Irizar has supplied 26 coaches to Ministry of Defence sites across the UK – a mix of 21 i6 and five i4 vehicles.
The 14m i6 coaches have 59 passenger seats, and have been built with PSVAR preparation to protect future residual values.
In addition, the 12.9m i4’s, specifically selected for their lower overall height due to access restrictions at several locations, have 51 seats and also PSVAR prep.
All the coaches are supplied with the DAF engines paired with ZF Traxon transmission, and are HVO compatible.
This was important in the selection criteria, with the use of HVO offering a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions.
Reducing CO2 emissions, maximising payload/seat numbers and minimising life costs were three very important MoD requirements.
Babcock International managed the procurement process on behalf of the MoD via competitive tender, and Novuna Vehicle Solutions was being selected as the lease provider.
Andrew Blundell, Managing Director of Irizar UK, said: “It has been a pleasure to work closely with the teams at Babcock and Novuna, and successfully deliver the first Irizar coaches into the MoD.
“By committing to detailed evaluation of different options, we have been able to deliver a specification which optimizes the MoD’s unique requirements around passenger seat numbers and payload capacity”.
Toby Carter, National Business Development Manager for Novuna Vehicle Solutions said: “This has been a seamless process from order through to user delivery, including our own thorough predelivery inspections, and driver training on handover of all these new coaches.”