Amphibious bus may replace ferry

Leading international public transport group, Stagecoach, is undertaking trials of an amphibious bus - 'amfibus' - on the River Clyde near Glasgow in Scotland.
February 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Leading international public transport group, 805 Stagecoach, is undertaking trials of an amphibious bus - 'amfibus' - on the River Clyde near Glasgow in Scotland. The US$1 million bus, based on a 609 Volvo chassis, can carry 50 passengers and is built in Holland by 2054 Dutch Amphibious Transport Vehicles BV (DAT) of Nijmegen. Fitted with a Euro 5-compatible engine, it can travel at 8kt (14.8km/h) in the water and has a maximum road speed of 100km/h.

2050 Strathclyde Partnership for Transport operates the 500-year-old Renfrew to Yoker ferry service and concedes that it is a vital transport link, catering for 140,000 passenger journeys a year. Nevertheless, in January it decided to axe the ferry at the end of March to save nearly US$650,000 a year.

Plans to replace the ferry with the 'amfibus' will not just involve crossing the river between Renfrew and Yoker. Instead it will run by road from Braehead to the Renfrew Ferry slipway, cross the Clyde to Yoker, and then continue by road to Clydebank.

Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: "This is an exciting transport project that would provide a seamless bus connection between two important local communities. Passengers can use the amfibus to travel over road and water without having to change from a bus to a ferry."

Souter says that the vehicle demonstrates the potential of rivers and estuaries to be links rather than barriers to travel.

Related Content

  • Spark plugs may be replaced by lasers
    May 21, 2012
    For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles.
    Read More
  • ComfortDelGro to test autonomous shuttle in Singapore traffic
    November 13, 2018
    ComfortDelGro will trial an autonomous shuttle bus in real traffic conditions at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Kent Ridge Campus from March 2019.
    Read More
  • Brooklyn eyes Bogota’s BRT system
    June 17, 2016
    David Crawford considers the increased interest in bus rapid transit and looks that the latest trends. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is gaining an increasingly high profile in the US public transport agenda, for two main reasons. One is the potential for ‘trains on wheels’ to save substantially on installation costs as compared with other modes such as underground metros or light-rail transit. Another, highlighted in the case of New York City, is the value of having a rapid surface-based alternative available whe
    Read More
  • South Africa to upgrade public transport
    October 2, 2013
    Speaking at the launch of South Africa’s 2013 Transport Month, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters pledged to spend more than US$500 million on planning, building and operating integrated public transport networks in more than thirteen cities in the country. The major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town have already constructed over 20 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes. Both cities will expand operations to carry up to 100 thousand passengers a day on each system, while the bus rapid transport system in Joh
    Read More

Highlighted Content