ALAN MILLAR describes some of the highlights at this year’s show at the National Exhibition Centre on 2 and 3 October, where new and forthcoming coaches from Volvo and others were among the highlights, together with an eye-catching electric bus from Belarus that is destined for trial service in Nottingham
Timed just two weeks before manufacturers make their big announcements at Busworld Europe in Brussels, Coach & Bus UK is necessarily a modest exhibition, which this year was more about coaches than buses.
Of the three UK manufacturers, only market leader Alexander Dennis ever intended to take stand space. Optare has not attended since 2015. Nor has Wrightbus, though its collapse into administration a week earlier ensured that it was a talking point throughout Hall 17 at the NEC on both days.
The compact nature of the show left room for the previously outdoor overflow display to be moved indoors, in an unadorned area more like a generously proportioned coach depot than an exhibition space.
Yet it was here that one of the biggest surprises was sprung. A left-hand-drive new generation Volvo 9700, which in right-handdrive form will be available in the UK and Ireland from late next year.
This is the mod…
