Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 375 i Australasian Bus & Coach

BUSTECH – the bus manufacturing arm of Queensland-based Transit Australia Group (TAG) – is not part of the proposed sale of the massive transport entity, according to Bustech CEO Anthony Roder. Speaking exclusively to ABC magazine, which contacted Bustech to confirm certain details of any proposed sale, Roder said: “The operational side of the [TAG] business is for sale.” Yet when asked if rumours Bustech itself was not part of the sale, Roder answered: “That is correct. Bustech at this point is not part of the sale. “It is an exciting time for the industry over the next 3–4 months,” he added. DEAL DETAILS Industry rumours over such a sale were confirmed recently by a report in The Australian newspaper online, saying the TAG sale – with an expected price…

TAPPING INTO THE INCREASINGLY massive Chinese tourist market in Australia, West Australian bus operator Adams Perth has partnered with Aus Highway travel to deliver Chinese-speaking trips via a new joint venture: Ni Hao WA Tours. From mid-November, Ni Hao WA tours has been offering visitors from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong the opportunity to experience Western Australia’s premium tourist destinations, complete with a professional Chinese-speaking (Cantonese and Mandarin) coach captain, who will provide local knowledge of the state. Destinations include: the Pinnacle Desert, Wave Rock, Margaret River, and Pink Lake. EXPERIENCE COUNTS Adams Perth managing director Adam Barnard said he believed that it was only a matter of time before the natural beauty of the state, combined with the shared time zone and proximity, would increase interest in Western Australia…

A NEW REGIONAL COACH TERMINAL at Sydney’s iconic Central Station is not part of redevelopment plans, according to a document by the NSW State Government released recently. The Tourism and Transport Plan, Supporting the Visitor Economy – which is now live online and part of the overall Future Transport 2056 initiative – does not commit to building a coach terminal any time soon, categorising it only as being “for investigation” sometime within the next 10 years. According to Transport for NSW (TfNSW) the Tourism and Transport Plan is, “now finalised, setting out how the transport network can help achieve the NSW government target of $25 billion in regional overnight visitor expenditure by 2030, and grow tourism to achieve $55 billion in NSW through the same period. WHAT’S GOING ON? When…

THE IVECO ‘NATURAL POWER RANGE’ of vehicles is now complete with the company globally premiering its Crossway Natural Power coach at Autocar Expo in Lyon, France, in October. Futureproofed for any potential future market uptake in the ingeniously thought-out idea of synthetic methane – a by-product of using electrical energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar – the new Natural Power Coach gives insight into the forward thinking of the company and arguably added weight to its claim as, “undisputed leader in the intercity segment”. According to the company, the Crossway Natural Power – powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) – has all of the features that have made the diesel version such a success: autonomy, passenger capacity and luggage space, as well as maintaining the same height…

AN IMPENDING autonomous vehicle trial in Adelaide, Australia, this December sets itself apart from other such initiatives by incorporating an interactive ‘bus stop’ that can communicate with hearing-impaired commuters via movement recognition. The sign-language-ready Matilda ‘smart bus stops’ are the first of such features to be used in an Australasian autonomous vehicle trial, which is to run for six months along the Glenelg foreshore in Adelaide. Yet while much will be made of such a difference being due to their very inclusion, which will see an autonomous Olli pod vehicle commute between the two, it is perhaps its ability to use computer vision and gesture recognition technology that is the greatest indicator of how future bus stops worldwide will, and need to, function. November testing has seen experts run the…

KNOWN as the driver of school routes 14 and 15 in Logan Village, Queensland, Derek Jones has called it quits at the age of 88. Jones says driving a school bus has been a rewarding experience, but it’s time to hang up the keys and concentrate on the finer things in life. He was the driver with the friendly attitude; always one to raise his hand for the job, whether it be school runs, rail-replacement work or taking students to excursions. Having migrated to Australia from England in 2003 with his wife Jenny, Jones’s plan was to buy a caravan and see the country. He reached out to Brookers Bus and Coach in Beenleigh, outside Brisbane, asking to borrow a bus to practice for a licence, but the company directed…

The idea isn’t exactly new, but telematics arguably is of critical importance these days to all commercial vehicle operators and fleet managers – and buses and coaches are no different. The modern prerequisite now for any transport entity is to run vehicles as efficiently as possible, and that means analysing cost implications on multiple fronts and endeavouring to control and reduce them. This includes fuel use and cost, and underriding that is how to maximise vehicle performance and efficiency so as to not have capital equipment, like a bus or truck, being more of a drain than they should be. The focus? The driver – or correctly driver behaviour. And in that context there’s a whole world of companies plying some uber functional and useful technology to keep managers and…

ABC SALES & MAINTENANCE is part of the Woodward Family CaPTA Group, which consists of Tropic Wings Cairns Tours & Charters, Jungle Tours & Trekking, Wooroonooran Safaris, Rainforestation Nature Park, Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, Wildlife Habitat, and Cairns ZOOM & Wildlife Dome. We are in a unique position as an Australian distributor and dealer with our workshop, which has also been operating a fleet of 53 vehicles for the past 35 years. This experience in day touring, Charter, extended Charter and school bus contracts. The general manager of ABC Sales & Maintenance, Barry Henderson, has an impressive background, with experience in operating and selling coaches since 1978. “Time is money and our aim is to get any vehicle back on the road in 24 hours.” Barry has been to many bus…

Bus and coach deliveries have recovered from last month’s dip, increasing from 90 to 103. That result makes it seven months out of 10 in 2018 that participating manufacturers have recorded triple-figure deliveries, in what must be considered a positive for industry. A big surprise for chassis makers this month was Scania, with 43 deliveries, toppling fellow Swede Volvo from the top of the pile, which had an uncharacteristically quiet month on 22. BCI and Yutong had relatively strong months, both posting double figures. ABC magazine also welcomes Challenger Bus and Coach to the deliveries section. For the body builders, Volgren retained its spot at the top, noted in 30 deliveries, but the names below made for interesting reading. Gemilang had its best number of the year on 15, while…

SEEN AS FURTHER ‘strengthening its foothold in Australia’, Singaporean-headquartered ComfortDelgro has (subject to approval) purchased Buslink – Australia’s largest privately owned bus business – for AUD$190.9 million; the Group’s largest acquisition in the country to date. As the company states, the acquisition of Buslink Pty Ltd, Buslink Southern Pty Ltd and its 11 corresponding depots, is significant on two fronts: “It provides ComfortDelGro [CDC] with immediate access to the Northern Territory and Queensland – both of which are unchartered territories for the Group – and enables it to grow its existing bus operations in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.” This purchase is also the latest in a series of new acquisitions undertaken by the Group as it, “re-engineers itself, building on existing strengths while expanding into new avenues of…

DEMONSTRATING the company’s “commitment to customer service and support”, and its investment in “continually enhancing the customer experience”, Volvo Buses officially opened the doors to its new purpose-built, AUD$35 million dealership and service centre in Sydney recently. The new, large and modern Volvo facility is located in Prestons on Sydney’s south-west edge close to the M7/M5 interchange. With easy access from the motorways for customers, the new facility will become the key servicing site for buses and coaches in the Sydney region, it states. “With state-of-the-art service bays dedicated 100 per cent to buses and coaches; a team of 12 specialist-trained key Volvo bus and coach technicians – who are also RMS approved; onsite bus brake and roller testing; three dedicated bus-only service and support vans; and a bus-only after-sales…

THE DILEMMA of which electric bus ‘opportunity charging’ method an operator or city chooses is potentially solved given a multi-standard system launched in Europe, recently. Charging specialist Heliox has debuted its newest innovation – a multi-standard charging system – with leading bus operator Sales-Lentz, at its bus depot in Bascharage, Luxembourg, it’s stated. According to the company, Luxembourg was the first European country to introduce buses with hybrid technology and one of the first to start deploying all-electric buses. Now, Luxembourg is the first country in the world where Heliox has delivered its multi-standard solution. In essence, this system allows dual manufacturer electric buses to charge with different interfaces: ‘Bus-Up’ and / or ‘Oppcharge’ using one Heliox OC charger. This means that the buses that use Bus-Up and the buses…

MINIBUS ELECTRIC PROPULSION made more inroads into the Australian mainstream recently following the announcement of a Victorian Government grant towards automotive technology company SEA Electric building a manufacturing plant in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. The plant will be capable of producing 2,400 vehicles per year at full production, employing around 500 people and producing annual revenue of AUD$200–240 million. As part of the investment, retrenched workers from other industries will be transitioned towards electric vehicle and component production in Australia. “This investment will see the Latrobe Valley rightly called the capital of electric vehicle manufacturing in Australia,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said at the announcement. HUGE OPPORTUNITY Speaking to ABC magazine’s sister publication ATN, managing director Tony Fairweather says the announcement marks, “an opportunity for a range of reasons, so it…

A COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY package for the Volvo Euro 6 chassis is now available that’s said to deliver “improved safety and comfort on coaches”, the company announced recently. Volvo has reinforced its safety position by introducing a new state-of-the-art Driver Support System (DSS), it says, packed with a range of capabilities including: forward-collision warning with emergency braking; adaptive cruise control; lane-keeping support; and driver-alert support on its Euro 6 coach range. According to general manager of Volvo Buses Australia Lauren Downs: “Volvo’s Driver Support System offers our customers the highest level of safety. It is an excellent example of our continued proactive approach to road safety and our drive to achieve our safety vision of zero accidents in Volvo vehicles.” As Volvo explains, the latest DSS technology uses both radar and…

MERCEDES-BENZ has started to roll out its bespoke bus Centre of Competency facilities strategy, with the first venue opening in Perth. With such venues to start up in major population centres across Australia, the Perth bus Centre of Competency features bus-focused staff with specialised training, unique equipment, increased parts supply and dedicated bus bays. Mercedes-Benz Truck and Bus Australia Pacific director Michael May was on hand to cut a ceremonial cake with Daimler Trucks Perth dealer principal Sean Edwards, and Mercedes-Benz Bus senior manager Mehmet Karal, along other key bus staff members. May says Mercedes-Benz has been increasing its investment and commitment to its bus customers across Australia in recent years, but was now ‘doubling down’ on that commitment. “By opening a series of Centre of Competency facilities across major…

MELBOURNE’S LARGEST bus operator, Ventura Bus Lines, has extended its bus supply agreement with Australia’s largest bus body builder, Volgren, for four years. Under the new supply contract, Volgren will deliver a minimum of 21 route buses, built primarily on Scania chassis, each year until 2022. Michael Hourn, Ventura’s general manager for Fleet and Maintenance, said the new deal would be a first for the company, whose procurement committee has previously reviewed supply agreements on a more regular basis. “Traditionally we go through the process every two years to maximise purchasing power; however, this time around our procurement committee were open to longer agreements than two years. Anywhere up to four years.” Hourn says with a number of key personnel on its procurement committee, it considers price in conjunction with…

ZHONG TONG bus – one of the top three bus manufacturers in China and the largest Chinese Government-owned bus company – is ready to expand operations in Australia, to mirror its New Zealand and other regional success, with new three-axle coach product coming soon, it states. The company has technically been in Australia since 2001, but has kept a somewhat relatively lower profile while it established its base slowly, but now it is seeking greater market share locally due to market changes, it says. Currently, Zhong Tong sells all around the country – but it doesn’t have a dealership structure yet. It has workshops in Tasmania, Queensland and a workshop and headquarters in Milperra, Sydney, NSW. Yet, expansion is on the cards, according to Michael Jiang, managing director of Jiangs…

hat is ‘wanderlust’? W Well, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary – which has been doing its thing “since 1928” (with probably better internet service back then than what many of us in Australia have today): “Those with ‘wanderlust’ don’t necessarily need to go anywhere in particular; they just don’t care to stay in one spot.” And while that is all well and good, conjuring up images of wide-open spaces and probably trekking across mountains, kayaking along rivers and eating god-knows-what bugs and grubs off the land, some of us want to lustfully wander in comfort and style. Sorry, but it’s true. Even if it’s just to get to those types of places. Backpacking, car hire problems, crowded trains and delayed planes are usually all part of that fun, but…

It was a massive, massive success! There’s no other way to put it, all things considered, all bush beating in a circular motion put aside. The inaugural 2018 joint annual Bus Industry Confederation/ Bus and Coach Association of New Zealand Conference, held 7–10 October, in blissfully sunny Cairns, Queensland, Australia, was such a roaring success one would have thought they’d have accidentally left the safe confines of their cars walked straight out into the middle of an African lion safari – holding big chunks of meat – that’s how ‘roaring’ it was. So to speak… But seriously folks, with months of promotion and pre-event coverage for such a new gig, it was an unpredictable entity in its early stages, from an outsider’s point of view but, my oh my, did…

AN UBER BESPOKE autonomous vehicle testing facility using 5G telecommunications technology has been unveiled in Sweden, which can “simulate virtually any traffic situation in any city on the planet”, it’s been reported recently. Known as AstaZero – a development of the state-owned Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) in partnership with Charmers University of Technology – it is able to “blend the virtual world, e.g., the iconic Arc de Triomphe traffic system in Paris, or Times Square in New York, with real vehicles and real people stationed around the track,” the organisation claims. By using the latest in 5G connectivity and distributed cloud services, AstaZero – with parts looking like a Hollywood movie set – is said to be able to mix test vehicles with virtual vehicles. “This enables realistic and…

FOLLOWING a raft of sundry industry-associated white papers and grey literature on autonomous buses and ‘driverless’ vehicles over the past few years, the Australian Federal Government has announced its own inquiry into automated mass transit. The House of Representatives Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee commenced this new inquiry focusing on developments in the use of automation and new energy sources for land-based mass transit, it states. Committee Chair John Alexander said that automation would make our mass transit systems “better, stronger and faster”. “International experience of automated metro systems shows what they could do to improve connectivity within our rapidly growing cities,” Alexander said. “Automation and platooning present real opportunities to make bus networks more reliable and responsive, as well as more efficient, creating real competition between different modes of…

WORLDWIDE TRENDS AND projections for increased hydrogen demand and fuel-cell use – particularly in buses – has resulted in the Western Australian Government convening its first hydrogen council meeting. With the overall aim to scope regional renewable hydrogen opportunities, the McGowan Government’s Renewable Hydrogen Council is well positioned to produce and export renewable hydrogen, driving new job opportunities for the regions, it states. Focused on opportunities for Western Australia to capture a share of the global demand for clean energy, the government says it is, “looking at how to capitalise on WA’s vast land and renewable energy resources, including wind and solar, to deliver renewable hydrogen to export markets.” Regional development minister Alannah MacTiernan said: “Renewable hydrogen has the potential to be a major new industry for Western Australia that…

CELEBRATING OUTSTANDING DESIGN, German commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN was crowned Design Team of the Year at the Automotive Brand Contest 2018 during the Paris Motor Show, one of the most prestigious design awards in the automotive industry. Against the grain of thought where many think about exceptional automotive design in terms of sleek sports cars, elegant limousines, or stylish sedans, Munich-based MAN has shattered those illusions. The design team, headed by Holger Koos, develops a whole array of vehicles – for instance light- and heavy-duty MAN trucks, and the MAN- and NEOPLAN-branded coaches and city buses. “We are, of course, very proud to have had the opportunity to pick up our award here in Paris,” said Holger Koos, head of design at MAN Truck & Bus. “Well-designed vehicles are gaining…

SWEDISH BUS manufacturer Scania is to set a new ‘personal best’ in delivering no fewer than 481 Euro 6 gas-powered articulated buses to the Colombian capital city Bogotá. In a move that’s arguably more akin to the city buying a ‘fleet of trains’, the massive South American order will see Bogotá get “the cleanest and most silent buses on the market” for the renewal of its TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit system, the company states. Bogotá is replacing its earlier Euro 2 and Euro 3 buses with the latest in low-emission technology, with Scania’s Euro 6 gas buses representing “a huge leap in cleaner technology” compared with these older-generation buses, but also in relation to the more recent Euro 5 emissions standards, it explains. In operations with the new Scania gas…

NORTHERN IRELAND-BASED bus manufacturer Wrightbus has debuted its production version fuel-cell double-decker bus – the world’s first – at the recent 2018 Euro Bus Expo in Birmingham, UK. As announced by Wrightbus and reported by Busworld, it’s two years since the UK bus maker released a prototype of a fuel-cell double decker, but this finalised version is mass-production ready. According to reports, the new Streetdeck FCEV body bus features a Ballard fuel cell and a Siemens drivetrain. As part of the EU-funded Joint Initiative for hydrogen Vehicles across Europe project (JIVE) project, Wrightbus developed the Streetdeck FCEV, which already has customer orders, it’s reported. London will be the first city to order this model fuel cell bus. Bus details are scant at the time of print, but vitals are it…

A LONG-OVERDUE SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE to “supercharge” tourism and the Swan Valley economy – the second oldest wine region in Australia, generating AUD$421 million in 2016 for Western Australia – was launched recently by leading private bus operator Adams Perth. Essentially more than three years in the making and with seemingly unanimous support from Swan Valley businesses, tourism organisations, the WA State Government and local members, the service will see regular buses running from the outer Perth train station of Guildford (approximately 12.5km from Swan’s centre) and along various routes in the Swan Valley, catering to thousands of domestic and international tourists alike. Key to the interactive experience of each journey is a new locally-produced passenger information system called Eyevert. This – in addition to screens on the buses –…

As put so simply by Cooma Coaches operator and part owner Trevor Heise, “There ain’t no hills anymore.” And having driven some good ones while transporting hundreds of avid ski-loving folk around NSW’s southern alpine region each season, he should know what he’s talking about when it comes to effortlessly driving on, over, and across them. Let’s be upfront about it: the MAN RR4 CO 26.500 is one big puppy! On our visit to Cooma Coaches we were lucky enough to test drive this impressive new coach that is special for many reasons. The MAN RR4 CO 26.500 three-axle chassis is the very first release to the Australian market of a 500hp+ (373kW) Euro 6c engine and the coach’s delivery also marks the 1,000th vehicle built by Australian bus body…

ALL AROUND THE WORLD, automotive paint and coatings specialist Axalta has been there to support Australian bus-body manufacturer Volgren – and its parent company Marcopolo SA – in providing a quality bus product to its discerning customers. Only recently on October 18, 2018, was Axalta announced as the sole supplier of coatings to Volgren in Australia for both newly manufacturer buses and for the repair of existing buses across all its facilities in Australia, as well as throughout its global supply chain. Axalta has been working closely with Volgren and the Marcopolo Group, both locally and in export markets prior to the announcement, including in major manufacturing locations Brazil and India, where it was already the primary paint supplier. Yet the examples of where and how Axalta has assisted Volgren…