What do you think is the future of transport? Ultra high-speed trains? Flying cars? What about ‘glider buses’?
Glider buses certainly sound futuristic, don’t they? But sadly Liverpool’s brand new ‘gliders’ don’t actually float elegantly above the roads. In fact they don’t float at all, which we’ll admit is a bit of a let down. But once you get over the initial disappointment, you realise that these new vehicles are actually pretty cool.
The buses, which are expected to be introduced to the Merseyside streets by 2028 (just in time for the city to help host the Euros) bend in the middle and can carry 30 percent more passengers than an average double-decker bus. They also allow for much more easy boarding for passengers with mobility issues due to large double-doors and metro-like designs. In Belfast the buses even have wifi and phone-charging ports.
The buses were unveiled by city mayor Steve Rotherham as part of his promise to upgrade the city’s transport links, particularly between Anfield and Bramley-Moore Dock football stadiums and Liverpool John Lennon airport ahead of the UK 2028 Euros. He told onlookers that ‘one of the things people always tell me is that they need better links to these important places.’
Rotherham said he hopes one day to have a ‘London-style’ transport system, but that the gliders, which are much lower cost and require less infrastructure, are a simple short-term solution.
‘Having [these buses] doesn’t mean that we won’t one day see a tram or rail station at the airport, but is an outstanding solution that will make an immediate difference to getting people around.’
Test drives will now be carried out, with plans to increase services beyond the initial route if they’re successful. So get excited, Liverpudlians!
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