General Fleet Discussion

[Barry Drive]

This escaped my attention until recently: the most common bus type in the ACTION fleet is now the MAN 18.320 with 87 in service - compared to 84 Renault PR100.2s

By early next year the Scania K320UBs will surpass this number.

[Busfanatic101]

I was on 504 today and for the first time noticed little metallic cylindrical things beside the nearside interior lights (the size of the holed area of the speakers on those lights). Anyone know what they are or might be for?

[Barry Drive]

How many things? Just the one at the front and another at the rear?

If so, they are the sensors for the former bus stop signal system.

[Busfanatic101]

1 behind the front nearside lights and another behind the rear nearside lights, so 2 all up that I could see.

[Barry Drive]

On the earlier question of livery, Canberra Metro recently posted an image of a CAF Urbos in Transport Canberra livery.


I would imagine the new bus livery may be similar, but with blue (for Bus) instead of red.

[Busfanatic101]

I don't know whether this is new/old/unmentionworthy news, but the other day, I noticed the underside of the foldup seats in 513 were different to all others I had seen. Flat with 2 cutouts of semi-circles through which the fabric can be seen. Interesting design

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

I hadn't noticed the cut-outs, but there have been many bus seats that this has happened to I've noticed in the past couple of months. It's always the fold-up seats that have it, and so far from what I've noticed, only on the Iris - E5s.
Must be a lack of supplies (im thinking), so they're getting daggy covers from elsewhere to fix them up.

[Bus 503]

On the earlier question of livery, Canberra Metro recently posted an image of a CAF Urbos in Transport Canberra livery.
I would imagine the new bus livery may be similar, but with blue (for Bus) instead of red.

So they're not going to be using these ones which were used previously when promoting the project? I think those liveries looked much nicer.

[Barry Drive]

... the underside of the foldup seats in 513 were different to all others I had seen. Flat with 2 cutouts of semi-circles through which the fabric can be seen. Interesting design

AFAIK those seats are only installed in the CB80 artics. They are a Custom bus fold down seat, rather than McConnell which are used in every other Custom bus.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

With the remaining 6 darts that are being used for the 101 loop, are they owned by ACTION, Transport Canberra, or?
I'm wasn't 100% sure about the answer myself, but the driver who asked me today during my travels wanted to know. Cause he thought they were being leased or something - or is that the answer, sold for something/scrap, but still leased by ACTION?

[Buzz Killington]

If they were sold for scrap, they wouldn't be in service.

They remain part of the ACTION Fleet (though IIRC they're not counted as part of the regular route fleet)

[Barry Drive]

Unless there have been further withdrawals, the number of active Renaults (PR100.2 & PR100.3) is  ... 145.

When 618 enters service there will be 80 K320UB 4x2s in service (split 41/39).

Currently there are 80 PR100.2s in service - also split 41/39.

[Barry Drive]

Question: are there any Scania L94UBs which DON'T have the additional grille on the engine flap? I've not noticed any, just wonder if there are any left to be done.

[Busfanatic101]

I have just gone through my photos and have photos of every single one (320-373) with the additional grille- I suspect that had been the case for quite some time

[Barry Drive]

ACTION have responded to the predictable "my bus isn't air conditioned" whingers by stating there will be 30 new buses in service this year.

They exceeded that number: 33 new buses entered service this year - 588 to 620; as well as 490 for six months.

Not that it did much to stop the whingers.

[Busfanatic101]

In the TC email alert that I just got, it states:

New buses entering the fleet from now on will carry the blue livery with light rail vehicles to feature the red livery.

Does this mean that the new artic will also be in the new livery? I had had the assumption that it would be the green one matching the other same artics buses in the fleet. I think at present all buses of the same type have the same liveries as each other.

[King of Buses]

In the TC email alert that I just got, it states:Does this mean that the new artic will also be in the new livery? I had had the assumption that it would be the green one matching the other same artics buses in the fleet. I think at present all buses of the same type have the same liveries as each other.

It does imply that, but in fairness it could go either way given there won't be much fuss when the artic arrives I'd think given it is nothing new really.

As for all buses of the same type, that depends if exclude AOA's plus whether your count the "Conserve Fossil Fuels" livery as an AOA or a livery.

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[Barry Drive]

Probably, yes.

I don't have evidence, but last time something like that happened was with the AEC Swifts in the late 1960s-1970s when the livery changed from coffee and red to yellow fire and blue. Although they may have kept the same livery with the same body - so that doesn't count.

UPDATE: The Freighter bodied Swifts may have been the last in the old livery with the Smithfield bodies from 1974 arriving in the new orange/blue scheme. Some of the Freighters were repainted into the new colours.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

So another new bus in the fleet. I understand that they're Euro 6s as well, but for my way of sorting the types (esp on my drawing collections), will I just call them MKIIs or something? (I'm not sure what to call them to not confuse, which is why I'm asking)

[The Love Guru]

So another new bus in the fleet. I understand that they're Euro 6s as well, but for my way of sorting the types (esp on my drawing collections), will I just call them MKIIs or something? (I'm not sure what to call them to not confuse, which is why I'm asking)

I won't do a face palm meme, i think I'd just prefer to face palm you in person.

Seriously, what is wrong with you?

How about you call it a Bustech Scania, no confusion at all!

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[Sylvan Loves Buses]

That's now the second P2 I've seen with that screen glitch. So much for the LEDs, should've kept the flipdots lol

[Snorzac]

Yes...flip dots that you cant get parts for or LEDs that are still manufactured and common to the newer fleet....should have stayed with flip dots for sure

[Bus 503]

Does anyone happen to know why the Hanover destos installed in the PR2s, PR3s, 307 and 362 to 373 don't change what they are displaying automatically when they arrive at termination points (and have to be changed manually by the driver)?

[King of Buses]

368 now has a green front like a few of its sisters.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Just a quick question,

Will the new Bustech and AVASS buses be used on the weekend services?

[Barry Drive]

Bustech - no reason why not.

AVASS - too soon to know, but possibly not since it will depend on trained drivers and mechanics.

[stephend723]

Who do I talk to about purchasing a pr1 or a pr2


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[Snorzac]

Whats a PR1?

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[Sylvan Loves Buses]

by guess, I would say he means a mk1 PR2

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

It's possible that I didn't look hard enough, and I tried to in the gallery but not all the shots are of the sides, and some are but with the old AOAs.

Can someone tell me all the fleet numbers of those random Mk1 P2s that had Mk2 liveries please? It's one thing that's been troubling me for years.
Atm I know of (from KoB telling me and from past knowledge): 690, 758, 760, 808, 835 and 840. Were there any others?

[King of Buses]

690, 758, 760, 808, 835 and 840. Were there any others?

853 & 869.

[Snorzac]

758 was a wrap, pretty sure it was Mk I livery underneath

[Buzz Killington]

Can someone tell me all the fleet numbers of those random Mk1 P2s that had Mk2 liveries please? It's one thing that's been troubling me for years.
Atm I know of (from KoB telling me and from past knowledge): 690, 758, 760, 808, 835 and 840. Were there any others?

You're missing 751, 775, 798, 853, and 869.

758 had the Mk1 livery as Snorlax said.

The trickier question is which of those wore both the Mk1 and Mk2 liveries - not all of them did as some were delivered in AOA and then repainted into Mk2.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Cool, thank you.

Also, as it just become something I need too, (and half the relevant gallery photos are black and white), which of the O.305s had the opposed livery. I can see a few, but I can't be sure of all of them.

Also, that springs a question to mind. What was the or was there a reason for the livery change in the 90's with the SLs/SGs and Mercedes buses around the time of the Renaults being brought in? It's somewhat odd to me, as when the new buses now days with the Iris coming along, shortly after only a few P2s were given a temporary stickers, but nothing else was given a big change like what happened back then.

[Buzz Killington]

If you're referring to the Mercs that we're repainted into the Mk2 Renault livery from the old Z stripe livery, that occurred as a part of ACTION's refurb program at the time. More info here: http://actbus.net/the-action-line-on-refurbishing/

As for which Mercs had a modified livery, I can't recall those off the top of my head. You could try searching the wiki for "trial livery" and "experimental livery" though.

Adding such a category to the Wiki may be something to put on our to-do list.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

I've been doing a little bit of research just now on the PR3s. I just wanted to confirm, the 'a' on the end of any of them meant them as being wheelchair accessible buses (or/and trial/experimental) is that correct? Other than those features they were pretty much the same bus?

[Sir Pompously]

I've been doing a little bit of research just now on the PR3s. I just wanted to confirm, the 'a' on the end of any of them meant them as being wheelchair accessible buses (or/and trial/experimental) is that correct? Other than those features they were pretty much the same bus?

The .3a buses were high floor 100.3s with a wheelchair ramp and sloped entry floor plus wheelchair bays. BUS-113 was a prototype and the rest were production vehicles (113 was used in service at Brisbane Transport for demonstration with step entry). Apart from 113 the others featured MACK badges, plug doors and also had a number of halogen down lights in the entry area.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Passing a Euro 6 on the way home just now reminded me of something.

Apparently there's two refueler entries on the drivers side of the Euro 6s, one of them's obviously for Diesel, but what's the other for?

[King of Buses]

Passing a Euro 6 on the way home just now reminded me of something.

Apparently there's two refueler entries on the drivers side of the Euro 6s, one of them's obviously for Diesel, but what's the other for?

AdBlue.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

and what's AdBlue used for?

[King of Buses]

and what's AdBlue used for?

http://www.yara.com.au/nox-reduction/adblue-for-vehicles/what-is-adblue/

It's how they achieve Euro 6 spec.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Aha, I understand now, thank you.

Very interesting read too.

[Busfanatic101]

Does the red gauge towards the back of the right hand side have something to do with AdBlue?

[Barry Drive]

No. That's a coolant gauge.

The Adblue level is displayed on the dash.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Will the new Bustech and AVASS buses be used on the weekend services?

Well, I can confirm that for the Bustech, just saw 622 at Tuggeranong about to depart on a 900, probably one of the last ones for today. So that is a yes.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

I just wanted to ask, which of the remaining P3s are stripped from ads and such?

I was thinking of hiring one some time soon for reasons I don't want to reveal as of yet, but other than 120 (cause i was taking photos of it yesterday), which of the P3s have no ads on the door side, and appear to look like the livery has had a new paint job to look as surprisingly shiny as 120 did yesterday.

I did have a look at the AOA discussions, but nothing has come up recently on P3s.

[Barry Drive]

Can't report on them all, but many of the Belconnen PR100.3s are ad-free.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Ok cool, I'll have a look at the wiki for those no.s

(edit) oh yeah, have they stopped rear window ads too, and is that still a thing?

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

I'll have to find out exactly which bus it was when this happened last year, unless it's the same one, but hopefully after this morning the driver of bus 593 reported the problem with his buses bike rack and windscreen wipers - the problem where ... the handlebar of someones bike can jam the movement of the door-side windscreen wiper because it is leaning too far toward the buses window.

Now that I think of it, that's another issue with the bucket racks, something I shall mention to ACTION next time I call them.
The reason I say that, is because of the arm that the bucket racks use, it pulls the front wheel of a bike closer towards the front of the bus more than the arm of the yellow racks do.

I've had this issue before (as I mention above), some time last year on the way home from woden on a Euro 6 bus on the weekend when it was raining.
Basically what happens is, when the bike is lodged into place, it'll lean against the front window due to the arm angle, and when the wiper is activated by the driver, it'll likely move up, but when it comes back down, it gets stopped by the handlebar of the bike - and it is really tough to get it unstuck 

[triumph]

Two questions.
1. Am I right in assuming the vertically alternating NEXT and STOP is unique to bus343?
2. Buses 343 and 344 are shown in the fleet list as having the name 'Sigourney' - which one is actually Sigourney?