Euro Bus Expo 1

Now I do have some rather good pictures from Euro Bus Expo but they are all taken by others so I am afraid they will have to follow. Until the photographers are home and connected to their systems I don't have them to use!

Meantime however the end of a great show, hugely tiring but very rewarding. In the middle of it the RouteONE awards just to make sure everyone was on the go until well past midnight. So just a quick update tonight and more to follow.

There will be various claims to be the 'star' of the show - in fact there were several. Particularly notable were the examples of new single-deckers for KMB Hong Kong. Many years ago we (as one of the bus operators there at the time) introduced single-deckers but before long as part of a Government desire to reduce the actual number of buses they were replaced by a smaller number of double-deckers. The First New World air-conditioned Darts came back to UK. We demonstrated one to London Buses in Victoria Coach Station but in the end they were spread around other First UK subsidiaries.Now again Hong Kong is introducing single-deckers - some 70 examples for use at less busy times to save fuel and maintenance costs.


Also at the show was the first MCV double-decker on Volvo B9 chassis. You have seen this vehicle before - it is a rework of the two-door example built to London specification earlier this year. It is quite notable to have a new double-decker product into the marketplace.

But of course you've guessed it - the lightest, cheapest and most fuel-efficient bus at the show was a Routemaster - this was RM1152 and it was the centrepiece of the Omnibus Systems stand having just been outshopped from Blackpool BusWorks following an excellent restoration.

Here we have, then the oldest and newest models at the show and in a couple of days I'll have some more photographs and stories from the show.




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