New Scania Touring coaches for Coach Travel Group

Mark Oliver, Sales Director Power Solutions, Bus & Coach Scania UK with Peter Robinson COO of The Coach Travel Group.

The order marks a bold step forward in the company’s commitment to modernising its vehicles, ensuring the highest customer experience. This exciting announcement was made at the Euro Bus Expo 2024 (November 12-14), where The Coach Travel Group and Scania UK officially unveiled the partnership.

“We are thrilled to strengthen our fleet with these new Scania Touring coaches. This deal is just one part of the company’s ongoing strategy to deliver unrivalled group travel experiences,” said Tom Stables, CEO at The Coach Travel Group.

“The new Scania Touring coaches are equipped with state-of-the-art features designed to enhance passenger comfort, vehicle reliability, sustainability and safety. Our passengers will benefit from luxurious seating, advanced climate control, and on-board entertainment systems, ensuring every journey is one to remember.”

Lee Wale, Retail Sales Manager for Scania UK, said: “We’re proud to be working with The Coach Travel Group. Our shared values and ability to bring people together is what makes this such a great partnership.

“This agreement showcases the synergies between the two organisations and our ambitions to do the right thing. By both our customers and the environment. This is the first step on our journey to delivering a sustainable transport solution together.”

The Coach Travel Group is the result of a strategic merger of Alpine Travel, Barnes Coaches, Coatham Coaches, JH Coaches, Johnsons Coaches, The Ready Group, Swans Travel and Whittles. Formed in June 2024, the group has approximately 700 employees and 450 vehicles in its fleet. Its focus is on leveraging the extensive experience and investment across the seven operators to provide a best-in-class service offering to its customers.

The Scania Touring delivers sustainable group travel

The new generation Scania Touring has been developed to meet the demands of today’s travel operators. Energy-efficient and available in a wide range of powertrains, it incorporates the latest technology to enhance safety while reducing emissions and noise levels.

Tom added: “The combination of fuel economy, passenger comfort and generous luggage capacity, makes the Scania Touring an attractive choice.

“Going by coach is already one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly ways to travel*. Scania’s energy-efficient powertrain technology means that The Coach Travel Group can benefit from lower operating costs, while reducing carbon emissions.”

Fitted with the latest Euro6-compliant diesel engines, the Scania Touring can save up to 6% in fuel and emissions, without compromising on performance. This is achieved through several factors, with the most significant savings coming from the improved cruise control system with active prediction.

Driving style is another key factor affecting fuel consumption, and Scania’s range of driving services can typically reduce fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 10%. The driveability of Scania coaches, advanced driver assistance systems and top-quality maintenance services can result in additional savings.

Putting drivers and passengers first

At the Coach Travel Group, passenger comfort is a top priority because we’re dedicated to enhancing our customers’ travel experience and environment. Like Scania, we are committed to creating a better journey for everyone on board – and a top-quality driver environment can reduce the risk of incidents by maintaining driver comfort and alertness.

Scania vehicles are popular with drivers due to the cabin design, turning radius, visibility and overall driveability. Advanced driver assistance systems ensure the driver has good control of the vehicle through improved assisted handling, steering and braking. Features such as attention support, lane keep assistance, lane change collision prevention and adaptive cruise control with active prediction help to prevent accidents or minimise potential damage.

Passenger comfort is also a priority, with the Scania Touring benefitting from forgiving suspension, smooth gearbox transition, powerful engines and well-balanced weight distribution. Passengers can sit back and enjoy the journey with individually adjustable climate control that operates independently from the powertrain, providing upmost comfort in nearly all climates and minimising energy consumption.

The new vehicles are also PSVAR compliant, so they can accommodate wheelchair users and have improved accessibility features such as seats, steps, floors/gangways and handrails. Another innovation is the lower passenger aisle in the coach, meaning fewer steps and more headroom while providing easier access to seats, without compromising on luggage capacity.

Safety features include:

• Automatic emergency braking (AEB) fitted as standard.
• Adaptive cruise control with active prediction – maintains the distance to vehicles in front.
• Lane keep assistance – keeps the vehicle between the lane markers.
• Blindspot warning – detects other vehicles in the driver’s blindspot area.
• Electropneumatic parking brake – locks the brakes until acceleration is activated, thereby preventing unintentional vehicle motion.
• Vulnerable road user collision warning – detects cyclist and pedestrians.
• Underrun protection – rigid beams in the front and rear protect other road users and sensitive components.

Tom added: “Our purchase represents the latest chapter in The Coach Travel Group’s partnership with Scania, a world leader in transport solutions. Together we can continue to set benchmarks in service reliability, fleet quality and operational efficiency.

“Scania’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge, eco-friendly group travel solutions perfectly aligns with The Coach Travel Group’s values and goals. Our partnership continues to boost the company’s reputation for excellence and innovation within the industry, ensuring customers receive the best possible service.”