Untitled

Press, 24 May 1988, Page 23

Swept-up doubledecker coaches may be built at Ashburton. Christchurch design consultant, David Thornley, is shown with a one-tenth model of a two-level, 73passenger touring coach he has developed with Designline, Ltd, of Ashburton.

Mr Thornley has worked with Designline for some time, and single-level coaches of his design are on the roads carrying tour parties.

Designline built 32

■ coaches last year but ex- > pects to produce only , about 12 this year. The ■ decline is largely be- , cause of the downturn in i tourism. i Mr John Turton, manai ger of Designline, says two-level coaches will come for certain

markets in New Zealand. They will not go through the Homer Tunnel, for example, and are thus out for Fiordland work. Bridges and trees would provide problems on the West Coast. But for some routes

such as Christchurch to Invercargill they would be useful, and there will be definite demand for some tourist work, such as centre-city tours, Mr Turton believes. Designline has at least two target customers for the coach. The design above incorporates a toilet and a galley. The coach would be 4.2 metres high and 12.2 metres long. It is based on a M.A.N. 22.330 chassis. „ The price will be about half a million dollars.