12/02/2007
- Fleet of 15-metre wheelchair-accessible vehicles part of £11million order
- “Green” coaches can carry as many passengers as 13 fully-loaded cars
- Passengers in Scotland first to benefit from new 45-vehicle investment
Britain’s longest coaches are to take to the road later this month following an £11million investment by Stagecoach Group.
Manufacturers Volvo and Plaxton are supplying 45 state-of-the-art 15-metre (50ft) coaches for the market-leading budget travel service megabus.com and inter-city coach operator Scottish Citylink.
Designed to carry as many passengers as 13 fully-loaded cars and three metres (10ft) longer than a traditional coach, the first of the vehicles was delivered to Stagecoach’s headquarters in Perth today (12 February 2007).
Passengers in Scotland will be the first to experience the new state-of-the-art coaches when they go into operation later this month.
All of the new 65-seat vehicles, the first of their kind to be manufactured in the UK, will be on the road by the end of May 2007.
Fitted with seatbelts, air-conditioning and toilets, the coaches are fully accessible and have a special lift for wheelchair passengers. They have a special rear-steering tag axle for greater manoeuvrability and also feature environmentally-friendly Euro IV engines with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology.
Passengers in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Perth will be among the first to travel on the new coaches. The new vehicles will also be used on routes linking London, Manchester, Newcastle, Preston, Sheffield, Cwmbran, Cardiff, Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol.
Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: “This new investment will provide a further step-change in the quality of service for inter-city coach customers in the UK.
“We believe it will help attract more people from cars and low-cost airlines and on to coaches. They offer excellent convenience and value for money, and are the greener way to travel.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact Steve Stewart, Head of Media and Public Affairs, Stagecoach Group, tel 01738 442111 or 07764 774680.
NOTES TO EDITORS
- High-resolution images of the new vehicles are available on request.
- megabus.com operates a network of services covering nearly 40 major locations in the UK and carries around 2 million passengers a year.
- megabus.com booking, timetable and departure/arrival point information is available at www.megabus.com. All megabus.com reservations are subject to a 50p booking fee.
- Scottish Citylink is Scotland’s leading provider of express coach services. Each year, its fleet coaches transports more than 3 million passengers to more than 200 destinations in Scotland.
