Arriva Midlands has spent nearly £800,000 on six new buses to serve commuters looking to get from Telford town centre to Stafford.

The six new Optare Versa midibuses are entering service with the firm at its depot in Wellington. The 38-seaters, acquired at a cost of £780,000, will be working on route 481 linking the town centre and Stafford calling at Oakengates, Donnington, Lilleshall, Gnosall and Haughton.

Bob Hind, regional managing director for Arriva Midlands, said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to make this significant investment in route 481.

“It provides regular links between Telford town centre and Stafford and several villages along the way and I am sure that our customers will be impressed by the new buses.”

Mr Hind said the choice of the Versa model for the service followed an ‘intense evaluation’ of several makes and models.

He said the midibus had been chosen because it offered ‘excellent passenger accessibility, low emissions and fuel economy’.

“Arriva has a number of this type of vehicle in its fleet and has had a good experience with Versa which influenced the decision to choose the model for this service,” Mr Hind added.

“Versa has an ideal passenger capacity to cope with peak demand and is more economic to run at quieter times.

“The modern styling also adds to its kerb appeal,” Mr Hind added.

“The Versas feature comfortable high back seats with headrests.

“The internal colour scheme is to Arriva’s standard style but externally a specially designed and very colourful livery has been adopted.

“This is an ideal time for Arriva to be moving up a gear.

“We’re sure we’ll see more customers transferring to our regular, reliable and robust network of local bus services in the Telford and Stafford areas.”

The buses include LED information displays at the front, side and rear of the vehicles so passengers can easily identify where the buses are going.
CCTV security cameras have also been fitted on the inside and outside of the buses.