Trial of amphibious bus is stopped in its quacks

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 21:40

TRIALS of an amphibious bus on the River Clyde were embarrassingly halted yesterday when the Dutch vehicle developed a suspension fault.

• The amphibious bus is put through it's paces on the River Clyde. The Amfibus later broke down before it could re-enter the water.

The single-decker could replace the 500-year-old Renfrew ferry as part of a potential new cross-river service between the Braehead shopping centre and Clydebank.

Transport giant Stagecoach dismissed yesterday's problem as a minor setback and said the tests would resume today.

The ferry is due to close at the end of next month because of mounting losses, but eight other firms have also expressed interest in taking over the 200yd crossing as part of a wider Clyde water bus service.

Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter is due to take part in a third day of the "amfibus" trials today between Renfrew and Yoker in Glasgow.

The 50-seat vehicle, which started tests at the crossing on Sunday, had made two return trips across the Clyde yesterday when the problem was spotted.

Stagecoach spokesman Steve Stewart said the fault related to an airbag that controls the vehicle's suspension. However, he denied it had been caused by crossing the river or a collision with a slipway.

Mr Stewart said the bus was driven to a garage to be repaired and was back on the road yesterday afternoon.

He said the trials could not be conducted at low tide because of the short slipways, but if a service was launched these would be extended by 10ft to avert tidal restrictions.

• Mechanics inspect the Amfibus

Stagecoach said it would pay for a 70,000 vehicle but has yet to determine the cost of extending the slipways and whether public funding would be required to cover initial running costs.

Mr Stewart said the trial was "coincidental" to the planned axing of the ferry by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which loses 430,000 a year.

He said Stagecoach was also looking at the "wider potential" of operating amfibuses over short stretches of rivers and estuaries in the UK.

A Clyde service would be the first to carry commuters in the UK, but Stagecoach already runs a sightseeing service on the Hudson River in New York.