Jonathan Welch gets behind the wheel of one of the last Solos to roll off the production line at Switch Mobility, and considers the model’s past, present and future
It was somewhat of a surprise when Stagecoach announced an order for a batch of small buses from Switch in late 2023 to see that alongside 10 electric Metrocity midibuses for its London operations, there would be 60 diesel Solos, reviving the Optare name which Switch had ceased to use with its new electric products. That order was later increased to 118 of the type, and deliveries began in mid 2024, with buses destined for Stagecoach subsidiaries in the South East, South Wales, Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria and south-west Scotland.
At the time, Chief Executive of Switch Mobility Mahesh Babu said that whilst the company’s focus had moved towards “engineering and delivering the world’s most efficient electric buses,” Switch recognised that “operators such as Stagecoach are continuing to look for ways to reduce the environmental impact and improve the efficiency of their fleet. For this reason,” he said, “we have taken the decision to restart production of our renowned Solo product and support Stagecoach in replacing part of their existing Solo fleet.”
Tagged onto the Stagecoach order from the restarted production line were also vehicles for another operator in south-west Scotland, Shuttle Buses of Kilwinning. Having paid a visit recently to test drive the new Alexander Dennis Enviro100EV, following on from a previous occasion to drive the Mellor Sigma 8, it wasn’t unexpected when conversation turned to the arrival of the four new Solos, and I was very pleased to be invited back for a drive of what would be one of the ‘last of the line.’ Naturally, all of the recent production has been the Solo SR model, which took over from the original version in 2012, the original having made its debut right back in 1998. Had a proposed restyle in 2008 taken place, alongside the launch of a proposed new Rapta double-decker, the revamped Solo+ might have looked very different: a very angular style was on the cards, with vertical headlight clusters positioned quite far outboard. The sides would have retained the overall look and large flat window panes of the original.
That was not to be, however, and the Solo SR, first shown in 2007, was announced as the model’s successor, bringing with it slightly curved side windows, helping to stiffen the large glass panels, as well as a revised front and rear, matching in style the contemporaneous Versa model, and a large, curved windscreen which looked smart but did serve to make the destination screen less visible from some close-up angles.
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