Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
If we do not hit our goal we will be forced to close the site.

Current status: https://keepboardsalive.com/

Annual subs are best for most impact. If you are still undecided on going Ad Free - you can also donate using the Paypal Donate option. All contribution helps. Thank you.

https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.

Regional PSO Fleets - Bus Éireann, GAI, Local Link, etc

PlatformNine · 2025-10-31 00:59:01

I wanted to start this thread to have a better place to discuss the current and future non-urban fleets, as there doesn't appear to be a thread for it at the moment. That said, I was inspired to start this thread due to the recent announcement of the VDL Futura 3, the successor to the Futura 2 which we seem to like so…

31-10-2025 12:59AM

#1

PlatformNine

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 488 ✭✭

Join Date: September 2024

Posts: 487

I wanted to start this thread to have a better place to discuss the current and future non-urban fleets, as there doesn't appear to be a thread for it at the moment.
That said, I was inspired to start this thread due to the recent announcement of the VDL Futura 3, the successor to the Futura 2 which we seem to like so much. Overall it seems like a good machine. Focus on efficiency and comfort, with a design that is future proofed for low/zero emission powertrains. However it seems that since VDL acquired Van Hool, they want to make sure that neither company has overlapping markets. From my reading of the announcement and what was shown at Busworld, the Futura 3 may not have a DD version that could directly succeed the FDD2 (BÉ's LF class), and that the DD coaches will now be made by Van Hool. Truthfully I am a bit sad there may not be any more FDD2s/LFs, having been on them they are great coaches, super comfortable, warm in the winters, plenty of capacity, etc.
This has me wondering what options other options are out there? Are there any other manufacturers making DD coaches for RHD markets? I suppose if VDL has it their way, the NTA would simply start buying Van Hool Astromegas, but would they be a good alternative?

1