Kingstown Works Limited (KWL) has taken delivery of and supplied seven Mellor Strata high floor small buses to the Hull City Council (HCC) Passenger Transport Services, with the contract being awarded to Mellor following a detailed tender process.

The buses are owned and hired out to HCC by KWL, which is a wholly-owned ‘arms-length’ subsidiary of HCC. They have been selected mainly for urban use and will be deployed on a range of HCC Passenger Transport operations to include adult daycare transport and home-to-school services.

Key to the tender process was the requirement for a bus that would provide the desired level of interior space, in particular, a need for 2+2 seating and a wide and roomy aisle.

Garry Middleton, for KWL Fleet, explained: “The interior design, dimensions, and weight of the buses were critically important elements of the tender process and going for a quality coach-built solution was considered the best option. Ease of use and accessibility for passengers was vital, we undertook trials with both our client and service users/passengers prior to placing the order to make sure they met all of their specific requirements.”

Jane Dransfield, Area Sales Manager – Central for Mellor, said: “The wants and needs of Hull CC were very precise, which is why the tender process was quite long and involved to ensure every aspect of their specification was exactly met. As well as extensive discussions taking place, we had to provide a great deal of technical information and data to support our bid, in particular relating to the design and weight and the available interior space for passengers.

“After being awarded the tender, we also arranged for driver familiarisation sessions as well as dedicated maintenance training for six members of KWL’s fleet technician team. Our own technical and maintenance team will also be providing additional service support to KWL Fleet as and when necessary.”

The Strata HF was launched in 2017 and is aimed primarily at the local authority and community transport sectors. It is a fully-accessible vehicle based on the acclaimed Mercedes Sprinter chassis which, like its low-floor cousin capitalises on lightweight composite materials throughout.

The construction allows for a capacity of up to 19 seated passengers or as many as seven wheelchairs. Internal space has been maximised to allow 2+2 seating of 450mm wide seats on a completely flat floor with no slope and no internal steps.