Optare launches new bus on Dubai’s roads

Bus manufacturer Optare is celebrating the launch of its Solo vehicle into service in Dubai.

The company, based at Sherburn-in-Elmet, south of Tadcaster, worked with Dubai’s Road & Traffic Authority (RTA) to create the RTA Solo, which is specially designed to cope with summer temperatures in the Arabian Gulf.

Optare CEO, Richard Butler, said: “The RTA Solo presented the business with many new technical challenges. We have bettered these challenges. I believe the Solo will provide the RTA with a powerful tool in growing patronage in Dubai, and Optare, an opportunity for further growth in the region.”

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In 2018, Optare, a subsidiary of India’s Ashok Leyland, won a contract to supply 94 Solo buses to Dubai in a deal valued at about £18m.

HE Mattar Al Tayer, director-general of Dubai’s RTA, said: “The new buses will serve new districts and widen the geographical coverage of public transport in Dubai, increase the occupancy rate, and enhance multi-modal integration.”

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