggeranong tends to be pretty sound with bus types appearing on the same shifts/runs however I imagine with the number of buses Tuggeranong are without and the potential more will need to be removed they may soon run into issues.
At the moment there's also many factors at play which will further limit fleet availability, as highlighted on ACT Bus social media if appears the early work for MyWay + is well underway, if you're travelling down Scollay st you can see a shipping container place in the sheds and in off peak times typically 2-3 buses will be parked there getting worked on, one would assume this is a contractor carrying out the work for NEC so there is a further limiting factor on bus availability.
I think for now they will be fine, further retirements may cause issues however, will be interesting to see what happens on the first really cold morning of the year when a lot of the buses end up at the workshops due to heaters not working as they should, this could make for a very turbulent day as far as service reliability goes with the current state of the fleet.
#5
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by triumph - April 23, 2024, 10:17:32 PMWhich raises the question - what is the minimum number of buses actually needed for a school term weekday to sustain the timetable. Then to add to this, there are buses not available for duty due to heavy repairs and servicing, and further a standby number to cover for accidents and breakdowns. Perhaps if push comes to shove, more servicing can be done off-peak/overnight/weekends. What we don't really know is how close things are to the point when some timetabled services have to be cancelled (unless some retired Renaults can be restored to service) . Clearly with the Renaults still retained in use there is not much fat in the fleet.
Barry Drive's comments highlight the interlocking shambles looming (and in an election year). New buses, though, could be rushed into service with no ticket devices and give free rides. Charging seems to becoming another intractable issue - is it possible to charge more, by utilising daytime when buses are free off peak, and is there any possibility of using chargers elsewhere?
So far the thoughts here have been about TC's own resources. Is it even likely, that short term hires/leases could be arranged from other operators? They are probably having supply issues too, and in the same boat. So probably not.
It looks like the 'interesting times' of that well known oriental curse.
Barry Drive's comments highlight the interlocking shambles looming (and in an election year). New buses, though, could be rushed into service with no ticket devices and give free rides. Charging seems to becoming another intractable issue - is it possible to charge more, by utilising daytime when buses are free off peak, and is there any possibility of using chargers elsewhere?
So far the thoughts here have been about TC's own resources. Is it even likely, that short term hires/leases could be arranged from other operators? They are probably having supply issues too, and in the same boat. So probably not.
It looks like the 'interesting times' of that well known oriental curse.
#6
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by Barry Drive - April 23, 2024, 04:45:36 PMI can't see any significant deliveries of new Yutongs until September, at the earliest.
Tuggeranong Depot doesn't have the infrastructure to charge more than 12 buses and the new chargers seem to be many months away.
Additionally, I don't think they're likely to commission new buses with the old ticket system if they have to swap them out again straight away.
This wouldn't have been much of a problem if the Custom Dennings and BusTechs were actually in service by now, as was planned - we would have had enough buses to fully withdraw the Renaults and 7 CNG L94s.
Tuggeranong Depot doesn't have the infrastructure to charge more than 12 buses and the new chargers seem to be many months away.
Additionally, I don't think they're likely to commission new buses with the old ticket system if they have to swap them out again straight away.
This wouldn't have been much of a problem if the Custom Dennings and BusTechs were actually in service by now, as was planned - we would have had enough buses to fully withdraw the Renaults and 7 CNG L94s.
#7
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by L94UBbusfan - April 23, 2024, 08:45:38 AMProbably haha 🤣
#8
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by Sylvan Loves Buses - April 23, 2024, 02:28:50 AMSo much for the Renault farewell tour eh, we're gonna get the GAS bus farewell tour first at this rate xD
#9
Fleet / Re: Renaults a go go: the fina...
Last post by triumph - April 22, 2024, 11:11:13 PMQuote from: Bus It on April 15, 2024, 05:55:52 PMLong story short, the CNG Scanias entered service from June 2004 with CNG tanks installed just prior to delivery. These tanks are rated (strictly) to 20 years where they either have to be replaced or the vehicles would need to be converted back to diesel or scrapped. I personally thought TC would have gone down the diesel conversion path however who knows how much this, plus tank removal would cost for each vehicle.
It's now become quite apparent that they intend on scrapping them for now at least when mechanical repair is not economical for only a few months of residual life. Just like the Renaults, were seeing these vehicles being scrapped from some things which would almost be considered routine for them.
Looking more closely, and ruminating a bit.
Fleetwiki says 320 and 321 were delivered in June 2004 and entered service on the 2nd and 3rd of July. Deliveries are not subsequently noted, and many in-service dates are given only to the year. However 322 to 326 all entered service on 3rd July, and 327 to 332 are just quoted as July '04. 333 to 342 have 2004 only as in-service. 343 is given as entering service in March '05.
Relying on this and the quoted information, it seems that 5 more buses will need retiring within a month and a bit, and further 5 within about 2 months. Then a further 9 before the end of the year.
With 10 buses to go within a couple of months, how is TC going to cope? Are they really expecting another 5 or more deliveries to add to the buses on hand? At the present rate, this seems unlikely, but who knows. The implication is that the Renaults will need to soldier on. If further early gas bus retirements from 2005 deliveries occur due to severe failures and deliveries do not improve (a sleeper might be the rate of Yutong deliveries, now the newly ordered have started arriving), it is even possible to envisage some retired Renaults stored being reactivated (recall 927). TC seem to be on a very thin edge.
To cap it all off, an election is due. A nervous period for TC and the Minister.
#10
The Playground / Re: What PT did you get today?...
Last post by triumph - April 21, 2024, 06:16:27 PMYesterday
577 (R3)
688 (R5)
720 (R4)
722 (R3)
577 (R3)
688 (R5)
720 (R4)
722 (R3)