Eavesway Travel of Ashton-in-Makerfield has taken delivery of its third Van Hool T range coach in the form of a T17 Astron super-high tri-axle.
The new arrival is to full sports team and corporate specification and has been fitted out at AD Coach Systems. There are 40 Kiel 1020 seats finished in cream leather arranged around tables and with three-point belts, a centre sunken freshwater toilet, a dash fridge, a radio, DVD and CD player, and a PA system.
AD Coach Systems has added multiple LCD monitors, a large walk-in rear kitchen area with ovens, further fridges, cabinets and running hot and cold water, and much more to enable the coach to fulfil its brief.
Eavesway Managing Director Mike Eaves (pictured, second from left) says that following conversion by AD, the coach was put to work for three weeks as transport for the England Rugby League team during the recent Ashes series against Australia. The visitors were also conveyed by Eavesway, in a VIP-specification Van Hool Altano.
Mr Eaves adds that arrival of the Van Hool T17 Astron “has been well worth the long wait” and he describes it as “a beautiful vehicle for which VDL Bus Group and AD Coach Systems have done a fantastic job.”
For the remainder of the football season, it will be working alongside another operator on a Premier League team transport contract as well as performing VIP and corporate hires for Eavesway’s own client base.
Externally, the coach carries the operator’s new distinctive livery and is set off by highly polished alloy wheels, a cherished 75-plate registration mark, and a camera mirror system in place of conventional mirrors. During its Ashes work, the T17 gained special window-mounted vinyls to mark the tournament.
Power comes from a DAF MX-13 engine developing 530bhp coupled to an Allison T525 six-speed fully automatic gearbox.
Joining Mr Eaves for handover of the coach were Eavesway Travel Commercial Manager Aiden Latham (pictured, right), AD Coach Systems Director Nick Weatherby (pictured, second from right) and VDL Bus UK Sales Representative Robert White (pictured, left).
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