From the end of 2020, two blue doubledeckers, which the city of Ostrava had made for about CZK 29 million to transport tourists between the zoo and the Lower Vítkovice area, will run through Ostrava’s streets. The Scania buses are operated by the Ostrava Transport Company (DPO). The company has sent them to a production plant in Spain for complaints. The buses are rusting.
“The complaint repair of the doubledeckers is taking place after three years of continuous operation. The two vehicles will be replaced at the production plant in Spain, and the first vehicle is already on site,” DPO spokeswoman Tereza Šnoblová said.
She added that as part of the complaint repairs, defects in the paintwork would be addressed, as well as local corrosion and leaks in the driver’s cab. Simply put, the doubledeckers have started to rust in many places and are leaking.
The double-decker buses were put into service at the end of 2020; before that, they had been in trial operation for almost a year. According to Pravo, they were shut down at the end of last year. Meanwhile, last year’s operation of the 88 Cruise Line was a huge success, unlike the first year when a coronavirus epidemic raged.
The following season will be
Ostrava’s transport company hopes that the doubledeckers will return to Ostrava from Spain in time for the third season of line 88, which connects the zoo and the Lower Vítkovice area with two of Ostrava’s most populous districts: Jihem and Poruba.
“Of course, we are counting on their seasonal deployment on line 88, which is, among other things declared in the contract, both cars will be ready for the start of the season,” Šnoblová said.
The Ostravadoubledeckerss are powered by natural gas and have 68 seats. In addition to the tourist line 88 between the zoo and the Lower Vítkovice area, on weekdays, they run on line 78 between the industrial zone in Hrabová and PorubaDoubledeckersrs can also be rented for school trips.