Here's a flexible business proposition
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A husband-and-wife operation in Cheshire has acquired an unusual addition to its small fleet. The newcomer has been specially built to carry disabled passengers in their wheelchairs yet is neither ambulance nor welfare bus. It is, in fact, a normal, commercially operated psv, but its dual nature makes for a number of interesting passenger permutations
THE International Year of the Disabled (1981) saw the launching of a number of initiatives to improve public transport for the disabled and the handicapped, most of which involved voluntary organisations adapting vehicles to meet the exclusive needs of the disabled.
One project that pre-dated these initiatives has resulted in a new midicoach joining the small fleet of a husband-and-wife operation in Lymm, Cheshire.
To all intents and purposes, Linleys of Lymm's new Dodge is an ordinary coach in an ordinary fleet. It is suitable for any job requiring a luxurious 21-seat coach. There is, however, more to this coach than meets the eye, for it was specially built for Linlays by P & J Fretwell Ltd of Manchester and has been certified for the carriage of disabled passengers in wheelchairs. Its unusualness lies in the fact that it is in no way an ambulance or a welfare bus but a normal, commercially operated psv.
Linleys of Lymm was established five years ago by Joan and Tony Linley. It operates two pm, 12-seat Ford Transits and four non-psv seven-seat Ford Transits equipped to carry passengers in wheelchairs from homes to school. These vehicles have Ratcliffe wheelchair lifts, fitted by P &J Fretwell.
Joan Linley had for some time been aware of the needs of the disabled for Conventional coach services and two years ago decided to buy a dual-purpose vehicle that could cater for disabled people. She soon learnt that such a vehicle was unobtainable and, at that time, uncertifiable.
She wrote to her local MP, Mark Carlyle, who contacted the Secretary of State for Transport, Norman Fowler, and reported back to Mrs Linley that a pm, adapted to carry passengers in their wheelchairs could be certified under a special dispensation.
Her troubles were not over yet for she could not find a bodybuilder to build a coach to meet her specific requirements, though she was offered welfare buses adapted for licences as psvs.
The idea was then discussed with Percy Fretwell of P & J Fretwell and John Burley at the Department of Transport. Plans were drawn up and the Linleys bought a suitable chassis for the project. The new coach at last began to take shape.
Working to Construction and Use Regulations and a newly issued Department of Transport code of practice, the 11-strong workforce at P & J Fretwell in Manchester enthusiastically set about building the first ever Fretwell coach.
The company mainly fits and maintains tail-lifts in commercial vehicles and wheelchair lifts to bus and coaches.
When I spoke to Percy Fretwell, he told me that he had looked at the possibility of adapting an existing body from another manufacturer but floor widths and heights had decided him against it.
His design incorporates a flat floor that slopes gently to the front to give as low and wide as possible an entrance. A plugtype door is included at the twostep front entrance. An electrohydraulic wheelchair lift is an integral part of the Linwell design, but when not required is inconspicuous.
Seating from Transport Seating of Birmingham was chosen. Two special wheelchair restrainers were designed to allow two wheelchair passengers to be carried in place of the last two nearside double seats. To satisfy the Department of Code of Practice, the wheelchair and passenger restraint unit was subjected to exhaustive testing.
After 18 months the Linwell was finished. It was certified and a DTp special order issued. I recently visited the Linleys to ins act the completed coach. amed ivy, by and after a atient at Warrington General ospital, the Linwell is attracre, well finished and eminently ractical without in any way Dpearing austere. The design lakes full use of the Dodge 50 aries scuttle and facia, which is 'ell integrated into both the ■ cterior and interior design of le coach.
I found the inside of the little )ach light and airy with good assenger and driver ventilaon. This is provided by top slidig windows on both sides of le coach together with two :andard Duple roof vents. The odge 50 series heating system ; supplemented by two underoor heaters angled to ensure let the heat is evenly distriuted to all passengers.
The light, grey floor covering ; easy to sweep and clean. In ddition to sloping gently to the .ont to give a low entrance, the oor is completely flat with no /heel boxes intruding. Only a ellow line painted on the edgig of the wheelchair platform hows where the lift is located. The covering is of a special iaterial marketed as "Altro", 60hich gives a hard wearing and ion-slip surface that remains ion-slip when wet. Interior sides
and trim are of a woodgrained laminate which is also used for boxes to house the first-aid kit and supplementary switches panel at the front of the saloon and the emergency manual chair lift control at the rear.
In its normal 21-seat format, the floor of the lift serves as part of the floor of the coach. Access to the lift is available through a slightly offset rear door, which is also the coach emergency exit. This door opens through 180 degrees within the width of the coach to give access to the chairlift.
When not in use, the ramp at the rear of the lift hangs down behind the door and acts as a buffer to guard against the lift being accidently lowered. When the rear door is opened and the lift in use, the ramp can be raised to serve as an emergency stop to make sure that the chairs of passengers cannot slip off the lift. When the lift is lowered, the leaning edge of the ramp can be hinged up to avoid crushing people's feet.
The two rearmost nearside seats are removable simply by undoing large butterfly nuts and lifting the seats and squabs out through the back door. The seat removal is most easily done with the lift in the lowered position. Once the seats are removed, the wheelchair restraints can be fitted. The Fretwell-designed restraints fit into Unwin clamps on the floor and ceiling of the saloon. Matching head and backrest seat units then fit on the restraint units to give a high standard of wheelchair passenger comfort. The wheelchair passengers can now enter the coach via the lift and their chair wheels can be clamped in place with Unwin wheelchair clamps.
The wheelchair passenger can enjoy similar standards of comfort and visibility to the passengers on the fixed seats. From the outside of the coach it is difficult to see if the passengers are seated on wheelchairs or seats.
The coach can carry 21 seated passengers, or 15 seated passengers and two wheelchair passengers, or 17 seated passengers and one wheelchair passenger. To change the configuration takes only about ten minutes. Wheelchairs or luggage can be carried in a locker built on the nearside of the vehicle. No interior luggage racks are fitted to the coach, though provision for their retrospective fitting has been included in the design.
The chassis under the Linwell is a Dodge S56 model from the 50 series range. It is powered by a 4.05 litre Perkins 6-cylinder engine that develops 6 7.5kw (90.5bhp) at 3,600 rpm and 2135nm (1,586Ibft) torque at 2,200rpm. The optional fivespeed all-synchromesh Dodge gearbox is used.
As a basis for a coach, the Dodge chassis offers a lively performance together with easy maintenance and a reasonable passenger ride (see the Dodge 50 Series Bus road test, CM May 22).
As the Linwell has an unladen weight of 4.068kg, the braking performance of the 556 chassis has been increased to the level of the heavier S66 model.
For the Linleys, the Linwell has beome the flagship of their fleet.
The coach is already well-known locally and in demand for a wide variety of jobs. Mr and Mrs Lin ley have even been asked to quote for a series of continental tours.
To the operator, the design offers a particularly flexible busi ness proposition. The coach could, for example, operate specialist contracts during the week and a combination of con ventional fixed-seat private hire, excursion and tour work in the evenings and weekends. Day tours could be marketed offering an important additional service for wheelchair-bound passengers.
The vehicle offers disabled people the chance to enjoy coach outings in comfort and ease without the problem of having to get out of the wheel chair and on to a seat. Trips can be made with able-bodied friends and relations without being the subject of special attention.
The coach allows leisure or public transport to cater for the disabled as part of a commercial psv operation. There is no need to rely on volunteers or commu nity groups and all passengers are protected by the quality requirements of psv operation — the coach is subject to annual testing and drivers are subject to drivers' hours regulations and must be properly qualified.
For hospitals and special schools or organisations the availablity of such vehicles re moves the need to maintain and run their own special vehicle or to rely on local authorities suffering from Government spending cuts.
If operators in all parts of the country added such a vehicle to their fleets, the market for midi coach operation would be extended and the transport oppor tunities for disabled people increased, with no extra burden on local or national funds.
Operators could also cater for some transport services currently being provided by the health service and retain a vehicle suitable for all types of operation.
• Noel Milner