BUS passengers have hailed the arrival of 28 new state-of-the-art vehicles to the Stagecoach fleet in Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
A crowd gathered in Riverhead Square in Grimsby town centre on Thursday night for the official launch of the new buses, which took to the roads yesterday.
As previously reported, the £4 million investment is the single biggest spend on new vehicles for the area in more than a decade.
Five of the new buses are double-deckers, fitted with high-back luxury seats and wi-fi, for the number 51 route between Grimsby and Louth.
The other 23 new vehicles are single-deckers which serve the popular number 3 and 4 routes between Laceby Road, Grimsby and Cleethorpes Pier.
To mark the launch of the new fleet, one of the new single-decker buses, which had been covered up by a giant festive-themed sheet, was unwrapped to great fanfare in Riverhead Square.
Members of the public were then invited to take a look inside the new vehicle, as well as the new double-decker parked opposite.
The grand unwrapping was the culmination of a day-long celebration event held by Stagecoach to celebrate the investment and also launch its new Simplibus brand.
The event featured singing from pupils of Oasis Academy Nunsthorpe, magic tricks, mulled wine, mince pies, and appearances by Father Christmas and the Simplibus mascot Ralfie the rabbit, while money was raised for St Andrew's Hospice.
Jon Donnelly, Stagecoach East Midlands commercial manager (North), said the new Simplibus brand had been launched to get across to the public how easy and convenient it was to travel by bus.
He said that as well as the new vehicles, Stagecoach had introduced new simplified timetables – as well as keeping the existing traditional ones – to make them easier for people to follow.
He said the new buses would provide a "better passenger environment" as well as being more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient.
He added: "You don't spend £4 million on new buses without launching them in a big blaze of publicity, but it's not just about the new buses.
"If we want more people to use public transport then we need to raise the levels of awareness and understanding and that is why we have introduced the new Simplibus timetables."
Adam Fowler, travel surgery co-ordinator for the City Of Hull And Humber Environment Forum, which holds regular surgeries with bus passengers in the borough, said: "We already had a bad fleet in North East Lincolnshire but in a single stroke we are replacing nearly half the fleet with new vehicles.
"It is a testament to the strength of the partnership between the public, the council and Stagecoach that we have got such a healthy, progressive bus network in North East Lincolnshire."
Councillor Jane Hyldon-King, who sits on the North East Lincolnshire Quality Partnership board, which influences the policy around bus services in the borough, said: "It is a massive investment and it proves to me that Stagecoach are really committed to giving us a good service and I congratulate them on doing it."
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers said: "It is great to see a £4 million investment coming into the area and it will be a great improvement to the travelling experience for my constituents and everyone in North East Lincolnshire."
Among the members of the public to witness the unveiling was Sue Smith of Grimsby.
She said: "I think the new buses are beautiful. They are lovely."
Samantha Rice, 28, of Grimsby, brought her four-year-old son Thomas to the event.
She said: "He is obsessed with buses. We don't need a timetable because he knows what all the bus times are.
"My mum takes him on the bus several times a day. She goes on the 3 or 4 and she's really pleased to see they have got new buses."
