Autobus et autocars Mercedes-Benz : livres - histoire (2/2)

The Mercedes Benz Midibus

Ce livre aborde un aspect important de la fourniture de bus britanniques qui n'avait pas été entièrement documenté auparavant. Le Mercedes-Benz Midibus était peut-être petit, mais il a eu un impact énorme. Il est devenu très respecté par les ingénieurs de flotte et a bien rempli son rôle.
Cette histoire ne se limite pas à un véhicule à succès, elle se concentre sur plusieurs petites entreprises de carrosserie qui se sont hissées au premier plan de l'industrie manufacturière britannique, grâce au travail de leurs concepteurs, artisans et vendeurs. La variété offerte par le Mercedes-Benz Midibus était tout à fait remarquable !

Caractéristiques

The London Bendy Bus

Between 2002 and 2006 six of London's bus companies put into service 390 articulated 'bendy' buses on twelve routes for transport in London.

During what turned out to be a foreshortened nine years in service, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro G buses familiar on the continent and worldwide earned an unenviable reputation in London; according to who you read and who you believed, they caught fire at the drop of a hat, they maimed cyclists, they drained revenue from the system due to their susceptibility to fare evasion, they transported already long-suffering passengers in standing crush loads like cattle and they contributed to the extinction of the Routemaster from frontline service. In short, it was often referred to as 'the bus we hated'.

This account is an attempt by a long-time detractor of the bendy buses to set the vehicles in their proper context - not quite to rehabilitate them, but to be as fair as is possible towards a mode of transport which felt about as un-British as could be.

Caractéristiques

Abschied vom Standard-1-Bus : Die letzten Standard-Linienbusse der ersten Generation im Einsatz

From the end of the 1960s to the 1990s, the first generation of standard buses dominated local public transport in the Federal Republic of Germany. They have long since been phased out by the large urban and municipal transport companies, but some private bus companies still rely on the robust Standard 1 buses from the manufacturers MAN, Mercedes Benz and Magirus - mostly for school transport.

However, due to the trend towards modern low-floor buses, air-conditioned vehicles and increasingly strict environmental regulations, the number of Standard 1 buses still in use in Germany has fallen rapidly in recent years. The foreseeable end of this generation of buses in scheduled services is therefore a reason to dedicate the first volume of the "tadtverkehr-Bildarchiv" book series to the Standard 1 buses.

Climb aboard and accompany us on our trip through Germany to the last examples of the MB O 305/O 305 G and O 307, MAN SL 200 and SÜ 240 types as well as several other Standard 1 models that have now become real rarities.

Caractéristiques