On the evening of 4th March our most ambitious bus to date joined the ranks of CBNW - at least for a month - a former Go Ahead "London Central" bendybus! The bus is on loan for a 1-month evaluation trial which, if successful, may result in us purchasing further examples for a new project. Many of you will know that the Bendybuses were seen as the answer to 100% floor accessibility coupled with speed of boarding in central London and around 350 of these £250k+ buses were introduced between 2002 and 2005, some replacing the traditional Routemaster. However, politics dictated their long term operation in the city and by December 2011 they had all been withdrawn, some with just over 100,000 miles on the clock!
Ex-Go Ahead MAL49 (reg BD52LNF) will not be used in passenger service during the trial period but the superb condition of the bus will be appropriate for its intended use.
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| MAL49 captured at Victoria on route 436 during its relatively short service life with Go-Ahead London Central. |
