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::Date:August 2000

News from Top Line Travel (York)

New bus is just the ticket for Emily

Five months old Emily Jayne Steele took a special ride home from her Christening last Sunday - in her grandparents latest bus, which has been named after her.

The bus, which has just joined York's Top Line Travel fleet, carries York CitySightseeing colours and is the first sightseeing bus in York to have all weather capability.

"We bought it for other work as well, but it is fully equipped for use on sightseeing tours during bad weather", explained its owners, Peter and Susan Dew.

The York CitySightseeing service, launched in May, also carries local passengers and the closed top bus will be useful in the winter months.
"We have a number of regular customers who use our buses to make local journeys", added Mr Dew. The latest bus is ex-London General Metrobus M1241, supplied by Ensign Bus. It has been fitted with a tachograph for private hire work, and Autosound has added a CD player and PA system.
Peter Dew explained: "We like the advantages offered by a pre-recorded commentary and the CD is so much more flexible than tape based systems, especially in York where traffic delays can be totally unpredictable."

The latest Metrobus, like one of the open toppers, is available for hire and its first job was to carry family members from York to Emily's Christening at Rillington Church. Sue Dew explained: "Emily is our first grandchild, and she proved to be the star of the show at the launch of York CitySightseeing in May. The bus trip to her Christening kept a few cars off the road, and it seemed appropriate to name the bus after her. It may start a trend, though - we now have another granddaughter."