AdMet CDi 1790 (decker) on route training

[Eagle Eye]

I must confess that these dd buses on a (presumably) dedicated and very frequent route...

Not really... a once-hourly service in the peaks on weekdays only is hardly a very frequent route. Nevertheless it is a step in the right direction, but perhaps these deckers would be better on other routes that have overcrowding issues rather than a political play-thing.

[panther998]

Follow up query. Just wondering what buses are currently (Oct 2015) used on the ADL Airport runs? I'm booked to visit ADL next January and would appreciate some inkling of what I will potentially travel on to / from the CBD.

[busrider]

This decker is still used on J1X services, regular J1/J2 services can be just about anything in the Torrens Transit fleet: http://fleetlists.busaustralia.com/adm.php?search=TOR11

[Lt. Commander Data]

Aren't we giving the Cdi back (to the Gold Coast) in November though?

[busrider]

It was recently re-registered for another 12 months, so it wouldn't make much sense to send it back within a month of doing that.

[Tim Williams]

I do hear that 1790 will be with us permanently, but the new timetable/routeing have the buses going in and out of the city along Currie and Grenfell Streets only, therefore the service cannot look after the wider hotel trade!!

Strange decision!

[Lt. Commander Data]

Not really- now all tourists need to know is to go to Grenfell St and get the Jetbus. Beats the stupid loop it did before, and allows better connections to many services. The only possible problem is it doesn't stop at the train station, but stop E2 (or E3, whichever it stops at) and then cutting through Leigh and Bank Sts (or the station arcade) isn't that far, and is now quite well signposted.

Still, good to hear 1790 will be here permanently.

[Tim Williams]

Yes, it is good to see it is with us permanently, but the service carries few passengers!

[Diesel_MAN]

Has anyone seen it with more than four passengers on board? Even now that it's used on a limited stops service, I've yet to see it with enough passengers to warrant anything more than a MAN 11.190 being dispatched on J1X shifts.

[Tim Williams]

Yes, I agree - it seems to attract few passengers but I think with both Melbourne and the Gold Coast running multiple CDI's on their airport express services, our people would not want to give up the service which now uses 1 x CDI + 1 x modern normal fleet bus - it's a matter of dignity, I suspect!

[Tim Williams]

Just another point about the J1X - most airport to city services offer some some of a shuttle from the city terminal to various hotels, other transport terminals etc. In Adelaide there is obviously not the volumes of traffic to do this and that is why I thought the original loop serving a good number of hotels was not such a bad idea - but it didn't seem to work, but was that due to the poor timetable or the loop??

The current route allows 2 x buses to maintain a 30minute headway all day, and that is a good thing - but I just wonder how many passengers the service will attract with few hotels on or near the route and no shuttle buses - only time will tell.
I also wonder if Adelaide Metro might be tempted to purchase second CDI to provide a full service consistency of what are becoming standard and expected airport buses.

[Eagle Eye]

The J1X running an hourly loop was useless - if you just miss it you then have to go to another part of the city to get the 15 minute J1/J2 services. Now you can turn up at any of the JetBus stops and get a J1/J3/J1X - whichever comes first. The current timetable isn't that great and the J1X tends to tag behind an all-stops J1 at times which negates the benefit of the express service.