Rail Users Ireland Forum

Go Back   Rail Users Ireland Forum > General Information & Discussion > Events, Happenings and Media
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Closed Thread
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Unread 21-02-2007, 15:53   #1
Donal Quinn
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 267
Default Transport: CIE ready to roll out fleet of new 'green energy' streetcars

these are just bendy buses, right??

ok more info on the concept here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit
they seem to need they're own right of way -i wonder will these have them....

Transport: CIE ready to roll out fleet of new 'green energy' streetcars



A SLEEK new streetcar was unveiled by Bus Eireann yesterday.

The 12-metre long 'bus tram', which runs on an electric/bio-fuel hybrid engine, is to be introduced to cities across the country in the coming months.

Bus Eireann unveiled the new BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system in Waterford where the company hopes to pilot the new streetcar.



Bus Eireann plans to overhaul the service in the Waterford area over the next two years.

Dr John Lynch, chairman of CIE, said that the new streetcars would run "at one-tenth of the cost of traditional tram and present light rail".

He added: "We would envisage trying out at least one of these bus trams on the streets of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford in the coming year."

He said the bus trams, which are manufactured by Wrights in Ballymena, Co Antrim, cost just €200,000 each to put on the road.

"The BRT system can be implemented at a fraction of the infrastructure cost of the LUAS or other traditional tram alternatives," said Mr Lynch.

The CIE chairman also spoke of the company's plans to replace the entire local fleet of buses serving Waterford city and the introduction of 35 new buses by 2009.

Environment Minister Martin Cullen, a Waterford TD, gave assurances to the company that their plans would be factored in under the Transport 21 initiative.

"The attractiveness of Bus Rapid Transit lies in its potential to deliver a very high frequency service at a fraction of the cost of designing, building and maintaining a full-scale tram system," said Mr Cullen.

"These streetcars can operate on ordinary road space and are capable of running on alternative and more environmentally friendly fuels," he said

Mr Cullen stated that the streetcars fall in line with work currently being carried out as part of a new 'Government taskforce strategy on climate change' to be launched before Easter.

"A sustainable transport action plan will be prepared as part of this overall strategy," he said. "It will address a range of issues and forecast how the transport sector will significantly contribute to reductions in carbon emissions by 2020.

"The public transport sector will be expected to show strong leadership in this regard and I am prepared to support proposals to move the fleet to a more sustainable basis as speedily as it is feasible," he said.

CIE are currently looking at government proposals to move all Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus vehicles to a 5pc bio-diesel blend and to plan to achieve a 30pc bio-diesel blend in all new buses.

Yesterday's launch also heard from John Clancy, chief architect with CIE, who unveiled plans for a €10m redevelopment of Waterford's main railway station.

The plans, which have been lodged with the local authority, allow for a 340-space multi-storey carpark on the existing Plunkett station site and a new exit on to the N9 road.
Dara deFaoite
© Irish Independent
__________________
It's the little things....

Last edited by Donal Quinn : 21-02-2007 at 15:57. Reason: adding wiki addres
Donal Quinn is offline  
Unread 21-02-2007, 16:27   #2
robdrysdale
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 75
Default

I seem to remember mentioning them on the previous board.

I was pretty much shot straight down.

Here's some pics and details here:

http://busesireland.fotopic.net/c1186333.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_StreetCar
http://www.wright-group.co.uk/streetcar/

One of the big ideas seems to be multiple door boarding much like the luas.
robdrysdale is offline  
Unread 21-02-2007, 17:40   #3
ACustomer
Really Regular Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 767
Default

Multiple door boarding? Now where did we see multiple doors before? Dublin and hundereds of other cities. And where did said multiple door almost never open? Next thing Cullen and CIE will claim to have re-invented the wheel!
ACustomer is offline  
Unread 22-02-2007, 15:14   #4
houstyl
New to the board
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 21
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Donalq View Post
these are just bendy buses, right??

ok more info on the concept here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit
they seem to need they're own right of way -i wonder will these have them....
There was what looked to be one of these new buses parked outside the Great Southern in Eyre Square today. Seems like an utter waste using them in Galway, the potential for right of way/segregation seems minimal
houstyl is offline  
Unread 22-02-2007, 20:26   #5
dowlingm
Really Really Regluar Poster
 
dowlingm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1,371
Default

Ottawa (the place Bus Eireann knows as "Ottowa") has a BRT known as Transitway which uses bendy buses. Have used to from airport to downtown and it's fine so far as it goes and is quite fast in the ROW bits. The problem is once it hits downtown it goes into mixed traffic and congestion ensues.

Someone should also tell Wright, their capitalisation notwithstanding, that when Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire he wasn't talking about a shaggin' bendy bus.
dowlingm is offline  
Unread 23-02-2007, 10:56   #6
Thomas J Stamp
Chairman/Publicity
 
Thomas J Stamp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Home of Hurling
Posts: 2,708
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by robdrysdale View Post
I seem to remember mentioning them on the previous board.

I was pretty much shot straight down.
Not by me you weren't, i have always said that these are much better than the LUAS and could be very simply implemented at a fraction of the cost.

Thing is, looking at the links you posted, they seem to be the exact buses at BAC have been running for years (now to be seen on the Number 4).
__________________
We are the passengers
Thomas J Stamp is offline  
Unread 23-02-2007, 11:33   #7
Donal Quinn
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 267
Default

wandering slightly off topic has anyone else noticed just how banged up those bendy buses on the 4 route are?

they rattle and shake like they are about to fall apart any second - its quite deafening! - i have difficulty listening to my mp3 player on them!

i presume that one thing about dedicated ROW is that they surface the road properly to that they glide comfortable along rather than feeling like king kong has taken a shine to them...
__________________
It's the little things....
Donal Quinn is offline  
Unread 23-02-2007, 11:39   #8
Mark Gleeson
Technical Officer
 
Mark Gleeson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Coach C, Seat 33
Posts: 12,669
Default

Problem with bendy buses in Dublin was they didn't get on well with the corners, its fun Merrion Square to Lincoln Place to Westland Row
Mark Gleeson is offline  
Unread 26-02-2007, 14:35   #9
comcor
Really Regular Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cork-Dublin, Cork Commuter and occasionally DART and Dublin-Wexford
Posts: 855
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson View Post
Problem with bendy buses in Dublin was they didn't get on well with the corners, its fun Merrion Square to Lincoln Place to Westland Row
Which means they are even less suitable for Cork and Waterford...
comcor is offline  
Unread 26-02-2007, 15:37   #10
StephenM
Regular Poster
 
StephenM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Back using the car due poor service
Posts: 135
Default

Is there anywhere in Ireland with streets suited to bendy busses?

Then again they put bendy busses on the No.4 and that goes around Merrion Square I believe.
StephenM is offline  
Unread 26-02-2007, 15:52   #11
Thomas J Stamp
Chairman/Publicity
 
Thomas J Stamp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Home of Hurling
Posts: 2,708
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenM View Post

Then again they put bendy busses on the No.4 and that goes around Merrion Square I believe.

See Marks comment above.
__________________
We are the passengers
Thomas J Stamp is offline  
Unread 26-02-2007, 16:40   #12
Colm Donoghue
Really Regular Poster
 
Colm Donoghue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 873
Default

I think we're missing the point here. These buses may be nothing more than bendy buses, but this could be a ploy fo rhte introduction of off bus ticketing ala the trams in Dublin.
Think about this, how could you get Cork people to accept the exact fare craic of Dublin bus?
as Alek has pointed out here, paying on boarding delays boarding, particularly in Cork where change is given and notes are taken.

On the other hand it could be a heap of dung from CIE.
Why would BE want to buy buses that run on a dearer fuel? Only if they could get an increased subsidy from the govt.

This is not to make peoples lives easier. BE city buses are a joke as it is, they could be improved for no capital expense if the will was there.
Colm Donoghue is offline  
Unread 26-02-2007, 20:36   #13
TomB
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Limerick
Posts: 207
Default

I was in Waterford this weekend and did a bit of research on this (well ok, I read the local paper and asked a few locals). Let's get one thing straight -- all that BE are doing is replacing some of the bus fleet and saying that they theoretically might increase frequency on some routes, as well as extending some routes. Maybe. Some day.

Almost all modern diesel engines can run on a biofuel/diesel mix.

No change in journey time. No change in passenger information systems. Nothing that will affect the situation that outside of Dublin, only the poor and desparate take the bus.

There really is nothing new in these proposals. All the articles above are saying is that Bus Eireann have tarted up their PR operation a bit.

That's not to say that you couldn't replicate the success of Luas for a fraction of the cost in Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway, with proper Luas-style stations, real time passenger information, turn up n' go frequencies, and fast journey times with bus lanes and priority at junctions.

But this ain't it.
TomB is offline  
Unread 27-02-2007, 20:14   #14
dowlingm
Really Really Regluar Poster
 
dowlingm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1,371
Default

B30 bio only works at certain times of year - in winter you'll be down to B5 or else have a congealed mess in your tank - the gelling point is variable depending on what you made the biodiesel from. B20 seems to be the sweetspot for most users.
dowlingm is offline  
Unread 27-02-2007, 22:24   #15
IHIR
Regular Poster
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 47
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Donalq View Post
Dr John Lynch, chairman of CIE, said
"We would envisage trying out at least one of these bus trams on the streets of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford in the coming year."
whew!! stand back and behold AMBITION!!
IHIR is offline  
Unread 27-02-2007, 22:25   #16
Mark Gleeson
Technical Officer
 
Mark Gleeson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Coach C, Seat 33
Posts: 12,669
Default

Well from what I can see, there is only one bus and its on loan from Wrights for evaluation
Mark Gleeson is offline  
Unread 28-02-2007, 04:32   #17
sean
Member
 
sean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Dublin
Posts: 707
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dowlingm View Post
B30 bio only works at certain times of year - in winter you'll be down to B5 or else have a congealed mess in your tank - the gelling point is variable depending on what you made the biodiesel from. B20 seems to be the sweetspot for most users.
Depends on the type of feedstock used to make the biodiesel, the minimum operating temperature, and any other mitigating measures such as the addition of antigel additives, installing a fuel tank/line heaters and insulation etc.

Soy bean BD tends to gel a good bit above freezing point and palm oil starts to gel at 15C if I'm not mistaken.
Rapeseed Methyl Ester biodiesel on the other hand doesn't start to crystallise until it reaches freezing point, and it rarely goes below that here except a few nights of the year.
sean is offline  
Unread 01-03-2007, 18:55   #18
dowlingm
Really Really Regluar Poster
 
dowlingm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1,371
Default

yeah but you have to factor in incompetence i.e. that the BE fuel lads won't check the weather forecast.
dowlingm is offline  
Closed Thread


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 14:59.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.