The South West of Scotland Transport Partnership for Dumfries and Galloway (SWestrans) has taken delivery of three new Mellor Strata buses following a previous order of two Maximas earlier this year by Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC).

The buses specified by SWestrans are low floor, easy access and can carry up to 22 passengers at a time. The vehicles will be leased by SWestrans to Houston’s Coaches in Lockerbie, who will be providing passengers living in more remote areas with accessible public transport.

Douglas Kirkpatrick, Lead Officer at SWestrans, said:

“The buses we have ordered will allow us to provide passengers with access to their local towns and villages. It is great to know that our new additions will help people who would not usually be able to make use of public transport so easily.

“These Strata buses will be easily accessible for wheelchair users due to their low floors. For the service we will be providing we did not need a large bus, the Stratas are the perfect addition due to their capacity for the areas they will be serving.

“Earlier this year DGC specified two Maxima buses which are used for the transport of pupils to and from school. The vehicles proved to be brilliant additions, so we confidently placed our trust in Mellor to provide us with these three new buses.

“The Mellor Strata offers full accessibility to all passengers and has excellent fuel performance, which in turn assists in its affordability and make the routes more sustainable.” 

Lorna Miller, National Sales Manager – North for Mellor, said:

“We are delighted that SWestrans has followed Dumfries and Galloway Council’s lead and chosen Mellor for this fleet investment, and are glad we could offer them the vehicles they were looking for at a competitive price.

“It gives us great pleasure to know that we are helping people to gain access to public transport even in the most far reaching areas.”