Dutch amphibious bus makes splash in Scotland

Glasgow–The state-of-the-art "Amfibus," which can carry 50 passengers and operate on water and roads, was put through its paces first on Monday–although it was initially grounded due to a technical problem involving an airbag.

On Tuesday the eye-catching bright yellow vehicle–made by Dutch Amphibious Transport Vehicles BV (DATV)–took to the water again with better results.

"What’s unique about the vehicle is that it’s a bus chassis with a hull built round it," Brian Souter, head of the Stagecoach transport group, told the BBC.

"Technically there needs to be an extension on the ramp (into the river) because of the tides," he said. "But its a fairly straightforward procedure to do that…I don’t think there’s any other great technical problems.

"We’re confident that it will work well. I think commercially we need to just look at what our fares levels would need to be to cover the cost of the additional depreciation and operating cost compared to a bus," he added.

AFP/ Expatica