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Melbourne to relieve commuter pressure by rolling out locally-made, double-decker bus fleet

Xinhua, May 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Melbourne will join other world cities such as London, Singapore and Hong Kong when it debuts a double-decker commuter bus next month.

Public Transport Victoria (PTV) has announced on Friday the trial of one locally designed and made double-decker bus, with the prospect of a contract for more buses if there is enough demand for the service.

The bus, designed and manufactured by a local company Volgren which employs up to 250 people at its plant in Melbourne's east, has an official capacity of 111 passengers, which is almost double that of some single level buses currently in operation in Australia's second largest city.

The company also has contracts with public transport bodies in Asian superpowers Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Volgren's chief executive officer Peter Dale said that double- decker buses were a rare sight in Australia, but he expects them to become more popular as they are rolled out.

He said he expects the trials to be successful, meaning a contract for more buses to be built at the Melbourne plant is likely in the future.

"It has around 90 seats so when people get on a bus and travel a bit further, it is significantly more comfortable and safer," he told Fairfax Media on Friday.

"Our expectation is that this will be a very, very successful trial."

A spokesman for the Public Transport Users Association said that some routes throughout Melbourne could benefit from added capacity offered by the double-decker buses.

Daniel Bowen said university shuttle services, peak hour services and some "Smart Bus" routes were already at full capacity, and the locally-built buses could provide a safer and more comfortable commute.

"There are certainly a number of very busy bus routes around Melbourne that do suffer from overcrowding, so generally it's good that they are looking at options for high-capacity buses," he said on Friday.

The bus will ply its trade in conjunction with the new " Regional Rail Link" and will transport commuters between two new regional rail stations. Endi