Translink has awarded an £8 million contract for 110 Solar low floor single deck buses to Ballymena based Wrightbus. The order follows on from the delivery of 80 single deck vehicles, which entered service in 2004.

These modern new buses reflect Translink's continued drive to offer improved levels of quality and service to all passengers. The distinctive lines of the Wrightbus Solar, branded with the fresh new Ulsterbus livery, will become an even more familiar sight, operating on urban and rural routes throughout Northern Ireland.

The well-established Wrightbus single deck vehicle emerged the winner out of a rigorous tender process. Keith Moffatt, Translink's Chief Executive explains, "The tender process took account of a number of factors including quality and design of the product, price and after market support. The combination of the Wrightbus Solar body and the Scania chassis represented the closest match to our tender requirements and therefore the best solution to our needs."

The new vehicles are fully accessible and will feature enhanced heating systems, double-glazing, a manual ramp for wheelchair access and a six-camera CCTV system for passenger and driver security.

All of the new vehicles will be assigned to Ulsterbus, and while the majority will be configured for general inter-urban passenger transport, six have been specified with additional luggage storage space, and will be used to operate the Airbus service to Belfast International Airport.

The first of the new vehicles is to join the Translink fleet in early March with the remainder to follow throughout the year.Mr Moffatt continued, "In our experience these vehicles have proven to be extremely reliable with feedback from both drivers and passengers equally positive. We look forward to enjoying the same high standards from these new vehicles".

"Modern, quality buses play an essential part of any journey. We have already taken delivery of 190 new buses over the last year, now with further new vehicles due to arrive this is great news for our passengers. The new buses will also have a significant impact on reducing the average bus fleet age and in conjunction with the current changes and innovations currently on going within the bus operations, will play a key role in delivering the challenging growth targets for the bus companies as set out in the Regional Transportation Strategy", he concluded.