In a transport first for Southampton, a new, extra-long bus is currently on trial with uni-link to determine whether it could become a permanent sight on the city’s public transport network.

The blue ‘OmniLink’ bus, produced by internationally-renowned vehicle manufacturer Scania, is being trialled until the end of November.

An alternative to the articulated or bendy buses, the ‘rigid’ single-decker bus is 13.7 metres long – almost two metres longer than a standard length 12 metre bus.  It has three axles, features rear wheel steer to improve manoeuvrability and can carry up to 95 people.

During the trial, the bus will help manage additional demand from students at the start of the academic year and will run along the popular U1 uni-link route from Southampton Airport to Dock Gate 4, past the University of Southampton’s halls of residence in Wessex Lane.

The long bus trial is one of a number of improvements to the uni-link service following the start last month of a new ten-year deal between the University of Southampton and Bluestar.  The new contract will see a £3 million investment in the service, including a new fleet of buses to be rolled out between September 2008 and March 2009.

On Monday 29 September, the first day of the new contract with Bluestar, uni-link carried 15,500 passengers, the highest daily total yet carried since the service was introduced in 2001.  In Freshers’ Week (29 September – 5 October) 96,539 passengers used the service.

George Fair, uni-link operations manager, commented: "As well as a first for Southampton, we believe this bus is the only one of its kind running anywhere along the south coast at the moment. This trial is helping us achieve our aim of constantly improving our service for users and, if it is successful, we may decide that the bus will become a feature of the uni-link service in the future."