ALAN MILLAR reports from this year’s Busworld exhibition in Belgium where two UK manufacturers showcased their products for mainland Europe, a bendybus for Belfast was one of three tram-style rapid transit vehicles on display, the rise of electrification was confirmed and several new coaches were launched
This year’s Busworld Europe was the best attended yet, with 37,241 visitors — over 2,000 more than in 2015 — from 118 countries attracted to the continent’s biggest bus and coach exhibition between 20 and 25 October.
This showcase for 376 exhibitors of vehicles, components and services has outgrown the Xpo exhibition centre in the Belgian Flanders town of Kortrijk where it has been held every two years since 1971.
Parts of the nine exhibition halls this year were once again in temporary buildings, in one place suspended over a normally outdoor ornamental pond, and demonstration vehicles lined roadways outside as well as parking areas tucked into corners of the site. It is easy to become lost trying to navigate the routes between parts of what can seem like a rabbit warren laced with minor obstacles to trip the fit and healthy, never mind those with disabilities.
Hence the decision that this would be t…
