Old and High floor ACTION buses still in service

[a350a380]

Hi All,

I plan to visit ACT/Canberra to catch the following before they are withdrawn from service: (I'm aware that not all the full batch are still in service in some cases)

I would be grateful if you could tell me where I am likely to find them and whether any of each batch is still in active service please? Also when are they planned to be withdrawn? As I want to go later in the year but will bring the trip forward if necessary.

Renault PR100 Mk 2 870-982
Renault PR100 Mk3 990-999/100-131
Dennis Dart SLF 132-156
Irisbus Agoraline 300-319

Many Thanks

[ZIB-585]

There will be plenty in service for a while yet. Although none of these will be out on weekends.

The Darts run only on the free City Loop, so no problem finding one of those.

As for the others, they can be found anywhere at any time.

(BTW, it's PR100.2 and PR100.3. These are not "marks" of the same model but successive models.)

[ajw373]

There will be plenty in service for a while yet. Although none of these will be out on weekends.

The Darts run only on the free City Loop, so no problem finding one of those.

As for the others, they can be found anywhere at any time.

(BTW, it's PR100.2 and PR100.3. These are not "marks" of the same model but successive models.)

Saw a PR100.2 out last Saturday, parked near the Aranda shops.

[a350a380]

Thanks for informing me and explaining .2/.3 rather than marks. I aim to go by October at the latest but hopefully sooner.

Interesting that the PR100.2 are still occasionally being used on a Saturday.

[ajw373]

Thanks for informing me and explaining .2/.3 rather than marks. I aim to go by October at the latest but hopefully sooner.

Interesting that the PR100.2 are still occasionally being used on a Saturday.

Not sure why it was out on a Saturday. First time I’ve seen one on a weekend for a long long time.

[The King of Buses]

Interesting that the PR100.2 are still occasionally being used on a Saturday.

Not for route service work though; some PR100.2s have been out on weekends (and weekdays) lately doing route timings. As far as I'm aware, it has been around 4ish years since the PR100.2s and PR100.3s were last regularly used on weekends on route work (roughly the same time the Scania CB80 rigids entered service). A few have appeared on the rare occasion, but I haven't even seen that for a couple of years. The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

[a350a380]

Interesting that the PR100.2 are still occasionally being used on a Saturday.

Not for route service work though; some PR100.2s have been out on weekends (and weekdays) lately doing route timings. As far as I'm aware, it has been around 4ish years since the PR100.2s and PR100.3s were last regularly used on weekends on route work (roughly the same time the Scania CB80 rigids entered service). A few have appeared on the rare occasion, but I haven't even seen that for a couple of years. The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

Ok thanks for explaining. Are there any particular routes that the PR100.2s and PR100.3s frequent on weekdays or is it just peak hour only or anything random.

Thanks

[ZIB-585]

What I said before: anywhere, anytime.

During weekdays, only routes 3, 11/11A and 81 are always low floor.

A timetable app (such as "Canberra Bus"), or the website, will show which services are and are not low floor.

[a350a380]

What I said before: anywhere, anytime.

During weekdays, only routes 3, 11/11A and 81 are always low floor.

A timetable app (such as "Canberra Bus"), or the website, will show which services are and are not low floor.

Thanks for confirming. The timetable app will be handy.

[BroadGauge]

The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

Do the Irisbuses still even run during the middle of the day on weekdays? Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough (they could be on southside routes!), but the only time that I ever see them running is during peak hours.

Renault PR100.2s still get plenty of utilisation on weekdays. There's a trip on route 300 that terminates at Kippax around 11:30pm which is normally operated by one!

[tonyp]

The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

Do the Irisbuses still even run during the middle of the day on weekdays? Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough (they could be on southside routes!), but the only time that I ever see them running is during peak hours.

Ironically they're the only low-floor bus in ACT service, the rest are either low-entry or high-floor. As I understand, they're only about 14 years old, so their counterparts in Europe are still up to their necks in much busier frontline service than they see in Canberra. Low-floor Renault Agoras from the 1990s are typically only just being retired from their original service now.

[ajw373]

Do the Irisbuses still even run during the middle of the day on weekdays? Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough (they could be on southside routes!), but the only time that I ever see them running is during peak hours.

Ironically they're the only low-floor bus in ACT service, the rest are either low-entry or high-floor. As I understand, they're only about 14 years old, so their counterparts in Europe are still up to their necks in much busier frontline service than they see in Canberra. Low-floor Renault Agoras from the 1990s are typically only just being retired from their original service now.

Yeah 14 years, but they have three problems.

1 They are unreliable
2 There is only a small number in the fleet, which what might drive point 1 (remember Action only brought them as they were cheap and available, being ex Kings buses)
3 There are a lot more, about 300 newer buses so there is no need to use these off peak. And Canberra more than say Sydney or Europe has a far greater peak demand.

[BroadGauge]

Not for route service work though; some PR100.2s have been out on weekends (and weekdays) lately doing route timings. As far as I'm aware, it has been around 4ish years since the PR100.2s and PR100.3s were last regularly used on weekends on route work (roughly the same time the Scania CB80 rigids entered service). A few have appeared on the rare occasion, but I haven't even seen that for a couple of years. The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

Today there are numerous Renault PR100.2s and Irisbus Agoralines out running route services on a Sunday timetable. I've seen four separate PR100.2s running in just the one general area.

I have no idea why they are using them, but there weren't any out yesterday.

[Busnerd]

Not for route service work though; some PR100.2s have been out on weekends (and weekdays) lately doing route timings. As far as I'm aware, it has been around 4ish years since the PR100.2s and PR100.3s were last regularly used on weekends on route work (roughly the same time the Scania CB80 rigids entered service). A few have appeared on the rare occasion, but I haven't even seen that for a couple of years. The odd Irisbus still appears in route service on weekends though, but from what I can gather that is only due to drivers taking buses they shouldn't. Irisbuses out on driver training on weekends is common though.

Today there are numerous Renault PR100.2s and Irisbus Agoralines out running route services on a Sunday timetable. I've seen four separate PR100.2s running in just the one general area.

I have no idea why they are using them, but there weren't any out yesterday.

I am lead to believe there was some industrial action from the fuellers over that weekend which lead to high floors being out on Sunday.