First Euro6 Irizars for The Kings Ferry

Irizar UK has taken its first order for a Euro6 coach from The Kings Ferry. The i6 Integral, the National Express owned operator’s first new DAF powered coach for 25 years, is destined for the VIP fleet and will be based at Gillingham travel centre. It is currently in build at Irizar’s Spanish factory and is expected to be completed this summer by AD Coach Systems of Stoke-on-Trent. The 13.9m tri-axle has 36 leather seats arranged around nine tables with a rear kitchen, microwave and coffee machine. Core customers include major football clubs, so the multi-screen Sky TV video system also accepts laptop inputs for training purposes, as well as for corporate use. An on board inverter ensures the coach has stable 240Volt power sockets. Its power will come from an MX-11-320 435bhp engine matched to a ZF AS-Tronic auto-shift gearbox.

Operations Director at The Kings Ferry, Ian Fraser, said, ‘As these vehicles are at the very top end of our fleet, we select our suppliers very carefully. When we test drove the Irizar at our premises and had it over our pits, we knew immediately that this was a premium product. The smoothness of the drive train we feel reflects the high quality components used. The i6 tri-axle matches our requirements well, and we are confident the all new DAF Euro6 engine will give us class leading fuel economy and a long service life. We were keen to ensure that our new VIP vehicle had excellent aftersales back up and DAF’s network of service centres plus Irizar UK’s parts stock with Masterpart gives us the confidence to invest in this vehicle.’