Westway gets Yutong double-deck for corporate hire work

London electric coach specialist, Westway Coaches in Molesey, has bought a new Yutong U11DD double-deck bus to run on private hire in and around the capital.

The vehicle has been highly specified with three-point belts and leather seats for a broad range of customers including private schools and corporate clients. It has been acquired without the need for supporting hire contracts.

“Fortunately, the vehicle is supplied to a very high specification as standard,” said David West, MD of Westway. “It has air conditioning and even a suspended driver seat with massage facility. It will be used on most of our work, with corporates keen to hire electric vehicles to reduce their carbon emissions.”

Having just arrived at the depot, the bus will be vinyled and will be fitted with a tachograph before going into service. It was supplied via Pelican Bus + Coach in Castleford, West Yorkshire, which has also supplied Westway’s Yutong electric coaches.

In the pipeline from Equipmake is a repowered Van Hool Altano, which will have sufficient battery capacity for around 350 miles on a single charge, said David. The coach is due to be delivered soon.

David West said that, such is the power supply in the depot – a former print works – the company could effectively double its electric fleet. But shortly after Westway acquired it, the depot site very nearly ended up without that advantage: “There was an electric substation on the site, and I asked how much it would cost to love it. It was £90,000, so I decided we’d leave it there,” David told Bus & Coach Buyer