Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Melbourne / Victoria Transport Discussion

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BroadGauge
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Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by BroadGauge »

New year, new thread, new things to report. The usual creator of these threads is away on a cruise ship, so I thought I'd jump in and create some ;)
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B10BLE
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by B10BLE »

Contra la Luna
tonyp
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

From Australian Bus and Coach:

Image
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Heihachi_73
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Heihachi_73 »

Ouch. 140 is one of the newest ones isn't it...
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B10BLE
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by B10BLE »

Another day, another Transdev accident. This time on the Eastern Freeway

https://www.news.com.au/national/victor ... 10b8d004e4
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Contra la Luna
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Heihachi_73
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Heihachi_73 »

Bus having a nap on the median strip is 752 (1752AO, 2000 Merc O405NH).
Mike M
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Mike M »

Transdev are advertising cancellations on routes 281, 293 & 350 together with possible reductions on routes 216, 220, 232 & 246 today & tomorrow due to the forecast very hot weather. I have never heard of this before, it is just another sign that their bus fleet simply isn't up to the task?
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by scott »

Not good enough, if they can't take the heat (no pun intended), they should get out of the kitchen.
MCI9
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by MCI9 »

Mike M wrote:Transdev are advertising cancellations on routes 281, 293 & 350 together with possible reductions on routes 216, 220, 232 & 246 today & tomorrow due to the forecast very hot weather. I have never heard of this before, it is just another sign that their bus fleet simply isn't up to the task?
A lot had high ks when transferred don't forget! how good were they then???
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Heihachi_73
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Heihachi_73 »

Don't all route buses have high Ks after a few years? Unless they are lemons like the Plasmas and that Picasso of a hybrid bus (formerly Ventura 200) they got stuck with. :)

It isn't only Transdev's buses which are pushing 20, but I don't see the others kicking up a stink about it. Ventura's Northcoast buses are starting to look a bit ancient on the inside, especially the non-air conditioned ones that made it into PTV orange, but they are still going strong on a daily basis, they aren't just used as rail replacement or school buses. Ten and even twenty years ago the SL200s (both MK1 and MK2) were running 220/246 etc. even though they were almost walking pace going uphill on Punt Rd and Hoddle St.
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Alstom 888M
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Alstom 888M »

It's more a question of how well the fleet has been looked after its whole life. The private operators purchase their vehicles with an expectation that they will last 20 years (the State Government has a grant to replace route service buses that are 20 years old) and look after then as such. If your business is a 7 year contract then do you really give a stuff if the fleet falls apart beyond that? Unfortunately for Transdev they seem to not understand that they need their fleet to at least survive that time period.
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scott
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by scott »

Seen and ridden on today was new Gemilang Scania fleet no 182, registered BS04JN. Vic Roads rego checker indicates it was registered the 31st January, so quite new, compliance date 12/2018. Must be another big batch coming on line.
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by BluDART »

With the addition of two new artics this month (buses 180 and 181), recent lengthening of bus stops on the freeway on-ramps (Blackburn and Middleborough Rds) and the swapping of the 305 and 901/6 bus bays at The Pines, articulated buses have now started operational service on route 906.

Also sighted today on buses 950 and 976 was Transdev's rollout of new destination display designs, a vast improvement compared to the existing program files as they are much clearer and larger font. They are going back towards more of a mobitec style route number. Whether they have got it correct with appropriate destinations remains questionable, as the appear to have substituted 'Doncaster Shoppingtown 305' for 'East Doncaster 305'.
BluDART
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by BluDART »

Some news today in regards to the order of 100 new buses for Transdev, All 100 will be locally built split 50 Volgren and 50 Gemilang/OzPress.

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-bus- ... arat-jobs/
https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/599 ... -the-city/
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by scott »

Good news that the entire order will be built in Victoria, with a decent amount of local content. Hopefully this batch will be the best that Transdev have bought, the newer Gemilangs really are not too bad, but the seats let them down.
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

BluDART wrote:Some news today in regards to the order of 100 new buses for Transdev, All 100 will be locally built split 50 Volgren and 50 Gemilang/OzPress.

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-bus- ... arat-jobs/
https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/599 ... -the-city/
Will these be low floor like the Volgren ones for CDC and Latrobe Valley? It says low-floor in the article but with the common terminology slackness they could actually mean low-entry ??
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1whoknows
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by 1whoknows »

Normal low floor buses, not tonyp buses.
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tonyp
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

1whoknows wrote:Normal low floor buses, not tonyp buses.
The use of my name as technical terminology is very flattering, but this is still ambiguous! A "normal" low-floor bus is by defintion a fully low floor bus. Or do you mean a low-entry bus?
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by Linto63 »

I think just about everybody on this board defines a low-floor bus as being one that has a step-free entrance irrespective of whether it has a flat floor, ramp or stairs at the rear.
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

Linto63 wrote:I think just about everybody on this board defines a low-floor bus as being one that has a step-free entrance irrespective of whether it has a flat floor, ramp or stairs at the rear.
I think anybody familiar with standard international industry terminology would understand that there are two different terms for two clearly different designs. Manufacturers also code their bus models according to the difference. It's in the same boat as being vague about whether a bus is front-engined or rear-engined, or double deck or single deck.

Trick question: what would you call a Bustech VST? :wink:

The reason for asking this question here is that PTV appears to adopted a policy to encourage the purchase of low-floor buses and it's of interest to know whether they're following this policy consistently or just phasing it in gradually. I use the term "low-floor" according to industry terminology, not yours.
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1whoknows
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by 1whoknows »

New Bustech VSTs are still being delivered in Victoria - the Dom Sita group just got some recently.
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by busrider »

tonyp wrote:I use the term "low-floor" according to industry terminology, not yours.
Funnily enough, the Australian bus industry's interpretation of "low-floor" appears to be different to yours... But I'm sure you know that already :wink:
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

busrider wrote:
Funnily enough, the Australian bus industry's interpretation of "low-floor" appears to be different to yours... But I'm sure you know that already :wink:
Not sure how that's possible when the chassis manufacturers clearly define the two alternatives. There is a term in the national heavy vehicle standard which is "ultra low floor" that some manufacturers use in their advertising but it's not defined and thus absolutely meaningless. An ultra low floor is a vehicle with the floor about 250 mm above road surface and there are certainly none of those in Australia. Whoever wrote that standard was talking though their hat.

Still haven't got an answer to my original question about these 100 Transdev buses. Low floor or low-entry? (Or in Linto63's language I should be asking whether they're low floor or low floor, which would be a really clear question wouldn't it?)
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by venturatiger »

Hi Tonyp
Would almost be 100% certain they will be the standard low entry buses, Scania K320UB's
Being bought by the Government they won't be the more expensive option

Cheers Venturatiger
tonyp
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Re: Transdev Melbourne News 2019

Post by tonyp »

venturatiger wrote:Hi Tonyp
Would almost be 100% certain they will be the standard low entry buses, Scania K320UB's
Being bought by the Government they won't be the more expensive option

Cheers Venturatiger
Thanks Venturatiger. It's hard yards getting an answer on this forum sometimes!
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