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Replacement Bus Hire, Cardiff (Caerdydd) (2026)

13/10/2026

Volvo Olympian S854 DGX is back on the road!

854 has passed a Class 6 / PSV MOT today and will be available for dry hire to bus operators - with 76 lap-belted seats, she could be useful to cover school contract work or private hires. We’ve long been big fans of the Volvo D10A engine so it’s nice to have another in the fleet. She sounds and drives very well! We hope she will attend some running days next year.

We’re grateful to the team at Southern Transit for carrying out the MOT preparation and presentation. Some significant life extension work has been completed and the engine and gearbox are in fine condition. She should be good to continue for years to come.

10/10/2026

Farewell PVL284!

Volvo B7TL PJ02 RCU is the next bus to leave our fleet. We purchased this one in 2024 with the intention of making it serviceable.

However, we have since decided to cease all spending on Volvo B7TLs in favour of vehicles from the Volvo B9 and B10 families. This one follows VLA170, DPV2 (ex NXWM 4500 BJ03 EXK), VLA155, VW1562, VLA94 and the pair of B7RLEs in departing from the fleet. The only B7TL which remains on our books is VLA176 which is expected to go for dismantling shortly.

To give a bit of an insight into the work that goes into restoring a 22-24 year old vehicle to a condition where it’s roadworthy and suitable to carry passengers, we’ve shared the report of the work we had carried out. It’s quite extensive!

We became interested in buying it after seeing it advertised for sale on the website of a Midlands based dealer. We acquired it and turned it from a vehicle that consistently cut out after a couple of minutes of running and in need of lots of TLC, to one which ran nicely and had many more years of life in it. We’ve posted a video in the comments of it on a run to test after prep work was done. We did reactivate the kickdown function which required some software and hardware changes!

We had hoped to pass the baton on to a bus operator or preservationist, but she’s been on the market for several months now and there has been no serious interest to date. With it incurring ongoing storage costs, the time has come for it to move on. It will have a future as a non-PSV.

We still have numerous surplus vehicles for disposal - namely Volvo B9TLs and Mercedes Citaros. If anyone is interested in purchasing any, get in touch with us here or email [email protected]

08/10/2026

Farewell VLA94 🫡

Volvo B7TL LJ54 BDZ has left the fleet! Today it begins a new life as a non-PSV.

We purchased this one as we needed a double deck bus for rail replacement - VLA170/176 had been withdrawn and at the time all our work was being covered with the single deck fleet.

We carried out substantial work to make it reliable for what we do. We rebuilt the engine, replaced pipes, hoses and clamps and had it green-lighted for free entry in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone. We replaced an expired throttle pedal potentiometer, then the pedal itself and reprogrammed it to run at 250bhp. We also fixed the saloon heating - when the heater spun for the first time it blew a out cloud of brown dust that looked like it had been accumulating since early in its life as a London bus! It’s also had a new drag link, track rod, set of tyres.

Much electrial repair work has been done - the cooling system wasn’t working, with fans inactive or spinning in the wrong direction and the wiring to the fan controller hacked to pieces in a previous life. We eventually got there with it!

She’s genuinely wanted for nothing with us and in return, covered 100% of the mileage assigned to it. Solidly reliable vehicle! There’s a video from its final engineering test run in the comments - she was a healthy performer! We decided to park this one up because PSVAIR has forced our hand with fleet focus - it’s a substantial investment to fit a vehicle with the equipment and it’s something we’d rather do with vehicles that will remain long term.

We put a PSV MOT on VLA in the hopes of it selling for further use as a PSV or for preservation. It has been up for sale for over 6 months, but there is no market / interest in this type of vehicle.

There were some parts stored on the vehicle - VECUs, gear selectors and an engine ECU. If anyone is interested, please get in touch, or they’ll be going in the bin as we have limited storage space.

More vehicles will be leaving the fleet in the next few days and we are hoping to clear the sales list. Stay tuned for updates!

29/09/2026

Volvo fleet updates 🛠️🪛⚙️

Volvo B9TL WVN23 has finally entered revenue earning service with us! Until last week she’d been confined to engineering test runs and driver changeover ferry duties while we work to complete the installation of displays. She was out on short notice rail replacement work in the Three Bridges area and will be allocated pre-planned work once the display fitment is complete.

We’ve made some changes to the performance characteristics. We always do with incoming vehicles. The “motorways and mountains” nature of the work we cover means we have a standard policy and set of actions we undertake with each incoming member of the fleet.

- Set power output to maximum design rating
- Put transmission in Super Eco mode
- Enable kickdown
- Install six button gear selector
- Radiator and intercooler service / replacement if necessary
- Service with OEM fluids and filters
- Injector testing and replacement if necessary

We also reduce the intervals between servicing accordingly.

Prior to entering service WVN23 has had two safety inspections, a service and a few hundred miles of testing. It’s clear the previous owner spent a fortune renewing/replacing some major components underneath shortly before selling it, so we haven’t had to do a huge amount to get it ready for service.

We have been monitoring the fuel consumption. At the moment it has no performance restrictions in place and is averaging 4.5MPG. We will change the transmission kickdown settings to reduce the RPM limit from 2300rpm to 2000rpm - this tips the balance in favour of lower fuel consumption while still giving the option of accessing power if needed.

Meanwhile Volvo B7TLs PVL284 and VLA94 are for sale - we are prepared to consider reasonable offers and keen to let them both go. Volvo B9TLs VW07 RBH and WVN26 (BG59 FXC) are also for sale - we have far more buses than we need so are happy to let them go to a new home.

As we are no longer operating Volvo B7TL/RLE types, we have a brand new OEM charge air hose going spare - will sell for £50.

Meanwhile, AVW96 is to be reactivated for use on staff ferry duties. She’s is being prepped for MOT and will hopefully be back out and about soon.

25/09/2026

Citaro updates 🛠️🪛⚙️

SPV11

We’re pleased at how things are going following its time going through our mechanical refresh programme. Based on this, we are looking at eventually acquiring more Citaro 2s to replace the facelifts when the time comes.

We have been working on some outstanding items. The fuel gauge is now working for the first time! We tested both fuel senders and found no electrical faults with either. Further investigation found an old, abandoned nest on a wiring loom and revealed that part of the bus had in fact been eaten 🐁. This was causing issues with the fuel and parking brake sensor comms. We’ve now rectified this. It wouldn’t be the only time we’ve encountered rent-free resident paraphernalia - one of our old stored vehicles had birds making a D7C engine bay their new home 🪺!

The green emissions light is a part of the maintenance process - it appears at random every couple of weeks or so and means the bus has initiated a DPF regeneration. This triggers a 20-30 mile 59mph dead run to complete the process without interruption. While it’s on, the vehicle disregards all self-imposed torque restrictions, re-rates itself at 260kw and lets the parts of exhaust reach temperatures of up to 800 degrees. There’s a distinctive smell, the cooling fans go like the clappers and the engine note changes during the process. It’s all over in 30 minutes! Once the light is extinguished, everything returns to normal.

It is critical to carry out uninterrupted regenerations, whether on the motorway or at the depot. Not doing so risks soot clogging up the DPF which would appear to cause grief with the exhaust system and eventually the engine.

MCL1

We were pleased to supply a vehicle free of charge to provide a shuttle service for the Bluebell Railway’s Network South East 40th anniversary celebrations. MCL1 had the honours of running out and covered the route between Haywards Heath and Sheffield Park stations.

We’re aware MCL1 has some followers due to its musical gearbox 🎶⚙️. It has been getting louder over time. While it is functioning at the moment, it is regrettably due total replacement within a few thousand miles. We are considering operating a special run one evening from Three Bridges to Brighton and back, if there is sufficient interest to justify it.

MEC9

Continues in use as a spare vehicle, but is available for sale or for dry hire. It is Euro 6 and PSVAIR compliant with a full Hanover system - EG4 unit and internal and external display. Enquire by sending us a message or emailing [email protected] for pricing.

25/09/2026

We have designed a livery and a brand! With performance and reliability of our vehicles in a place we are happy with, we are starting a project on cosmetics, inside and out!

We are looking for recommendations for a commercial bodyshop who can paint and vinyl our active fleet. We have the colour codes and concept images to hand, so have a fairly established idea of what we’re after.

We’re conscious not everybody advertises their services so any word of mouth referrals are welcomed. We’re based near Gatwick, but are happy to travel!

21/09/2026

We have a fleet of Volvo B9TLs!

These were brought in to replace our Volvo B7TLs. After substantial investment in refresh programmes, it’s PSVAIR compliance that has driven our decision to focus on a smaller fleet of vehicles.

We do like Volvos. They are reliable, offer decent ride quality and can cope with our work which regularly involves motorway runs. In recent times we have had a B10M, Olympian, Super Olympian, B7TLs and now B9TLs in our fleet, all of which have either been in passenger service or been used as driver ferries on busy weekends. Strong support from maintenance providers in our area who specialise in looking after Volvos has been a major factor in sticking with them.

Now, we’re in a position where we have surplus serviceable buses! Going forward, we are only going to have one decker in the active fleet. We are keeping WVN23 as we have invested in PSVAIR compliance, but DPV3 and WVN26 are up for sale. Contact us for further information.

02/09/2026

Audio and visual passenger information to comply with PSVAIR has become a big part of what we do! Our fleet all have different hardware setups, which has presented many curveballs during installation, all of which we have overcome. We do all of the programming for the Hanover and Mobitec systems in house, from setting up the databases to on-the-road testing and finetuning.

SPV11 has a full Mobitec setup, with an ICU602 control unit

MCL1 has Hanover external displays, with a Mobitec ICU602 control unit and internal display.

MEC9 has a full Hanover setup, with an EG4 control unit.

All three Citaros have 160x19 front displays. Although the fonts offered through the Hanover and Mobitec programming software differ, we try to keep them looking as consistent as we can!

Then we have WVN23. This one is a work in progress with a smaller, standard sized set of displays. Side, rear and inner displays are done, just waiting to complete the installation of the front sign.

22/08/2026

Buses for sale!

The buses in the photographs are surplus to requirements and all for sale. All start and drive and have a few months until their next MOT (except PVL284 which is out of test).

2011 Mercedes Citaro BD11 LWS (Euro 6) -
MCL5
2010 Volvo B9TL BG59 FXC (Euro 6) - WVN26
2009 Mercedes Citaro BG09 JKF (Euro 6) - MEC9
2007 Volvo B9TL VW07 RBH - DPV3
2004 Volvo B7TL LJ54 BDZ - VLA94
2002 Volvo B7TL PJ02 RCU - PVL284

Message us on here or [email protected] for further information or to discuss pricing. We’re also open to dry hire enquiries - prices start at £100 + VAT a day.

Replacement Bus Hire

13/10/2026

10/10/2026

08/10/2026

29/09/2026

25/09/2026

25/09/2026

21/09/2026

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22/08/2026

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