(14/3/2015) Go-Ahead London PVL115 Volvo B7TL - Route 474 - Canning Town to Manor Park

PVL115 (W415WGH) was thrashing with few stops from Canning Town to North Woolwich on route 474 - its routine duty since the end of 2014. The road leading to London City Airport is long and straight, providing opportunities for buses to thrash - which they can hardly do in Central London. External mic was used for better sound quality.
B7TLs are commonplace in London, but a B7TL with a CENTRAL STAIRCASE is not! PVL115 is currently the ONLY bus in regular TfL service that still has a central staircase - an obsolete layout in the wheelchair-accessible era. Moreover, as of today, PVL115 is the ONLY double decker active in regular TfL service to have its wheelchair space on the LEFT, as DLA173 & DLA207 are out of service for more than a week. It is also the oldest PVL in regular TfL service.
Its seating arrangement in the lower saloon is brilliant - 6 seats are provided in the step-free area (2 seats more than that in ALX400-bodied counterparts with central staircase), and the reclining angle of seats on rear wheel arch is generous.
But the layout in the upper saloon is peculiar - 3 pairs of face-to-face double seats and 13 hard-as-rock padded seats are fitted on the rear of the upper deck, as seen in the beginning of the video. I wonder if the designer of this layout had ever thought of the passengers' comfort.
Thank you for watching. Feel free to leave any comments! (Sorry for the abrupt beginning and end of the video due to technical difficulties.)

[@Emanuel-sx5wv]

This is amazing! Brings me back to my childhood. Thank you!

[@solomontetteh]

Every volvo chassis bus seems to have the rear window on one side

[@BusesinLondon345]

To accommodate the engine

[@TLBNation]

1:35 also I love how I can see the view of the O2 in Greenwich :)

[@LE1GHDG]

This is childhood in many ways, that Volvo engine, Voith transmission and the centre staircase layout of buses of the time. Definitely miss these on my local 280.

[@DanielsUKT]

I loved the 474 when it was go ahead and the endless mix of veichles

[@rahan573]

Yeah, stagecoach made 474 a boring route.

[@LondonTransport466]

0:20 Probably the worst seats that have ever graced a modern London bus. Wonder how the hell that got approved... Still, a wonderful little trip down memory lane!

[@thelittlecarrotwhocould2569]

Never even seen a centre staircase on a B7TL before. Seen it plenty with Dennis Tridents but not with Volvo's. Weird oddity

[@TLBNation]

Wish I could ride on them once again London is becoming boring with brand new BYD buses in service

[@will_n775]

Fr

[@lukeyboi2302]

Sounds like a mix between a B7TL and a Volvo Olympian Alexander RL

[@thischannelisdisused5841]

I love these buses with euro 3 voith bt7l

[@thischannelisdisused5841]

***** whats the diffrence

[@HarryOfficialChannel]

+London buses 339 Not much really. The engines sound almost identical, but the euro 3 versions will be more environmentally friendly

[@thischannelisdisused5841]

The Official Harry R Channel it sounds the same but the euro 3 has a louder voith

[@HarryOfficialChannel]

+London buses 339 different gearbox options are often chosen for different emission standards. For example the difference between euro5 and euro 6 E20Ds

[@thischannelisdisused5841]

The Official Harry R Channel yeah A lot of routes in my area have euro 6 flywheel enviro 200s I have some videos of them on my channel

[@JamesPetts]

This route passes near to where I live.

[@Umtiti1]

There are Still 1-3 Left on District line rail replacement Service A But Not In go ahead livery The only genimi 1's on 474 is LX06EAO ANd LF52ZNG LX06EAO Is Rare

[@CookieCft]

brilliant bus

[@ba1ake]

The phone at 1:00 is hilarious

[@theofficialgamerhd6385]

474 to Canning Town barking road -manor park

[@Jallge]

Unfortunately this has now been scrapped by EnsignBus following an accident on the 29th of October.

[@FF3170]

+MrMaguire Sad to hear that. I had my last ride on PVL115 on 24 Oct, the same day of Romford Running Day. It turns out that I caught it on its last few days!

[@Jallge]

FF3170 I was actually planning to ride it a third time on October 30th. Obviously the accident put an end to that! From what I can tell, nobody has posted any photos of it post-accident. So, I have no idea how serious the accident damage was. PVL151 is now at Silverton Garage on route 474. Though its iBus does not work, so it doesn't show on LVF. Which is very helpful indeed!

[@spennyb8466]

This was intended for a hybrid project that failed due that accident and got written off (Correct me if I am wrong)

[@HugoCheung_8652]

engine code?

[@TrainsAndBusesAroundNELondon25]

What do you mean by engine code, this bus is scrapped

[@HugoCheung_8652]

@@TrainsAndBusesAroundNELondon25 i ment what engine does this b7tl use

[@TrainsAndBusesAroundNELondon25]

@@HugoCheung_8652 a Euro 3 b7tl engine

[@TrainsAndBusesAroundNELondon25]

With a voith gearbox

[@HugoCheung_8652]

@@TrainsAndBusesAroundNELondon25 ofc is b7tl, but which engine?