Martyn Hoare and I cannot be sure how long ago it was that I last visited, but it’s pretty clear to me that Bluebird Coaches of Weymouth has come a long way since. I remember a traditional coach operation with its feet firmly planted in the town, its seafront travel shop providing that mainstay of […]
Boulder Bridge Lane near Barnsley is the stuff of legend; the place where buses and coaches meet their maker. On the face of it, breaking up PSVs may seem a simple act of destruction but, as we discovered, it’s actually a complex and risky business, paying ahead for raw materials which may fall in value […]
The UK’s new Clean Air Zones could be the biggest boost to buses for decades… or another example of politics which ignores the evidence. Delegates at the UK Bus Summit heard the arguments from both sides but everyone including new Transport Minister for buses, Nusrat Ghani MP, was in broad agreement that buses are the […]
Pelican Bus and Coach has opened its new Yutong showroom and engineering base, with the visit of Jin Xu, Minister Councillor for Economic and Commercial Development at the Chinese Embassy in the UK. With the Castleford, West Yorkshire, building at over 12,000 square feet, the whole 1.4 acre site (close to Junction 31 of the […]
“Young, energetic and passionate” is how Sales Director, Richard Matthews, describes the new team in place at Plaxton Coach Sales of Anston. Former-General Manager Coach Sales, Mick McElhone, retired this year, passing the reins over to Simon Wood. This followed Mick handing his responsibilities for running the Anston site over to Martin Dunleavy in September […]
In typical Optare fashion, the Solo had three launches. First of all, an artist’s impression with some details was announced in late Summer 1997. Then, in October, the actual vehicle had a soft launch inside Oulton Hall, after dinner, on the outskirts of Leeds. There we got the first glimpse of a vehicle that was […]
On a dismal January morning in Nottinghamshire, dawn broke in the winter sky and the Van Hool EX16M was put in position ready for photos. The previous night, the new coach had been parked in the depot of Sharpes of Nottingham, one of the operators chosen by Arriva Bus and Coach for the vehicle’s Grand […]
As we head south down the M1 at the start of our road test, I take a sound meter to one of the noisiest seats on many coaches – opposite the centre stairwell. The read-out says 43dB. I move forwards to the seat directly behind the driver. 46dB. Then to the rear seats. 42dB. It’s […]