Double decker
From Free net encyclopedia
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A double-decker is a bus, aeroplane, train, tram, ferry or any public transit vehicle that has two levels for passengers, one deck above the other. The term can also refer to a sandwich with three layers of bread and two fillings.
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Bus
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Double-decker buses are taller than other buses. They are extensively used in the United Kingdom, where perhaps the most famous is the Routemaster used in London, which is now being phased out (as of 2005). Elsewhere in Europe, double-deckers are used throughout the Dublin Bus network and some Bus Éireann routes in Ireland, where they are making a comeback on Dublin's outer suburban routes (e.g. Dublin-Navan) and also the streets of Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
Most of the buses in Hong Kong and about half in Singapore are double-deckers as well. The only areas in North America that use double-decker buses for its public transport are the western Canadian province of British Columbia and The United States city of Las Vegas. The city of Davis, California, in the United States also uses vintage double decker buses for public transport run by Unitrans. Unitrans is affiliated with the University of California, Davis, and has run these buses since 1968. Davis, California is also home to the first vintage double decker bus converted from diesel gasoline to run on CNG. The city of Victoria, BC as well as a couple others use Dennis Tridents. A few are also used as tour buses, especially in New York. Double deckers are also present in Mumbai, operating since 1937.
In Brazil, where buses are sometimes the only available transportation device for interstate routes, some companies use double-decker buses (Like the ones that Viação Cometa uses in the route between the cities of Campinas and Rio de Janeiro). Although, considering that double deckers are not a good option for use outside rodovias (Most of the tracks available in Brazil are in very poor condition), their use is being discouraged by transportation authorities.
Double-decker buses are in widespread use in India in many of the major metropolises. Most of the buses are local derivatives of either Roadmaster or Leyland.
Some double-decker buses have an open upper deck, with no roof and shallow sides. These are popular for sightseeing tours.
Airplane
Many early seaplane airliners, such as the Boeing 314 Clipper and Short Sandringham, had two decks for passengers. Following World War II, a double-decked derivative of the B-29 Superfortress called the Stratocruiser became popular with airlines around the world.
For years the most popular – and only – double-deck airliner in service was the Boeing 747, though the top deck is smaller than the main level. The new Airbus A380, however, has two decks extending the full length of the airplane.
Train
Because of the standard height of tunnels and overhead power wires, many double-deck trains set the bottom deck lower down between the trucks (bogies in UK and Australiasian parlance). Usually the entrance doors of the train are above the bogies, though, and there is only one deck at the entance area. From there one can go upstairs or downstairs. For example, for the DD-IRM (see below) it is one step up from the station platform to the entrance platform, and from there seven steps up or four steps down. Some double decker trains, however, have their entrance doors on the lower level and no steps are needed when seated on the lower deck even though the train is only single decker above the bogies.
France runs double-deck cars on heavily loaded high-speed TGV services and commuter lines such as the Paris suburban RER. The French loading gauge dictates that the double-deck cars are really split level with a maximum height of 4200 mm or 13'-9.35".
Image:Go Train 046.jpg Image:GermanDoubledecker.jpg Other double-deck railcars do not have a full upper deck but on the left and on the right a gallery, each with a row of single seats. An example is the bilevel cars provided and leased in the U.S. by Midwest Transportation & Development Corporation of Chicago. They are of a design proven in service and steadily refined since their introduction in the 1950s. These cars, known as "bilevel gallery cars", are among the most successful designs developed, and are currently in daily use in Chicago, San Francisco, and Montreal (Agence métropolitaine de transport). They provide high capacity (155 to 169 passengers each) and use standard, off-the-shelf components, without relying on proprietary, expensive and hard-to-get replacement parts. Chicago's commuter rail system Metra is currently receiving new versions of these cars and CalTrain, the San Francisco area commuter rail authority, has recently overhauled its fleet of bilevel gallery cars.
Another advantage of bilevel gallery cars is the relatively low first step of the vestibule entrance to the car, which is 14 5/8" (371 mm) above the head of the rail. The advantage of this design feature is that commuter rail operators do not have to spend scarce funds on building high-level platforms; rather, a low-level platform is all that is necessary, at a far lower cost.
Other designs, including rolling stock made by Colorado Railcar Manufacturing, Budd, Pullman-Standard, Bombardier (Toronto (GO Transit) ) and others, house the entrance on the lower deck rather than an intermediate level. Amtrak Superliners are double-decker cars of this variety, housing the entrance about a step or so up from the lowest station platform level, or at the level of slightly higher platforms, and allowing passage from car to car through the upper corridors of the train.
In some countries such as the United Kingdom, the railway system can not accommodate double-deck trains. The north eastern US can only accommodate split level (double deck) cars provided that these cars are no higher than 14'-6" or 4420 mm. These double deckers run on the Long Island Rail Road: [1]: and on New Jersey Transit: [2]: (contact Bombardier Transportation: [3]) because the loading gauge is too small (i.e. bridges, tunnels, etc. are too low). An intermediate form of two-level seating arrangement has been tried in Britain (the Southern Railway's 4DD class electric multiple units), where the bottoms of the upper seats are above the heads of the people on the lower level, but the feet of the people above are not, see [4].
Double-deck trains often have curved windows upstairs. In the evening and in tunnels this causes a distorting mirror effect.
In Finland, VR started operating double decker sleeping cars on Feb 1, 2006. The 2-bed cabins on the upper deck have toilets and showers while the cabins on the lower deck use shared ones. VR also operates double decker Inter City trains with in-seat power supplies for laptops.
In India, the Indian Railways operates intercitiy trains between Mumbai and Surat, and Mumbai and Pune .
In the Netherlands, there are two types of double-deck trains, the DDM and the DD-IRM, also called Regiorunner: see Trains in the Netherlands.
In Spain several lines of Cercanías (Renfe's commuter rail service) use double-deck trains.
All electric commuter trains in Sydney are double deck. They all have two doors per side per carriage, with a vestibule at each end at platform height. Well-known examples of these trains are the Tangara and Millennium trains. The Sydney double deck commuter trains are 14'-4.5" or 4380 mm high.
In intermodal freight transport, many modern types of container cars are designed to accommodate "double-stacking."
Cable Car (Aerial Tramway)
Main article: Aerial tramway
The double-deck Vanoise Express cable car carries 200 people in each cabin at a height of 380 m (1250') over the Ponturin gorge.
Tram
Main article double decker tram
There are also double-deck trams. Hong Kong Tramways is the only tram company that operates double-deck trams exclusively. As with the buses and trolleybuses, double-deck versions are almost twice as tall as the others.
Double deckers also operate in Blackpool. Until the 1950s double-deck trams were more common in the United Kingdom. Some can still be seen at the National Tramway Museum.
From 1910 to 1964, double decker trams were in use in Mumbai.
Bridge
The term double-decker is also used for bridges with two road levels, for example the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge have six lanes on the upper decks. On the lower decks there are two lanes and a pair of tracks for trains (the MTR metro).
Tunnel
Some tunnels are double-deck, for example the Eastern Harbour Crossing in Hong Kong, where roads and rails (the MTR metro) occupy different decks of the tunnel.
The first double-decked tunnel ever built with both decks for motor vehicles is the Fuxing Road Tunnel in Shanghai, China. Cars travel on the two-laned upper deck and heavier vehicles on the single-lane lower.
Double decker trailer
A double decker trailer is a two level trailer with living quarters in it. When travelling the trailer is only as high as a regular trailer, but when setup it increases in height to two full levels. Built by Jexcar and others, and used in motion picture production as portable dressing rooms.
See also
Elevator
A double-deck elevator is an elevator with two elevator cars attached on top of each other. This increases passenger capacity while occupying less building core space.
Food-related meanings
Double Decker is a brand of chocolate bar from Cadbury UK.
See also
- Passenger car
- Dome car
- Transport
- Double Decker Bus & Tours
- British Columbia Transit
- Jexcar
- Trailer (vehicle)
- travel trailerde:Doppelstockwagen
fr:Duplex ja:2階建車両 nl:Dubbeldekstrein no:Dobbeltdekker (kjøretøy) sv:Dubbeldäckare