If they ordered from Alexander Dennis or Wrightbus for the chassis they can still get Euro 5 stock as long as it's delivered before the end of the year. At least this seems to be the implication behind why First have ordered no Volvo city buses for the first time in at least 20 years for their 2014-5 order - all their buses either have Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus or Optare chassis. First are not switching to Euro 6 until they absolutely have to.

I am also worried about conventional B5TLs, I don't think they'll be quick enough either. I can't see them lasting the pace if they were allocated to say the 208. The B5LHs would be a much better choice without a doubt, I've been on many hybrids and they are very quick pulling away and on hills. The reliability of the earlier Enviro 400 hybrids was dreadful, but in 2012 Alexander Dennis introduced a revised Enviro 400 hybrid, where the engine only engages above 9 km/h. The reliability of these I understand is as good as a standard diesel bus. I haven't heard anything, good, bad, or indifferent about Volvo hybrid reliability, but I do know from travelling on the Euro 5 ones that they vibrate a lot at idle if the engine is on. Other than that they are every bit as good as a B9TL to travel on.

I still hope BÉ can get Euro 5 Volvos for the deckers, but I don't think they can. As I said above, it seems the reason Volvo are not supplying any buses this year to First is because they don't want Euro 6 and only the UK based manufacturers have got an exemption under small series type approval to continue offering Euro 5 stock so long as it's delivered before the end of this year.

Of course Volvo are offering a B8TL, with a much larger 8 litre engine, but for some reason they've decided you can only have the larger engine with a tri-axle decker. A strange decision when one considers the fact that the Volvo single deck will only be available with the 8 litre engine, and surely a double deck needs a bigger engine than a single deck.

Wrightbus have said that the reason their new StreetDeck has such a small engine for Euro 6 is because the engine needs to be worked hard in order to keep the DPF (which is mandatory for Euro 6) at bay. As anyone who is familiar with the car industry knows, if a diesel with a DPF is driven too gently (mainly around town) and never gets a chance to be worked hard, the filter will clog and need to be replaced - and it's not cheap at over €1,000 in some cases. The logic of having a small engine is that because it will be worked hard it won't clog up the DPF because the engine will be hot. That sounds like engine replacements with Euro 6 buses are going to be part and parcel of running them, well the ones with a small engine anyway. Hybrids of course would offer a solution of sorts, because they are at their most useful at low speeds, which is where DPF problems are most likely to occur. It's undoubtedly one of the reasons Volvo are making such a massive push towards hybrid products for Euro 6 stock.