The ALBUM Conference took place earlier this week at the Sheration Grand Hotel in Edinburgh, coincidently I was also in Edinburgh on both days so I decided to go up the to event to get some photos of the Buses that were in attendance from Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus, Volvo, Switch Mobility and Yutong with latter being our very 5808 (NL72 EUD) from Go North East.
https://flickr.com/photos/adammalarkey/a...0307827142
I have to say I was quite impressed with the vehicles that were in attendance with only one downside being from Alexander Dennis and there insufficient buggy space on there demonstrator instead focusing the space for those who have a guide dog, while I appreciate it improves accessibility on board buses for guide dog user however it doesn't for buggy/pushchair users with no mention of the latter on notices on board the bus, I would also say Alexander Dennis have also put a focus into cramming as many seats in the lower deck as they can despite the vehicles having a high seating capacity upstairs as shown in my photos, could've easily sacrificed two seats downstairs to provide more sufficient space for all users, obviously when it comes down to an operator making an order for the E400 FCEV then I guess this area could be better tailored to there requirements with accessibility in mind.
With Wrightbus there Hydroliner/Electroliner vehicles looked the part and I think they'll definitely be a one to watch in the coming months as they are coming off of the back of the failed Wright Streetair so for me they have a point to prove in the "Electric Vehicle" sector compared to there competitors at Alexander Dennis and Yutong who have seen great success in over past 3 years.
Also on the watch list is Volvo with the BZL as this was initially launched a year ago it has only just begun to take orders despite very few operators having actually took the vehicle on demonstration for testing purposes, Lothian have both the Double/Midi Single Deck variants on demonstration at the moment have done for a few months now whilst Stagecoach South have a Full-Sized Single Deck in use however Stagecoach have also placed a massive order on the BZL's with new buses in service at Kilmarnock and orders in place for Cambridge and Stockport in the coming months going into 2024, quite the risk to be taking from an operators perspective on an otherwise unproven vehicle however having sampled a few of the Stagecoach examples in Kilmarnock on Tuesday I was quite impressed by them and are certainly an alternative to the Yutong E10.
You have Yutong who seem to be having great success with there E Range owing to the vehicles lasting range from what few people I had the chance to speak to whilst taking photos said and Yutong are expecting further orders to be made in the forthcoming months, I certainly hope to see more of them here in the North East as I quite like them on the 53/54 & Q3.
Finally we have Switch Mobility formerly known as Optare with there MetroCity EV which out of all of the E-Bus providers we have here in the UK seem to be struggling the most in securing orders for there buses with only Abellio and Metroline in London taking orders thus far despite the Metrocity EV being on the market since 2019, the guy I spoke to from Switch didn't seem to know a reason as to why other operators are not taking orders for there bus other than it's potentially because there are better alternatives on the market and that they are no longer providing anything the size of a Solo, which he did state they are looking at getting back into that side of the market to which I was baffled by when the Mini Version of the Metrocity EV was supposed to be the Solos replacement.