Bus Observations 2023

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boronia
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by boronia »

Both have websites
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LB608
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by LB608 »

there are no coasters on East Coaches Shutttle website
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by crazyturbo76 »

tonyp wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:30 am I am wondering why the Custom Denning Element, which is a 43 seat bus, is shown in Fleetlists as a 43 seater in region 9, but as a 47 seater (suggesting no centre door) with Busways and Transport Canberra. For certain, the Busways buses have a centre door. Just a simple error?
IIRC the Elements in use in region 1 have full-width rear doors - of which are quite a rarity on Busways spec buses (only the inherited two-door K230UBs and B10BLEs have them; I'm also not counting ex-STA region 7 buses here).
kRC7 wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 1:02 pm Just saw a Busways Penrith brand new all white BYD D9RA Gemilang Eco City Bus, according to the driver they’re considering buying more. I got some good photos with my camera of it which I’ll make sure to post once I get home.
Fleet number 7027 from what I saw (the 7xxx series tends to be used for demo buses at Busways) - interestingly it is on ex-John J. Hill plates too (m/o 8533? Fleet Lists tells me those plates once belonged to one of their pie carts with a MCA body?)
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by 1whoknows »

Vina is based in Chester Hill. A visitor from melbourne sighted a Hi Ace for them last September.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by LB608 »

They have a least 3 coasters
1 is registered XN57ZF
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boronia
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by boronia »

A Transdev coach was destroyed by fire at Revesby today.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by booma »

well done on evacuating that bus with only a single door, lucky it wasn't an electric bus because those buses seem to burn faster.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by superbossgc »

it was TV 287A fleet no 104 former Transdev Queensland.
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Bus fire Revesby

Post by bushead »

What Rego number was Transdev bus, fire at Revesby yesterday
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Fleet Lists »

See previous post - The 104 was its previous Queensland fleet number.
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ScaniaGrenda
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by ScaniaGrenda »

Fleet-lists says some new B8R's + B8RLE are on the way for CDC Hunter Valley Depot, just not sure which one yet.

Hopefully Thornton Depot however could possibly see them going to Singleton at the same time to start phrasing out their older aging buses since some will be reaching 25 years of age later this year.

Also 2633 MO has been hanging around Thornton Depot a lot, don't think it's a transfer but it's likely been down here for an inspection as I've seen it floating around Beresfield industrial estate last week on a test run with a blank desto display.
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Benny95
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Benny95 »

ScaniaGrenda wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 7:16 am Fleet-lists says some new B8R's + B8RLE are on the way for CDC Hunter Valley Depot, just not sure which one yet.

Hopefully Thornton Depot however could possibly see them going to Singleton at the same time to start phrasing out their older aging buses since some will be reaching 25 years of age later this year.

Also 2633 MO has been hanging around Thornton Depot a lot, don't think it's a transfer but it's likely been down here for an inspection as I've seen it floating around Beresfield industrial estate last week on a test run with a blank desto display.
The 1830 Mercs would be coming up to 16/17 Years. I’d say if any to go from Singleton maybe the 12.220 Man’s or the 0405NH Mercs. I doubt they’d send straight to Singleton unless they transfer some of the School Buses (Volvo/Merc/Scania) out of Thornton. It’ll be nice to see a Scania School Bus/es getting around Singleton (especially the K270IB with the SB400 Custom Body. Man they’ve got some get up and go
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Fleet Lists »

Last Thursday I noticed a Transdev region 10 school bus on route S262 operated by Taren Point depot, was tracked by both Tripview and Anytrip as being a Mercedes O405NH/Custom Coaches Citaro. I was most surprised to see this as I thought in Sydney such buses were only operated by the STA and operators who may have taken over some from them.

This route passes my front door and every other day this term, this trip has been operated by Transdev non accessible buses and I have captured photos of three of those but on the day concerned I was just too late to get a photo of it.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Linto63 »

Recycled trandsponder probably. The State Transit Citaros were gas powered and withdrawn due to their tanks reaching the end of their certified lives, hence none were sold for further use.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Merc1107 »

Linto63 wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 8:07 pm The State Transit Citaros were gas powered and withdrawn due to their tanks reaching the end of their certified lives, hence none were sold for further use.
This bit in bold gets thrown around willy-nilly by enthusiasts across the country with scarce regard for the fact that gas buses, even of the same make/model, have been withdrawn at vastly different ages, some well under 15 years of age, others between 15-19 years and finally those in excess of 20 years.

In many cases, it's safe to say the bus will have been scrapped well before any issues with tank expiry arise.

Those operators trying to auction their gas buses don't seem to be having much luck... Aside from enterprising individuals (or businesses) who might strip the bus for parts, a non-running bus is not very useful. Some have tried diesel conversion (e.g. ex BT Scanias), but with the plethora of low-floor diesels coming to market, often at a respectable price, why bother?
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by In Transit »

Actually the chatter is pretty much on the money. It's pretty much all been about the gas tanks and their expiry date. The reason withdrawal ages can vary so wildly is that the tanks are often not the same age as the bus - and in fact not all tanks on a bus will necessarily be the same age. The gas tank age dates from when it was manufactured - and they come off a different production line from a different supplier, so their age will usually be older than the bus (sometimes by quite a margin).

Another complicating factor can be that testing of the tanks identifies their certification may need to be shortened.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Merc1107 »

It seems there is also less desire to push fleets past 15-20yrs in active service than there was previously (with low-floor diesels being withdrawn in this age range in cities like Perth and Darwin), so the expiry of the tanks may well coincide with the ideal time to withdraw a bus from public service anyway.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by In Transit »

That’s certainly the case in those cities, but specifically regarding Sydney’s gas 405’s it was all about the gas tanks. There are issues with non DDA compliant buses remaining in service, exacerbated by the premature (in practical terms) decision to cease ordering diesels for Sydney - withdrawing low floor buses was not done without very good cause.

Enthusiast rumours in this case are based on fact. If it wasn’t for the gas tanks those buses would have remained in service for longer. STA even reached the point of swapping tanks between buses to keep some of them on the road longer - in some cases with fewer tanks (and thus range) than they previously had.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Campbelltown busboy »

In Transit wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 1:03 am That’s certainly the case in those cities, but specifically regarding Sydney’s gas 405’s it was all about the gas tanks. There are issues with non DDA compliant buses remaining in service, exacerbated by the premature (in practical terms) decision to cease ordering diesels for Sydney - withdrawing low floor buses was not done without very good cause.
The ordering of diesel buses is going away as the federal energy minister and the pm are pushing evs as a part of their UN backed 43% emission cut by 2030 plan
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Linto63 »

Merc1107 wrote: It seems there is also less desire to push fleets past 15-20yrs in active service than there was previously (with low-floor diesels being withdrawn in this age range in cities like Perth and Darwin), so the expiry of the tanks may well coincide with the ideal time to withdraw a bus from public service anyway.
Since a change of policy in the early 1990s, State Transit kept buses through to their maximum 25 years. That the Citrsos were the exception to the rule being withdrawn ahead of older Scania and Volvos adds weight to the argument that it was tank expiry and not age that brought about their demise.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by ScaniaGrenda »

Benny95 wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:43 pm The 1830 Mercs would be coming up to 16/17 Years. I’d say if any to go from Singleton maybe the 12.220 Man’s or the 0405NH Mercs. I doubt they’d send straight to Singleton unless they transfer some of the School Buses (Volvo/Merc/Scania) out of Thornton. It’ll be nice to see a Scania School Bus/es getting around Singleton (especially the K270IB with the SB400 Custom Body. Man they’ve got some get up and go
I think the OH1830L's still have plenty of life in them so they won't be replaced anytime soon (at least not until 2030 at the earliest?). Singleton's a fairly "regional / rural" ish depot and running minimal revenue routes they realistically don't need a lot of low entry buses to survive on. If these to be delivered buses end up going to Singleton then it should make minimal disruption for withdrawal of their older buses, would also mark the first Volgren Endura for Singleton.

It's fairly unlikely anything from Thornton would be transferred up to Singleton so I wouldn't get your hopes up expecting to see any Scania's up there anytime soon.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by stajourneyman »

I'll throw one in ..

Years ago I did a calculation on STA gas depots and the average age scheme (but unfortunately have since misplaced the details).

The four gas Mercedes depots, ie Port Botany, Waverley, Leichhardt and Ryde were full of buses that were built in two batches ie approx 2000 and approx 2007.

Even allowing for other diesel buses in those depots, the vast majority of their buses were of those two batches.

The problem would have become that as they aged through their workable lives, they had nowhere else to go in STA, being locked into those four gas depots, thereby preventing them from being spread throughout the fleet.

Even allowing for the diesels in those depots, by now the 0405NH's would be around 22 years old, and the 0500's around 15 years old.

Given the average age scheme insists on a 12 year average age (on a depot by depot basis), there's no way they could've retained the 0405NH's beyond thgeir withdrawal dates.

In summary, I believe the gas tank life expiry never was a factor in their withdrawal.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Linto63 »

Could have been overcome by shuffling the fleet with those depots with gas buses having a higher percentage of new buses to offset those near the end and those depots without having mainly mid-life vehicles. There would have come a point where it would have become unworkable, but as we have seen with over age buses still operating, an exemption probably could have been sought. It was widely reported that it was the tank expiries that led to the O405NHs early withdrawal.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by Merc1107 »

If exemptions to age limits could be sought with relative ease, then why not replace the tanks and effectively skip what will be a short-lived generation of diesels altogether? The answer would be that this would have been an unreasonable cost for what was an old vehicle, to say nothing of the ability of those buses to run another decade. Their general condition, including of the chassis, parts availability, and lifespan of refuelling infrastructure would all have played into the choice of withdrawal over life extension.
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Re: Bus Observations 2023

Post by stajourneyman »

viewtopic.php?t=81432

Here is a link back to a discussion on the subject 8 years ago with specific depot numbers.
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