The Streetdeck vs The Gemini 3 - Which is better?

The Streetdeck vs The Gemini 3 - Which is better?

Background on the Gemini 3:

Back in late 2013 the Gemini 3 was born, initially on a Volvo B5TL chassis, there was only 4 ever in London, all of which were demonstrators and were the following:

V6 BF63HFE (Demonstrator for Go Ahead)

VGD1 BF63HDE (Demonstrator for Arriva)

VW1469 BF63HDG (Demonstrator for Metroline)

V6 (2) BJ14KTL (Second Demonstrator for Go Ahead)

Of these VGD1 & VW1469 remained in London after they finished their spells with Arriva and Metroline and headed off to Go Ahead by summer 2015 where they were renumbered WVL509 & 510.

The B5TLs were quickly followed with the B5LH hybrid equivalent, which saw no more B5TLs ordered as London was heading towards a more hybrid based fleet at the time. The first set of B5LHs to arrive was Stagecoach's 13001-13032 for Plumstead (PD) depot for their flagship route 53, this was quickly followed by Metrolines VWH2001-2023 for Perivale [East] garage, where they were destined for route 7. Between 2014-2015, 165 would be ordered,  for London, of this initial "Smiley" face Gemini 3s, in total the following number were ordered by each company:

94 by Metroline (VWH2001-2061/2088-2121)

28 by RATP Group (VH45124-45152)

32 by Stagecoach (13001-13032)

11 by Tower Transit (VH38101-38111)

VWH2088-2121 would be the final smiley face ones, for London, ordered early on in 2015 before the new facelifted version arrived, which have become nicknamed the "frog" face. The general consensus within the enthusiast community is these buses are much uglier than their early "smiley" face counterparts, which much more resembled the Gemini 2. Go Ahead would receive the first batch of these for Croydon (C) depot, mainly for routes 119 & 202. By the 2019 Wrightbus collapse (Although saved by Bamford, the Gemini 3 was soon discontinued) 796 of the "frog" face Gemini 3s had been delivered to London, 267 for Metroline, 212 for Arriva, 150 for RATP Group, 142 for Go Ahead & 25 for Tower Transit. This meant that in total 961 Gemini 3s (both "smiley" and "frog" faced" were roaming the streets of London. 

By early 2018 Go Ahead and Metroline stopped ordering from Wrightbus due to quality issues with the last sets of Gemini 3s each had delivered, this left RATP as the last buyer of these vehicles until collapse in 2019, final 2 Gemini 3s for London being VH45318-45319, which were ironically intended for a school route, the 681.

Background on the Streetdeck:

Not long after the introduction of the Gemini 3 was introduced in late 2013, the Streetdeck was revealed in late 2014. Now the bus looks exactly the same as the Gemini 3, and even started off with the "smiley" versions before moving to the "frog" face versions just like the Gemini 3 did, however, the bus was on a completely different chassis and also used a Daimler engine. The first one to emerge in London was demonstrator bus SW1 LK64DVV, which went to work at Wood Green (WN) this was followed by WSD1, which like its B5TL counterparts was also loaned to Camberwell (Q) for route 12, although it departed for South America in 2016, however has since returned to London and is currently on loan to HCT Group. Due to the shift in London from diesel to hybrid, there was never many diesel ones in London bar this demonstrator, with the only other batch to be bought being the later "frog" face versions for Garston (GR)s retain of route 340 in 2016, which saw the remaining London DLAs ousted from service by July/August 2016, SW1 joined this batch of 9 at Garston (GR) shortly before they arrived. After Garston (GR)s closure in 2018, these buses moved with route to Palmers Green AD, these days they are often seen on a route closer to the garage, generally the 329, due to the unreliable nature of the buses, with the 340 being further away meaning more can go wrong, the buses were even banned from the 340 for a time, however despite no longer being banned they still tend to stick to route 329, apart from occasional strays on route 102 as shown below:

SW2 LK16BYB by UBN Blog (VWH1414)

Following the short lived (In London anyway) diesel counterpart was the micro hybrid Streetdeck. The one and only batch were ordered in 2018 by Go Ahead for Merton (AL)s route 44. There was also a batch of HEV96 versions ordered by Tower Transit (LI) for the gain of routes 262 & 473 in 2019. There was also 2 demonstrators, WH45252 SK18TKY & HW100 SK68TNJ, of which HW100 was repossessed as part of the Wrightbus collapse in 2019 and later sold to CT Plus Yorkshire and WH45252 eventually left to join the Ensign fleet by 2021. In general these vehicles are unpopular for being so gutless and underpowered, much like their diesel counterparts over at Palmers Green (AD). 

Finally came the hydrogen Streetdeck in 2020, TfL funded route 7 to convert to hydrogen in 2020 with 20 WHDs being ordered, numbered WHD2708-2727, whilst being again quite underpowered at 112hp, these have received mixed reviews by enthusiasts, with some liking them and some disliking them. One thing that's for sure is they are allegedly disliked by drivers. Generally, however, they are stuck on the 7 which isn't notorious for being a fast route, the only other route they occasionally go on is route 245, as shown below:

WHD2726 LK70AZW by VP500 (VWH1414)

Personal Review:

Whilst I have yet to experience a micro hybrid or hydrogen Streetdeck, I have sampled the diesel examples SW1-10 many times at both Garston (GR) and Palmers Green (AD), and whilst SW1 initially showed promise, SW2-10 have proved to be very gutless, unreliable and all round slow vehicles. The overall collective opinion of other Streetdecks in London has also been not so good due to their underpowered nature. In comparison to the Streetdeck, the Gemini 3 definitely takes the crown of being a better bus, and in general can be hard to find a bad Gemini 3. Whilst it may be biased due to only riding the diesel Streetdecks, I'd give the following rating of each type:

Gemini 3 - 8/10

Streetdeck - 3.5/10

Notably operators seem to feel the same based off the lack of success the Streetdeck has seen in London compared to the Gemini 3. However it has to be said that the "frog" version of both vehicles is as ugly as each other, with the "Smiley" face definitely taking the crown of being the better looking vehicle.