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| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Alperton |
| Service area | London Windsor York |
| Service type | Sightseeing tours |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 67 (November 2019) |
| Website | www |
Golden Tours is a British open top bus and coach tour operator based in Alperton, London.
| | |
| | |
| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Alperton |
| Service area | London Windsor York |
| Service type | Sightseeing tours |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 67 (November 2019) |
| Website | www |
Golden Tours is a British open top bus and coach tour operator based in Alperton, London.
Golden Tours was established in 1984, [1] initially operating airport transfers and day trips from London to tourist destinations across England, such as Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. [2] In 2001, Golden Tours acquired the business of Frames Rickards, which included the London franchise for Gray Line.
In June 2011, Golden Tours began operating open top bus services within Central London. [3] This operation was further expanded out to York in July 2020, with open top services operated in partnership with York Pullman, and later to Windsor in December 2020. [4] In June 2021, Golden Tours entered a partnership with Yellow Coaches to operate open top services in Bournemouth. [5] [6]
Golden Tours became the preferred partner of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London in early 2012, offering transport on a branded bus to and from the studio tour from locations in central London by bus.[ citation needed ]
A Golden Tours sightseeing bus with 40 passengers occupying the top deck crashed into a tree on Woburn Place in August 2015, injuring four passengers including Polish national Ireneusz Luszczewski, who had his ear partially severed in the crash. It was later found that the crash had occurred when the driver of the bus took both hands off the steering wheel to consult a map. Golden Tours admitted 95% liability prior to a court hearing and was in line to pay damages to Luszczewski. [7] [8]
Golden Tours' London operations are based out of a depot in Alperton, which was opened in July 2013. [3]
As of November 2019, the Golden Tours fleet consisted of 67 buses and coaches: 39 open top double-decker vehicles, consisting of Optare Visionaire and MCV DD103 bodied Volvo B9TLs, [9] [10] [11] 19 coaches and 9 closed top double deckers.[ needs update ] Eight closed top tri-axle MCV EvoSetis on Volvo B8L chassis were acquired for Warner Bros. Studio Tour work in 2020. [12]
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sight-seeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They appear in many places around the world but are presently most commonly used as mass transport in cities of Britain, in Ireland, in Hong Kong, Berlin and in Singapore.
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.
East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services.
Metroline is a bus company operating bus services in Greater London and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. It also operates bus services under contract to Transport for London.
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer.
MCV Bus and Coach is an Egyptian manufacturer of bus bodies founded in 2002 when Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles bought some of the design rights of defunct English bus builder Marshall Bus.
Tootbus London, formerly The Original Tour is a London bus tour operator using open-top double-decker buses. It also holds the franchise to run City Sightseeing's London tour. Based in Wandsworth, it is a subsidiary of RATP Dev.
Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and registered in Cambridge.
The Volvo B5LH is a low-floor hybrid electric bus chassis for both single-decker buses and double-decker buses manufactured by Volvo since 2008. It is the basis for Volvo's integral 7700 Hybrid full low floor city bus and its successor, the 7900 Hybrid from 2011. In 2008, pre-production batches of both types of chassis were manufactured. Serial production started in June 2010. From 2013 it is also available as an articulated bus chassis. First entering service in London, the B5LH is the only current double decker type in service in the United Kingdom that uses a parallel hybrid drive system.
Xelabus Limited is an independent bus and coach operator, based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It primarily operates public bus services within the Southampton area. All their operations come under their parent, Xelagroup Ltd.
The MCV DD103 is a low-floor double-decker bus body built by MCV Bus and Coach built on the Volvo B9TL chassis. Most of them are built as open top variants instead of closed top buses.
The Volvo B8RLE is a 7.7-litre-engined low-entry bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for left-hand drive markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7RLE and the B9RLE. The right-hand drive version was launched in November 2014.
The MCV EvoSeti is a low-floor double-decker bus body built by MCV Bus & Coach as a replacement for the MCV DD103. It was unveiled in May 2015.
The Volvo B8L is a 3-axle bus chassis, for double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo Buses since 2016, with pre-production batches being produced as early as in 2016. It is powered by a 6-cylinder, 350hp 7.7 litre Volvo engine.
The MCV Evora is a single-decker bus bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) since 2018, as the successor to the MCV Evolution. The Evora is currently available on Volvo B8RLE and Volvo B5LH chassis.
The MCV EvoTor is a model of coach bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) on Volvo B11R chassis since 2018, mainly for the United Kingdom and Ireland market. The first production EvoTor was unveiled at the 2018 Euro Bus Expo at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham on 30 October 2018. The EvoTor is MCV's first coach product for the British and Irish market, created in collaboration with Golden Tours, a long-standing MCV operator. The EvoTor is produced at the main MCV factory in El Salheya, Egypt.
The Volvo BZL is a full-size zero-emission battery electric bus chassis for both single-decker buses and double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo since 2021.
The MCV ElectricBus(also known as the 'Volvo BZL Electric Bus') is a low-entry single-deck bus bodywork and a low-floor double-decker bus bodywork built by MCV Bus & Coach in partnership with Volvo Buses as the zero-emissions alternative to the MCV Evora and MCV EvoSeti. It was unveiled in September 2021 by Volvo.
Equipmake is a British manufacturer of electric motors for cars and buses based in Snetterton, Norfolk, England.
Media related to Golden Tours at Wikimedia Commons
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