Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 412 i Australasian Bus & Coach

A VAST ARRAY of additional Australian bus-manufacturing jobs will need to be fulfilled given local Yutong distributor Vehicle Dealers International (VDI)’s first bus assembly plant being ‘green-lighted’ – initially for Brisbane – early 2022, it has been announced. Yutong – the world’s largest bus manufacturer – is due to bring its advanced bus building techniques here to Australia via VDI, increasing local jobs to create, “…the most environmentally sustainable vehicle in Australia,” VDI explains. In response to a growing Australian market requirement for local content, VDI Yutong has signed a ‘Drivable Knock Down’ (DKD) agreement with Yutong HQ in China to undertake a local assembly program, which will initially involve the extremely popular E12 battery electric low-floor city bus, VDI confirms. The forecasted sales of the E12 will require a…

SPECIALIST vehicle importer and distributor BLK Auto has appointed key bus industry-leader and alternative-fuels expert Ben Kiddle as general manager – zero emissions vehicles, the company has announced. A boon for any bus company, Kiddle started his career in the late 1990s as a heavy vehicle mechanic and progressed through the commercial transport industry, taking increasingly senior roles within the State Transit Authority (Sydney Buses), before moving into senior management positions within the private sector. Kiddle’s 23-year career in the operational transport and vehicle manufacturing industry has landed him roles at Telfords Bus & Coach, Alexander Dennis, State Transit Authority of NSW, Custom Denning and, more recently, GM roles at Gemilang and Nexport, his CV outlines. As a passionate advocate for alternative-fuel vehicles, in his most recent role Kiddle managed…

FOUR NEW Poncho ‘small buses’ have been added to Keolis Downer’s Keoride on-demand transport service in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Hino Australia has confirmed. Keoride became a permanent transport service on 31 October, 2021, following a four-year on-demand trial that began in 2017, the operator explains. In the Northern Beaches it was one of the first NSW on-demand transport trial services, connecting customers from their homes to the nearest transport hubs at Avalon, Narrabeen, Warriewood and Mona Vale, it adds. Keolis Downer Northern Beaches managing director Mark Dunlop, says the Poncho’s safety and accessibility features, plus compact design and manoeuvrability, were of particular appeal for the Keoride service. “The tight turning radius, size and handling of the Poncho make it wellsuited to narrow and sometimes challenging geography of the Northern Beaches,”…

Brown commenced her career in the bus industry with Trans-Adelaide in 1985 and has successfully moved through the ranks, earlier resulting in being appointed regional manager – South in 1999. “Sharon joined Transit Systems in 2000, working over the years as the senior area manager and overseeing the scheduling functions for the business, while also managing the Mile End and Port Adelaide Depots,” Kelsian Group CEO Clint Feuerherdt outlined. “We have every confidence in Sharon’s abilities to continue delivering a high standard of service excellence across our SA network and congratulate her on the achievement.” GENDER DIVERSITY The appointment highlights a trend of Kelsian senior executives driving gender diversity in its bus business, the company explains. Kelsian’s Transit Systems is seeing an increasing interest from females for roles within the…

The remarkable feat at the 26th Awards follows the Sunshine Coast bus company – in recognition of the region’s outstanding business leadership – claiming the top prize in the Tours, and Tours & Transfers categories in 2017, 2018 and 2019, thus qualifying Kangaroo for Hall of Fame induction in 2021. Kangaroo Bus Lines provides first-class transport solutions with its fleet of 18 buses and coaches, so it was recognised by the Sunshine Coast Business Awards for its outstanding teamwork, business management, innovation and focus on future growth three years consecutively. The Kangaroo Bus Lines ethos of ‘People, Pride and Passion’ is evident in everything the company does, it explains – especially the relationships it creates with its clients. The operator creates tailor-made transport solutions that meet the unique needs of…

With the charter business severely hit due to the pandemic, 38-year-old Kanga Coachlines and Farnham Roadlines CEO and owner Julian ‘Jules’ Roeger took a chance to invest in a number of new specialised buses to take on a rail-replacement project. What was meant to be a three-to-five-month venture, however, has lasted for more than a year. Now, with borders opening soon, the team is eagerly awaiting resuming its charter services. Roeger almost didn’t become a bus and coach operator. While studying management at university, he worked part-time at a hotel where he was offered a management role, he says. The prospect was exciting for him, but when he told his parents about it they mentioned they wanted to offer him a role in their bus and coach business, which he…

NO FEWER than 136 brand new zero-emissions buses proved key to the NSW state government awarding a Transdev-John Holland Buses (NSW) joint venture (JV) to operate Greater Sydney Bus Contract 9 (Region 9) until 2030, it’s been announced. The Region 9 win – which includes some of the city’s busiest bus routes, with a patronage of 67 million customer journeys in a typical year – means commuters in Sydney’s CBD and Eastern Suburbs can look forward to a greener, more reliable commute from next year, Transdev explains. Routes connect Sydney’s CBD to the Eastern Beaches, La Perouse to the south, the suburban centres of Darlinghurst, Kings Cross, Randwick, Redfern, Waverley, Bondi, Coogee and Mascot, and the harbourside suburbs of Elizabeth Bay, Double Bay and Vaucluse. Transdev Australasia CEO Luke Agati…

DIRECTIVES further supporting customer needs and environmental targets through quality, safety and sustainability spearhead Volvo Buses’ new “vision, strategic priorities and ambitions for 2030”, which the company recently announced. The new vision–as of November 10, 2021, and announced via a broadcast from Volvo Buses president Anna Westerberg in Gothenburg, Sweden – states that it’s Volvo’s vision to, “…be the most desired and successful provider of sustainable people transport solutions, driving value creation through innovation, partnerships and people.” The purpose of this new vision is to further reinforce Volvo Buses long-term direction, with key strategic priorities in place to further emphasise focus areas for the years to come, in order to reach the company’s 2030 ambitions towards safer, more productive and fossil free transport solutions, it explains. These strategic priorities include…

INACTION on equal pay for Region 3 and 6 bus drivers in the Inner West and South West of Sydney saw them hold two-hour stop-work meetings on Thursday and Friday, 2–3 December, and a 24-hour strike on Monday, 6 December, the Transport Workers Union (NSW Branch) confirmed. The continued strike action came after their calls for ‘same-job, same-pay’ went unanswered by bus operator Transit Systems and the NSW state government, the union explained. The strikes came after drivers turned off Opal card readers for several days, which operator Transit Systems responded to by attempting to, “…dock hundreds of dollars from drivers’ weekly pay,” according to the union. As a result of Sydney’s privatised bus network, bus drivers are employed by several different companies, each with significantly different pay and conditions,…

Launched in September and to begin trials in Q1 next year, the ‘Jewel E’ double-decker electric bus – using “sustainable and cost-effective electrification solutions” specialist Equipmake’s ‘breakthrough’ Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED) – will join the fleet of London’s largest bus operator, Go-Ahead. Designed and developed in the UK, Equipmake’s Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED) offers operators three modular battery pack options of up to 543kWh – the largest capacity battery of any two-axle double-decker electric bus in the world, it states. This delivers an unmatched electric driving range of up to 480km+ (300 miles), which is more than sufficient to ensure the Jewel E can easily complete an entire duty cycle without the need to stop and recharge, the company explains. Equipmake’s modular design enables operators the flexibility to scale the…

What was that song in the musical Oliver again? ‘Food, glorious food. Hot custard with mustard’? Or something like that… Whilst those ingredients together don’t sound quite right – nor legal in at least three states of Australia, probably – when you are living on the street or just struggling to get back up off it, being hungry enough from lack of food, or more specifically not being able to afford it, might just present that horrible gustation proposition above as mandatorily gourmet indeed. Yuk! Yet such is the survival instinct we are born with and the sliding scale of what goes down the gullet to fill the belly and stay alive is commensurate with the environs in which we – and usually, unfortunately, for many – find themselves in…

THE HERITAGE BUS EXPO had no fewer than 27 retrocool buses and coaches and more than 300 eager bus fans and participants attend the premises of Bus Stop Sales and Service at Rocklea, in Brisbane, between 9.30am and 2.30pm. This included in excess of 100 Queensland past and present bus operators and industry personnel, as well as transport officials like chair of Brisbane City Council’s Public and Active Transport Committee, councillor Ryan Murphy, and Queensland state minister for Transport and Main Roads, Mark Bailey MP. The Expo proved very popular with punters and organisers alike – and even featured on the local television news that night, broadcast throughout the state, organisers confirm. WELCOMED GATHERING The event was a rare opportunity for Queensland bus industry colleagues to get together in an…

There’s some good news in the bus deliveries arena with, if not quite a return to form, at least a positive upturn in November’s figures: a total of 76. This is 11 more than last month’s 65 and the highest we’ve seen so far in this financial year. In the chassis sector, Volvo once again is leader of the pack, up six on last month’s number to reach a total of 21. Following behind are Scania, BCI and Mercedes-Benz on 15, 14 and 13 respectively; all showing improvements on last month’s totals. The remaining 13 deliveries includes a welcome return by I-Bus to our pages after last being recorded back in February, 2020 – bringing five deliveries to the table. In the body-building sector, Volgren is still on top with…

THE VICTORIAN state government Department of Transport’s decision to award Melbourne’s bus fleet franchise to operator Kinetic allows Volgren to create 50 new jobs, Australia’s largest bus body builder confirms. State Minister for Transport, Ben Carroll, announced recently that Kinetic – which already operates airport service Skybus in Melbourne – would take control of the city’s 537-strong fleet. Kinetic, in turn, will introduce five Volgren battery electric buses (BEBs) into the city’s network by June next year – and by mid-2025 will have introduced 36 BEBs, plus more than 100 Volgren-bodied hybrid buses. Volgren CEO Thiago Deiro says the Department of Transport’s decision to prioritise green transport would help reduce emissions, and that by promoting local content the Victorian government was supporting Australian manufacturing and Victorian job creation. “Every manufacturer…

FOLLOWING its successful city bus fuel and emissions-saving trials via Scania’s original ‘Opticruise’ program, the results of its latest ‘Ecolution’ strategy are even further improved, the companies report. Recent results of a seven-month trial using Scania Ecolution – which includes key driver training hints and tips – indicate it cuts fuel use by close to 10 per cent and increases passenger comfort simultaneously, Scania explains. Ecolution aims at maximising fleet fuel efficiency using ongoing driver training, digital coaching, vehicle and fleet optimisation, and other tools to achieve pre-determined sustainability goals, as well as enhance operating cost controls. Self-described as, “…a tailor-made partnership for the sustainability of bus operator businesses across Australia,” the successful Transport Canberra campaign indicates a decrease in operating costs and emissions using the Ecolution optimisation program, they…

PUBLIC TRANSPORT operator Keolis Downer has chosen German multinational conglomerate Siemens’ 200kW chargers to power Brisbane’s forthcoming fully electric depot – future home for 16 Bustech e-buses – it was announced, recently. Following similar confirmation of Australian bus company Custom Denning having selected the Siemen’s Sicharge UC product family to power its new ‘Element’ e-buses in Australia, the Keolis Downer statement means Queensland’s first all-electric bus depot will soon be a reality via Siemens delivering e-bus charging solutions to the new North Lakes depot in Brisbane. Operational from September 2022 and in service from February 2023, the new e-depot will power the 16 Bustech zero-emission buses serving more than 60,000 residents in the city’s northern suburbs. Keolis Downer will upgrade the North Lakes depot in partnership with the Department of…

CHANGES to Iveco’s Australian manufacturing processes will not impact its bus and coach product range, the company has confirmed. According to a company spokesperson, following its Customisation & Innovation Centre (CIC) development announcement – created as part of a global transformation process – they stated: “We are not building Iveco’s full bus chassis in Australia at the moment. Today’s announcement will not affect [our] heavy bus range,” when ABC magazine asked for further clarification of the changes and full ‘heavy duty range’ importation. As part of a global transformation process, Iveco announced development of the CIC and related changes that will impact its Australian manufacturing arm, recently. The CIC is a business unit that will further leverage Iveco’s local engineering and manufacturing expertise, “… transforming the company’s focus towards the…

The new TDX25E – affirming Van Hool’s experience in the field of electrical drive systems for buses and coaches, it says – is yet another highlight of the company’s history, with next year also marking 40 years (1982–2022) of Van Hool double-deck coaches (more than 3,500 units built). Only a year ago did Van Hool produce the first fully electric single-deck coach, the CX45E, also shipped to the US market, it states. Van Hool’s TDX25E provides space for 69 passengers (18 on the lower deck and 51 on the upper deck) and has a range of up to 500km – depending on the climatological conditions and the route’s topography, it clarifies. The US-market TDX25E will be used for comfortable employee commutes and/or regular passenger transport, according to Van Hool. Following…

Well-known Tasmanian metropolitan and regional bus operator Tassielink Transit has been running bus services on the Apple Isle since its beginnings in 1985, when Melbourne-based Invicta Group expanded south. Having separated from Invicta in 2001, Tassielink is now a family run operation under the ownership of managing director Shane Dewsbery (fondly known as ‘Bubbles’ by the industry), after having worked in the company for 26 years. Now operating the most extensive bus network in Tasmania, Tassielink services over 50 regional and remote towns and villages with commuter buses as well as charter services, and recently further expanded its offering with an express bus service in the south of the island, on which run two new Scania Express-bodied buses. GREATER CONNECTIVITY These buses are the first additional services being rolled out…