Wright Handybus

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Wright Handybus
Wythall Transport Museum - Dennis Dart 1995 - geograph.org.uk - 610144.jpg
West Midlands Travel Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in 1995 with flat driver's windscreen
Overview
Manufacturer Wrightbus
Production1990 - 1995
Assembly Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Body and chassis
Doors1
Floor type Step entrance
Chassis Dennis Dart
Leyland Swift
Powertrain
Engine Cummins B Series (Dennis Dart)
Capacity29 to 37 seated
Dimensions
Length8.5 m (27 ft 11 in), 9 m (29 ft 6 in) and 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Width2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height3.02 m (9 ft 11 in)
Chronology
Successor Wright Crusader
Arriva Scotland West Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in Glasgow in April 2008 with raked driver's windscreen Arriva Scotland West 1630 M250 SPP.JPG
Arriva Scotland West Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in Glasgow in April 2008 with raked driver's windscreen

The Wright Handybus was a single-deck bus body built primarily on Dennis Dart chassis by Wrightbus between 1990 and 1995. It was also built on a small number of the higher-floor Leyland Swift chassis. It has a bolted aluminium structure with two windscreen styles.

Contents

The outward styling was quite plain, with a flat front. Some vehicles had a single-piece flat windscreen whilst others had two, separate, flat windscreens with the glass on the driver's side being raked back, reminiscent of some 1950s single-decker buses and the Leyland Lynx.

London Regional Transport was the first and also the largest customer, buying nearly 200 Handybus bodied Dennis Darts. [1] [2] [3] Go-Ahead Northern also bought over 80, and Ulsterbus and Citybus had 40 between them. [4] The Handybus was succeeded in 1995 by the Crusader.

Preservation

A former London Regional Transport Handybus has been preserved by the London Transport Museum, Acton. [5]

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References

  1. Wright midi boosts jobs Commercial Motor 1 November 1990
  2. Gold Arrow remembered at LBM heritage running day Buses issue 752 November 2017 page 10
  3. Dennis Dart: the first Generation Ian's Bus Stop
  4. Go-Ahead goes for Handybus Commercial Motor 3 October 1991
  5. Wrightbus hands over Gold Arrow Bus & Coach Buyer 24 March 2016

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