Australia’s largest bus body builder, Volgren, will create 50 new jobs following the Victorian Department of Transport’s decision to award Melbourne’s franchise bus fleet to operator Kinetic. Minister for Transport, Ben Carroll, has announced that Kinetic, which already operates airport service SkyBus in Melbourne, would take control of Melbourne’s 537-strong fleet. Kinetic will introduce five [...]
Melbourne bus operator, Ventura Bus Lines, has added a battery electric bus (BEB) to their fleet for the first time, taking delivery of the vehicle from long-time partner Volgren. The bus is a Volgren Optimus on a BYD D9RA chassis. Ventura’s Managing Director, Andrew Cornwall, said the decision to choose the combination came after [...]
Australia's largest bus body builder has announced plans to invest in their Eagle Farm workforce and continue building bus bodies in Queensland, including their first locally manufactured electric bus, due early next year. The decision to continue building a wide range of buses at Eagle Farm follows a period of uncertainty after Volgren delivered its final [...]
The global bus industry is undergoing a challenge unlike any seen before, but as COVID-19 makes life difficult for so many in the world of transport, Volgren Perth is bucking the trend and expanding it’s aftersales delivery and headcount. The new 2000-square metre facility, located next door to the current manufacturing site will more than [...]
Congratulations to our parent company Marcopolo who yesterday unveiled their new ‘Generation 8 series’ of buses. The new line of vehicles not only look fantastic, they represent a breakthrough in innovation and design, plus increased levels of safety, comfort and connectivity for passengers and drivers. To find out more visit Marcopolo.
ABC magazine recently took the new Marcopolo Audace 1050 for a test drive. Available now to order, with either 53-reclining seats or 57 non-reclining seats. Officially launched in February this year, the Audace 1050 is aimed at long-distance operators who want passenger safety along with luxury comfort. For the full article click on the link [...]
Last week, Volgren delivered the final bus of an agreement with Brisbane City Council that has lasted 12 years and incorporated almost 900 vehicles. The handover event featured the last of the locally built buses to leave the company’s Eagle Farm facility – the 882nd delivered to Council – as well as the very first [...]
After John Pettit left school he undertook an apprenticeship as a painter decorator, but spent little time over the next decade plying that trade. Instead, he pursued a musical career that started in his homestate of WA and brought him to New South Wales playing piano and keyboard for cover bands and other groups throughout [...]
The Australian bus industry has much to be proud of when it comes to the quality of its products. Australian-built buses are renowned for their manufacturing excellence. The fact is, however, that almost all buses used in Australia are placed under punishing schedules on busy roads in unforgiving climates. The best engineering and construction in [...]
Volgren has promoted Brenton McCallum to Engineering Manager after Joaquim Gomes went back to Brazil to take up a new role as Engineering Manager at the Australian manufacturer’s parent company, Marcopolo, in Brazil. The change is part of a restructure of the engineering team that began at the start of the year with the appointment [...]
Marcopolo is set to launch the new Audace 1050 in Australia aimed at the school, charter and long distance coach sector. Available in either 57 fixed or 53 reclining seat models, both buses feature high levels of customisation and flexibility with options for toilets and wheel-chair lifts installed. Available to order exclusively to Australian operators [...]
Melbourne-based Ventura Bus Lines today took delivery of the first two Scania Hybrid Euro 6 route buses fitted with locally-built Volgren bodies destined for suburban and outer metropolitan route duties. These are the first Scania Hybrid buses to be delivered to a Melbourne Metropolitan Contract Bus Operator, and will be substantially quieter and with less [...]
The very first Transport for New South Wales Panel 3-compliant buses will take to the road this year. They will be operated not by a multinational transport business, but by Dion’s Bus Service, a family-owned company based in the Wollongong suburb of Fairy Meadow. Panel 3 of course, refers to Transport for New South Wales’ [...]
Ten years ago Paul Timu was working in construction when the industry hit a flat spot. He knew he needed to make a career change and, after speaking with a family member who worked at Volgren, he managed to get a job at the company’s Eagle Farm facility. “I was helping out in the chassis [...]
Nick Carnie’s Volgren story begins not on an assembly line or in a meeting with an engineer but at a university. It was while completing his Bachelor of Industrial Design at Monash University, one of Australia’s most highly regarded higher education institutions, that Nick was introduced to the bus body manufacturer. In 2010, Volgren approached [...]
