A SOUTHAMPTON bus operator is to unveil new fleet of double decker vehicles for a popular route.

Bluestar is celebrating the success of its 18 service this month - by unveiling a fleet of 19 new buses for the 18 route.

The Southampton bus operator has invested £4 million in the British-built ADL Enviro 400 City double deckers increasing capacity and cementing its commitment to lowering emissions across the city.

Bluestar managing director, Andrew Wickham, said: “We are replacing our existing single decker vehicles with these brand new double deckers - and that means doubling the number of seats on offer.

"This is in direct response to an increase in the number of passengers travelling along this popular route.

"We’re delighted more of our customers are choosing to leave their cars at home to travel with us on buses equipped with Euro 6 low emissions diesel engines and start/stop engine technology - that can only be a good thing for improving air quality in the city."

The new buses will be unveiled during an event at Guildhall Square in Southampton on Wednesday, November 7, before entering service along the Bluestar 18 route between Millbrook and Thornhill via Shirley, the city centre and Bitterne.

 

Andrew will be joined at the new bus launch by representatives from local businesses and Southampton City Council.

Bluestar are have also unveiled a ADL Enviro 400 City double decker bus to serve with Red Funnel as part of their Quayconnect partnership.

Quayconnect is a bus service operated by Bluestar on behalf of Red Funnel, which links Southampton Central Station with the city’s ferry terminals.

Earlier this year, Bluestar unveiled a new £7m fleet of low emission buses in order to bring the firm up to speed with the new clean air zone restrictions set to be introduced in 2019.

Each of the vehicles sports the latest Euro 6 low emissions engine - the newest and cleanest standard for diesel.

The launch follows Bluestar's groundbreaking filter systems which operate on top of buses in a bid to boost cleaning pollution in Southampton.

In September, Go-Ahead Group launched the UK’s first air filtering bus that will clean air as it travels around on its route.

 

Bosses believe the filter, placed on top of the Bluestar 7 vehicle, will take approximately 99.5 per cent of small, harmful particles in the air.

If successful, Bluestar hopes to install the filters on its entire fleet of buses.