AUSTRALIA Australasian Bus & Coach (ABC) has reported that New South Wales operator Sid Fogg is taking delivery of three new Scania Irizar i6 coaches. Already delivered is a 13.5m K310 that will be used on school, charter and corporate work while due in April is 14.5m tri-axle K400EB 64-seater.
The third coach which has now also been delivered is a Euro 5 tri-axle K400IB executive specification 54-seater that is being used to transport the Newcastle Jets Hyundai A-league soccer team in 2017.
The magazine says that the Jets coach is the first of its kind servicing the A-League although similar vehicles are used by football teams in Europe and South America.
The chassis with a Scania driveline built in Sweden was assembled in Brazil prior to delivery to Irizar for bodying. The complete vehicle was shipped to Australia where it underwent pre delivery inspection at Scania, Newcastle before having its Jets and Sid Fogg’s livery applied by the Trick Group.
Sid Fogg’s Coaches has been serving the Hunter Valley, Newcastle and the Central Coast, for more than 60 years.
Graham Habgood, who has owned Sid Fogg’s Coaches in partnership with his wife Kathy for almost 30 years, said he is proud of his new coach and the firm’s association with the A-League.
“We have two professional football teams in the city and we support both of them,” he told ABC. “We’re proud to have had a Knights (the other team) coach for many years, and now we have a Jets coach.
“When Wayne Bennett was coaching the Knights we took the Knights’ coach to Melbourne for a semi-final game so that when the players transferred from their Melbourne city hotel to the ground they were able to travel on their own vehicle with their branding on it. And they won the game!
“This made a big statement in Melbourne; everyone knew the Newcastle Knights were in town. We feel that this new coach for the Jets will also be a symbol of pride for the people of the city, they have wanted a suitable flagship transport for some while and now they have it.”
