You can tell when it’s show time. The trade mags suddenly put on weight and out of the plastic wrappers tumble leaflets & brochures. Let’s hope tomorrow and Thursday’s Bus & Coach Live will be equally as bountiful.
But we doubt it. In fact, it looks like it will be the least appealing trade show in recent years. This reflects the doldrums in which the manufacturing sector finds itself. So, in a repeat of the 2005 show, there’ll be few exhibits that truly excite. And, of course, Live is never as grand an affair as the biennial Euro Bus Expo.
Alexander Dennis including Plaxton promise evolution, not revolution. There’ll be a blinged up Enviro 200 with some minor exterior mods. And the E400 will show that it isn’t only Optare that can offer flexibility and versatility in interior design. We’ve come a long way since the one-size-fits-all Leyland Nationals of the 1970s.
There’ll be an opportunity to see the Wrightbus Streetlite integral in so-called ‘door-forward’ layout, launched in June. Other than Optare, below, you’ll need to move off-shore to spot any new talent. And even then, things will be thin on the ground. There’ll be a greatly improved Temsa Safari HD and the launch of the Tata Hispano (both coaches); plus a RHD UK specified MAN A22 gas propelled bus that might prove interesting.
So, that leaves Optare with the Solo SR and Versa on display. Plus a mystery vehicle. Here, then, the centre stage is redolent of Optare launches of the past: full of surprises—and these have sometimes been quite nasty ones. Optare will reveal a restyled version of an existing product but it’s being very coy in letting us know exactly what it is.
What might it be? The Optare non-SR Solo might be a product that could be facelifted but the thing about Solo is that, in spite of its age, a new design will immediately devalue all the ones that are currently in a fleet. But it’s under renewed competition, not just from the established E200 but the Streetlite. The SR isn’t to everyon’e liking, particularly as this comes at about a £6,000 premium.
Then there’s the Olympus double deck. Over the years, I’ve warmed to this East Lancs design but in truth it’s not been particularly popular. Optare keeps promising a brand new product or at least an integral Olympus and this year, perhaps it might just deliver it. But the double deck market at Optare is nowhere near firm enough.
My money’s on the Tempo. Lose talk at Optare would indicate that this is due for a facelift. It’s been around since 2005 and this powerful machine does look a little boxy. We shall see, of course, in 24 hours’ time.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
The Showdown
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15 comments:
It should be a Tempo 2! Rumour has it that Ray Stenning was involved with the "facelift". It should be one destined for trent bartons Rainbow 4 service.
Trent likewise have been promising a new product launch this week - termed the 'i' on their facebook page.
Rumours suggest that the Tempo 2 has already been at Langley Mill Depot.
The Tempo is way overdue for a facelift - in my opinion it always was a backward step to the Excel it replaced in terms of looks, not helped by the slightly odd addition to the roofline that made the body look higher and fatter than it actually is. Mind you, if the stories are true of operators cancelling orders because Optare have failed to deliver in time (including a rumour that one MD asked where his buses were that were due in service the next week and Optare hadn't even started building them!) then will any companies take the risk and buy them, no matter how new and stylish they look . . .
www.trentbarton.co.uk could be giving away a clue!
NB4N (New Bus for Nottingham)?
If Ray has had a hand in the design, it will probably be stunning!
I really like the current Tempo.
...just thought I'd throw that out there!
The funny thing is in Nottingham all the other bus companies Nct, Yourbus and Premiere have had a Tempo on demo over the last few years and none have ordered any. Yourbus ordered Citaros , Premiere ordered Enviro 200's and Man Maridians and will no doubt purchase Enviro 300's in the Future. The Tempo is not a good bus the 2007 batch Trent Barton ordered fell apart and rattle like crazy and Centrebus has some new ones and a fitter told me they are a nightmare to keep on the road.
I think the Citaro is about the best single decker out there - problem is the germans aren't flexible enough on the spec for the likes of TB
The Citaro would be a good bus if the internal layout was better. They drive well and they're reliable, the ride is excellent, but why on earth do all the seats have to face sideways or backwards?
I genuinely don't understand why Optare are persisting with the Tempo when they've already got the Versa. The Versa is a really good bus, IMHO they'd be better off focussing on that product.
Yes, I've also heard it's a Tempo; someone has also apparently spotted a glimpse of it at the operator's depot (the first model to go into service and the one to be shown at C&BL) and sure enough it apparently looked like a restyled Tempo.
I wasn't sure the Tempo was still available, so few have been sold in the past couple of years. Lets hope a restyled version doesn't have the Versa's hideous looks.
David said...
"The Citaro would be a good bus if the internal layout was better. They drive well and they're reliable, the ride is excellent, but why on earth do all the seats have to face sideways or backwards?"
I think the only versions of Citaro that are sold on the UK market are those with a low gangway level, so that even the seats over the rear wheels need to be the inward facing variety (that was also the case with some Daimler Roadliners, which had a similarly low gangway through most of the length of the vehicle). There are other versions of Citaro which offer different seating layouts, with more seats facing forward. Some have the engine mounted at the rear corner, permitting a door behind the rear axle, while another version (LE) has a raised rear section with most seats forward facing. That version offers 45 seats in a 12m 2-door vehicle (plus about 38 standing!), and is really a form of dual purpose vehicle, but it is definitely not offered on the UK market, even though it would probably be more suitable for many of the applications in Britain.
It is slightly ironic, as most of the versions have a suffix, such as 'G' (for Gelenkbus) - the articulated version; but the LE which stands for the English 'Low Entry' is not available in the UK!
I think the O405 was a better bus - sure, the Citaro looks nice, but the O405 had a far more practical "default" layout throughout.
Talking of Citaros, I like the idea of 2+1 seating and think there should be more of it (as well as on some coaches). But why massive wide armrests and the default seat width? Wider seats would be far better.
I hate 2+1 seating and do not want to see any more of it.
Fine when it's not busy, but as soon as you've got to stand for half an hour because the bus doesn't have as many seats as it could do, it gets really annoying.
And it's not like you can eliminate the possibility of more people getting on one bus than expected, especially when traffic's bad and the service is delayed.
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