This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2018) |
East Lancs Myllennium | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | East Lancashire Coachbuilders |
Production | 1999 - 2006 |
Assembly | Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
Designer | John Worker [1] |
Body and chassis | |
Doors | 1 or 2 |
Floor type | Low floor High-floor |
Chassis | DAF SB220 Dennis Dart SLF MAN 14.220 Scania N94UB (Omnitown) |
Related | East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander East Lancs Myllennium Nordic East Lancs Myllennium Vyking |
Powertrain | |
Engine | DAF GS160M (DAF SB220) Cummins B Series (Dennis Dart SLF) MAN (MAN 14.220) Scania DC09 (Scania N94UB) |
Transmission | Voith, ZF, Allison |
Dimensions | |
Length | 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) – 13.9 m (45 ft 7 in) [2] 11 m (36 ft 1 in) – 12 m (39 ft 4 in) (Hyline) [3] |
Width | 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) – 2.53 m (8 ft 4 in) |
Height | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) 3.41 m (11 ft 2 in) (Hyline) 3.0 m (9 ft 10 in) (Omnitown) |
Chronology | |
Successor | East Lancs Esteem |
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 It was superseded by the East Lancs Esteem in 2006. [4]
The Myllenium was first designed in co-operation between East Lancs designer John Worker and the London Central bus company in 1999 for use on Millennium Dome shuttle services M1 and M2, with 17 in total on DAF SB220 chassis delivered for the services, three of which were LPG gas-powered. The buses were equipped with air conditioning and an electronic guidance system designed by Alstom for driverless running on a 0.8 miles (1.3 km) section of guided busway linking the Millennium Dome with Charlton and Greenwich railway stations. [5] [1] The buses never ran in passenger-carrying service on the M1 service using the guidance system, and London Buses would later admit in 2000 that the guidance system was not yet ready for deployment on the planned 'Millennium Busway'. The Myllenniums would eventually be downgraded to regular service buses for use on London Buses route 486, the M1's successor, which commenced operations from 24 February 2001. [6]
Soon after, the Myllennium became available for other operators, with the majority of orders coming from Arriva North West, First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, and the Traction Group. [7] 22 were bought between 2005 and 2007 by Surrey County Council for contract use, initially for school contracts before moving onto park and ride routes. Enterprise had also bought two for contract use with Red Funnel in 2005, with them being handed down to Go South Coast division Bluestar once the contract with them was finished.
In line with previous East Lancs products, the Myllennium bodywork was also used to body less standard buses than public service vehicles. Notable examples include twelve Myllenniums modified as outside broadcasting vehicles that were delivered to various regional BBC Radio stations across the United Kingdom; fitted out by convertor Keillor Coachbuilders, a satellite broadcasting studio is located behind the driver's cab, while equipment such as six PCs, a digital tv and radio, a printer, scanner and DVD player were situated in the main saloon area. [8]
The States of Guernsey took delivery of 33 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) wide East Lancs Myllennium bodied Dennis Dart SLFs throughout 2003 to replace the island's existing bus fleet, delivered in a new green and yellow livery for lease to local operator Island Coachways. [9] These would later phased out in 2018 by CT Plus' buses.gg operation with the delivery of new Wright StreetVibes. [10]
The Myllennium Hyline high-floor body was developed in 2000 in partnership between East Lancs and Fleetmaster Bus & Coach of Horsham as a body based on the Myllennium design, suitable for reconditioned Leyland Tiger or Volvo B10M chassis. [11] A chassis with a Hyline rebody was capable of seating between 47 and 67 passengers. [3]
Six refurbished Leyland Tigers were given Hyline bodies for Strathtay Scottish, [11] [12] while two were built on the Volvo B10M chassis for Jones of Login and Bagnall's of Swadlincote, these differing from the Tiger bodies by being built with bonded glazing and an emergency exit located at the rear offside. [13] The concept was not a great success and after no further orders followed, the Hyline body was discontinued in 2002, [note 1] representing the end of rebodying for the bus industry in the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ]
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.
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 built only in 2004. 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 Dennis Lance was a single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF was built between 1993 and 1996. Between 1995 and 1998, Dennis also built its double-deck variant, the Dennis Arrow, as the replacement of the Dennis Dominator.
The East Lancs Lolyne is a type of low-floor double-decker bus body built by East Lancs. Launched in 1999, the Lolyne was the double-decker version of the Spryte, built on the Dennis Trident 2 twin-axle low-floor chassis. The body could be built as either a closed top bus or an open-top bus, and the Lolyne name continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka.
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 Spryte was a low floor single-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It was designed to body the Dennis Dart SLF chassis, but a handful have been built on others, for example, the Volvo B6LE. Mechanically and visually, it is the single-decker version of the East Lancs Lolyne.
Blue Bus was a large independent bus company serving Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
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 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 Plaxton Prestige is a low-floor single-decker bus body built by manufacturers Northern Counties and Plaxton between 1996 and 1999.
The Northern Counties Paladin, also badged as the Plaxton Paladin towards the end of production, is a step-entrance single-decker bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK, between 1991 and 1998. The replacements for the Paladin are the Prestige and the Pointer as low-floor models for the Paladin LF.
The Northern Counties Palatine was a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England.
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 Duple 300 Series were a range of bus and coach bodywork built by Duple between 1985 and 1989. The range comprised the 3,000 mm high Duple 300 service bus, the 3,200 mm high Duple 320 coach, and the taller 3,400 mm high Duple 340 coach. The 320 and 340 coaches were announced at the Bus and Coach Show at Earls Court in September 1985 as replacements for the previous Laser and Caribbean. Deliveries of these models commenced in 1986, whilst the 300 bus was launched in 1987 as a replacement for the Dominant Bus. After Duple closed down the designs were sold to Plaxton and a small number of additional 320 bodies were built as the Plaxton 321.
London Buses route 486 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Bexleyheath Shopping Centre and North Greenwich bus station, it is operated by Go-Ahead London.
Eleven DAF SB220GS with East Lancs Myllennium bodies — part of a Traction group order for 24 - were being delivered in February.