ABC is the leading bus and coach publication in Australia, providing operators with vital information and market intelligence to help them keep their BUSiness moving. ABC is the major source of vehicle and equipment classifieds for the industry.
It is time to have THAT conversation. Not so much by choice, but rather necessity. [Murmurs heard in the background] Wait, wait! Okay, not THAT conversation involving bees, birds and the legal implications of accidental stings, but more the one about being a busie, collectively speaking, and trying to convince mainstream society, or more of it – but mainly government – that we actually really do matter. Well, at least I think we do matter. And I’m pretty sure many of you in the bus and coach game think the same way, too. The problem is, if you are thinking like that then you’d also be thinking ‘if we deep down have to even ask ourselves if we do matter’ then we are doing so for a reason. And that…
SEEN AS FURTHER ‘strengthening its foothold in Australia’, Singaporean-headquartered ComfortDelgro has (subject to approval) purchased Buslink – Australia’s largest privately owned bus business – for AUD$190.9 million; the Group’s largest acquisition in the country to date. As the company states, the acquisition of Buslink Pty Ltd, Buslink Southern Pty Ltd and its 11 corresponding depots, is significant on two fronts: “It provides ComfortDelGro [CDC] with immediate access to the Northern Territory and Queensland – both of which are unchartered territories for the Group – and enables it to grow its existing bus operations in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.” This purchase is also the latest in a series of new acquisitions undertaken by the Group as it, “re-engineers itself, building on existing strengths while expanding into new avenues of…
TOUTED AS THE “biggest private sector transaction in three years”, Greyhound Australia has announced it is acquiring 49 Irizar-Volvo coaches following a successful subsidiary contract renewal with BHP covering two of its major mining areas. The coach-supply contract was signed in Melbourne on October 15 by Greyhound Australia CEO Alex de Waal and Irizar managing director for the Asia-Pacific region Daniel Castro. The massive deal followed Greyhound Resources – a subsidiary of the Greyhound Australia group – successfully winning its tender submission to secure a five-year renewal of the contract to provide BHP, BMC and BMA with coach services in the Queensland Bowen Basin and South Australia Olympic Dam mining regions. BACKGROUND CO-OPERATION The partnership between Irizar and Greyhound Australia began in 2008 and since then the European manufacturer has…
BUSTECH – the bus manufacturing arm of Queensland-based Transit Australia Group (TAG) – is not part of the proposed sale of the massive transport entity, according to Bustech CEO Anthony Roder. Speaking exclusively to ABC magazine, which contacted Bustech to confirm certain details of any proposed sale, Roder said: “The operational side of the [TAG] business is for sale.” Yet when asked if rumours Bustech itself was not part of the sale, Roder answered: “That is correct. Bustech at this point is not part of the sale. “It is an exciting time for the industry over the next 3–4 months,” he added. DEAL DETAILS Industry rumours over such a sale were confirmed recently by a report in The Australian newspaper online, saying the TAG sale – with an expected price…
DEMONSTRATING the company’s “commitment to customer service and support”, and its investment in “continually enhancing the customer experience”, Volvo Buses officially opened the doors to its new purpose-built, AUD$35 million dealership and service centre in Sydney recently. The new, large and modern Volvo facility is located in Prestons on Sydney’s south-west edge close to the M7/M5 interchange. With easy access from the motorways for customers, the new facility will become the key servicing site for buses and coaches in the Sydney region, it states. “With state-of-the-art service bays dedicated 100 per cent to buses and coaches; a team of 12 specialist-trained key Volvo bus and coach technicians – who are also RMS approved; onsite bus brake and roller testing; three dedicated bus-only service and support vans; and a bus-only after-sales…
AN UBER BESPOKE autonomous vehicle testing facility using 5G telecommunications technology has been unveiled in Sweden, which can “simulate virtually any traffic situation in any city on the planet”, it’s been reported recently. Known as AstaZero – a development of the state-owned Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) in partnership with Charmers University of Technology – it is able to “blend the virtual world, e.g., the iconic Arc de Triomphe traffic system in Paris, or Times Square in New York, with real vehicles and real people stationed around the track,” the organisation claims. By using the latest in 5G connectivity and distributed cloud services, AstaZero – with parts looking like a Hollywood movie set – is said to be able to mix test vehicles with virtual vehicles. “This enables realistic and…
