New Bus For London – No Orders For WrightBus

As Tom reports, I paid a visit to Euro Bus Expo 2012 yesterday. Every bus I’ve ever travelled on in London features a sign inside, usually near one of the doors, stating how many passengers the vehicle can legally carry. Not so the prototypes of the New Bus For London. The passenger capacity sticker for these vehicles has been positioned inside the door of the driver’s cab where no passenger could hope to catch even a glimpse of it. When I commented on this to the helpful WrightBus staffer who had had to retrieve a key to the cab to allow me to view the inside of the door, he remarked that it didn’t need to be on public display. If that’s the case, why is the passenger capacity of every other bus I’ve travelled on clearly visible to users of the vehicles?

The whole point of Bus Expo, of course, is to secure orders for your wonderful new vehicle (or bus-related product) - I was particularly taken by ADL’s Enviro500 and the new Citaro K from Mercedes. When I asked if WrightBus had received any orders for New Bus For London I was told: “No, but we’re working on one“.