Volvo Buses
Australia
Irizar Australia’s 1,000th unit to date, featured the flagship Irizar i6s coach body on a Volvo B11R Euro 5 chassis and was accepted by Kangaroo Bus Lines this past week. Irizar has worked closely with Volvo Bus as a business partner throughout the years, together servicing KBL, making this a memorable milestone for those involved.
“The delivery of the 1,000th Irizar vehicle into the Australian market is an important milestone and one that we are very proud of,” said Steve Heanes, Managing Director at Irizar Australia.
“It is the result of hard work and dedication of many people over the relatively short journey to hit this milestone and we couldn’t be happier that KBL was the customer who ordered the 1,000th vehicle, and more importantly our flagship i6s coach body.”
“Since the delivery of the first vehicle to KBL nearly 5 years ago, the relationship has grown into a partnership of trust and we thank KBL for this trust in our ability to deliver a first-class product and customer support, now and into the future,” continued Heanes.
Irizar officially entered the Australian market in 2014 after a change of business strategy and has since established strong relationships with various customers and chassis manufacturers, including Volvo Bus Australia.
“Volvo Bus and Irizar have remained close business partners over the years,” says Mitch Peden, General Manager, Volvo Bus Australia.
“It’s great to share similar values and aim to consistently offer, safe, reliable and sustainable solutions for our customers. It’s certainly exciting to see the 1,000th Irizar unit fitted with a reliable Volvo B11R chassis, and to see this bus handed over to our valued customer, Kangaroo Bus Lines.”
Kangaroo Bus Line’s new bus features a 6x2 Steerable Tag Axle, 450hp, Volvo’s iShift and offers a light yet robust design with Irizar’s i6s coach body, for maximum durability.
Owned and operated by the Webster family, Kangaroo Bus Lines have been servicing South-East Queensland for more than four decades and have worked closely with Irizar and Volvo in more recent years.
“Kangaroo Bus Lines’ relationship with Volvo Bus Australia commenced in 1986 with the purchase of four B10M Fuji bodied articulated buses for our school bus network,” says Darren Webster, Chief Executive Officer at Kangaroo Bus Lines.
“These B10M Volvo’s remained in our fleet for 25 years and were the most reliable vehicles over their time. In 2000, KBL purchased a Mk4 B10M Volvo school / day charter bus, which we still operate today, again a clear testament to the Volvo product.”
“During the recent years, KBL reviewed what our future vehicle requirements will need to be to keep up with what our clients and customers are expecting and to remain a market leader within our industry. Through our partnership with Irizar, we have introduced these new state of art Volvo B11R coaches into our coach fleet.”
“In 2020, we commenced operating our B11R coaches and the support we have received from Volvo Bus Australia has been second to none, which has given us the confidence to establish our partnership with Volvo Bus Australia to be our preferred chassis supplier into this new era in the bus industry. With the evolution of the ZEB market, KBL needed to partner with a chassis supplier who we felt could support KBL’s future needs.”
“KBL is extremely honoured to be receiving the 1000th coach from Irizar Asia Pacific that will join our fleet of Irizar Coaches”, continued Darren.
To date, Kangaroo Bus Lines has seen rapid growth and new developments in all aspects of its business, and the continued support of the community, the Moreton Bay Regional Council and the Sunshine Coast Council has ensured that the team are consistently able to provide the high standard of service their passengers are accustomed too.
