The bendy-bus - Edinburgh's flexible friend?

But, despite boasting almost double the capacity of conventional vehicles, so-called "bendy-buses" have failed to make any lasting impression in the UK.

Now Lothian Buses is testing one of the articulating 18-metre-long "trams on rubber tyres" - with company chiefs predicting they will revolutionise transport in the Capital.

If a trial currently under way on a route in the west of the city proves successful, officials believe they could even provide an alternative to the doomed Tram Line 3 - which was put on hold following the "no" vote in last week’s road-tolls referendum.

The 210,000 vehicle, which is seven metres longer than an average bus, has been turning heads along Route 26 from St Andrew Square to Drum Brae South.

Over the next month, passengers on the new bus will be quizzed on how they rated their journey before a decision is made on whether to purchase some for the council-owned company’s 600-strong fleet.

If feedback is positive, it is understood the firm could fork out about 4 million for at least 20 of the vehicles.

The pilot project comes about 18 months after similar bendy-buses were introduced in London. Lothian Buses operations director Bill Campbell today said: "If you go to virtually any European capital, you will find bendy-buses, but they’ve been a bit alien in the UK until recently.

"The limiting factor of a single-decker is its carrying capacity, but in a bendy-bus you get a similar capacity to a double-decker and it can go more or less anywhere a rigid bus can go.

"I wouldn’t say it was a universal solution, but it could be a solution on specific routes."

Standard single-deck vehicles in the Lothian Buses fleet are about 11 metres long and can hold 65 passengers - with a typical double-decker boasting room for 104 people. Each bendy-bus is capable of transporting up to 123 passengers and, because it pivots in the middle, is highly manoeuvrable despite its length.

But they contain just 48 seats - compared to 83 on the average double-decker - meaning the vast majority of users will be forced to stand up at busy times.

Mr Campbell added: "Edinburgh passengers have traditionally not been keen to stand but they work in London, so who is to say they won’t work here?"

The buses are said to easier for elderly and disabled people to board. They can be used on routes where low bridges or overhanging trees rule out double-deckers.

It is thought they would be ideal for "high-capacity" routes such as the 22 - which links Ocean Terminal and the Gyle.

Lothian Buses chief executive Neil Renilson today branded the bendy-buses as a "potential alternative to Tram Line 3".

That 198m route was designed to connect Princes Street with Newcraighall, serving Edinburgh University’s main campus, Cameron Toll, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Fort Kinnaird.

But Mr Renilson suggested that building additional guided busways - such as the mile-long Fast Link route in west Edinburgh - on a similar route to the proposed tram line may now be the best way forward.

He added: "In light of the congestion charging referendum result, there is going to have to be the development of cost-effective means of offering improvements in public transport at an affordable cost in Edinburgh.

"The articulated bus concept that we are trialling offers one potential way of delivering these improvements across a wide area of the city - with a particular emphasis on those areas which the trams will not serve.

"Bendy-buses present a modern image with the presence and appeal a traditional double-decker doesn’t have."

City council leader Donald Anderson described the vehicles as a "very attractive" option.

He added: "Lothian Buses has invested tens of millions of pounds in recent years on high quality buses and this is the next logical step.

"I would be perfectly happy to see them rolled out on the streets of Edinburgh."

UK travel operators slow to get on board

BENDY-BUSES have long been widely used in cities worldwide including Rome, Geneva, Prague, Bucharest and even Ottawa.

But, until recently, bus operators in Britain have been slow to embrace the vehicles on a major scale.

They have now been introduced in Aberdeen, London, York, Newcastle, Bath and Coventry and, earlier this month, Cardiff also began trialling bendy-buses.

In January, however, transport chiefs in Dublin scrapped plans to purchase any more of the distinctive vehicles. Dublin Bus purchased 20 of them in 2001, but concerns were later raised about their ability to negotiate the city’s narrow streets.

A probe was also launched when two bendy-buses in London were also destroyed by blazes within months of each other. Engine failures in the vehicles, which were built by German manufacturer Evo Bus, were blamed for the incidents - which occurred in December 2003 and February last year.