Big bus boost
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The double-deck market received another boost this week with the placing of an order for 36 high-capacity doubledeckers by Lothian Region Transport.
Lothian has chosen Leyland Olympian 10.3 metre chassis, which will be bodied by Walter Alexander. Chassis deliveries will start in January and the first complete vehicles will be delivered in March.
Lothian's managing director Charles Evans says the order represents a substantial investment in the future of public transport in the region, and is a statement of faith in the use of double-deck buses for mass urban transport. He adds that minibuses simply couldn't cope with the volume of passengers in the centre of Edinburgh.
The order will provide a boost for Scottish industry as bodybuilder Walter Alexander is based in Falkirk, and the buses will be powered by Cummins LIO engines manufactured by Shotts in Lanarkshire.
The new buses have 83 seats and are designed to take 11 standing passengers, subject to Department of Transport approval. Evans plans to order up to 30 more doubledeckers early next year. • The European version of the MCW Metrorider will be on display at the Bus and Coach Council exhibition next month and will soon be available in this country.
It will be offered in Britain in its wider European form (2.35m as opposed to 2.2m) for luxury coach applications. MCW says the full range of Metroriders should be available early next year.
• The engineering group Laird, which owns the PSV and taxi builder MetroCammell Weytnann, has announced profits of £14.7 million for the half-year to 30 June — an increase of 9% on the previous year.