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Post by stevieinselby on Feb 23, 2011 23:46:20 GMT 1
some good feedback on this thread. the alx200 darts can achieve some rather high speeds Not the ones around Selby It might feel fast when you're on it, but trust me, I've been in my car and stuck behind the ALX200 Darts on both the 42 and 415 many times, and they don't go fast - even on the best bits of the A19 it's very rare that they'll go above 45mph. (Not like when HCT were running the 415 in competition, with some real hellfire old Lynxes, some drivers would be nudging 60 whenever the traffic in front wasn't slowing them down.)
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Post by billycarne on Feb 24, 2011 0:18:09 GMT 1
some good feedback on this thread. the alx200 darts can achieve some rather high speeds Not the ones around Selby It might feel fast when you're on it, but trust me, I've been in my car and stuck behind the ALX200 Darts on both the 42 and 415 many times, and they don't go fast - even on the best bits of the A19 it's very rare that they'll go above 45mph. (Not like when HCT were running the 415 in competition, with some real hellfire old Lynxes, some drivers would be nudging 60 whenever the traffic in front wasn't slowing them down.) i guess it all depends if the drivers are willing to go faster.
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Post by timelesstable on Feb 24, 2011 6:58:02 GMT 1
Not the ones around Selby It might feel fast when you're on it, but trust me, I've been in my car and stuck behind the ALX200 Darts on both the 42 and 415 many times, and they don't go fast - even on the best bits of the A19 it's very rare that they'll go above 45mph. (Not like when HCT were running the 415 in competition, with some real hellfire old Lynxes, some drivers would be nudging 60 whenever the traffic in front wasn't slowing them down.) i guess it all depends if the drivers are willing to go faster. It all depends at times if the driver is prepared to break the speed limit which is 50 MPH for a bus on the A19
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Feb 24, 2011 13:12:24 GMT 1
i guess it all depends if the drivers are willing to go faster. It all depends at times if the driver is prepared to break the speed limit which is 50 MPH for a bus on the A19 Drivers break speed limits all the time... I have stood or sat at the front of a buses and watched the speedo.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Feb 24, 2011 14:28:45 GMT 1
Are you sure that in some cases, the speedo is km/h rather than mph as can be the case for Scanias and VDLs.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Feb 24, 2011 14:47:48 GMT 1
No definatly in MPH & i mean it will only be 5-10mph over but it is still breaking the speed limits and the law.
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Post by timelesstable on Feb 24, 2011 17:58:37 GMT 1
Arriva ALX300 491 managed over 80 even approaching 90 with a full standing load on the has it raced along the A639 between Oulton and Mickleton luchtime today.
The 80-90 was clearly kmh but still plenty left at a creditable 50-55MPH
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Mar 1, 2011 9:21:09 GMT 1
On modern vehicles the maximum speed for a coach is 100kph (62.5mph) and for a bus is under 60mph (otherwise it becomes a coach and requires extra structural strength), for newer vehicles they are speed limited to at least these speeds, older vehicles don't have speed limiters. Generally the top speed of a bus is governed by the axle ratios rather than the limiter though some operators do set their limiters lower to reduce the speed the drivers can achieve as their everyday use does not need it. Naturally urban operators, particularly from London, use urban ratios that have very low top speeds (the hybrid mentioned almost certainly is set up for efficient urban use so doesn't need a high top speed), I have driven an ex London Volvo Olympian that topped out in the mid-40's mph which made a horrendous shift of dual-carriageway driving, particularly when you are used to a semi-coach spec provincial Olympian that will exceed 60mph if you allowed it. I have fond memories of doing rail-replacement in the South-East in a mid-aged provincial Leyland Olympian and leaving on a 40-minute non-stop run around 10-15mins behind a London bus and overtaking it before we reached the other end.
Darts (both step & low-floor) tend to top-out around the low 50's-mph (and it doesn't do them any good cruising at that speed for any length of time) as do Solos (the MAN engined ones get their quickly but they don't reach 60mph), most low-floor deckers will top-out in the mid-50's mph at best, low-floor Spectras in particular would top our around 55mph and it was not the limiter as you could feel the lack of smoothness as it approached the top end. On the other hand an Olympian with the correct ratio gearbox will happilly exceed 60mph without a limiter (I have heard from reliable sources of 70mph being reached in a pair running without passengers on a motorway). The top speed will depend on the axle ratios but any low-floor bus hitting 60mph is breaking the law and needs it's speed limiter looked at and no PSV should be exceeding 62.5mph under any cirumstances
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Mar 1, 2011 10:14:14 GMT 1
Well K-Line's mini Solo (YJ57 UFH) needs looking at then because it can reach 70mph on the 900 at 1715 trip.
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kendall17
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Post by kendall17 on Mar 1, 2011 14:06:13 GMT 1
Well K-Line's mini Solo (YJ57 UFH) needs looking at then because it can reach 70mph on the 900 at 1715 trip. And so does the driver in question who lets it reach that speed. Naughty.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Mar 1, 2011 15:00:32 GMT 1
A lot of it is downhill National Speed Limit countryside roads. A K-Line driver told me once, you have to go them speeds otherwise the bus would run late - It is a really tight schedule.
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Post by driver6540 on Mar 1, 2011 23:22:21 GMT 1
A lot of it is downhill National Speed Limit countryside roads. A K-Line driver told me once, you have to go them speeds otherwise the bus would run late - It is a really tight schedule. My considered response to this is, What a load of Bollocks.
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Mar 3, 2011 19:08:34 GMT 1
A lot of it is downhill National Speed Limit countryside roads. A K-Line driver told me once, you have to go them speeds otherwise the bus would run late - It is a really tight schedule. My considered response to this is, What a load of Bollocks. Down hill national speed limit? April 1st yet? Probably would make more sense if he had said downhill at speed without applying the brakes, and if that's the case (doubtful) are K line trying to kill their passengers? Any chance of some clarity of the original comment?
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kendall17
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Post by kendall17 on Mar 3, 2011 19:40:03 GMT 1
I think Matty's grammar isn't the best. Surely there should be a comma between downhill & National...
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Post by Craig on Mar 3, 2011 20:55:45 GMT 1
Perhaps it might be best to just leave this one alone! And await the next dubious fast bus report
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77syk7
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Post by 77syk7 on Mar 3, 2011 20:56:00 GMT 1
This topic has promoted a good deal of comment - I'm not going to question some of the factual nature of some of the remarks but here are a few of my observations. If I can go back 50 years or so - the maximum speed of a double decker around our hilly areas (AEC Regent / Titan PD2/3 / Daimler CVG6 was 40 mph. They would maybe exceed this with a tailwind / favourable gradient to reach 42/43 mph. Single deckers (Leopard / Reliance etc) were maybe good for 50 mph with a long build - up. As time progressed, double deckers caught up by maybe reaching 50mph. I can remember clearly going on a school trip when the maximum speed of a 1982 Olympian was 47 mph and it would not budge any more. Low axle ratios were needed to allow buses to cope better with the hilly terrain of our area and also give then reasonable acceleration. As we move on to the next decade and up to date - it is the acceleration that improved and this was important when buses have to cope with our ever-increasing congestion and tight schedules. In 50 years of bus travelling all over the country, I have not travelled on many service buses (ie not coaches) that have ever exceeded 60 mph.
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Mar 3, 2011 21:51:36 GMT 1
Slightly off topic, the new 60 plate MCVs at Centrebus are an acceleration enigma. They start off with some power, then when changing into second on a hill the power seems to dissappear. On the flat it's not as bad.
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Post by Burnside on Mar 3, 2011 22:28:59 GMT 1
A lot of it is downhill National Speed Limit countryside roads. A K-Line driver told me once, you have to go them speeds otherwise the bus would run late - It is a really tight schedule. My considered response to this is, What a load of Bollocks. If it's true then K Line need to look at adjusting their timetables.
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Post by fwybuses on Mar 4, 2011 0:08:35 GMT 1
40 edging into 45 on a FWY 06 B7TL ...
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Mar 5, 2011 0:04:16 GMT 1
They are good them 06's, they are my favourite Gemini's, along with the 04's
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Post by fwybuses on Mar 6, 2011 0:07:55 GMT 1
They are good them 06's, they are my favourite Gemini's, along with the 04's The 04's are not looked after so therefore i don't like them. Couldn't care less whether am going 50 or 25MPH. Just get me off ASAP.
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