Most are Long-bodied Vito 113 CDI BlueEfficiency Traveliner minibuses with nine seats. The balance comprises 10 Dualiners with a second rows of seats – two of which are Vito 113 CDI Longs and eight the smaller Citan 109 CDI Extra-longs.
Key to RSS' decision was a visit to local dealership Midlands Truck & Van, by chief executive Richard Toy and fleet manager Robert Barrett, who attended its Mercedes-Benz VanExperience Live event.
"This reinforced the view we had already formed, which was that in terms of the level of protection they offer for our employees Mercedes-Benz Vans are without equal," states Toy.
RSS previously relied on rented vehicles and, prior to ordering its new fleet, conducted a review of safety incidents involving rail industry workers, he says.
This concluded that several accidents occurred not while staff worked on track, but while they were en route.
RSS has fitted each of its new vans with a driver awareness warning system. This employs a dash-mounted device which focuses on the driver's retina and measures blinking pattern and sounds audible warnings if it detects drowsiness or inattention.
"Our service level agreement with Mercedes-Benz is based on a one-hour response time, but when we had a problem, caused by driver error, with one of Midlands Truck & Van's demonstration units, the technician was on site within 40 minutes," says Toy.
"Staff feedback on the Vito and Citan has been entirely positive," adds Barrett. "Both are comfortable, have excellent visibility, and offer a driving experience which is more akin to a high-end car than a commercial van."
The new van fleet will be maintained within the manufacturer's franchised UK network, with most of the work undertaken at the supplying dealer's workshop in Saltley, Birmingham.