£30m contract for Ballymena bus company

A County Antrim bus building company has today secured a £30 million international order for its Rapid Transit Vehicle.

The order was won by The Wright Group from Ballymena, who will provide 50 of its StreetCars to the American Transport Commission in Southern Nevada, with two further options each for an additional 50 vehicles.

The 62-foot long, 100 seater, articulated vehicle will operate on two new rapid transit corridors in the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada's Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) system, one serving downtown Las Vegas and one extending the MAX system to nearby Boulder City.

All 50 vehicles will be built in at Ballymena where a dedicated production line for StreetCar was recently unveiled, with first deliveries due early 2008 and the initial order fully completed by early 2009.

Like the existing vehicles operating on the RTC MAX system, the Wright Group StreetCar RTVs will operate with off-board fare collection, multiple door loading, traffic signal priority, dedicated vehicle lanes and hybrid diesel-electric propulsion.

Internally, StreetCar RTV will be similar to those already in service in the UK, but with a specification to reflect the three door layout.

A statement from the Wright Group said that StreetCar is one of the most exciting concepts in urban public transport for a generation, conceived, designed and built to encourage greater use of public transport in urban areas. Combining the style and technology of the best in light rail vehicle design, with the flexibility and affordability of a city bus, StreetCar creates that elusive “wow” factor – something which was instrumental in RTC’s decision-making process, said the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Chairman of the Wright Group William Wright said: "This is a major new chapter for the company and all its employees, both in technical and financial terms as well as further developing our presence in the North American market. Importantly, it also underlines the potential for StreetCar as a cost effective and readily deliverable alternative to infrastructure-intensive rapid transit systems throughout the world."

Jacob Snow, General Manager of the RTC of Southern Nevada, said: "The StreetCar provides us with a combination of function and style. The vehicles are attractive so they will appeal to our riders, and the hybrid engines provide the environmental benefits we wanted. The flexibility of the rubber-tire [sic] vehicles with the sleek look of light rail is the combination we were looking for."

(EF/SP)