Lockerbie operator Houston Minicoaches has put an Optare Solo into service on a ‘Ring ‘n’ Ride’ contract with Dumfries and Galloway Council.

It’s the second Solo in the company’s 14-vehicle fleet and is being used on the 115 service which operates on a demand-only basis between Moffat and Dumfries town centre.

The service takes in a number of outlying villages including Beattock and Ae Village and provides links to Dumfries Academy. Users contact the council’s call centre the day before travel and a fax is sent to Houston Minicoaches to advise them of the pick-ups for the following day.

William Houston, who runs the 30-year-old family business with his brother Alec, says that the Solo is a good choice for the service. “We regularly carry passengers in wheelchairs and the Solo is easy for them to access and for elderly passengers who may be less mobile. It’s also got a good seating capacity for the busier times of the day. When we introduced our first Solo three years ago it was well received and we saw a significant growth in passenger numbers.”

Houston Minicoaches’ new Solo is an 8.8 metre model to the full width of 2.5 metres. It’s fitted with 26 Esteban Civic VO seats plus three tip-ups in the wheelchair/buggy bay. Mobitec LED destination equipment has been specified.

“Solo has also proved to be a popular vehicle with our drivers,” says William Houston. “They find it easy to handle, with steering that’s light yet positive, plenty of power and good all-round visibility. Its short length makes it well suited to the local operating environment, which is a combination of A roads and country lanes.”

The company has opted for the Mercedes-Benz 904LA engine, which uses SCR technology with the addition of Adblue to meet the Euro 4 emissions standard. This delivers an ample 115 kW (154 bhp) of power and is matched to an Allison 2100 Series five-speed fully automatic transmission with a lock-up torque convertor for improved fuel efficiency. A KLAM electro-magnetic retarder is also fitted as a standard feature on Solo.

A grant from the Scottish Executive helped Houston Minicoaches purchase the Solo. It is owned by them and on their O licence and joins a mixed fleet of buses and coaches up to 51 seats providing local bus services, private hire and school services in a wide area around Lockerbie.

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Martin Hayes or David Rowlands, Communications Advisors +44 (0)20 7494 8050