Volvo Buses

UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND

Wilts & Dorset get 36 new Volvo buses as part of Go South Coast investment

Go South Coast, part of the Go Ahead Group, have taken delivery of thirty six new state-of-the-art Volvo Euro 5 B7RLE buses with Wrightbus Eclipse 2 bodywork to be used under the Wilts & Dorset brand.
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The south coast operator will use the new single-deck buses as part of a £5.5m investment on its expanding ‘more’ M1 and M2 services between Poole, Bournemouth, Castlepoint and Southbourne.

Andrew Wickham, Managing Director of Go South Coast, met Volvo’s Bus Sales Manager, Phil Fletcher to complete the formalities of the handover. The buses have already begun to be gradually introduced in recent weeks.

“The new Volvo B7RLE buses have already proved popular with customers, drivers and other companies within the Go Ahead Group,” explained Andrew Wickham.

“We first introduced Volvos to the services in 2004 and they have performed really well, so we therefore expect that, with the latest developments made in terms of improving fuel consumption and emissions, we will be able to further enhance our operating performance.

“Some of the new 41 seat Volvo buses have already been enjoyed by the growing number of people using the “more” services, as we gradually replace the fleet this year,” continued Andrew Wickham.

Phil Fletcher explained the importance of Volvo’s manufacturing partnership, “The build quality of the B7RLE buses results from the fact that we’ve worked alongside Wrightbus for a very long time and established a product that’s popular with operators and passengers alike. Once again, regionally, this is a big delivery for Volvo and hopefully a platform for further growth.”

The new low emission buses, developed at the Wrightbus factory in Northern Ireland, are powered by the rear-mounted D7E 7.1 litre in-line, common rail diesel engine and connected to the 6-speed ZF Ecolife gearbox. They are specifically designed to achieve high reliability, excellent driveability and low fuel consumption.

Each of the vehicles features 41 passenger seats with leather headrests. Ample internal space has also been provided for pushchairs and wheelchair users.

All of the new buses feature the distinctive and recognisable ‘more’ livery set across a blue and red base colour. The new buses also feature a large distinctive digital destination display, fitted with passenger information requirements in mind.

Fifteen of the new Volvo B7RLEs have been assigned to Olympic duties in the upcoming London 2012 games.

ENDS

10 July 2012

Caption for Image:
(left to right) Wilts & Dorset’s Nikki Honer and Andrew Wickham; Volvo Bus Regional Sales Manager, Phil Fletcher and Wilts & Dorset Operations Director, Ed