Perth-based Adams Coachlines has picked up a batch of early 1990s Renault PR100.2 flat floor buses to service the west’s major events scene
Perth-based Adams Coachlines has picked up a batch of recently decommissioned early 1990s Renault PR100.2 flat floor buses to service Western Australia’s burgeoning ‘party bus’ and major events business.
“The reason we chose the Renaults was because of the high standard of maintenance on the vehicles,” Adams Coachlines Managing Director Adam Barnard says.
“I bought them because they have are fully heated, have refrigerated drivers air-conditioning, and no rust,” he says.
Barnard bought his first batch of ten Renault PR100.2 buses straight out of service from Canberra’s Action bus fleet, with plans to buy another ten soon.
The Renaults will service large Perth-based events, including the soon-to-be-confirmed Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October.
The buses will be refurbished and repainted in Adams Coachlines’ ‘party bus’ livery.
“We already operate 15 Renaults in Perth and our mechanics specialise in their maintenance and we carry a large volume of parts,” Barnard says.
The Action Renaults will, over time, replace the Renault buses already in service in the Adams Coachlines’ fleet.
The recent batch driven across the Nullarbor from Canberra to Perth should each see service for another five years, which Barnard says is value for money.
“These buses are seen as a disposable asset and we will keep turning them over for a maximum five years per bus.”
The first four Action Renaults were driven across the Nullarbor in the last week of July, with the remaining six driven two at a time to Perth through August.
Travelling at 80 km an hour, the trip takes five days.
Barnard used the exercise to build morale within his company’s pool of managers, mechanics and drivers.
“Some of our staff had never been across the Nullarbor before,” he says.
Barnard travelled across with the first party in late July to get a feel for the buses and the distance involved in relocating the Renaults from Canberra to Perth.