DALLAS Greyhound Lines has ordered an additional 140 X3-45 motorcoaches from Prevost Car.

All of the coaches, which will have capacities ranging from 50-54 passengers, will be equipped with seatbelts. The brand of seatbelt-equipped seats to be used on the coaches was not revealed.

The order is the largest coach buy by Greyhound since it purchased a total of 290 MCI G4500 models, starting in 2001.

Greyhounds purchase of X3-45s is the companys second. Last winter, the nations largest line-run carrier ordered 50 X3-45s to establish the fleet for BoltBus, the intercity curbside service Greyhound launched jointly last spring with Peter Pan Bus Lines.

Thirty-three of the X3-45s were dedicated to Bolt, while the remaining 17 were added to Greyhounds line-haul fleet. BoltBus has used its X3-45s to provide service between New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

BoltBus and Greyhound received their first Prevosts last March and the final coach in that order was delivered in May.

Coaches delivered under the new order will be used by both Greyhound and BoltBus operations. The first buses are to be delivered in February, with the remainder coming during the following four or five months.

The initial BoltBus Prevosts were equipped with Detroit Diesel engines and ZF transmissions, but Greyhound reportedly has not yet decided how to equip the buses for the new order. One source suggested that some of the buses could have Volvo engines and/or Allison transmissions.

All of the newest buses, like the first order, will be equipped with Prevosts Swap & Plug removable Ricon wheelchair lifts.

"I am delighted to see that Greyhound has decided to join the long list of repeat Prevost customers," said Prevost President and CEO Gaétan Bolduc. ... This order reflects our efforts to make Greyhound a satisfied Prevost customer."

David Leach, president and CEO of Greyhound, said the choice of Prevost coaches ties directly into Greyhounds mission to offer "a new and improved image of safe, reliable and enjoyable travel to nearly 25 million passengers each year."

Since Greyhounds plan to purchase Prevost X3-45 coaches was revealed in January, a follow-up order has been widely anticipated. (See Feb. 1 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Prevost is owned by Volvo, which has a strong relationship in Europe with Greyhounds parent company, FirstGroup PLC of Scotland. FirstGroup is a Volvo customer in the United Kingdom.

Greyhound has an aging fleet and has not announced a major coach buy for a half-dozen years. It reportedly has scores of older buses parked that it doesnt make sense to fix but cant be scrapped because it would put the company out of compliance with Americans with Disabilities requirements.

Efforts by FirstGroup to sell Greyhound may have been hindered because of the need to replace huge chunks of Greyhounds fleet during the next few years. Fully 25 percent of Greyhounds fleet is anywhere from 12 to 15 years old, and many of the companys hundreds of DL3s are approaching 10 years old.

Announcement of the X3-45 order comes as FirstGroup reports that revenue at Greyhound grew by 5 percent during the six months ended Sept. 30.

FirstGroup said its efforts to increase revenue, tightly control costs and develop new and attractive markets at Greyhound helped produce a pleasing six-month period.