Country NSW based Express Coach Builders has announced it has won a significant contract for building a fleet of new Volvo chassis buses for NSW regional operator Buslines, in a deal that will see the buses deployed across the state, bringing an enormous boost to Express’ hometown of Macksville and across the Mid North Coast of NSW.
Express has secured a contract for for a number of Volvo B8 RLE E6 buses, with the potential for more buses to come. Three of the new buses are currently in build with another more waiting for their slots in the build schedule.
The contract and the prospect of more Volvos for Buslines is a further boost for the Macksville company that punches well above its weight in the Australian bus building industry.
The company is already well advanced with engineering and production work for a range of zero emission buses and with this new contract, Express is actively seeking more tradespeople, bringing a further employment boost to the Mid North Coast.
A spokesperson for Express said that it was looking for a variety of tradespeople across a wide range of trades.
“We are seeking boilermakers, Spray painters, panel beaters, fibreglassers, cabinet makers, fitters, in fact about the only trades we are not looking for are concreters and plumbers, but we’d probably even consider them at the moment,” the spokesperson told T&B News.
“This is a real feel good news story for the region and for Express and it’s great to link up with Buslines and its strong roots in country NSW to provide passengers across the state with the latest safe, clean and advanced buses, “ they said.
Buslines, was originally founded in 1926 as John A Gilbert Pty Limited, and now almost a century later it operates a fleet of more than 300 vehicles, servicing a network of routes in major country towns throughout New South Wales transporting more than 15 million customers annually and employs more than 540 staff. The company operates 13 depots and 12 workshops across the New South Wales country regions.
Buslines has been purchasing Volvo buses for more than two decades now and Volvo Bus’s regional sales manager Ray Andrich actually sold Buslines its first Volvo B7R back in 2001.
Volvos now make up more than half of Buslines’ fleet, with a total of 190 Volvo buses owned and operated by the company, including B7R, B7RLE, B12BLE and B8RLE buses and coaches.
Express has been operating since 1995 building a strong reputation for being a leading Australian manufacturer of quality buses and high-end coaches.
The company has a focus on customisation for particular customer requirements from chassis selection through to seat trim and multimedia systems.
