The biggest UK order for 15m-long coaches has been placed by Stagecoach, which is taking 45 Plaxton-bodied Volvo B12BTs for its successful low-cost megabus.com operation.
Although 15m coaches have been in use in Britain since 2004, Stagecoach is the first operator to place a large order for the type.
They will have Plaxton Panther bodies – the first 15m coaches to be produced by the Scarborough-based builder – and will be wheelchair accessible using a lift in the main passenger entrance. They will be 63-seaters with a toilet compartment at the rear, and with on-board CCTV.
The Stagecoach group already operates 56 wheelchair-accessible Plaxton B7R Profiles.
For Plaxton the new vehicles represent an extension – quite literally – of the company’s market-leading range of coaches. “We are delighted to have secured this, the first major order for 15m coaches for operation in Britain,” says Plaxton’s sales and marketing director, Kevin Wood.
“We worked closely with both Stagecoach and Volvo to develop a specification which met the needs of the Megabus operation in terms of accessibility, comfort and carrying capacity.”
The only alteration required at Plaxton’s factory is the provision of a new paint booth to accommodate the longer vehicles. Work on that is now underway, in preparation for delivery of the first of the new coaches in the spring.
don't think so, I asked the Mega-Neoplan driver before (the trip I went to London and after he turned right to Oxford Street from Baker Street), he told me its not really hard to do because the improved technique had been used on the steering system of the extra long coach
