A fleet of 14 Neoplan Tourliner coaches operated by Whippet on FlixBus work has covered a combined four million kilometres in their first 12 months of use, with the Ascendal Group subsidiary describing batch of vehicles as “a valuable asset” in its delivery of those services.
That total represents an average of around 286,000 kilometres per coach over that time. In addition to work within the UK the Tourliners reach Amsterdam and Paris as part of a five-year contract with FlixBus secured by Whippet in 2023. They entered service from August of that year.
Ascendal Group Managing Director UK Jonathan Ziebart (pictured, second from right) describes the reaching of four million kilometres within the Tourliner fleet’s first year as “an impressive achievement.”
He adds: “We are proud of our engineering team, who have kept these vehicles on the road under intense operating conditions and made it possible to reach such a milestone.”
Successful completion of the first year was marked by a visit to Whippet’s depot in Cambridgeshire by MAN Head of Customer Services Management Neal Walker, Regional Support Manager Graham Rose, and Bus and Coach Field Technician Chris Fletcher.
There they met with Mr Ziebart, Whippet Interim General Manager Ed Cameron (pictured, left), and Engineering Manager Scott Nicholetti.
Mr Nicholetti says that support for the Tourliner fleet from MAN and local service agent Manchetts “has been amazing in keeping the vehicles on the road and working with us on resolving technical issues in a timely manner.” He adds: “After-support is a critical part of running a fleet that spends so long on the road in passenger service.”
While the Tourliner fleet is the backbone of Whippet operations for FlixBus, the Ascendal subsidiary recently trialled its first battery-electric coach on that work.
