Revised Metrorider for Continent
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• Optare plans to launch a revamped version of the five-yearold Metrorider on the Continent next year.
The most significant change to the design, which was bought from the now-defunct MCW in 1989, is to the back. The roof will be squared off at the rear and the Delta's lights will be used. Changes to the front include a new bumper and enlarged destination screen. "It will be an evolution for the Metrorider rather than a revolution," says Optare managing director Russell Richardson.
"When we bought the Metrorider from MCW we tidied it up. We didn't want to spend too much money on it until we knew there would be enough demand to justify it," says Richardson.
He hopes to sell around 20 of the seven metre and 8.4m units on the Continent in the first year and is aiming for 25% of Metrorider production to be for overseas. Two Metroriders have been sold abroad so far by Optare — to Norway.
Optare is also considering bringing an ultra-low-floor bus to the UK.
"We do not expect to see much interest in low-floor buses in the next year or two. Companies are concentrating on survival tactics now and are unlikely to be in a position to pay the extra price for such vehicles," says Richardson. "If somebody decides they would like to invest in low-floor buses we could make them available," Richardson does not expect initial demand to justify Optare designing a body for one of its sister chassis. Instead it looks likely that the two-year-old Alliance integral from sister company Den Oudsten will be made available in right-hand-drive.