Super size coaches for NZ
Super-sized double-decker coaches are to operate between Wellington and Auckland, as high fuel prices continue to drive up demand for public transport.
The new 13.5-metre long coaches seat between 65 and 76 passengers. They will carry 30 per cent more people for 15 per cent less fuel than standard vehicles, operator InterCity said.
Four of the coaches, which cost $650,000 each and are nearly as high as three cars stacked on top of each other, have been ordered from Tauranga firm Kiwi Coach Builders.
The first of them will be in service on the route by the end of the month.
The coaches were among the first to take advantage of the Government’s relaxation of vehicle size restrictions, Bus and Coach Association executive director John Collyns said. He expected the oversized models to become more common on New Zealand roads.
InterCity chief executive Malcolm Johns said passenger numbers grew 14 per cent in the year to March and had increased about 10 per cent in the three months since then.
High fuel prices were encouraging people to leave their cars at home, he said.
“These coaches are the largest vehicles built in New Zealand for public transport purposes and have the potential to remove 47,000 private vehicle journeys from the roads each year.”
Graham Muldoon
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