The arrival of four new Optare Solo low-floor buses marks a further stage in Warwickshire County Council’s programme of progressive replacement of its welfare vehicle fleet with purpose-built, low-floor accessible buses.

It brings the number of ‘Accessible Solos’ now operated by the County Council to 17, making them the largest user of the model for welfare services. The new quartet also marks a move to higher capacity buses with two being 8.1 metres long and the other two 9.5 metres, compared to the 7.8 metre models previously supplied. All four are the 2.33 metre wide SlimLine model.

The Solos are branded in the County Links livery. This identifies to the public those services operated or supported by the County Council service and which offer safe, high quality passenger transport throughout Warwickshire. The County Links brand covers registered home to school and community services and vehicles used on these services range between 70 seat coaches and seven seat taxi-style cars.

The Solos join a fleet of over 50 wheelchair accessible vehicles now in service with Warwickshire County Council, including a number of Optare Aleros. These are operated by a team of specially trained drivers and escorts to transport people safely to day services across the county. Each week the fleet carries around 1,400 people with a wide range of disabilities to Social Education Centres, homes for elderly people, day centres and transitional care services.

The council chose Solo for its low-floor and DDA compliance and then worked with Optare to fit-out the buses to meet their specific operational needs and those of the users. This included reducing the fixed seat capacity to just nine seats in the 8.1 metre models to allow up to three passengers in wheelchairs or a combination of fixed and detachable seats to allow a maximum of 16 to be carried. The 9.5 metre Solos have six fixed seats in the rear and in the lower saloon area can carry up to four wheelchairs and/or detachable seating, taking the total capacity up to 16.

All the buses are fitted with Unwin tracking in the low-floor area to which Easilok combined seats are fitted. This all-in-one integral unit combines a back rest to which a wheelchair can be safely secured using a full lap and diagonal inertia reel harness, with a fold-up seat to provide additional seating capacity when required.

The new buses are also the first Euro 4 compliant buses to be operated by the County Council on welfare services work. Of the three engine options offered by Optare in Solo, the Council has chosen the MAN D0834 four-cylinder engine which uses EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) technology to meet the emissions standard.

This 4.58 litre unit delivers 132 kW (177 bhp) of power at 2400 rpm. In the new Warwickshire County Council Solos it is matched to the Allison 2100 Series five-speed fully-automatic transmission which incorporates a lock-up torque converter for improved fuel economy. An integral Klam electro-magnetic retarder is also a standard feature to improve braking performance and reduce service brake life.

Richard Bedding, fleet manager at Warwickshire County Council said: “We chose Solo following extensive research and a successful trial. Our service users particularly like the vehicles and the low floor access means that wheelchair passengers can access the vehicles without having to be raised on a lift. We chose the MAN engined vehicles because we were able to adhere to our aspiration of using EGR to meet the Euro 4 exhaust emission standard.”

For further information please contact:
Martin Hayes, Communications Advisor, +44 (0) 207 494 8050