Bath Bus Company (BBC) has placed an order for two Volvo B9TLs with UNVI Urbis 25 open top bodywork. The buses, just under 12 metres in length and seating 76 with 53 upstairs, will be dual-doored and have two staircases.
BBC is part of French-owned RATP DEV UK and operates tours in association with the worldwide City Sightseeing organisation.
“It was the attractive combination of Volvo Bus and UNVI Urbis 25 bodywork that resulted in our placing this order” explained BBC Managing Director, Martin Curtis. “With these new buses we can increase the speed that passengers embark and alight at our busiest city centre stops.
“These buses will be unique to Bath and indeed the UK and Ireland. Similar vehicles are being used as left-hand-drive tour buses by our wider organisation in Greece, Italy and Spain, but these will be the first right hand drive examples to this specification in the UK.
“We carry up to half a million passengers per year. In summer, we have a departure every six minutes with Bath one of the busiest city tours in the country. However, Traffic Regulation Conditions within the city boundary strictly control vehicle types, routes, bus numbers and stop dwell times.
“Therefore these new vehicles should significantly increase our opportunity for quick and safe passenger flows.”
