Bus crashes days after new route opens

A bus crashed going around a roundabout on Toi Toi St on Wednesday afternoon – less than 10 days after the street was added to public transport routes.

Now, all buses have been diverted on eBus Route 3 while an investigation into the incident is carried out.

Nelson City Council group infrastructure manger Alec Louverdis said the council was notified of the eBus crash shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, and the circumstances were being investigated by bus contractor SBL Group.

“What we do know is that the bus rode up on the kerb as it navigated the turn. The bus became stuck but fortunately no one was hurt.

“The bus was carefully removed by a professional haul team to ensure no further damage and is now being repaired. The cost of repairs will be met by the operator as laid out in their contract. Council is not expecting to incur the cost of these repairs.”

The remainder of that run did not continue, but the service returned to schedule for the remainder of the evening, he said.

However, on Thursday morning the eBus was diverted away from Toi Toi St so an investigation could be carried out.

“This is standard procedure for SBL while they carry out their investigation.

This investigation will determine whether it is safe for the bus to return to this stretch of road and we expect to know more by next week.”

The Route 3 service began travelling on Toi Toi St on February 12 after the service was pulled from Jenner Rd because the buses were damaging the road and the high cost of fixing it.

Local resident Jo Robinson said she supported the new buses, but didn't believe a bus of that size needed to come up Toi Toi St.

“I would love the council to bring back the smaller buses for the smaller streets.”

Louverdis said buses had navigated the roundabout 48 times a day for 10 days.

“The new route was tested by SBL Group, including the roundabout, and it was deemed to be a good alternative to Jenner Rd.

‘‘The only challenge encountered was the gradient of the speed humps, which were adjusted before the new route started.”

JO ROBINSON/SUPPLIED A bus crashed on Nelson’s Toi Toi St going around a roundabout on Wednesday afternoon. The bus rode up on a curve and became wedged.