The world’s first Euro 6 double-deck gas buses have been unveiled by Reading Buses.
At the ‘royal blue celebration bus launch,’ CEO Martijn Gilbert said: “Scania has had to think ‘outside the box’ to ensure the storage of gas is safe without impacting on customer capacity.”
This sees tanks under the staircase and rear seats, instead of a roof pod on single deckers, which the company was the first to introduce in 2013. It now runs 37 single-decker gas buses.
The five ADL-bodied buses will help improve the air quality around Tilehurst and Reading, on Reading Buses’ Royal Blue 33 and 33A routes every 10 minutes.
The high-quality interiors boast high-back seating, free superfast 4G Wi-Fi, at-seat USB chargers, a table upstairs with a wireless ‘aircharge’ mobile/tablet charging pad and all the Reading Buses usual features such as wood effect flooring and next stop audio and visual announcements.
The buses will also have two wheelchair bays, meaning that, for the first time, two wheelchair users can travel together.
This is a pioneering trial of this facility on a British local bus service. Reading will be monitoring it to consider its roll out on future orders.
