As part of its ongoing partnership with Transaid, Go-Ahead London has made a further donation of a London bus to the transport charity. Bus SE35, an Alexander Dennis Enviro200, has already commenced its 4,600 mile journey to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, where it will form a key part of Transaid’s Professional Driver Training initiative in the country.
The bus received a full repaint and repanelling before departure, which left it looking brand new. Bexleyheath engineer Duane Hirst, who completed the work, said he was really pleased to be involved in the project.
“It was a real privilege for me to be given the task of preparing SE35 for Transaid. Seeing it finished and knowing that it will be put to excellent use in Tanzania makes me really proud. Thank you also to colleagues for their assistance.”
Duane explained that the work was completed over two weeks and it was a bit of a task to keep the paintwork in perfect condition as it was drying, thanks to some unwelcome donations from the local birdlife.
Richard Harrington, Go-Ahead London’s Engineering Director, said “We are delighted to donate another recently retired ex-London bus to Transaid, our second in three years. As the pictures show, the vehicle looks as good as new, which is a credit to the engineering teams that maintained it during a busy 15-year period in the capital. The bus will now be used to improve driver and vehicle safety in Africa and Go-Ahead London is proud to partner Transaid in this endeavour.”
A spokesperson for Transaid told CBW: “We are hugely grateful to the Go-Ahead Group for another generous vehicle donation, this time to our partner organisation in Tanzania. We are confident that the recently retired, ex-service London bus will drive standards of training at the NIT even higher, and have a significant impact on road safety in the country.”
via LINKEDIN
