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TFNSW PANEL 3 BUSES
ILLAWARRA TO SEE FIRST ‘PANEL 3’ BUSES A family owned and operated bus company in the coastal NSW Illawarra region will soon be running the first Transport for NSW (TfNSW) ‘Panel 3’-compliant buses, which needed new fire-retardant materials and firesuppression systems to meet the latest ‘Crib 7’ standard, Volgren reports recently.
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stablished in 1923, Dion’s Bus Service – based in the Wollongong suburb of Fairy Meadow – is the oldest bus operator in the Illawarra. The concept behind the term ‘Panel 3’ refers to TfNSW’s new procurement arrangement where all new buses travelling in New South Wales must meet passenger safety improvement measures, including stringent new fire-mitigation specifications. The two low-floor route buses, incorporating Volgren Optimus bodies on Volvo BR8 chassis, will replace vehicles coming to the end of their life, and Dion’s managing director Les Dion says that will make a significant difference to passengers. “The two new buses will go into service in late November, replacing two older buses approaching their maximum contract bus age of 25 years,” Dion said. “Being low-floor accessible buses we will be able to better accommodate wheelchairs and prams, as well as our elderly customers. “By replacing two standard buses with accessible buses we are now in a position to be able to provide 100 per cent accessible buses to all of our scheduled passenger services,” he added.
GREAT TRANSFORMATION Dion’s fleet, having served its customers through World Wars and depressions, has transformed greatly during that time and now, as one could imagine. “In early days you would use your resources to maintain your fleet and even add gas-producing charcoal burners to keep the buses going when fuel was scarce during the Second World War,” Dion said. In fact, there was even a period where Dion’s would ‘re-body’ its own buses in order to keep costs down. When it could no longer do this, Dion’s would revert to buying second-hand buses. In 1989, Dion’s purchased its first new bus in 40 years, it confirms. Les Dion says the company’s first Volgren entered the fleet in 1998 and that was the first time the team saw a reliable bus body. “This bus shared the same chassis as three previous buses with a different
ABC November 2020 busnews.com.au
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16/11/2020 11:32:23 AM
