Swift Swede on London-Glasgow route
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Martin Hayes
HIS MONTH has ' seen the droduetion of Volvo B58 aches with Alexender.M-type xlywork on the Glasgow to >ndon express service >erated by Western SMT. By Le end of this week the cornmy will be operating a total ' eight of this type of vehicle, hich are being run 'alongside Le extensive fleet of Bristol EMH coaches with similar )dies; these vehicles have en a distinctive feature ,of is service, and that opered by Eastern Scottish from linburgh, since 1969.
The 12m Volvos are identical 'appearance, with 42 reeling seats and a toilet. The new hides are being used at prent on the day service from asgow to London, the fastest any of the Scottish Bus oup's links between Scotland .d London.
LaSt week I had an oppornity to ride on one of the w Volvos from Glasgow 'to )ndon, a journey scheduled r 9 hours. One of the reasons 1G is buying the Volvos is at, although the Bristols have oved both economical and liable, they ere a little underwere& for this motorway -vice, while Volvo have a atively high power output of 172kW (230bhp).
The Bristols have semiautomatic transmission but the Volvos have 'been 'specified with the 'Standard five-speed synchromesh Volvo unit. This has apparently created few problems, especially as once in top on the motorway there is virtually no need to change gear.
Last Thursday when I rode on the service there was a wide range of climatic conditions in which to try the vehicle, ranging from a chilly morning in Glasgow with heavy rain to warm senshine and considerably higher temperatures at the 'southern end of the journey.
Disappointing
Arriving at Glasgow's Buchanan Street bus station in time for the 9.30am departure I was disappointed to see one of the main reasons for coaching's second class image. In the heavy rain passengers had to struggle across •a puddlestrewn, roughly 'surfaced area With no shelters, leave their luggage on the wet 'surface and queue to show their tickets while the driver examined each at the front of the vehicle. This certainly marred the smart impression which the vehicle gives both from the inside and the outside.
However, we left exactly on time and speedily cleared the traffic around Glasgow. Speeding along A74—the dual-carriageway road notorious for its accidents, including a serious one involving a coach recently —I enjoyed the good ride and feeling of security which the vehicle gave despite very gusty winds and continuous rain. Despite those conditions we reached the first Stop at Carlisle, seven minutes early at 11.23.
Having picked up two more passengers, 'bringing the total to 32 on our vehicle (the service was 'being operated by two Volvos that morning) we were back on the motorway quite quickly for the non-stop run to the lunch Stop at Charnock Richard service station. Arriving there 1.09pm passengers were 'again presented with a second-class facility.
From experience I do not think that that area is any worse than any of the other motorway services points. But its restaurant was nevertheless full, and its cafeteria produced, after a 15-minute wait, one of the worst meals I have ever experienced. No wonder that many of the obviously regular passengers, chiefly senior citizens and students, had brought their own refreshments along and ate them sitting on the coach.
This problem of suitable stopping points is one which leading coach operators would do well to look at. I wonder Whether there is any possibility of them jointly setting up some coach-only stopping places or at 'least persuading the service area managements to set aside sedtions of their facilities for passengers. As it was, the hour's stop at Charnock Richard was none too lengthy for those like Me who had to rely on getting a meal there.
Long leg
Leaving Charnock Richard at 2.10pm, the coach is not scheduled to stop again until reaching Victoria Station at 6.30pm. This seems a particu larly long leg for any driver, especially as the latter end of it involves crosSing London during the rush hour. As it was we reached the end of M1 at 5.24pm and despite heavy traffic dhecked in at Vidtoria coach station at 6.14pm. Total distance was 630km (391 miles) covered at an average speed (with stops) of 72km/h (45mph).
Single fare between Glasgow and London is now £5, less than half the Standard rail fare arid almost a quarter of the air fare. Despite this value for money there seems no reason Why passengers should have to put up with non-existent boarding facilities and an expensive meal of a Standard Which even British Rail could juStifiably claim never to offer.
Turning to the vehicle, there is, however, no doubt that the power of the Volvo shows up to good advantage over this route. Although the engine has been governed at about 2,100rpm—exactly corresponding to a 113km/h (70mph) maximum speed—there is still power in plenty for this route. When we road tested the B58 two years ago we cleared Shap on M6 without the speed falling to less than 1091un/h (68mph). The SBG coach, however, quite frequently dropped to the law 60s and even once or twice to less than 60. This was partly, I think, due to the governing of the engine and partly to the newness of the vehicle, which had covered less than 1600km (1000 miles) when the trip Started. When we tested the vhicle our main criticism of it was that the gearchange was prone to stick. I was interested to see therefore that the driver on the Glasgow Service obviously found the same.
There was very little mechanical noise reaching the passenger compartment, but once over 961cm/h (60mph) there was considerable Wind roar round the front. I was sitting in the front passenger seat, but passengers travelling farther back did not experience this and the rest of the vehicle seemed exceptionally quiet.
lt is unfortunate that wind noise was by no means the worst of the Alexanders body's failures. I have previously travelled on the M-Itype and remarked on its good design. These comments Still apply and it has, in my view, been unsurpassed by any British coachbuilder for express 'service work. However, the coach I travelled on last week, brand new from Alexander, was one of the worst finished bodies I have seen. Admittedly the 9.hr trip gives one plenty of time to search out weaknesses, but even so I did not expect to see water leaking under the doubleglazed window, a serious water leak on the inside of the windscreen, very poor demisting, a toilet which stopped working within a few miles of the start of the trip and some exceptionally poor detailed finish inside and sub-Standard paintwork outside. At .speed the passenger door vibrated and let a considerable amount of draught into the compartment.
As the driver said at the end of the trip, With a few detailed improvements, the vehicle would be first class—and that applies to the service too. However, it does seem that the untrained way in which the Volvo will cruise at high speed will make 'it very popular for this type of high-speed, longdistance operation. Preliminary results showed that a fuel consumption of about 3.54 to 3.7km/1 (10 to 10.5mpg) is likely compared with the 4.25 km/I (12mpg) returned by the Bristol. This penalty could well be offset by marginally improved schedules which would be possible if this service were operated entirely by Volvo's.