The Levante

Raising the Bar - Raising Expectations

Following two years of research and development an exclusive accessible National Express coach conceived and designed for all National Express customers has been revealed. The coach, the only one in the World, has been newly christened the Levante, deriving from the Portuguese word 'to raise'. Fitted with a NX Magic Floor Lift, the coach will give wheelchair users, people with mobility impairments and the elderly the freedom to travel the UK by coach. The Levante will go on trial in December 2005 before going into full service in 2006.

The work achieved by National Express was recently described in a leading transport magazine to be "the holy grail of accessible transport and the solution which will lead the way for the industry" (Mel Holley, RouteONE, 11 August 2005). It is a collective effort by National Express in Birmingham; Salvador Caetano in Portugal and Leicester Smethwick based company, Passenger Lift Services (PLS); Volvo in Warwick; NMI Safety Systems in London and the Mobility and Inclusion Unit of the Department for Transport (DfT).

The Levante, which is being revealed as a pre-production vehicle, has many new features and benefits. The wider door, shallow entrance steps and flat floor are welcoming to all, especially the elderly and people with mobility impairments. The steps are wide enough for one person to board at the same time as another alights. Inside the coach, 49 of National Express' latest specification leather seats ensure comfort with padded arm rests, generous leg room and foot rests. When a customer in a wheelchair is not on board the two seats remain in place and can be comfortably used by customers.

The streamlined NX Magic Floor Lift is incorporated into the passenger entrance and when deployed, the wheelchair is locked in place and the customer safely and securely uses the same standard three-point seat belt as other customers. What's more, the NX Magic Floor Lift is hidden from view when not in use and the coach retains the same aesthetic look and feel as any other vehicle.

The vehicle will start its trial in the first week of December 2005. A programme of routes is currently being planned to roll-out the accessible coach across the network in 2006. This will be done on a route-by-route basis. The first route will be from London Victoria to an airport. It is the intention to put 100 vehicles in service over the next 24 months to make the network fully accessible by the 2012 Olympics representing a £5.5 million investment.

The vehicle is designed to accept any wheelchair working to the size of a 'reference wheelchair'. The award winning* National Express Disabled Person Travel Helpline (DPTH) will guide customers through the process and the National Express policy 'Serving our Disabled Customers' will be updated to set out the procedures.

Denis Wormwell, Chief Executive National Express said, "At National Express our style is to make things easy and as such we wanted the customer to be at the heart of this development and we looked at the product through their eyes. This has enabled us to ensure remarkable results for our customers offering the same high standards to customers in a wheelchair as we offer to others. The customer can now board safely and with dignity and we are excited to be at the forefront of easy access transport."

Jose Ramos, C.E.O. Salvador Caetano Group added, "We believe together, we have achieved a new step forward in coach design with the Levante which will stand alone as the best available, top line luxury coach. The close involvement, encouragement and advice of National Express throughout the design and build process, has been vital to the realisation of this project. So far it has been an entirely satisfactory and positive partnership and has encouraged us, together with other key component suppliers, to embrace the research, and investments necessary to increasingly improve coach design. We are proud that we have been able to play our part in helping National Express to realise their aspiration."

Tony Bull, Managing Director of Passenger Lift Services said, "We are delighted to be working with National Express and believe that the we have shown our commitment to innovation, quality and development of the NX Magic Floor ensures National Express customers get the best possible passenger lift on the market; this really is the Rolls Royce of lifts!"

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

The non-exclusive 'NX Magic Floor' lift developed by PLS will fit almost any coach and involves only a minimal amount of chassis alterations. National Express intends to directly purchase all of the lifts used on the network to supply to each body manufacturer, with the aim of taking the difficulty out of the process for the operator and to ensure continuity and conformity across the service. A vehicle life maintenance contract for all of the NX Magic Floor lifts will cover legislative checks and tests, ensuring compliance with lifting equipment regulations.

A reference wheelchair is bigger than most wheelchairs with a total length of 1200mm, total width 700mm and sitting height (from ground to top of head) of 1350mm. With more than 900 different wheelchair models on the market there are several areas needed to be addressed to ensure certain non-reference wheelchairs can be safely carried on board. Firstly the wheelchair must be capable of being carried within the reference space detailed above, and then National Express and the customer must ensure the wheelchair has the ability to be securely and safely anchored without the removal of cover panels. In the case of powered chairs the issue of battery type is important as National Express will only being able to carry dry cell batteries on board the coach. Scooters, buggies or chairs that are fixed in the reclined position will not be carried.

Presently, National Express operates the UK's first fully accessible coach service with a lift mounted on the middle of the coach on the Bath-Chippenham-Swindon-Heathrow Airport-London Victoria route. This started as a trial in conjunction with the DfT. It was hoped the trial would set the standard for future travel provisions for wheelchair users throughout the UK; however it was discovered this solution was not the answer to meet customers' needs.

*RNIB Simply the Best Awards 2005. The DPTH is at the very core of the company's efforts to ensure that customers are listened to, engaged with and supported. This could range from trouble shooting a particular issue, through to suggesting appropriate journeys that may suit an individual's needs or requirements. Within the DPTH there is an outstanding team of individuals who all work to achieve the aim of delivering excellent customer service. The DPTH is based in the National Express Contact Centre and assist disabled customers between 0800-2000, 7 days a week via phone (08717 818179), fax (0121 454 8052), textphone (0121 455 0086) or e-mail.

For more information and pictures please contact Joy in the NXPR department on (00 44) +121 423 8716.

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