Bluestar unveils Enviro400 trio

Go-Ahead-owned Bluestar has added three new ADL Enviro400 MMC double-deckers to its fleet. The operator unveiled them with Southampton City Cllr Steve Leggett, cabinet member for green city and place. The councillor praised the investment in new low-emission buses, as well as the operator’s commitment both to the long-term transport needs of Southampton and the council’s vision of a cleaner, healthier city. Over the past five years, the company has added 111 new vehicles to its fleet.

Bluestar MD, Andrew Wickham, said: “It is particularly pertinent that we unveiled these low emissions vehicles at one of the city’s newly introduced bus lanes.

“The decision by Southampton City Council to embrace green and efficient public transport – including the introduction of the new bus lanes – will help to ensure services are frequent, reliable, and well-used here.

“This, in turn, leads to further investment in new and cleaner buses for the city. This particular expenditure was made prior to lockdown, and we are pleased to be introducing the vehicles to our customers in Southampton now. One positive to come from the past four months, is that the area’s congestion has greatly reduced.

“This is a chance for us to build on that. We want to encourage local people to leave their cars at home and travel on sustainable transport with the government continuing to ease lockdown.

“These double decker buses represent more than £500K investment and have the potential to take a number of cars off the road – even whilst social distancing measures are in place. Not only do they offer additional comfort for our passengers – with comfy ‘coach’ style seats, tables on the upper deck, and on-board technology like USB charging points and contactless payment facilities – they are greener than ever. “Our team is very much looking forward to welcoming people on-board as they travel to work, shops and to social occasions.”