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Coventry gets new eco-buses

Sat Jan 12, 2019 5:01 pm

The new 'Platinum line' has swapped the iconic livery for something else

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Brand new buses have arrived Coventry, offering free wi-fi and phone charging.

Bus company National Express Coventry has spent £5million on 17 Enviro400 double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis.

The Scottish bus builder says its latest buses improve fuel economy by 35 per cent and give passengers extra leg-room.

But some passengers have raised concerns over the colour of the new bus livery.

A spokesperson for NX bus said: "The Platinums are a very, very dark grey to differentiate them from older vehicles in the fleet that don't have all the extras - free wi-fi, USB chargers, more legroom.

"All the non-Platinum buses will carry on being proper Coventry sky blue."

They added that the Coventry to Warwick University lines will all have their own distinctive livery in coming weeks.

The new 'Platinum' buses will run from Coventry to Warwick University and the railway station - the 11, the 11U and 12X services.

Nick Vane, the bus operator’s commercial director, said: “We already know that our customers love the top-spec Platinum double deckers - with extra leg room, free wi-fi and USB chargers.

"When we asked them what they thought, overall satisfaction across all the Platinum routes was 94 per cent. And where we’ve upgraded bus routes to Platinum, we’ve attracted new customers.

“These beautiful buses are our pledge as part of the West Midlands Bus Alliance – to increase the amount of people taking the bus, to keep our customers happy and to keep the air clean across the West Midlands.

“As well as being good news for our passengers, these new Platinum buses are great news for the environment. The engines inside them are smart hybrids - some of the cleanest on the market. They emit extremely low levels of the pollutant nitrogen oxide, so they are better for people’s lungs.”

NX Bus has boasted two per cent growth year-on-year for passenger journeys on its services in Coventry, against declining bus use nationally.

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