Sparkling in the sunlight in Westbus’s Hayes-based yard was one of two Sunsundegui SC5 bodied Volvo B8Rs the operator has recently received. Tim Miles, MD of Westbus, was suitably pleased with the new additions to his fleet. “They are the smaller 38-seat coach, a little unusual maybe for us. But they have been made to […]
Back in 2012, organiser Wieland Stumpf staged the first-ever European tram driver championship (TRAM EM) to mark the 140-year anniversary celebrations of Dresden Transport. The concept proved so popular that it was subsequently staged annually in cities across Europe – and paved the way for a similar competition for bus drivers. The first-ever BUS EM […]
One of China’s key economic powerhouses and the country’s first ‘special economic zone,’ the city of Shenzhen is vast and continues to expand. Close to the border with Hong Kong – the former British colony is part of China, but run separately – it is officially home to 16m people. In reality the population may […]
Yutong currently has two manufacturing sites in Zhengzhou, both massive and both modern. Construction of the first began in 1998 (replacing Yutong’s original plant from 1964) and the second, known as the ‘New Energy’ plant was built in 2012. Covering 1.19 million cubic metres and 1.28m cubic metres respectively, they have a combined capacity of […]
It was fifth time lucky for Stagecoach East Scotland driver Ian Field as he took the title at the 52nd annual Bus Driver of the Year event in Blackpool. Previously, he had always finished in the top 20 and entered in 2018 for the first time after a four-year break, seeing it as, “a good […]
Fifteen years ago few people outside China had heard of the Yutong brand and hardly anyone in the UK recognised its potential. Today, the company is among the biggest manufacturers of buses and coaches in the world producing a total of 67,268 units of all sizes in 2017, taking a 30% share of the Chinese […]
Five years is not a long time in this industry. However, it has proved enough time for Birmingham-based Bouden Coach Travel to grow its operations expansively; increasing its fleet size from a single minibus to what it is now, at 12 vehicles in total. Readers may have noticed the operator has appeared in the Fleet […]
It says something about Connaught PSV, Ferqui, Iveco or the midicoach sector that Steve Peach is reporting sales of three Ferqui SRs every month. It’s certainly a buoyant sector at the moment, with high demand but competition from everything from rear-engined vehicles which are short versions of their big sisters, scaled-down rear-engined coaches like Yutong’s […]