Bus garage

Bus garage

A bus garage or bus depot is a type of garage where buses are stored. Many bus garages are on the sites of former car barns or tram sheds, where streetcars or trams were stored, and the operation transferred to buses.

Most bus garages will contain the following elements:
*Internal parking
*External parking
*Fueling point
*Fuel storage tanks
*Engineering section
*Inspection pits
*Bus wash
*Brake test lane
*Staff canteen/break room

Smaller garages may contain the minimum engineering facilities, restricted to light servicing capabilities only. Garages may also contain recovery vehicles, often converted buses, although their incidence has declined with the use of contractors to recover break-downs, and the increase in reliability.

Overnight, the more valuable or regularly in-service buses will usually be stored in the interior of the garage, with less used or older service vehicles, and vehicles withdrawn for storage or awaiting disposal, stored externally. During the day, internal and external areas will see a variety of movements.

Often garages will feature rest rooms for drivers assigned to 'as required' duties, whereby they may be required to drive relief or replacement buses in the event of breakdown. The garage may also have 'light duties' drivers, who merely move the buses internally around the garage, often called shunting.

Several bus companies such as London Buses and Lothian Buses used to operate multiple storage garages around their operating area, supplemented by a central works facility. Central works have declined with increase in sub-contract engineering, and imrovements in mechanical reliability of bus designs. Also, the practice of routine mid-life refurbishment of bus fleets has declined.

Some bus companies also make use of outstations (or out-stations), as an additional bus storage facility. These are generally outdoor parking locations, where buses are stored overnight or between peaks, which are more conveniently located for operations, reducing dead mileage. Incidents of vandalism and a general reduction in services has seen their decline in the UK.

Bus garages will often have high roofs, especially for storage of double-decker buses. Recently in London, the transfer of routes from double-decker operation to articulated buses has caused problems at some garages that were found to be subsequently too small to accommodate all the replacement buses, requiring splitting of allocations, or the building of new garages.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage — was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of applying avant garde… …   Wikipedia

  • Dalston Bus Garage — was a bus depot in Dalston, London, England. This garage closed in 1981 and was demolished, the site now containing housing. History A former barracks, Dalston Garage (coded D) was opened as a bus garage by the London General Omnibus Company in… …   Wikipedia

  • Garage — may refer to:;Clothing: *Garage (clothing), US/Canadian retailer for girls.;Vehicles: *Automobile repair shop, where vehicles are serviced and repaired. *Parking and storage : **Parking garage, a building serving as a public parking facility.… …   Wikipedia

  • Bus depot — has the following meanings: *A bus station is a structure where buses pick up and drop off passengers. *A bus garage is a place where buses are stored when not in use …   Wikipedia

  • Garage pour bus de Bakhmétevsky — Intérieur du garage de bus de Bakhmétevsky. Structure conçue par Vladimir Choukhov ; organisation du rez de chaussée par Constantin Melnikov. 1929, Moscou …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bus depots of the New York City Transit Authority — The sticker on this bus, below the MTA logo, indicates that it belongs to the West Farms Depot. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and its subsidiary, the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), operates local… …   Wikipedia

  • Bus garages in London — Every garage operating services that form part of the London Bus network is given an official London Bus garage code. Such codes are given not only to garages running London Bus contracts, but also to those running commercial bus services under… …   Wikipedia

  • Bus terminus — A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus… …   Wikipedia

  • Bus station — Kamppi Centre is the largest underground bus station in Europe[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Bus — This article is about Road vehicles designed to carry passengers. For longer distance passenger vehicles, see Coach (vehicle). For other uses, see Bus (disambiguation). An Arriva double decker bus, running route 102 on the London Buses network …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”