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Buses And Coaches.

postie

The buck stops here
Staff member
Just a quickie for all you transport buffs out there, are buses and coaches required to be fitted with tachometers, by law.
Thanks guys.
The reason I am asking is because one day last week I was travelling down the A45, and 4 national coaches were driving along in a row, in the outside lane at well over 80 mph.
 
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hi ya postie.
i,m a former lgv driver and ''some'' of these coach drivers
are a law to themselves.
try this site as far as i can remember it,s a mileage that they travel thing
i may be wrong if i am i,m sorry in advance to whoever i might offend.
www.dft.gov.uk regards dereklcg
 
If you mean a 'Tachograph' then yes they are, but all that does is record distance travelled and speed against time, as a graph.
I think what you intend to mean is a speed limiter, and most full sized coaches are also required to have these fitted, they prevent the vehicle being driven over a preset speed, normally 60 mph, although the maximum speed limit for such vehicles on motorways is 70 mph! (this anomaly is caused by the fact that speed limiter requirements are vehicle-age related, so older ones can legally go faster!!)

Incidentally, I can put on record that I have driven a coach on the M6 at over 100 mph, quite legally and safely - before the maximum speed limits were introduced, and at a time when there was little or no other traffic around. The coach was a Midland Red CM6T, and back then (in the 70s) quite often London Victoria to Birmingham Digbeth could be done in 1 hour 45 minutes - or less if there were no hold-ups at traffic lights coming out of London!
 
Far as i know Buses on stage carriage don't require tachographs. Certainly First and Truronian in Cornwall did not have them when i last drove for them four years ago. We also used to collect vehicles from other depots, many miles apart, and never had Tacho's.
 
At the moment stage carrieage bus services under 50 kms do not need a tacho' journeys above this do require them. I believe the rules are about to change within the next month or so.
 
It's quite common to see railway engines with the name of somebody famous on them but this morning, at RHS Wisley in Surrey, I saw two double-decker buses with the names of Sir Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens on the front. The buses were from Brighton in West Sussex. I wondered if this practice had ever been carried out on Birmingham buses? Dave.
 

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Not that I know of in Birmingham in BCT days, Farmerdave, but I cannot say for the PTE and the present owners. Neither do I recall such a thing with the original Midland Red.
As the South West is outside the remit of the Forum I will just say that it was common in the past to name some buses in the part of the country. Anyone interested probably can do an internet search for details.
 
It's quite common to see railway engines with the name of somebody famous on them but this morning, at RHS Wisley in Surrey, I saw two double-decker buses with the names of Sir Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens on the front. The buses were from Brighton in West Sussex. I wondered if this practice had ever been carried out on Birmingham buses? Dave.
National Express West Midlands and Stagecoach in Devon have both copied Eddie Stobart and given buses girl's names all two names i.e. Amelia Jane etc.
Bob
 
The bus is preserved, as far as I know. The picture is somewhere on the South Coast not Devon. But the blind is correct for the time. There are one or two open toppers preserved I gather.
3%20Sea%20Dogs.JPG
 
National Express West Midlands and Stagecoach in Devon have both copied Eddie Stobart and given buses girl's names all two names i.e. Amelia Jane etc.
Bob

A small number of men have managed to get among the girls in the National Express West Midlands fleet usually to commemorate drivers or enthusiasts who are no longer with us, for example bus 6832 is named "Ronnie Morgan" after the legendary enthusiast who left us a couple of years ago.

Simon
 
There has been a certain amount of bus naming in Reading. A number of buses have been named after various locals, some who were past residents of a home the company was sponsoring and some who were respected staff (not MD or like, but actual workers)
 
Stagecoach Devon have introduced new buses on the frequent and well used 12 route from Brixham to Newton Abbot via Paignton and Torquay. The principal livery change is that there is now a two tones of red on white: the blue has been eliminated. Additionally there is a destination screen, rather than just a route number, at the rear of the buses.
 
Alan whats the route number of the bus that travels from Exeter to Torquay via Teignmouth. Some lovley views on that route.
 
Used to be the 85 when we lived in Torquay. Really handy for us as we lived on the Babbacombe road and the bus stop was outside our house. The route was then split in two when the new distance regulations came in and you had to change buses at Dawlish.
 
Nick, the 85 was an Exeter to Crediton route, which ran in conjunction with Exeter Corporation. when it existed.
Stagecoach Devon route 85 operates in North Devon now.
The original DG routes, Torquay to Exeter, from memory were 1, which went via Newton Abbot and Chudleigh and 2 which went via Teignmouth and Dawlish. However, even with car usage Stagecoach have managed to redevelop much of their routes.
I have to admit that owning a car since 1957 I have rarely used buses.
 
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Nick, the 85 was an Exeter to Crediton route, which ran in conjunction with Exeter Corporation. when it existed.
Stagecoach Devon route 85 operates in North Devon now.
The original DG routes, Torquay to Exeter, from memory were 1, which went via Newton Abbot and Chudleigh and 2 which went via Teignmouth and Dawlish. However, even with car usage Stagecoach have managed to redevelop much of their routes.
I have to admit that owning a car since 1957 I have rarely used buses.
Actually when I started working the area from Crediton to North Devon, the Crediton bus ran through to Exmouth
Bob
 
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