Volgren, Australia’s largest bus body builder hits company’s record high delivering
137 buses to The Public Transport Authority of Western Australia this financial year –
setting a new record for the number of vehicles the company has supplied to a single
customer in a 12-month period.
The 137 buses, built at Volgren’s Malaga Facility, include 122 rigid buses and
15 articulated buses, and surpass Volgren’s previous record of 127 buses delivered
to the Brisbane City Council in 2008/09.
Volgren and PTA have enjoyed a close relationship that continues to go from
strength to strength. The relationship has seen the PTA take possession of 1,424
Volgren-built diesel and CNG buses since the bus body builder won its first PTA
contract in 1999. The company currently supplies all city route buses servicing Perth.
The new record comes on top of the launch of 70 new Volgren bodied, Volvo B8
articulated, low-floor buses to serve the PTA’s busiest routes in Perth. Western
Australian State Transport Minister, the Hon. Dean Nalder officially launched the first
buses at Volgren Malaga on 4 March 2015.
Volgren Malaga was a purpose-built facility for PTA buses with a current annual
capacity to manufacture 150 buses and refurbish 30 buses. The facility employs 75
people on site, with a similar number employed in the local supply chain –injecting
more than $100 million into the local economy to date!
On top of the 1,424 PTA vehicles, Volgren Malaga has also built 24 Transwa coaches
and 150 other buses for export interstate and overseas – including double deck
buses for Hong Kong.
To accommodate the facility’s growth, the company has recently invested
$3 million in a factory expansion and engaged 15 dedicated employees for the
manufacture of the articulated buses.
The 15,500 square metre manufacturing and service site has seen new features
including new paint facilities, a new fabrication facility, re-layout and set up of flow
line following Lean Manufacturing principles, and a 30 per cent expansion of the
under-cover area.
Volgren is Australia’s largest bus body manufacturer, manufacturing 450 buses each
year at three facilities, in Dandenong, Victoria; Eagle Farm, Brisbane and at Malaga,
Western Australia.
Buses are built using the unique bolted aluminium body structure. These are light in
weight, corrosion resistant, with a durability proven in service for
30 years and with a 15-year warranty on the life of the bus structure.
