The first Optare Solo to enter service on contract stage carriage work with a private operator in Northern Ireland is being used on a town centre service in Portadown.

Local firm B & C Coaches set up the service after successfully bidding for funding under the competitive ‘Bus Challenge’ programme run by the Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development. This provides support to operators who come up with ideas for new services that meet local needs. B & C Coaches was one of 15 successful applicants in the most recent bidding round.

The service runs half-hourly, six days a week from 8.00 am until 5.30 pm and connects local housing estates with the town centre. At first a 31-seater coach was used but as the service gained in popularity owner Bosco McAlinden felt that the Solo with its low entry height was better suited to passenger needs and particularly for those with reduced mobility.

“We’ve carried over 65,000 passengers since we started the service,” he says. “And it has become clear that what we need is a bus with a low entry height and a flat floor that can be more easily and safely accessed by older passengers and young mothers with children. The Solo is ideal in this respect and in just the first few days of putting it on the road we have seen an increase in passenger numbers. It serves people very well!

“Solo’s compact size and exceptional maneouvrability also makes it better able to cope with the roads on the estates around the town,” he adds. “I sometimes drive the bus myself and, along with our two regular drivers, find it a very easy vehicle to handle with a good turning circle, excellent all-round visibility and a comfortable driving position.”

The new Solo is an 8.5 metre model with 25 Esteban Civic VO seats. It has the 90 kW (122 bhp) Mercedes-Benz Euro 3 engine – one of the last Solos with a Euro 3 power unit to enter service – and the Allison B2000 automatic transmission. Bright-Tech LED destination equipment is fitted.

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Martin Hayes, Communications Advisor, +44 (0) 207 494 8050