Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 396 i Australasian Bus & Coach

FOLLOWING Japanese technology giant Hitachi’s acquisition of European vehicle-charging specialist ABB on July 1, a newly formed company called Hitachi ABB Power Grids looks set to have Brisbane feature its latest “game-changing” Grid-eMotion Fleet EV charging system for first mass use anywhere, the company confirms. Designed for large scale e-Mobility, Grid-eMotion Fleet is a full ‘grid-to-plug’ solution for large-scale public transport and commercial fleets, enabling operators to ‘charge more with less’, Hitachi ABB states. As first reported by www.busnews.com.au two years ago, Brisbane City Council’s Registration of Interest announcement for the new Brisbane Metro bus project was always intended to attract some of the most advanced technology and designs to form its envisaged next-gen bus transport system. With confirmation in late November 2019, it was spearheaded by a Hess-Volgren-ABB winning…

THE NEW HEAD of production Daimler Buses – and managing director production of EvoBus GmbH – is Michael Klein, as of August 1, the company has announced. Previously head of customer services & parts (CSP) Daimler Buses, 56-year-old Klein replaces Dr. Marcus Nicolai, who decided to leave the company after 23 years of service, Daimler confirms. With this development, the management of the CSP business Daimler Buses will be taken over by Bernd Mack, who was previously head of international key account management and used vehicles in sales at Daimler Buses, it explains. SOLID PATH “With Michael Klein a highly competent manager with a strategic mindset is taking over the lead of the global production activities of Daimler Buses,” said Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Buses. “In recent years he…

The Brisbane Truck Show has renewed long-term partnerships with National Transport Insurance (NTI), BP Australia and Bauer Media Group ahead of the launch of the highly anticipated 2021 event. The southern hemisphere’s largest automotive business event will return to the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from Thursday, May 13 to Sunday, May 16, 2021. The show is presented by Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA), whose founding members held the first event in 1968, prior to formalising their association two years later. Following last year’s show, HVIA was presented with two prestigious awards at the Australian Event Awards, with the Brisbane Truck Show named Australia’s Best Corporate Event and Best Exhibition or Tradeshow. HVIA chief executive Todd Hacking says the accolades only serve to inspire more energy to further improve the…

Bus and coach deliveries dropped back below the triple-figure mark in July, but still hold a buoyant line in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, settling on 91 for the month. The result, down from 146 in June, continues the rise-and-fall rollercoaster trend of the past six months, with no two months of consecutive increases or decreases, but steers clear of the yearly low of 80. The chassis sector was largely propped up by Volvo, which rebounded from consecutive low months of 28 deliveries to post 40. Conversely, Scania reported a decrease, down from 46 to a yearly low of 16. Alongside it on 16 was Mercedes-Benz, the only other maker to reach double figures. There was a general decrease across the board for most body builders, though Volgren maintained…

A BUSNSW project to improve road safety has been selected as one of 26 initiatives aimed at saving lives and reducing road trauma to share in AUD$5.9 million under Round 5 of the Australian government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), it’s been announced. BusNSW executive director Matt Threlkeld says it was very pleasing to have a project selected as part of this important programme aimed at delivering safety benefits to the heavy vehicle industry, other road users and the community. “The funding and support administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator provides a great opportunity for the bus and coach industry to promote road safety, particularly in regard to heavy vehicles,” Threlkeld said. “One of the most common hazards in the bus and coach industry arises from on-road safety risks…

FOLLOWING customary consents and regulatory approvals, the transaction of New Zealand’s “largest and most dynamic bus operator” Go Bus into the Kinetic mass-transit fold has completed, the company has announced. In a move that is said to make Kinetic the “region’s largest e-bus operator”, the Australasian public transport entity is signalling an exciting year ahead for bus transit in the region as proactive governments and transport authorities alike embrace innovative new ways to move people, it states. The Melbourne-headquartered company recently welcomed Go Bus to its growing mass transit platform, which includes world-leading airport transit business SkyBus, urban and regional bus operations Surfside and Sunbus, and Sydney-based bus and coach company Telfords. With key government contracts to operate urban bus services in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch, and as the largest…

AUSTRALIAN body builder Bustech, now part of Australian Bus Corporation, has announced a strategic partnership with leading paint and coatings supplier Axalta. This strategic partnership with Bustech – supplier of government bus and public transport private sector passenger vehicles – involves more than just the delivery of paint, Axalta states. The companies will work closely together to develop an innovative product portfolio and paint processes to ensure exceptional quality and timely delivery, it says. “As a market leader in Australia, Axalta fits well with the requirements of Bustech, to be a partner that is tuned into delivering quality products and solutions to meet customer requirements,” said Steven Brett, managing director, Axalta Australia and New Zealand. “With more than 150 years of expertise in the paint and coatings industry, we can…

BUS 80 was relocated by Barnes Auto Co on Sunday, July 12, 2020 to Gatton – a rural town in the Lockyer Valley of Queensland – where it stayed overnight in the Gatton Bus Service depot, courtesy of owner Jim Hill. It was then driven by Queensland Omnibus & Coach Society (QOCS) members to the Queensland Transport Museum. Here it will remain until July 2021. “Having one of our heritage bus fleet on public display for the first time is an important milestone for our organisation, as we are actively working to establish our own museum in Brisbane, which will be known as the Brisbane Transport Museum,” said QOCS president Nick Wilson. “We currently have our eye on a World War II aircraft hangar at Eagle Farm, known as Hangar…

UNDER THE AUSPICES of a Queensland State Government Covid ‘travel plan’, more peak-hour buses and trains will be rolled out next month to support social distancing on south-east Queensland public transport, it’s been announced The latest phase of the Palaszczuk government’s Covid-19 Safe Public Transport Plan has put an extra 960 buses and 105 trains into service between Monday and Friday, from August 10, 2020. Hand sanitiser is also being provided to commuters at busy train and bus stations under the plan, the government confirms. Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey says public transport patronage was down about 50 per cent compared to the same time last year, but numbers were expected to climb as university classes resumed and CBD offices re-opened. “Public transport is safe in Queensland,” Bailey…

A RECENT LIFTING of a driving ban for German bus companies during the coronavirus pandemic has emboldened Daimler’s push for enhanced driver and passenger safety – with a “high level of fresh air” and “space-enhancing seating variants” - more so now firmly in focus, the company has announced. According to Daimler Buses, with the market for bus travel reviving again in some segments, it is ‘guaranteeing’ travel on a Mercedes-Benz or Setra bus will afford “the highest possible level of safety with excellent comfort”. Head of Daimler Buses Till Oberwörder says he strives to keep things that way. “The safety of passengers and drivers in our touring coaches is top priority for us. That is why we are offering our customers numerous retrofit solutions to protect against infection for our…

The diesel emissions scandal that plagued Volkswagen (VW) for much of the last decade looks like causing a world of pain for Iveco parent CNH Industrial (CNHI), along with Fiat-Chrysler Automobile (FCA), according to European and local media reports. Alleged use of ‘defeat devices’ on Iveco, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep engines is the focus of raids in three European countries. Reports from Germany put Fiat and Iveco commercial vehicle engines in the same ‘Dieselgate’ spotlight. “CNH Industrial confirms that a number of the Group’s offices in Europe have been visited by investigators in the context of a request for assistance by magistrates in Germany,” the global firm said in a statement. “The company immediately made itself available to the officials, providing its full cooperation. “CNH Industrial is examining the…

With its latest Denning Adventurer school-charter bus recently released, and its green-emissions electric Element plus ‘Element H2’ (you heard it first!) hydrogen fuel-cell bus soon to be revealed, Custom has maximised any pandemic downtime to completely refurbish it St Marys location, install new advanced equipment and improve its quality processes and procedures, it states. According to the company, the production facility is almost unrecognisable from what it was four months ago, having added four completely new lines with three full bays per line. New cranes have been installed; mezzanine areas built to improve efficiency; fencing and caging has been installed around robot welders for safety; floors have been painted; bays have been lined with new gantries and fitted with gas supply, air reels and racking containing the critical quick-turnover parts…

Four generations of family history is behind the success of one of the oldest bus operators in Australia, Red Bus Services. The company operates commuter and school transport routes linking New South Wales Central Coast communities – from Gosford to Lake Haven, Bateau Bay, Ourimbah and Wyong. In 1939, the family of present-day owners purchased the bus service trading as The Red Bus Company – Tuggerah Lakes Motor. The new owners, the Sloman family, renamed the business to The Entrance Red Bus Service. In 1946, the family purchased a service running between Gosford and East Springfield, and renamed it Gosford Bus Service. The names of both businesses, Gosford Bus Service and The Entrance Red Bus Service, remained in use until the late 1990s, when both were rebranded as Red Bus…