8,500 Buses for Tim. Population
Page 64
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Sweden Expects Fleet of 9,000 by 1960: Stockholm Maintenance System SWEDEN now had 8,500 buses for 71m. people, Mr. Carl Hammarskjold, chief engineer (depots and garages) of the Stockholm Tramways Co., said this week. He read a paper on the development of road passenger transport in Sweden to the Institute of Road Transport Engineers in Birmingham on Tuesday and in London yesterday.
Sweden .was 930 miles long, he said, with a maximum Width of 300 miles, and included all kinds of country from the plains of the south to the wild mountains Qf the north. The climate varied greatly from south td north. as well as seasonally.
Most of the population of 71m. lived in the south and centre of Sweden, halt' of them being in 133 towns. The three chief towns were Stockholm, with 800,000 inhabitants, Gothenburg (370,000) and Malmo (205,000). There were 13,500 miles of main roads and 35.000 miles of secondary roads.
Sweden's first serious bus services were started in about 1920, often using converted lorries. In 1923 regular services began in Stockholm, using British-made Vulcan buses, and in 1925 manufacture of bus chassis and bodies started in Sweden. By 1930 there were about 3,000 buses running, and some 5,000 by 1939. The bus fleet was greatly reduced during the war, but had now grown to 8,500, and was expected to reach 9,000 by 1960.
More Luxury Coaches
Most of them ran on regular services, hut the number of luxury touring coaches was increasing. About 60 per cent, of the 8,500 was operated by members of the Swedish Union of Public Transport. The largest operator was the State Railways, with 1,576 buses and coaches used on suburban, inter-urban and rural services all over Sweden. Two other railways had a fleet of 450, and the Post Office worked 240 Royal Mail coaches on Tong routes in the north.
Stockholm had 600 motorbuses and 173 trolleybuses, Gothenburg 165 motorbuses and 19 trolleybuses, and Malmo 60 motorbuses. The number of private cars in Sweden had doubled since 1950, and bus operators were carrying fewer passengers.
All Swedish buses today were twoaxled, but three-axled and articulated types had been operated experimentally. No double-deckers had ever been owned. Maximum legal axle weights were 5, 6, 7 or 8 tons, according to road conditions, but Stockholm had 200 buses which are allowed 10 tons if they kept to selected routes, In calculating axle weights. all passengers were counted as weighing 154 lb.
Buses were usually 7 ft. 7 in. wide, although 8 ft. was allowed in some towns, and operators were pressing for efficial sanction for a width of 8 ft, 6 in.
1530 Regulations regarding: overall length were not strict, and buses more than 40 ft. long were in service, although 34 ft. was more usual.
Most urban and suburban, buses carried conductors, but one-man operation was usual on rural services. Twoman buses usually had rear entrances and front exits. The pay-as-you-enter system, with a seated conductor, was introduced during the war and was now fairly general.
The rule of the road was to the left, as in Britain, and all buses had righthand drive, although left-hand drive was usual on other vehicles. Nearly all buses had front engines, but they normally had full-width fronts and no bulkheads, engine covers being insulated against heat and noise. There were no half-cabs.
A shortage of suitable employees and repeated wage increases had caused an extension of one-man operation. Fr this system it was best to have the entrance ahead of the front axle, which was not possible with a forward engine.
Hence both underfloor and rear transverse engines had been adopted, the former at Gothenburg and Malmo, and the latter at Stockholm in 200 Metropol buses.
The Metropol was made at Sodertalje, Sweden, by A/B Scania-Vabis, under licence from the American Mack com pany, who designed it. It was 40 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, with a 22-ft. 71-in.
wheelbase, and carried 48 seated passengers and 32 standing. This type has been in service two years, chiefly in the outer suburbs, as a one-man bus.
A further 200 buses were now on order for Stockholm city service, for either one-man or two-man operation.
Of these. 180, known as the Capitol [illustrated on page 749 of this issue], would be similar to the Metropol, but only 35 ft. long and with 36 scats. The other 20 were being built by A/B Volvo, of Gothenburg, with an underfloor engine. Both types had Bendix power-assisted steering and torque converter.
Most bodies were, said Mr. Hammarskjold, built in Sweden, few being imported. Stockholm did, how-, ever, purchase sonic complete Leyland bodied Tigers in 1928, which ran until quite recently, and one had been reconditioned and preserved in a museum.
Swedish bodywork had always been of a high standard, and was expotted extensively. Composite construction had given way to metal framework, and the latest designs incorporating stress panels had enabled lighter bodies, and hence lighter chassis, to be evolved. In some cases reduction of weight had gone too far, involving higher maintenance costs.
l'he Metropol was of fully integrated construction, and all parts combined in resisting loads and stresses, the framework being of shaped steel channel. The results were excellent, as the whole was designed by one manufacturer, thus avoiding all problems and disputes that arose when the chassis was bought from one concern and the body was built elsewhere.
Swedish buses were maintained to last 12 to 15 years, consistent with full safety, but the point had still not been reached where vehicles were so reliable that no failures occurred in service.
Stockholm opened one garage for 250 buses in 1932 and another of the same size in 1939. Each had a separate maintenance department adjacent. As buses passed through these departments, specified routine work was carried out according to time-and-motion study schedules. To avoid engine exhaust being emitted, conveyors automatically moved the buses step by step at sixminute intervals.
Every 1,800 Miles
Overhaul I was performed each night and comprised washing, interior cleaning, refuelling, topping up and tyre checking.
Overhaul 11 was carried out by day every 1,800 miles, and included lubrication and mechanical and electrical inspection. The oil was changed every 3,600 miles, and other jobs were done at 5,400 or 7,200 miles. Major units were ieplaced by reconditioned spares at predetermined mileages.
Engines now ran 186,000 miles between overhauls, axles 124,000 miles, gearboxes and clutches 75,000 miles. and dynamos and compressors 62,000 miles. The use of high-grade lubricants had greatly increased the life of units. For example, pistons were changed every 37,000 miles in 1939 and complete engines every 112,000 miles. Today a piston lasted for 75,000 miles in a 1950 engine, but the newest type of eightcylindered direct-injection engine would run the full 186.000 miles without any replacement of pistons or liners.
At this figure, which represented five years of running, the whole bus had a major overhaul. Work was concentrated chiefly on the body. to bring it back to new condition, because the chassis had been kept in a good state by the replacement of units.