Volgren has delivered the final bus of its agreement with Brisbane City Council which has spanned the last 12 years and saw 882 of its buses delivered to the Queensland capital.
The handover event featured the last of the locally built buses to leave the company’s Eagle Farm facility along with the very first bus, a Volvo B7RLE, built in 2009.
Volgren has been operating as prime contractor to Brisbane City Council as part of a partnership that has also involved leading chassis manufacturer, Volvo.
Thiago Deiro, CEO of Volgren said the partnership has and will always be an integral part of the company’s history.
“We are grateful for the trust that Brisbane City Council has shown in us for 12 years as Prime Contractor, and for more than two decades in total. We are also incredibly proud to have been given the opportunity to manufacture in Brisbane. This bus, just like more than 800 before it, were made by Queenslanders for Queenslanders.
“And our partnership with Council will endure. We believe that when you choose Volgren you don’t purchase a product, you purchase a relationship. Product supply is just one element of that relationship; we have a multi-skilled fully functional aftersales team based at Eagle Farm. They are only a phone call away.”
Deiro said Volgren were doubly appreciative of the Brisbane City Council partnership, which not only helped to bring about a vibrant bus-building supply chain in Queensland, but helped Volgren improve its products.
“We believe we have helped Brisbane City Council develop and maintain one of the country’s leading and modern fleet of buses. In return, they have contributed valuably to the success and excellence of our vehicles.
“Our Optimus is our flagship bus and we aim to make our next Optimus better than our last. We are continually making improvements, and many of the standard features have come from recommendations that were originally modifications specific to Brisbane.”
Karl Hain, manager of engineering and assets at Transport for Brisbane said the collaborative partnership with Volgren has seen several key product improvements for safety, customer and environmental outcomes.
“Fitting fire suppression, setting industry best practice for emergency exits, USB charging points and the introduction of Euro 6 low emission vehicles have been key improvements along the journey,” said Hain
Deiro says he was hopeful that Volgren’s strong presence in and outstanding knowledge of the Queensland market would stand it in good stead when any future Brisbane City Council bus tenders were announced.
“Volgren has a proud history of supplying high-quality buses to all of Queensland and we have built up a dedicated team of specialist bus body builders and more than 20 local suppliers.
“As Australia transitions to zero-emission buses, led by operators such as Brisbane City Council, we believe we’re well placed to supply the next generations of on-road public transport vehicles to operators in this state and across the country.”
