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Local company offering public transport solution
9/2/2010
A local auto-mechanical maintenance enterprise may have the solution to the problem of the depleting fleet of buses on the island.
According to Norman Edwards, Managing Director of L & N Workshop Inc. located in Cane Garden St. Thomas, his enterprise, which specialises in automobile body-repairing and metal fabrication, has recently produced a minibus using only a chassis as a base, and this bus has proven to be more economical and better suited to the local climate.
Edwards has expressed his hope that more buses like the one on display at L&N can be manufactured locally and used to save the country money on imports. What’s more, L& N is well known for its maintenance work on Transport Board buses, minibuses, trailers and trucks, but the new buses may need little maintenance, as they are designed to reduce defacement on the inner surfaces, such as the seats and the lining of the buses and wear and tear generally.
Norman Edwards and his brother Ricky Edwards, who is Administrative Manager at L&N, recently took the media on a tour of the plant, which they are hoping to expand to produce 25 or more buses a year. They were also appreciative to local automobile company, Simpson Motors, for partnering with them by giving them the chassis from which they could build the new bus.
After the tour, Norman explained the benefits to be reaped if financiers come on board and embrace the new concept for the Condor line of buses.
“We would actually be saving the country foreign exchange, by having a cheaper bus on the market. And actually, the bus is better designed for this region. It’s smaller, the structure is much stronger than what you would get with a bus from overseas and it can stand the test of time, because our experience with building buses didn’t only start with L&N. It started with the company that I worked with before, ACME Manufacturing, and that spanned near 30 years. So we have the necessary experience,” he said.
At present Ricky noted, the new minibus can seat about 28 persons, but with additions, 32 persons can be seated comfortably. (RSM)ײ
9/2/2010
A local auto-mechanical maintenance enterprise may have the solution to the problem of the depleting fleet of buses on the island.
According to Norman Edwards, Managing Director of L & N Workshop Inc. located in Cane Garden St. Thomas, his enterprise, which specialises in automobile body-repairing and metal fabrication, has recently produced a minibus using only a chassis as a base, and this bus has proven to be more economical and better suited to the local climate.
Edwards has expressed his hope that more buses like the one on display at L&N can be manufactured locally and used to save the country money on imports. What’s more, L& N is well known for its maintenance work on Transport Board buses, minibuses, trailers and trucks, but the new buses may need little maintenance, as they are designed to reduce defacement on the inner surfaces, such as the seats and the lining of the buses and wear and tear generally.
Norman Edwards and his brother Ricky Edwards, who is Administrative Manager at L&N, recently took the media on a tour of the plant, which they are hoping to expand to produce 25 or more buses a year. They were also appreciative to local automobile company, Simpson Motors, for partnering with them by giving them the chassis from which they could build the new bus.
After the tour, Norman explained the benefits to be reaped if financiers come on board and embrace the new concept for the Condor line of buses.
“We would actually be saving the country foreign exchange, by having a cheaper bus on the market. And actually, the bus is better designed for this region. It’s smaller, the structure is much stronger than what you would get with a bus from overseas and it can stand the test of time, because our experience with building buses didn’t only start with L&N. It started with the company that I worked with before, ACME Manufacturing, and that spanned near 30 years. So we have the necessary experience,” he said.
At present Ricky noted, the new minibus can seat about 28 persons, but with additions, 32 persons can be seated comfortably. (RSM)ײ
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