I love that everyone that features in one of Geoff's videos is so enthusiastic. Potentially one of the most wholesome channels on UA-cam where people are just passionate about transport and not afraid to show it! Keep it up Geoff, your channel is great!
@@isaactimmins8959 Good post. I'm not sure the guy you're replying to is really in the right place if he wants to discuss how allowing cheap Chinese imports in (and Japanese/Taiwanese ones before that) destroyed UK manufacturing. It turns out that people buy products according to price and quality rather than having it made in the UK.
Very interesting, thanks Geoff! Our local route has got double decker electrics, and it hasn't taken long for me to start noticing how incredibly shaky and noisy the old ones are. Can confirm cycling behind them without getting lung cancer is also a plus. Also for the record I would be fully up for this channel branching out into interesting new sustainable transport.
The infrastructure is too expensive. Building Trolley busses have the extra cost and - more importantly - red tape of trams but without many of the benefits.
@@benrgrogan I mean in dense urban areas on high traffic routes it is still a good idea, and it is vastly cheaper than installing a tram. Also with much higher effcency and not needing a batery, they are much cheaper to buy and run then a batter bus plus they have infinite range!
How is it possible for all the people you talk to to be such delightful and enthusiastic people? Love your videos and how you give the people behind the wheels and screens a voice!
My guess is that Martijn is doing what he did in Reading. Taking young enthusiastic people with a customer facing retail type background and teaching them to drive buses. Rather than hiring people who know how to drive buses and trying to teach them customer-facing skills.
It's a very British thing that we think everyone is incompetent and we know best. And they often are. That then gets mixed with cynicism which is the destructive trend. But in all walks of life there's people like us just trying to do good jobs.
I've travelled on electric busses, 2 years ago in southern Poland, they are very popular and well used, the charging is slightly different with an overhead collector, placed at points along the route for a top up, as you say, very quiet and a smooth service.
I think they have to get a good recharge from time to time. The amount topped up at the charging stations on route doesn't apparently completely top up the batteries. I went on this type in Geneva and it was certainly interesting; especially to see them put out their "feeler" to the charger, looked a bit like in-flight refuelling!
Southern Poland sounds like Kraków or Jaworzno :) In Kraków, we have around 80 electric buses (all manufactured by Solaris). As you said, there are electric chargers at various terminus stops, so the buses can load for around 15-20 minutes using a tramway-like overhead pantograph. I believe that it was chosen beacause of ease-of use and safety for bystanders. All of the buses, however, also load at the depo at night.
Met him before for a joke when the Durham Diamonds came out I said they remind me of Diamond Bus livery and I said also I like it used to send him photos of the new brands
The one thing I love about your videos is the endless enthusiasm to all the quirky things. I enjoy watching your videos and look forward to more in the future
I'm no bus spotter, but I love the way infrastructure/tech/operation stuff works. Being 4000 miles away in the UAE, it always impresses me how forward thinking this company is. Remember going to Murton depot near me as a kid in County Durham around 1985… when Go North East were called Go-Ahead Northern. An inspector actually came to my house to take me there in a bus after sending a letter and a picture. Got to see some nicely kitted out some MCW Metrobuses just about to be put into service. I did the bus wash thing , too. Brill memories of going all over the north east by bus. Thanks for the video!
@@geofftech2 You are more than welcome. That is great to hear, I will be looking forward to seeing them. The North East is littered with abandoned rail lines. Just so you know. lol.
Thank you Geoff. The aptly named Go Ahead North East, very impressive! Interesting that when the trolleybuses (smooth running, quiet and no smell) went few noticed the noise, smell and increased maintenance of the replacement diesel buses.
When I was working in Arnhem (Netherlands) I've been taking electric buses for many years - trolleybuses that is. There is no diesel smell and engine noise, just the hum from the electric motors, wind and tyre noise. Very comfortable and indeed friendly for cyclists behind a bus :)
I think Connexion also has electric buses here in the The Hague area, but they might be hybrid. And doesn't the current poster campaign at train stations say that the NS trains work partly on wind power? Just cool to see the change happening in front of our eyes, whether IRL or on the screen.
What fantastic insight! Thank you for putting in all the effort for this video, must've taken a while. So happy to see more and more bus companies going electric!
Electric Buses are just... So cool. Like, as a big bus nerd, my favourite thing is just how nippy they are. Even the big double deckers coming in from Alexander Dennis can accelerate super quickly because theres no combustion happening. It makes journeys just so much nicer, and it's a much better system than Hybrids
Great video. Newport has had a fleet of 15 electric buses since last year, having previously had a couple on trial. They are due to expand out to 32 buses, which will be a third of the total fleet
Yutongs are pretty nice, here in Finland Pohjolan Liikenne has a fleet of about 40 E12s and 15 E15s, some of those now run on my local line having replaced the VDLs which ran there previously. The Yutongs have been a huge improvement on the line.
Nice to see the new technology. I’m from Vancouver where trolley buses have whirred around town for decades. They plug in to hydro dams so their carbon footprint is approximately zero. Yes, the overhead wires are a pain, but the newer trolleys can go several kilometers on their internal batteries.
Yes, I don't know why more trolley buses haven't come back, they used to be very popular in the 60s and 70s in the UK. I think for certain routes (eg, arterial metro routes in city centres) they'd be perfect.
As most things in Britain we have missed a point - other countries wired there towns and cities with trolly wires so when a battery bus reaches the wires they use the power to run from the wires while also charging the batteries so they have a much longer range.
You don't need any form of "gearbox" when 100% electric drive, your Honda needs one as it does not have direct drive. Not knocking the CVT, great idea invented by DAF and put it in their cars starting in 1958 with the DAF 600 Variomatic.
We've had a few of those arrive in New Zealand in the last few months, with another 65 (with an extra axle), on the way. From what I've seen of them they look great.
This is so brilliant! Between me watching videos about electric cars, and others about public transport, the algorithm has finally found the cross-over!
we got electric buses in Bergen, Norway little over half a year ago and now we have trolley buses with batteries that charge when driving on wire but they can drive off-wire too, for some considerable distance i might add. They're so quiet and so comfy to ride in, no gear changes and they don't struggle in uphill driving since electric motors have such awesome torque curve. All the buses on my usual line are electric now and i definitely noticed the gear shifts more when i recently had to ride in a gas bus. This is the future and it's really neat.
What a fantastic development for the north east that is. They all have clearly bought into it and it can only provide a long term benefit for society at large. I love the genuine enthusiasm of the staff for the buses 👍🍻
I'm so glad you came up to review the Voltras... I saw all of the infrastructure going in and sent an email to Fully Charged... But never thought of sending an email to Geoff! Good stuff.
I live in Newcastle, and I don't normally take the 53 or 54, but I've seen these buses and look forward to checking out some more (local) public transport in the future 🚌🚇
My dad just left Go North East, he was a driver for them for just over 33 years, he's seen so many changes over the years but unfortunately left just before these buses came around.
This video is just lovely. This could have been a fairly dry product announcement by a bus company, but you manage to capture their enthusiasm, the behind-the-scenes work and in a really fun and snappy video. You make great videos anyway, but there's nobody who does this type better than you.
I love how enthusiastic everyone in this video is! And you, Geoff, seemed almost _giddy_ with delight! Great video! Thanks for all the hard work you are putting in your videos!
It's kind of strange that everybody in the UK hates the public transport system but this channel is permanently positive about every company involved in it and also has great access.
I'm a bit long in the tooth now, but as a young child in the early 60s I can remember wafting around Newcastle in silent, clean electric buses - trolley buses!
I rode on Yutong electric buses in Shanghai for years, as they've had them over there for a while now, always very reliable and comfortable. Happy to see them here.
It's a lovely thoughfulhful idea, very modern. Utterly impractical. Forgotten phones and in 3- 5 years they'll have that out of date aeroplane in flight entertainment vibe. Things move on just so fast, and they'll likely be there for 20 years.
@@OldUKAds things have been getting sold with Qi charging for 10-15 years already, at worst it would be a slower charge than you might be used to from a newer version of the standard
Great video. It reminded me of the last time I visited the open day of my local operator, Reading Buses. A similar modern depot, lots of different coloured route branded buses, some seriously green buses (albeit bio-gas rather than electric), a ride through the bus wash, and blow me down if that is not Martijn Gilbert. Before he stepped up to Go North-East, Martijn was MD of Reading Buses, and that was his last Reading Buses open day too. Good to see he is keeping up the good work there. The weather was much better, mind.
It's going to be awesome as electric buses take over - not just the clean air in the streets, but also the smoothest ride! That was the most surprising thing I found when I started with my EV - lots of stuff I expected to be great, but to find the drive so much smoother, so much quieter - and so much more relaxing.
Electric Busses are the last big step towards a completely carbon neutral Public transport and thus a huge part of the fight against climate change. Great to see such devotion in the company, thank you for showing us the insights!
Good to hear a big bus company is going electric. Ember run a similar inter-city electric coach service between Edinburgh and Dundee, which they claim to be the first such service in the world. They certainly are the most comfortable coaches I've ever been on - you should come and sample them for yourself, Geoff!
In Aarhus Denmark, they use Volvo electric busses, which are charged when they are on breaks, through the roof of the bus, like a train when it connects to power. That seems like a better solution ?
Considering it reduces the amount of batteries needed to run the bus, yeah it is better. I will never understand why people go crazy over companies overusing resources, when more appropriate solutions already exist!
4:22 Not quite sure about the charging safety regulations in the UK, but in Japan and Mainland China, regulators require drivers to make sure the charging gig is dry and clean before plunging it into the car before charging. Since use tissue to wipe the charging gigs is also potentially dangerous, many e-bus charging points in East Asia are under the Solar panel shed to make sure there would not be rain on the plug. Installing the solar panel shed can also be eco-friendly.
I use GoNorthEast every day, the tech on their diesel buses have always been way ahead of other providers! congrats to them for pushing even harder as the stagecoach fleet are completely archaic in comparison!
Go north east seem to always be trying to get the latest tech out on the roads. I remember about 20-25 years ago they set up a test track on the quayside for guided busses with a wire embedded in the road that the bus automatically followed. Sadly was never implemented into working bus routes but looked like a promising technology and quite futuristic back then! Last time I was there you could still see the embedded wires running around the test track
Very good, Geoff. I'd love to see coverage of some of London's electric vehicles, or buses in General, as London obviously has one of the most widespread networks in the country, So to see the inner workings of the system would be good. The services 507 and 521 are particularly intriguing.
I make the bus and driver schedules in Noord-Holland Noord, the area north of Amsterdam. In our concession we have 83 electric VDL & BYD buses since 2019 (and 30 diesel and 2 gas buses). They are usually charged 2-3 times per day. We'd love to have that app to see hoe the buses are charging - the buses themselves perform wonderfully but the chargers are quite unreliable. Another concession of us has 100 VDL's that fast charge in 19 minutes, giving them another 70km of range. And next year we'll have the first fully electric concession with 64 ZE buses.
I hate buses and haven't used one in 2 years and yet I see this video and I watch. Something about your style of videos keeps me engaged. You could do a 12 minute video on wheelie bins and I'd watch.
Being part of the Go north East Team I have driven these buses on several occasions and cannot believe how smooth, quiet and comfortable they are. Hopefully technology will allow the future ZERO emission buses to be used on all routes at Go North East both local and distant.
Recently got electric buses from volvo in my city and I gotta say they're great. The system they use is sorta like a pantograph that comes down from a pole and charges the bus, probably a fair bit faster than the traditional cable charger.
I did two weeks work experience in the Worthing bus depot back in 2019. Was quite the learning opportunity, and possibly vital if I want to get into the railway career I want now. However, I think I spent most of my time just washing the buses with the two Dave's. Ah well.
That's my local route - it's weird to be right on the cutting edge for once. The buses are great in action, all the mod cons are brilliant, and the screens tell you the train times as you're approaching Central Station - really handy. The real test will be to see how electric buses roll out elsewhere - the 53/54 is a very urban, stop start sort of route, similar to a lot of London routes. Most of Go North East's routes are more rural or suburban, run at higher speeds, and over more difficult terrain, so it'll be a while before they become electric too.
Ember coaches based in Dundee have been running fully electric coaches between Edinburgh and Dundee for nearly a year now. Strange being on a bus without the engine haha 😄
All the folk on here saying they would forget their phones make a very good point. Looks a lot like an example of the law of unintended consequences. Be interested to see if the chargers survive to the next iteration of the design.
As a bus mechanic this is exciting. No more oil changes, air filters... My fleet is all CNG and will be for a while but hopefully we get these eventually
I work on the London Overground. When the new 710 class arrived with USB charging points I cashed in all of my pensions and bought shares in a company that makes freezer spray, because we use tons of it removing chewing gum from the plugs. I have no doubt the ones on these buses will go the same way
Having experienced a long journey in an electric car, I can say that it is seriously less stressful. I put that down to the lack of engine noise inside the car. I'm guessing the same will apply to these buses. Which might go someway to making passengers more chilled as well as the driver. Excellent news.
Same. I have been on a few electric buses before and the lack of engine noise and vibration was definitely very welcome; in fact on the ones we have here in Singapore the air-conditioning system (and the resulting noise of the air rushing from the vents) is often louder than the noise of the motor itself!
@@craigix it is just an opinion relax i prefer a loud engine in my vehicles i am free to say what i want so stfu i was simply expressing my own opinion
@@alocalgamer3464 always preferred "as quiet as possible" in all the vehicles Ive been in. Noise is just an inefficient waste of energy which could be propelling the vehicle. As a Gamer, I'm sure you'd understand "stealth mode".
I love that everyone that features in one of Geoff's videos is so enthusiastic. Potentially one of the most wholesome channels on UA-cam where people are just passionate about transport and not afraid to show it!
Keep it up Geoff, your channel is great!
Thanks Thomas, appreciate the kind comment!
@@geofftech2 how can 650 British coach builders losing their jobs be good for any one unless you support Chinese expansionism ?
@@stuartwilliams3164 ADL wright & optare also have electric products too, Go Northeast favoured the Youtong offering,
@@isaactimmins8959 Good post. I'm not sure the guy you're replying to is really in the right place if he wants to discuss how allowing cheap Chinese imports in (and Japanese/Taiwanese ones before that) destroyed UK manufacturing. It turns out that people buy products according to price and quality rather than having it made in the UK.
@@corleth2868 Perhaps they'll go with Arrival buses in the future?
You're a big kid at heart Geoff. You looked so excited when the Bus went through the bus wash.
nice
Aren't we all?
It was THE BEST! Fond memories of my dad taking me through a car wash when I was very young … 🚌 🚿 🧽
Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional!
Area you new to this channel? 😆
Very interesting, thanks Geoff! Our local route has got double decker electrics, and it hasn't taken long for me to start noticing how incredibly shaky and noisy the old ones are. Can confirm cycling behind them without getting lung cancer is also a plus.
Also for the record I would be fully up for this channel branching out into interesting new sustainable transport.
Yes, I'd love sustainable transport coverage as well!
@@TreespeakerOfTheLand Sustainable *public* transport?
@@therealcaldini Yeah, fair point :P
I love Colin's enthusiasm. The buses look great, really like how comfortable modern buses are.
I know! You can tell he’s passionate
I used to live right above a bus stop that got 24/7 service and I'm grateful for every new electric bus. So much quieter, especially at night!
Exactly!
I've had a drive of these, just an incredible experience. Very impressive setup and so proud to have it here in Newcastle!
Thank God is nowhere else
Is the bus operator your twin?
Hope it inspires others.
Never thought I’d see the day where Geoff covers my local bus route in Gateshead, what a treat!
He is way off his comfort zone not on a train not in London must be on holiday then.
@@neilfranklin5644 maybe Gateshead first ever tourist?! 😅 (jk Newcastle and the North East are beautiful!)
I feel like the electeric trolleybuses are being overlooked in zero emissions transit. So much simpler and cheaper than a battery bus
The infrastructure is too expensive. Building Trolley busses have the extra cost and - more importantly - red tape of trams but without many of the benefits.
@@benrgrogan I mean in dense urban areas on high traffic routes it is still a good idea, and it is vastly cheaper than installing a tram. Also with much higher effcency and not needing a batery, they are much cheaper to buy and run then a batter bus
plus they have infinite range!
@@user-de4cq6uk6l not infinite, as far as the cables go, that and trolleybuses can't deal with diversions and the sorts
@@Bobbingtonn new trolleybuses have quite a long off-cable range, enough to avoid a disruption
@@user-de4cq6uk6l so they DO have a battery…
How is it possible for all the people you talk to to be such delightful and enthusiastic people? Love your videos and how you give the people behind the wheels and screens a voice!
He filtered out the grumpy bus drivers. Believe me, there are still some around, even in sunny Newcastle!
My guess is that Martijn is doing what he did in Reading. Taking young enthusiastic people with a customer facing retail type background and teaching them to drive buses. Rather than hiring people who know how to drive buses and trying to teach them customer-facing skills.
It's a very British thing that we think everyone is incompetent and we know best. And they often are. That then gets mixed with cynicism which is the destructive trend. But in all walks of life there's people like us just trying to do good jobs.
Am just imagining Geoff’s rider -
I must go through the bus wash
I must get a Starbucks
I must have the Chief Executive
Good video Geoff 👍
You forgot: I must have a cup of tea :D
I think you can get a tea at Starbucks. It's been a while obviously but I believe you can
We never actually saw the Starbucks stop-off though. I was wondering if the bus would just park outside.
You forgot "I must take a photo of the moquette for the Mrs". ;)
I've travelled on electric busses, 2 years ago in southern Poland, they are very popular and well used, the charging is slightly different with an overhead collector, placed at points along the route for a top up, as you say, very quiet and a smooth service.
Ah that's cool, do they still need to get a longer charge back at the depo as well?
So like trolly buses? Which were very popular before diesel buses were invented.
@@katrinabryce no, just connecting at certain bus stops, not along the entire route
I think they have to get a good recharge from time to time. The amount topped up at the charging stations on route doesn't apparently completely top up the batteries. I went on this type in Geneva and it was certainly interesting; especially to see them put out their "feeler" to the charger, looked a bit like in-flight refuelling!
Southern Poland sounds like Kraków or Jaworzno :) In Kraków, we have around 80 electric buses (all manufactured by Solaris). As you said, there are electric chargers at various terminus stops, so the buses can load for around 15-20 minutes using a tramway-like overhead pantograph. I believe that it was chosen beacause of ease-of use and safety for bystanders. All of the buses, however, also load at the depo at night.
I worked with Martijn at Reading Buses. His enthusiasm for public transport is infectious, and he’s a genuinely nice guy.
Met him before for a joke when the Durham Diamonds came out I said they remind me of Diamond Bus livery and I said also I like it used to send him photos of the new brands
“A couple of steps up to the rear seat.” Epic, Geoff is even step counting inside buses!
This, of course, is equivalent to a fifteen storey building.
The one thing I love about your videos is the endless enthusiasm to all the quirky things. I enjoy watching your videos and look forward to more in the future
thank you Tony, very kind!
There needs to be a BBC documentary series as these are brilliantly produced!
11:00 Geoff, we would love to hear how quiet it is but someone put some silly music all over the video!!!
I think the same :-) I hope Geoff will see this comment
Search Voltra into UA-cam there's plenty local enthusiasts have recorded them, I've had many journeys on them and they're extremely quiet
Top tip, mute your speakers instead and get the full effect of the noise of an electric bus...
Just forwarded this video to my state rep here outside of Boston Mass!
Another stupid project for massholes to waste their money on.
I'm no bus spotter, but I love the way infrastructure/tech/operation stuff works.
Being 4000 miles away in the UAE, it always impresses me how forward thinking this company is.
Remember going to Murton depot near me as a kid in County Durham around 1985… when Go North East were called Go-Ahead Northern.
An inspector actually came to my house to take me there in a bus after sending a letter and a picture.
Got to see some nicely kitted out some MCW Metrobuses just about to be put into service. I did the bus wash thing , too.
Brill memories of going all over the north east by bus.
Thanks for the video!
I Love it when you come up to the north east and do some videos. Come back more often. 😀
thanks Michael, I do like to get out of London when I can and I do love it up there. I’ll be back! 👍😅
@@geofftech2 You are more than welcome. That is great to hear, I will be looking forward to seeing them. The North East is littered with abandoned rail lines. Just so you know. lol.
Thank you Geoff. The aptly named Go Ahead North East, very impressive! Interesting that when the trolleybuses (smooth running, quiet and no smell) went few noticed the noise, smell and increased maintenance of the replacement diesel buses.
When I was working in Arnhem (Netherlands) I've been taking electric buses for many years - trolleybuses that is. There is no diesel smell and engine noise, just the hum from the electric motors, wind and tyre noise. Very comfortable and indeed friendly for cyclists behind a bus :)
Yes there were trolley buses in London ages ago.
I think Connexion also has electric buses here in the The Hague area, but they might be hybrid. And doesn't the current poster campaign at train stations say that the NS trains work partly on wind power?
Just cool to see the change happening in front of our eyes, whether IRL or on the screen.
Electric buses are very common in the Netherlands. In 2020 the mark of 1000 electric buses in service was reached, with more following this year.
@@TreespeakerOfTheLand 100% of the NS trains drive on electricity generated by wind turbines
@@Thomas_TdK Ah, that is very good to hear. Thank you :)
yes i was hoping you would cover these new buses actually i think i might have seen you about next to the depot while i was at the metrocentre
What fantastic insight! Thank you for putting in all the effort for this video, must've taken a while. So happy to see more and more bus companies going electric!
I've been on them buses loads they are just fabulous and are quiet🤣
Make sure you make a video on the new Tyne and wear metro trains early in 2022-2023!
@@Azzlad no need to be so crazy like I mean cmon...
@@Azzlad Kill joy
I travelled on one of these buses last Saturday, great journey, very quiet.
Electric Buses are just...
So cool. Like, as a big bus nerd, my favourite thing is just how nippy they are. Even the big double deckers coming in from Alexander Dennis can accelerate super quickly because theres no combustion happening. It makes journeys just so much nicer, and it's a much better system than Hybrids
Good publicity on the part of Go North East to invite you to make this video. Well done Geoff and Go North East.
Thanks! What an awesome video and everybody was so nice.
I couldn't stop smiling, esp in the bus-wash :-)
Great video. Newport has had a fleet of 15 electric buses since last year, having previously had a couple on trial. They are due to expand out to 32 buses, which will be a third of the total fleet
Yutongs are pretty nice, here in Finland Pohjolan Liikenne has a fleet of about 40 E12s and 15 E15s, some of those now run on my local line having replaced the VDLs which ran there previously. The Yutongs have been a huge improvement on the line.
Nice to see the new technology. I’m from Vancouver where trolley buses have whirred around town for decades. They plug in to hydro dams so their carbon footprint is approximately zero. Yes, the overhead wires are a pain, but the newer trolleys can go several kilometers on their internal batteries.
Yes, I don't know why more trolley buses haven't come back, they used to be very popular in the 60s and 70s in the UK. I think for certain routes (eg, arterial metro routes in city centres) they'd be perfect.
Hello
As most things in Britain we have missed a point - other countries wired there towns and cities with trolly wires so when a battery bus reaches the wires they use the power to run from the wires while also charging the batteries so they have a much longer range.
I started working for this outfit last week and even met Martijn Gilbert, great guy, very nice to talk to
My Hometown recently got some Mercedes-Benz eCitaros and man do I love biking behind and next to them!
I have a Honda Accord Hybrid, and what I love about the hybrid is the CVT continuous variable transmission, which Colin mentioned.
You don't need any form of "gearbox" when 100% electric drive, your Honda needs one as it does not have direct drive. Not knocking the CVT, great idea invented by DAF and put it in their cars starting in 1958 with the DAF 600 Variomatic.
We've had a few of those arrive in New Zealand in the last few months, with another 65 (with an extra axle), on the way. From what I've seen of them they look great.
This is so brilliant! Between me watching videos about electric cars, and others about public transport, the algorithm has finally found the cross-over!
well put together video , nice
we got electric buses in Bergen, Norway little over half a year ago and now we have trolley buses with batteries that charge when driving on wire but they can drive off-wire too, for some considerable distance i might add. They're so quiet and so comfy to ride in, no gear changes and they don't struggle in uphill driving since electric motors have such awesome torque curve. All the buses on my usual line are electric now and i definitely noticed the gear shifts more when i recently had to ride in a gas bus.
This is the future and it's really neat.
What a fantastic development for the north east that is. They all have clearly bought into it and it can only provide a long term benefit for society at large. I love the genuine enthusiasm of the staff for the buses 👍🍻
I'm so glad you came up to review the Voltras... I saw all of the infrastructure going in and sent an email to Fully Charged... But never thought of sending an email to Geoff! Good stuff.
VOLTRA is a cool name! :-)
25 years ago our kids went through the bus wash on a summer play activity. They're still talking about it - and I've been jealous ever since!
Busses should have two doors. One for entry and one for exit. It helps with passenger flows and stopping times.
But that would take up considerable space that would be better off for the operator if there were seats.
I mean yea as population increases they will need to do that soon!
I reckon only for double decker buses. Seat space is more important plus driver can control people jumping on without tickets.
Outside of London they don’t I guess because it’s not as busy.
@@broggie123 In my city (Gijón, Spain) buses have three doors and I've never seen anyone get on without a ticket.
Love Newcastle. Used to catch the 38 between Cradlewell and Market St when I was working at Northern Electric!
I live in Newcastle, and I don't normally take the 53 or 54, but I've seen these buses and look forward to checking out some more (local) public transport in the future 🚌🚇
My dad just left Go North East, he was a driver for them for just over 33 years, he's seen so many changes over the years but unfortunately left just before these buses came around.
Loved this! Those buses are gorgeous. And the phone chargers - wow!
How long before there's chewing gum in the USB sockets? The inductive chargers are good, although some will leave their phones behind no doubt.
Great video Geoff, Nice to see you checking out all of the great work at Go North East!!
First UK bus operator I travelled on back in 2002, glad to see they're investing in the future there!
Nice. The Singapore counterpart of Go-Ahead has Yutong E12, single decker and double decker. Cool to see Yutongs in UK!
This video is just lovely. This could have been a fairly dry product announcement by a bus company, but you manage to capture their enthusiasm, the behind-the-scenes work and in a really fun and snappy video. You make great videos anyway, but there's nobody who does this type better than you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Now you need to go on the Ember electric coach between Dundee and Edinburgh. Amazing company and amazing founders.
I love how enthusiastic everyone in this video is! And you, Geoff, seemed almost _giddy_ with delight!
Great video! Thanks for all the hard work you are putting in your videos!
Thank you Geoff. I would love to see more electric busses on your channel. I can't wait to get to ride one.
It's kind of strange that everybody in the UK hates the public transport system but this channel is permanently positive about every company involved in it and also has great access.
I'm a bit long in the tooth now, but as a young child in the early 60s I can remember wafting around Newcastle in silent, clean electric buses - trolley buses!
Me, too, but in London.
I rode on Yutong electric buses in Shanghai for years, as they've had them over there for a while now, always very reliable and comfortable. Happy to see them here.
Seeing more of these around, York has some on Park and Ride and Newport has a pile of them. It's a really positive step forward.
They've brought these in in Newport (SW) as well. I really like them.
Omg now I miss home seeing you go over the Redheugh Bridge and through the city centre
I can perfectly imagine leaving my phone on the bus by accident. :D
100%.
That's how they are covering the extra cost of the buses, a sneaky entry into the second-hand mobile phone market 😉
Yep, especially if you have wireless headphones.
It's a lovely thoughfulhful idea, very modern. Utterly impractical. Forgotten phones and in 3- 5 years they'll have that out of date aeroplane in flight entertainment vibe. Things move on just so fast, and they'll likely be there for 20 years.
@@OldUKAds things have been getting sold with Qi charging for 10-15 years already, at worst it would be a slower charge than you might be used to from a newer version of the standard
martin is a lovely guy, met him once at reading buses, when we transferred some gas buses from norwich to plymouth
Great video. It reminded me of the last time I visited the open day of my local operator, Reading Buses. A similar modern depot, lots of different coloured route branded buses, some seriously green buses (albeit bio-gas rather than electric), a ride through the bus wash, and blow me down if that is not Martijn Gilbert. Before he stepped up to Go North-East, Martijn was MD of Reading Buses, and that was his last Reading Buses open day too. Good to see he is keeping up the good work there.
The weather was much better, mind.
It's going to be awesome as electric buses take over - not just the clean air in the streets, but also the smoothest ride! That was the most surprising thing I found when I started with my EV - lots of stuff I expected to be great, but to find the drive so much smoother, so much quieter - and so much more relaxing.
Absolutely marvelous !
Very interesting Geoff! great vid!
Pity they aren't made in GB oh but they are but buy these from our (friends ) from Communists china
Electric Busses are the last big step towards a completely carbon neutral Public transport and thus a huge part of the fight against climate change. Great to see such devotion in the company, thank you for showing us the insights!
If you count boats, planes and taxis then there's still a long way to go.
@@TheClintonio well let’s specify it to urban public transport cuz planes are a bit of a worry yea
Lmao
How much carbon emission do you think is produced in order to re-charge the batteries?
Technology hasn't advanced as much as you think.
I'll have to take one of these when I'm next in Newcastle. I took a trip through the bus wash at Stockwell Bus Station on an open day.
Very proud to have these in Newcastle! 😁
Brilliant. The whole industry needs updating
I want you in Italy for a trip with Tim!
And maybe a video about Tram system in Manchester and Narrow Gauge in UK!
Good to hear a big bus company is going electric. Ember run a similar inter-city electric coach service between Edinburgh and Dundee, which they claim to be the first such service in the world. They certainly are the most comfortable coaches I've ever been on - you should come and sample them for yourself, Geoff!
Very impressive bus, they should expand this to every authority in the UK
In Aarhus Denmark, they use Volvo electric busses, which are charged when they are on breaks, through the roof of the bus, like a train when it connects to power. That seems like a better solution ?
Considering it reduces the amount of batteries needed to run the bus, yeah it is better.
I will never understand why people go crazy over companies overusing resources, when more appropriate solutions already exist!
Those guys really love their jobs! Love to see it.
4:22 Not quite sure about the charging safety regulations in the UK, but in Japan and Mainland China, regulators require drivers to make sure the charging gig is dry and clean before plunging it into the car before charging. Since use tissue to wipe the charging gigs is also potentially dangerous, many e-bus charging points in East Asia are under the Solar panel shed to make sure there would not be rain on the plug. Installing the solar panel shed can also be eco-friendly.
I use GoNorthEast every day, the tech on their diesel buses have always been way ahead of other providers! congrats to them for pushing even harder as the stagecoach fleet are completely archaic in comparison!
Another superb video !
Leeds also have these Electric Buses for their CityBus services with a few extending out of the city centre too.
Go north east seem to always be trying to get the latest tech out on the roads. I remember about 20-25 years ago they set up a test track on the quayside for guided busses with a wire embedded in the road that the bus automatically followed. Sadly was never implemented into working bus routes but looked like a promising technology and quite futuristic back then! Last time I was there you could still see the embedded wires running around the test track
Very good, Geoff. I'd love to see coverage of some of London's electric vehicles, or buses in General, as London obviously has one of the most widespread networks in the country, So to see the inner workings of the system would be good. The services 507 and 521 are particularly intriguing.
Brilliant. I notice they are using the DC Quick charge.
I make the bus and driver schedules in Noord-Holland Noord, the area north of Amsterdam. In our concession we have 83 electric VDL & BYD buses since 2019 (and 30 diesel and 2 gas buses). They are usually charged 2-3 times per day. We'd love to have that app to see hoe the buses are charging - the buses themselves perform wonderfully but the chargers are quite unreliable.
Another concession of us has 100 VDL's that fast charge in 19 minutes, giving them another 70km of range.
And next year we'll have the first fully electric concession with 64 ZE buses.
I hate buses and haven't used one in 2 years and yet I see this video and I watch.
Something about your style of videos keeps me engaged.
You could do a 12 minute video on wheelie bins and I'd watch.
Being part of the Go north East Team I have driven these buses on several occasions and cannot believe how smooth, quiet and comfortable they are. Hopefully technology will allow the future ZERO emission buses to be used on all routes at Go North East both local and distant.
Recently got electric buses from volvo in my city and I gotta say they're great. The system they use is sorta like a pantograph that comes down from a pole and charges the bus, probably a fair bit faster than the traditional cable charger.
Top lads and lasses over at GNE. Game changing stuff happening up north.
You'd think they would have the camera mirrors fitted. My route has them on bog standard diesel stop starts 20 plate. Great to drive with them.
I did two weeks work experience in the Worthing bus depot back in 2019. Was quite the learning opportunity, and possibly vital if I want to get into the railway career I want now.
However, I think I spent most of my time just washing the buses with the two Dave's. Ah well.
That's my local route - it's weird to be right on the cutting edge for once. The buses are great in action, all the mod cons are brilliant, and the screens tell you the train times as you're approaching Central Station - really handy.
The real test will be to see how electric buses roll out elsewhere - the 53/54 is a very urban, stop start sort of route, similar to a lot of London routes. Most of Go North East's routes are more rural or suburban, run at higher speeds, and over more difficult terrain, so it'll be a while before they become electric too.
You always manage to find the most enthusiastic workers lol
They look great. I look forward to the day when my local bus companies start to "go electric".
Ember coaches based in Dundee have been running fully electric coaches between Edinburgh and Dundee for nearly a year now. Strange being on a bus without the engine haha 😄
All the folk on here saying they would forget their phones make a very good point. Looks a lot like an example of the law of unintended consequences. Be interested to see if the chargers survive to the next iteration of the design.
As a bus mechanic this is exciting. No more oil changes, air filters... My fleet is all CNG and will be for a while but hopefully we get these eventually
Can confirm: driving through the bus wash is really fun especially if you leave the drivers window open
I work on the London Overground. When the new 710 class arrived with USB charging points I cashed in all of my pensions and bought shares in a company that makes freezer spray, because we use tons of it removing chewing gum from the plugs. I have no doubt the ones on these buses will go the same way
Always nice to see some happy bus drivers!! I used to be one, as you know..
These buses look really good. Well done Newcastle 🚃
Great video. Was that a Brighton & Hove vehicle in the workshop?
Having experienced a long journey in an electric car, I can say that it is seriously less stressful. I put that down to the lack of engine noise inside the car. I'm guessing the same will apply to these buses. Which might go someway to making passengers more chilled as well as the driver. Excellent news.
I prefer diesel cars and buses the engine noises is what makes them great. I do not like electric engines it is too quiet
Same. I have been on a few electric buses before and the lack of engine noise and vibration was definitely very welcome; in fact on the ones we have here in Singapore the air-conditioning system (and the resulting noise of the air rushing from the vents) is often louder than the noise of the motor itself!
@@alocalgamer3464 What a selfish approach to the environment, go away.
@@craigix it is just an opinion relax i prefer a loud engine in my vehicles i am free to say what i want so stfu i was simply expressing my own opinion
@@alocalgamer3464 always preferred "as quiet as possible" in all the vehicles Ive been in. Noise is just an inefficient waste of energy which could be propelling the vehicle. As a Gamer, I'm sure you'd understand "stealth mode".