 | |
| Industry | Bus building |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Products | Bus bodies |
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June 2008 Darwen performed a reverse takeover with the then bus manufacturer Optare (now Switch Mobility), with the Darwen name disappearing.
Darwen rose from the ashes of East Lancashire Coachbuilders in August 2007, after they went into administration [1] - Darwen saved them the next day. Darwen went about reorganising the business, making a number of redundancies and rebranding main bus side of the business as Darwen East Lancs, the repair arm as Darwen North West. The current East Lancs products at the time were continued by Darwen, with new brand names.
This was followed by the acquisition of Leyland Product Developments in November 2007, which was rebranded as Darwen LPD. Further progress came in February 2008, when the parent company Darwen Holdings floated on Alternative Investment Market. [2]
In a further development, the Darwen Group owner Roy Stanley set up Jamesstan Investments, and on 12 March 2008 the Optare Group was purchased. In June 2008 the decision was made for Darwen to perform a reverse takeover on Optare under Jamesstan Investments. The Darwen name was dropped in favour of Optare's. [3]
The company has also announced its intention to develop integral buses, with a prototype due by June 2008. It intends to develop both hybrid and diesel versions, the hybrid in partnership with Enova. [4]
On 14 July 2008 the company was renamed Optare UK Ltd as a part of the reverse takeover of Optare. [5]
Built for the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart, Scania N94UB Alexander Dennis Enviro300 and MAN 12.240 chassis. A former East Lancs product, previously known as the East Lancs Esteem. It is the successor to the East Lancs Myllennium.
This is a modified open-top Esteem. It is the only open-top single-decker bus offered in the UK although no orders were taken.
Built for the Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis. A former East Lancs product, known as the East Lancs Omnidekka. It is a replacement for the ELC Scania N94UD based model.
Built for the Volvo B9TL, Alexander Dennis Enviro400 and Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis. A former East Lancs product, known as the East Lancs Olympus. It is a modified version of the double-decker Myllennium with the same enhancements as the Esteem.
Built so far on the Volvo B9TL chassis. A former East Lancs product, known as the East Lancs Visionaire. It is essentially an open top version of the Olympus.
The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B8L in 2018.
The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian. It was built as the British bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a long rear overhang.
Switch Mobility is a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company is responsible for the EV operations of the group with Ashok Leyland focusing on its core business of diesel-powered vehicles as well as work on alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.
The East Lancs OmniTown was a low-floor midibus body sold in the United Kingdom by East Lancs and Scania. It used the Scania N94UB chassis, which is the single-decker version of the N94UD double-decker chassis, with East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodywork. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the OmniTown chassis. The confusion concerning the chassis, and indeed the buses, arises due to the complexity of the OmniTown's and other Scania products' histories.
The Optare Visionaire is an open top double-decker bus body built by Optare. It is in terms of engineering an open top Olympus in all but name. The Optare Visionaire was also built for tri-axle double-decker bus chassis.
The East Lancs Myllennium was a type of single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders on DAF SB220, Dennis Dart SLF, MAN 14.220 and Scania N94UB chassis. It was superseded by the East Lancs Esteem in 2006.
The East Lancs Nordic is a type of low-floor double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It was built on tri-axle double-decker Volvo B7L chassis, with a length of 12 metres and a seating capacity of up to 95 passengers. The Nordic body design is based on an elongated version of the East Lancs Vyking body, with the name "Nordic" being derived from the chassis being built by a company from Sweden. The bus was later superseded by its Myllennium counterpart in 2005.
The East Lancs Cityzen is a double-decker bus body that was built on the Scania N113DRB chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders between 1995 and 2000. The name started East Lancs' tradition of using 'misspelt' product names.
The East Lancs Vyking is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Volvo B7TL chassis. The name "Vyking" was derived from the chassis being built by a company from Sweden.
The East Lancs EL2000 is a type of single-decker bus body built on a wide variety of bus chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.
The East Lancs E Type is a type of double-deck bus body built on different chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.
The East Lancs 1984-style double-deck body is a type of double-decker bus body with a step-entrance, built on several different chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in England.
The East Lancs Flyte is a type of single-decker bus body built on several different chassis rebodied and original types by East Lancashire Coachbuilders as the replacement for the East Lancs EL2000 from 1996 to 2001.
The East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander is the type of double-decker bus body built on the DAF/VDL DB250 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name "Lowlander" was derived from the chassis being built by a company from The Netherlands.
The Optare Esteem was a low-floor single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders, Darwen East Lancs and Optare between 2006 and 2009 on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB, Volvo B7RLE, MAN 12.240, Alexander Dennis Dart SLF, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis.
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare, East Lancs and Darwen. It could be built as a body available on Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Volvo B9TL or Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis with the 2-axle and 3-axle variants. It is the double-decker equivalent of the Optare Esteem. Some 3-axle Olympus buses were built.
The East Lancs OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro 3, and later Scania N230UD and N270UD at Euro 4 and Euro 5, the bodywork consists of a modified East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the Darwen Group and finally Optare before ceasing in 2011.
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