Bus company first to launch cleaning system that sanitises whole vehicle in minutes

D&G Bus, which has a fleet of 169 buses and operates across Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester and Wrexham, has been trialling an automatic system that sanitises a whole bus in minutes.

The intelligent disinfection fogging system uses an alcohol-free solution developed in collaboration with Singapore-based chemist company Biocomm and made in Stoke-on-Trent by Future Developments Manufacturing to kill up to 99.99 per cent of viruses and bacteria within seconds.

Traditionally used to clean operating theatres and by dentists, the V-Stop solution is laboratory tested and 80 times stronger than bleach but completely harmless to humans and leaves no residue.

V-Stop UK Ltd is in talks with a number of bus and rail operators as well as ambulance and commercial vehicle operators across the country about installing the technology.

The patent pending bus system was the idea of Dave Williams of Future Development Manufacturing and developed with local engineer Philip Mansell and Simon Baddeley of V-Stop Systems in Market Drayton.

Over the past six months, the system has been trialled on a D&G 45-seater bus. It was officially launched by MP Jack Brereton at an event at the World of Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent.

The technology works by pumping the fogging solution up from a bespoke reservoir and through a series of nozzles placed at intervals throughout the bus. A pre-programmed timer system is built in which can be set to sanitise at regular intervals when the vehicle is at the depot or out-of-service or on demand.

It replaces the need for buses to be cleaned by hand with a cloth and spray gun which is time consuming, costly and not as accurate.

Kevin Crawford, operations director of D&G Bus, said: “We’re extremely proud to be the first bus company in the UK to be rolling out this pioneering technology.

“It will allow us to completely and automatically sanitise our whole fleet of buses in the middle of the night while they are parked up in the depot and without any human contact.

“As well as being a faster and more cost-effective way to sanitise, it gives us confidence that our fleet is Covid safe and will also reassure our passengers that our buses are as clean as they can be.”

Simon Whitney, business development director of V-Stop UK Ltd, said: “Our new solutions for public transport are the perfect way to manage and deliver disinfection and sanitisation of vehicles.”