Optare secures £7.6 million Arriva buses orders 18 February 2011

Optare has secured orders from Arriva for 69 single and double-deck buses, worth £7.6 million, for delivery this year.

They include 16 Visionaire open-top double-deckers for use by The Original Tour on London sightseeing tours, with seating for 101 passengers each. These will be built on 12.35 metre Volvo B9TL tri-axle chassis and will be delivered in time for the 60th anniversary of the service in June.

The other 53 vehicles comprise 41 Versa 11.1 metre models and 12 Solo 8.8 and 9.5 metre models, all Mercedes-Benz powered. They are destined for various Arriva subsidiaries with deliveries scheduled through to September.

"These orders also come at a time when we are seeing clear signs of recovery in the UK bus market," comments Optare chief operating officer, Glenn Saint.

"We started the year with a raft of orders from the independent sector, to which we can now add these substantial orders from a leading UK operator. The result is an order book now standing at £43 million – the highest it has ever been."

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd
Optare plc
Volvo Group UK Ltd

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