(26 Apr 2015, 2:01 pm)Tom wrote Has 4912 been modified by the way?
When it was at Wallsend it looked to have new flooring and a manual ramp fitted?
It has been fitted with a manual ramp, but all automatic ramps are in the process of being converted at the moment. It has not been modified internally to become DDA-compliant.
(26 Apr 2015, 2:15 pm)Simmy wrote Is it worth spending that amount of money on a 15 year old(+) vehicle though? Modifying them will make them DDA compliable, but they are still quite old.
The cost of undertaking the modifications on all Volvo B10BLEs in the fleet is probably the equivalent to, or less than, the cost of one brand new bus.
To replace all Volvo B10BLEs in the fleet with brand new vehicles, with the possibility of Quality Contracts ahead, would therefore cost about 50 times more than the cost to modify the vehicles to make them DDA-compliant.