Rochdale based Mellor to showcase its Sprinter based bus with high capacity and low running costs

Mellor’s Strata low floor bus with up to 22 seats, is to make its European debut at Busworld, Kortrijk, 20 – 25 October 2017.

Targeted at a growing stage carriage market, the Sprinter based coach built vehicle – engineered with the oversight and approval of Mercedes-Benz – highlights the recent expansion of the product range for the UK manufacturer. Working closely with potential customers and the chassis manufacturer, Mellor believes that its unique qualities is making the Strata the go-to solution for bus operators in the UK and will prove to be equally successful in European markets.

Currently, the only low floor Sprinter products available in the UK utilise the Sprinter van body to create a passenger saloon with 2+1 seating and a single wheelchair space. Mellor has instead engineered an entirely new body, ensuring its can provide 2+2 seating and a much larger low floor section in which two wheelchairs can be accommodated.

Mellor has made a significant investment in the latest 3D CAD software at its production units to create a strong, stainless steel frame and, using CAD plus CNC machining, creating sector-leading GRP mouldings and interior plastics. Emphasis has been placed upon ensuring the vehicle is hard wearing and durable for stage carriage operations, while retaining an extremely light and airy feel within the driver and passenger areas.

The Strata’s new body is 2300mm wide, which significantly improves space in the saloon, and has provided a large, low floor section with the full approval of Mercedes-Benz. Among a number of significant modifications made to the Sprinter chassis cab base vehicle, Mellor has lowered the prop shaft to pass under the low floor mid-section.

The Strata is fully equipped for fare stage bus work, with destination displays, a rapid sliding entrance door, a ticket machine platform and achieves DDA compliance. Two wheelchairs can be carried, loaded via a bookleaf wheelchair ramp. There are also a wide variety of seating and hand-rail configurations available allowing a degree of customisation. Being based on the operators’ favoured Sprinter platform, the Strata meets demand for a small but robust service bus suitable for marginal routes, rural lanes and housing estates. At the same time, Mellor says the Strata delivers around 20mpg-plus fuel economy.

Strata is built to European Whole Vehicle Type Approval standard and has undergone rigorous accelerated durability testing at Millbrook, UK which simulated eight years of use in a stage carriage environment.

John Randerson, Managing Director of Mellor, said:

“When engineering the Strata, we wanted to find a solution to the limits of van based conversions using the Sprinter’s robust and durable drivetrain, and avoid creating a carbon copy of existing low floor van derived Sprinter small buses.

“The Strata is a bus with its own, unique features. The van based products have 2+1 seating and a single wheelchair space, but skilled coachbuilding allows us to achieve 2+2 seating and two wheelchair spaces, with capacity for as many as 22 passengers.”

Since its launch in autumn 2016, the Strata has already attracted the attention and entered service with UK major bus companies and operators.

The Strata LF will be appearing on stand number 919A in hall 9 at Busworld Europe, Kortrijk – 20 – 25 October 2017.