Euro Bus Expo, Birmingham UK, 3-5 November 2026

Exhibition and conference season is upon us again, and after the cancellation of 'Bus & Coach Live' in odd numbered years it was good to be back in the NEC for the 2026 edition of Euro Bus Expo, although the halls used are quite a trek from Birmingham International station.  This review is focussed on bus products, although there were many coaches and minibuses on display too, and is broadly in the order I visited the stands.

Irizar

We start with Irizar, who were situated immediately right on entering.  Their stand was dominated by a pair of their impressive i6 coaches, and in my opinion Irizar have had some of the best looking coaches on the road for 30 years; their 'Century' was the style leader in the 1990s! However along the back of their stand was an articulated 'ieTram' articulated bus which was in the colours of Gatwick Airport, and carried a fairly spartan interior for airport car park work.

Spartan interior with lots of luggage racks for short trips between car parks and the airport terminal.

Exterior of the ieTram looks unchanged from previous shows.

i6 coach

I am sure I have written before how I don't really like the ieTram and feels a case of style over substance.  Other than Gatwick and Bristol airports it has only found British customers in Transport for London, for route 358, and Kent County Council for its 'Fastrack' bus rapid transit system.  On the day of writing the 358 required assistance from four diesel Enviro 200 buses (credit Bustimes.org.uk).  I can't see the ieTram gaining more customers unless politicians decree its use on franchised bus networks: current 'buy British' politics mean the EnviroMax has a greater chance of this market segment. 

Yutong

Next up is what I think is the world's biggest bus manufacturer, Yutong of Zhengzhou, China.  I am sure I have previously written that their UK agent, Pelican, told me some years ago that Yutong would be huge in the UK and they were not wrong.  On their stand was a 10m single decker E10 electric bus for Stagecoach Cheltenham & Gloucester, and a double deck electric U11DD destined for Nottingham City Transport.  With over 400 vehicles, Stagecoach have been a major customer for Yutong electric buses in the UK, whilst First Bus are also taking substantial numbers of their double-deckers.

10.9m version of the 'E10' single deck electric bus

Seats are a Yutong standard and actually quite comfortable, which is just as well as current Stagecoach livery includes the promise of a comfortable seat!

Double Deck U11DD for Nottingham City Transport

Very high luggage rack over the nearside wheel arch.  I saw this on another double deck bus at the show, seems a new trend!

What do these buttons do? Press and you shall find out.....they power the front and side sun blinds! Amazing!

Layout of the U11DD cab which I really did not mind.  Although still nowhere for your coffee and running board....

Electric handbrake too.  Can't get used to these in a car so anyone's guess how I'd get on in a bus!

Higer

Another Chinese manufacturer from Suzhou in eastern China is Higer who displayed their 'Azure' c.10m diesel bus.  The destination displays indicated this one has been sold to Shuttle Buses, Glasgow.  This length of bus is quite a large market in UK dominated by the ADL Enviro 200, but over the years Wright and Optare have sold significant numbers as well as MCV in recent years.  I couldn't' find anything particularly interesting about this bus, although I did learn from the internet that Higer are owned by King Long, and with King Long having a mixed history in the UK, this may very well be a rebadged King Long bus. 

Higer Azure

Wright Bus

Speaking of King Long, they were reported to be partnering with Wright on a new range of electric buses, back in early 2025.  I wonder what became of this as there was no sign of this on their stand.  Instead, it primarily featured an Electroliner double deck bus destinated for Transport UK London Bus, and an eleven year old formerly diesel Streetdeck that had been repowered with their electric 'NewPower' electric option.  This was and remains in service with First Eastern Counties.  It was most interesting that NewPower is developing repowering options for vehicles that were never built by Wright, including the ADL Enviro 400.

Wright Electroliner

Promoting green and safe credentials

New standard TfL interior without the middle raer seat

NewPower repowereed eleven year old Streetdeck

CBC

Whilst this post isn't really about coaches,. as the author I can break my own rules and mention the CBC Voyage, which is another Chinese built vehicle badged by CBC, who hitherto had undertaken refurbishments and modifications.  This vehicle is of note because of the promised 825km range, which is super impressive for any electric vehicle, let alone that could be reasonably expected to be undertaking high speed/motorway work.  Of course, I forgot to open the luggage lockers and check they weren't all crammed with batteries, because if they were, it's not much use as a coach.  Anyway, be interested to see operators putting this range promise to the test!

CBC Voyage

The range promise

Smart interior

Build Your Dreams (BYD)

I'm not sure anyone's dream is a double decker bus, but nonetheless BYD presented two on their stand.  The BD11A and B are essentially a London and provincial specification bus, and the two presented have a small facelift around the headlights that makes them considerably less ugly than those which are currently in service with multiple London operators, and with Arriva in the north east!

The original style BYD double decker with a very ugly headlight arrangement!

Breaking the no coach rule again to share a snap of BYD's first coach for the UK market, the C12 Duo presenting another unusual headlight design!

Custom Denning

Custom Denning are an Australian manufacturer making their debut at a UK show with a pair of single deck electric 'Element 2.2' buses.  The two things that caught my eye with these were 1) the retention of conventional wing mirrors in a world that had largely shifted to camera based wing mirrors, and 2) the promise of a fully flat interior but as many steps up to rear seats as I've ever seen.  I have no idea how the high cost of manufacturing in Australia plus shipping to the UK will ever make these a financially competitive option - thanks for the nice coffee cup though!

Element 2.2

Element 2.2 interior

Anything but flat floor throughout, and with a messy arrangement over the rear wheel arch that many manufacturers are [finally] designing out or minimising.

Australian bus drivers get a lot of buttons.  Give me a Pointer 1 any day!

I didn't ask what the 'Emergency Override' button does.

Fifteen year battery and 25 year structural warranties might be worth having, although that depends on their being someone to claim from in those timescales!

Zhong Tong Bus

At every trade show there is at least one Chinese or Turkish manufacturer (or once, Belorussian) seeking to break in to the UK market.  I'm excluding Higer, qv, as they have partnered with Scania on the Touring coach for some years, so this year the accolade falls to Zhong Tong who are also from eastern China.  I had seen a reasonably smart Zhong Tong articulated bus at Busworld in 2025 so not entirely unexpected top see them present a double decker concept for London here. 

Zhong Tong N11D: despite the name it is electric

Very shallow rear seats.  This is Chinese buses of 15-20 years ago in my experience.

Pleasant and comfortable upper deck 

Rear of the upper deck features this huge space which I think would need to be blocked off in service. 

Very tight staircase

Pleasant cab display

At Busworld, Brussels in 2025 Zhong Tong displayed this N12D double deck [concept?] bus.  This is notable for being a right hand drive and not entirely accidentally in red. 

With a general political rhetoric of 'buy British' throughout the urban elected mayors of the United Kingdom, I have a feeling that new Chinese electric buses will be quite thin on the ground in these areas in the next few years.

Mercedes-Benz

No buses on display from MB, although they launch a 'next gen' electric Citaro bus the following week.  Instead just one example of their popular Tourismo coach. Here it is.

Alexander Dennis (ADL)

Steady as she goes for ADL at Euro Bus Expo. Their stand featured an Enviro200EV electric single decker ready to join the expanding (and largely ADL) fleet of Falcon Coaches, and a diesel Enviro 400MMC double decker to join Weardale Coaches.  The 400MMC body has been around for over a decade now and in my opinion remains a smart design and preferable to the E400MMC 'City' body. 

Times are tough for ADL with the advent of the Chinese electric bus proving popular with all major UK operators, but as referenced a couple of times already, the 'buy British' stance of the ruling party, who also lead the urban mayoralties, mean that cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool are likely to see more domestically built buses enter their fleets as franchising develops. 

Enviro200EV electric single decker

Enviro 200EV cab - old familiar and a lot less complicated than offerings from China or Australia.

Diesel Enviro 400 for Weardale.

Conclusion

It's difficult to describe in photos. but there seemed to be an all round positive vibe at Euro Bus Expo.  As uncertainties caused by the likes of electric buses, franchising and PSVAIR have become reality, the whole industry is in a more certain place - suppliers and operators probably have a clearer view of the future than at any point in the last decade.   There were a lot of offerings from suppliers of electronics, for customer information, fleet monitoring, PSVAIR compliance although relatively little from support services such as work shop equipment and finance/insurance etc.  

As well as any buses from Mercedes-Benz, it also feels that MCV were a notable absentee.  Their Evora product in particular has been very successful in the UK in the last few years.  Maybe it sells itself and they didn't need to attend! 

MCV Evora. Popular; unrepresented. 

BRT Riposte: Brisbane Nails It

 What started in summer 2025 as a three part series on assorted busways in South East Asia became five parts, ad now reaches its sequel and end with my opinion that the busways of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia are the best I came across on my travels in 2025.  There are probably systems in SE Asia that I have not visited - it feels like Indonesia might have some - and I am definitely missing Adelaide's O-Bahn.  Next time in Oz!  It's amazing that the Brisbane system, which is now three distinct busways, only started operating in 2000.

• So, why Brisbane?  The features I particularly like and why they are better than many other bus rapid transit (BRT) services or infrastructure...
• It can be used by all bus types: there is no need for special vehicles that have physical or optical guidance, that have a different boparding height, doors on the off side etc.  Literally any Brisbane city bus can use the system;
• It is can be easily accessed by many bus routes: there are numerous access and egress points so if the busway offers a good option for accessing the city centre, a bus route can access it and use it;
• It is wide and has space: the roadways can be comfortably used by buses travelling at speed. It has not been designed to be millimetres wider than a bus, like so much other bus infrastructure (particularly in the UK);
• It has proper stations and a feeling of 'place'. It does not just have simple bus shelters, it has stations with the platforms and full length canopies you'd expect to find on a metro or well designed light rail system;
• Fares are the same as the rest of the Brisbane bus network (which at the time of visiting in July 2025 were capped at 50c a ride, and the same for the urban rail network);
• When the going gets tough, Brisbane got building.  There is a vast underground network of tunnels and stops in the city centre. Many other cities would return to on street running at this point with the risk of delay that brings; and
• It has an 'anchor' service.  A fleet of double articulated electric 'lighTram25' buses built by Hess (Switzerland) operate high frequency, high capacity services M1 and M2 on the busway system.

There's a couple of things I didn't like....

• The vast city centre network of underground stops didn't feel the biggest or most well lit, and could be quite narrow, which will bring a fear or risk of anti-social behaviour or personal attack.  It felt a little like Newcastle's (UK, not NSW) Eldon Square bus station in the early 1990s!;
• The standard livery on a Brisbane city bus looks like the front nearside window has been smashed and taped up: I'm told it's supposed to be a kite!; and
• At the time of my visit, the busy bus:train interchange at Roma Street station was undergoing construction works (for the forthcoming Brisbane Metro) and access to the busway platforms was lengthy and felt something of an afterthought.

From the album of holiday snaps.....

Each busway station has grade segregated access via stairs and lift (usuallu)

Overview of a station showing platforms that can handle 2-3 buses each and a lane for other vehicles to pass.  Hess lighTram25 vehicles operating M1 services are at each platform.

Where necessary there is both the opportunity to access normal roads, turn buses around and layover.

Network maps could be described as complicated, but that reflects the number of services that benefit from the journey time savings offered by the busway.

Entrance to a suburban city centre busway station is more akin to an underground railway station.

Services are varied and regular at all times of the day.  This is Roma Street station.

The Metro M1 and M2 services only started on 30th June 2025.

Hess lighTram25

Contactless payment card ticketing is available across Brisbane including multi-door boarding on the M1 and M2 services,

Real time information on board.

Catenary charging is used on both layover bays and at the first station

Catenary charging

Regular Brisbane city bus operating on the busway.  This shows the weird livery adopted that is supposed to be a kite over the the nearside window but initially looked to be like a broken window had been taped up!

Regular Brisbane city bus operating on the busway. 

Regular Brisbane city bus operating on the busway.  As well as regular 12m buses, longer 15m tri-axle rigids and 18m articulated buses are used, the latter shown here.

Regular Brisbane city bus operating on the busway.