Bus Manufacturer News & Discussion

[Snow1964]

Wrightbus have been given £11.2m of taxpayers cash

Apparently to develop hydrogen buses (aren’t they already developed ?)

Not totally sure a company that previously took money, diverted it to a church, reorganised itself, should be getting handouts as it is unfair on competition having to fund own research & development But I guess Northern Ireland political bribes/grants are deemed acceptable.

Wrightbus to get £11.2m to develop ‘green bus’ technology

Wrightbus, is to receive £11.2m from the government to develop hydrogen-fuel technology.

www.ballymenatimes.com

 

[Swanny200]

Wrightbus have been given £11.2m of taxpayers cash

Apparently to develop hydrogen buses (aren’t they already developed ?)

Not totally sure a company that previously took money, diverted it to a church, reorganised itself, should be getting handouts as it is unfair on competition having to fund own research & development But I guess Northern Ireland political bribes/grants are deemed acceptable.

Wrightbus to get £11.2m to develop ‘green bus’ technology

Wrightbus, is to receive £11.2m from the government to develop hydrogen-fuel technology.

www.ballymenatimes.com

But it is now owned by their Brexit supporting, best mate Bamford, so it is all OK

 

[Volvodart]

The Telegraph has a quote from Bamford:-

Bamford said: “The funding will allow us to realise our ambitions of creating a centre of excellence for zero-emission technology in Ballymena, enabling us to produce the next generation of world-leading hydrogen buses at a higher volume and a lower cost than ever before.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/03/21/billionaire-bamford-gets-taxpayer-cash-green-buses/

 

[Goldfish62]

But it is now owned by their Brexit supporting, best mate Bamford, so it is all OK

Indeed...

 

[alphabravo43]

Wrightbus have been given £11.2m of taxpayers cash

Apparently to develop hydrogen buses (aren’t they already developed ?)

Not totally sure a company that previously took money, diverted it to a church, reorganised itself, should be getting handouts as it is unfair on competition having to fund own research & development But I guess Northern Ireland political bribes/grants are deemed acceptable.

Wrightbus to get £11.2m to develop ‘green bus’ technology

Wrightbus, is to receive £11.2m from the government to develop hydrogen-fuel technology.

www.ballymenatimes.com

Quite a cynical view there, Hydrogen buses have already been developed, but should we stop there? If we stopped developing we'd be on unecomoival diesel half cabs with a rear platform still. Technology is fast paced in it's changes, Wrightbus should keep developing, range is improving on all technologies but for some applications it needs to develop further still, i.e. can we make it lighter, can we make it run longer, faster, etc etc. This only serves to improve things for our enviroment and society.
In terms of the company now, it's been separated from those who were involved in the church and is able to apply for grants as much as any other company, Optare and ADL can get access to such funds as well.

 

[Swanny200]

Quite a cynical view there, Hydrogen buses have already been developed, but should we stop there? If we stopped developing we'd be on unecomoival diesel half cabs with a rear platform still. Technology is fast paced in it's changes, Wrightbus should keep developing, range is improving on all technologies but for some applications it needs to develop further still, i.e. can we make it lighter, can we make it run longer, faster, etc etc. This only serves to improve things for our enviroment and society.
In terms of the company now, it's been separated from those who were involved in the church and is able to apply for grants as much as any other company, Optare and ADL can get access to such funds as well.

Yes, but I'm sure you can understand the cynicism when the Government are handing out large amounts of money like confetti to friends and donors to the Conservative party, and Mr Bamford is one of them, I could probably guarantee that if one of the other companies had tried to access the same pot, then they would likely have been told that there was no money available.

 

[alphabravo43]

Yes, but I'm sure you can understand the cynicism when the Government are handing out large amounts of money like confetti to friends and donors to the Conservative party, and Mr Bamford is one of them, I could probably guarantee that if one of the other companies had tried to access the same pot, then they would likely have been told that there was no money available.

At least it is a bit more legitimate than the bogus PPE contracts during the pandemic

 

[Pacerman99]

Coach and bus week has done a feature on the new Wright single decker, it's behind a paywall though

On the Wright track?

Wrightbus’ new heavy duty single-decker broke cover in late February. Jonathan Welch took it for an exclusive first drive It was well known that Wrightbus was working on a single-deck version of its Streetdeck double-decker, [...]

cbwmagazine.com

 

[Snow1964]

Alexander Dennis says 172 electric buses funded by Scottish Government £40.5m latest (second) round of Low emissions Hemel funding, will be made at Falkirk, no further details of operators in the press release

Alexander Dennis

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) is Britain’s biggest bus builder and the world’s largest manufacturer of double deck buses with a strong presence in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. Alexander Dennis offers a full range of coaches under the...

www.alexander-dennis.com

 

[GusB]

Remember to add quotations from your sources, please.

 

[Leki]

Wrightbus have been given £11.2m of taxpayers cash... ...should be getting handouts as it is unfair on competition having to fund own research & development But I guess Northern Ireland political bribes/grants are deemed acceptable.

Row over Scottish Enterprise grant to firm linked with SNP donor / The Courier - 11 September 2016​

A cronyism row has broken out over the handing of £7.3m of taxpayers’ cash to a transport firm closely linked with major SNP donor and Perthshire tycoon Sir Brian Souter.
Bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL) has been awarded the largest research and development grant in quango Scottish Enterprise’s history despite recording an £18.5m profit last year.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/new...row-over-grant-to-firm-linked-with-snp-donor/

Maybe given that we're fortunate to have a genuinely UK based bus building industry that not only supports manufacturing jobs but also does its research and innovation here (unlike our car and train assembly lines), perhaps we can stop this kind of sniping about Wrights.

They undoubtedly made a lot of mistakes prior to going into administration and their low powered Euro 6 vehicles are not without issues, but it's good news that a large British employer was saved and it's good news that bus operators continue to have a choice of innovative buses tailored for the UK market.

I honestly think the ADL "fanboy" culture that seems to have taken over bus enthusiast circles is getting seriously tedious now.

 

[Surreyman]

The site does give details of the bids:

First Glasgow no1 - 91 E400 EV + 35 E200EV.
Stagecoach Bluebird - 22 E400 EV
Stagecoach West - 15 E200 EV
Stagecoach East - 9 E200 EV
McGills - 33 Yutong
Ember Core - 6 Yutong + 4 Arrival

I am assuming the ADL element is for E400/E200 EV

The amounts of funding detailed also include infrastructure - presumably charging equipment & hooking up to power supplies.

 

[Blindtraveler]

That's a fairly massive number for McGill's, will see off a lot of the the older stock in one go. Let's just hope they reliable.

 

[MotCO]

Also interesting that Ember have chosen 4 Arrival buses or coaches.

 

[Swanny200]

Also interesting that Ember have chosen 4 Arrival buses or coaches.

Yes, that was a bit odd, I would have thought they would have stayed with their current supplier, however Arrival are trialing a bus with First in the Autumn, for Ember to go and do that would suggest a lot of trust in Arrival.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Yes, that was a bit odd, I would have thought they would have stayed with their current supplier, however Arrival are trialing a bus with First in the Autumn, for Ember to go and do that would suggest a lot of trust in Arrival.

Keep in mind Ember are not really a bus operator but more a trial project with significant external investment. So them going after the Arrival product is really not a huge surprise.

 

[Swanny200]

True, makes me wonder if Ember and Arrival are maybe linked somehow

 

[GusB]

Please bear in mind that Ember has its own thread here:

Ember: Electric coach service

Does anyone know anything further about the planned electric coach service between Dundee and Edinburgh? Bus & Coach Buyer reported on it a couple of weeks back but it's the only report I can find on it, the internet is bringing up a dead search. Planned to start in April 2020 with a Yutong...

www.railforums.co.uk

I have moved a few posts over as they were mainly focussed on the operator rather than the manufacturer.

 

[Volvodart]

The first part of the 4,000 zero-emission buses has started with funding for up to 500 buses being available for bids.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...r-zero-emission-buses-across-england-launched

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has today (30 March 2021) launched a multimillion-pound scheme to enable local transport authorities to roll out zero-emission buses as the government continues to build back greener.

Up to £120 million is being made available through the zero-emission-buses regional area (ZEBRA) scheme, which will allow local transport authorities to:

• bid for funding to purchase zero-emission buses
• reduce the carbon emissions from their local public transport
• improve air quality in towns and cities across England

The funding will deliver up to 500 zero-emission buses, supporting the government’s wider commitment to introduce 4,000 zero-emission buses.

The funding comes from the wider £3 billion fund announced by the government to improve bus services in our national bus strategy published on 15 March.

 

[Jordan Adam]

An open top operator in Tokyo have received some custom built convertible Wright Gemini 3 bodied open toppers based on a Scania chassis.

Below is a photo showing one of the vehicles.

Photo source - https://twitter.com/HATOBUS_JP/status/1376747663488475136/photo/1

 

[Swanny200]

Don't know if it is just the colour, but that looks like a toy

 

[Jordan Adam]

Don't know if it is just the colour, but that looks like a toy

I had thought that at first too, think it's just the angle of the photo though. If you zoom in you can clearly see it's real.

 

[Eyersey468]

Don't know if it is just the colour, but that looks like a toy

I agree. I didn't know Gemini 3s were built on Scania chassis

 

[MotCO]

It looks as though the staircase is just aft of the central door on the nearside. Also the doors appear to be single-pieced.

 

[Volvodart]

It seems to have taken a long time to come to fruition, as Wrightbus mentioned that they were working with Scania in Japan in 2018 with delivery mid 2019.

 

[Jordan Adam]

An article from Keybuses in 2018 confirms they're Scania K-Series based and real!

Japanese tour operator orders Wright open-tops

Japanese tour operator Hatobus has ordered five Wright-bodied Scania open-top double deckers for delivery in mid-2019.

These first double-deckers that Wrightbus has ever built on Scania chassis will incorporate a three-axle low-entry version of the K-series chassis. They are due in service in Tokyo in time for the Rugby World Cup being held in Japan between 20 September and 2 November.

Egged offshoots win new contracts in Europe

EBS, the Dutch arm of Israeli operator Egged, is expanding with...

www.keybuses.com

Route-One also made mention of Scania and Wright working together for the Japan market at around the same time.

Additionally, to offset the challenging British market, Wrightbus is its developing overseas business. Chile and Mexico are showing promise, as is Oceania. It is working with Scania in Japan, and other territories in the Far East continue to deliver fruit in partnership with Volvo – although a development of the StreetDeck for a customer in Hong Kong may be of interest to UK buyers.

Wrightbus maps out its road to zero emissions - routeone

A domestic bus market that is in the doldrums is having no effect on Wrightbus’ desire to push the boundaries in the development of alternative fuels and new technologies across its range of buses Hydrogen-powered StreetDeck FCEV will be on Wrightbus’ stand at EBE Although the domestic bus...

www.route-one.net

 

[cnjb8]

I agree. I didn't know Gemini 3s were built on Scania chassis

The whole RHD thing means we don't often see combos like that in the UK (I'm not denying Wright would ever not sell this potential product here!). It would certainly be interesting to see them here though

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Here is the other side (source):

 

[buses7675]

That upper deck emergency exit door is rather unusual!

 

[Arriva Fan]

Who is doing WrightBuses Marketing/Social Media? It's none existent. A new Single Decker now a Scania Gemini and nothing, no fanfare, no look 'WrightBus in Japan'. The SD is still, I believe, nameless.

If this were ADL, or even Optare, it'd be all over Twitter.