Wright Pulsar Gemini | |
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An Arriva London Wright Pulsar Gemini in Brixton, December 2013 | |
Overview | |
Manufacturer | Wrightbus |
Production | 2003–2006 |
Assembly | Ballymena, Northern Ireland |
Body and chassis | |
Doors | 1 or 2 |
Floor type | Low-entry |
Chassis | VDL DB250LF |
Related | Wright Pulsar |
Powertrain | |
Engine | DAF ATi RS 8.6 litre DAF Paccar PS 9.2 litre Ford Puma 2.4l I4 diesel (HEV) [1] |
Capacity | 56–70 seated |
Transmission | Voith DIWA ZF Ecomat |
Dimensions | |
Length | 9.6–10.5 m (31–34 ft) |
Width | 2.55 m (8.4 ft) |
Height | 4.4 m (14 ft) |
Chronology | |
Successor | Wright Gemini 2 |
The Wright Pulsar Gemini was a design of double-decker bus bodywork built onto VDL DB250LF chassis by Wrightbus between 2003 and 2006. It was visually almost identical to the Wright Eclipse Gemini that was mounted on the Volvo B7TL and later Volvo B9TL chassis.
In 2007, Wrightbus launched the Wright Gemini 2 integral double-decker with VDL DB300 chassis modules as the successor to the Pulsar Gemini in both diesel and hybrid-electric forms.
As with the Wright Eclipse Gemini, this bus has both the upper and lower deck front windscreens forming part of a single oval shape, with the destination display in between. In London, they have two doors for passenger loading, one at the front and one in the centre. The staircase is situated between the front and centre entrances.
A total of 189 Wright Pulsar Geminis were built. [2]
The Pulsar Gemini was ordered almost exclusively by Arriva UK Bus.
Arriva London subsidiary purchased 134 examples between 2003 and 2005, numbered in the DW series. Arriva Kent Thameside and Arriva The Shires each purchased seven and eleven Pulsar Geminis respectively in 2004 and 2005.
Arriva Midlands purchased 32 for use in Leicester in 2006, which were numbered 4746–77, sharing the 47xx series numbers in the Midlands fleet with other DAF DB250s (with East Lancs Mylennium Lowlanders being numbered 4701-45 and ex-Arriva London Alexander ALX400s being numbered 4778 onwards) As of July 2024, only two of Arriva Midlands' Pulsar Geminis remain in service. [3] [4]
Konectbus purchased five Wright Pulsar Geminis in 2005, becoming the only operator not part of the Arriva Group to purchase them.
The Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV was the hybrid-electric variant of the Pulsar Gemini, introduced in 2006. It was the first hybrid double-decker to be built in the United Kingdom. It was based on the same VDL DB250 chassis as the diesel Pulsar Gemini, but with the DAF engine removed and replaced with a smaller Ford Duratorq engine coupled to a hybrid-electric driveline. Only three Pulsar Gemini HEVs were built – as detailed below – before the model was superseded by the introduction of the Wright Gemini 2 HEV in 2007.
The first Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV was unveiled by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in October 2006. [5] After being exhibited at the Euro Bus Expo at the National Exhibition Centre, in March 2007 it entered service with Arriva London on route 141 for evaluation. [6] [7] [8] In 2008 it moved to East Thames Buses' Mandela Way garage for six months, mainly being used on route 1. From August 2010 until February 2012, it operated for First Somerset & Avon in Bath after conversion to single door. [9] [10]
The second production Pulsar Gemini HEV was delivered to Dublin Bus of Ireland in November 2008. [11] [12] [13] It was withdrawn on January 31, 2012 and sold to Ensignbus, where it caught fire on June 9, 2012, due to an electrical fault.[ citation needed ]
The third and final Pulsar Gemini HEV to be completed was delivered to London General and entered service in 2009. It left the fleet in early 2012 and entered service with Magtec Buses of Rotherham in 2016 until it's withdrawal in 2019.
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.
Wrightbus is a Northern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman Jo Bamford.
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.
The Alexander ALX400 was a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders. It was one of the ALX-series bodywork, all of which featured the same designs on the front and rear panels that were originally designed for the new generation of mainly low-floor bus chassis produced since the late 1990s.
The VDL DB250 was a twin-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach.
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.
The VDL SB120 was a low floor light-weight midibus produced from 1999 by VDL Bus & Coach of the Netherlands primarily for the United Kingdom market.
Operation Overdrive is the name of a series of improvement programmes carried out by Arriva in their UK bus operations. The original Operation Overdrive was done by Arriva Southern Counties in the Medway Towns (Kent) in 2004, with further operations occurring in Maidstone (Kent), Merseyside, Leicestershire, County Durham, and Southend-on-Sea (Essex).
The Wright Electrocity was a type of hybrid electric bus built by Wrightbus between 2002 and 2013. The Electrocity was based on DAF/VDL SB120 chassis for most of these buses, except for a single Dennis Dart SLF prototype.
The Wright Pulsar was a single-decker bus body built on the VDL SB200 single-decker bus chassis by Wrightbus between 2006 and 2014.
The Wright Cadet was a low floor midibus body built on the DAF/VDL SB120 chassis by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2008. It was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. Of the 681 produced, 366 were for Arriva subsidiaries including eight for its Netherlands subsidiary. Bus Éireann purchased 35.
The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister design the Solar, were named for a solar eclipse which was visible in the UK in 1999, the year of its introduction.
Wright Gemini, a generic name for a style of low-floor double-deck bus bodywork built by Wright may refer to:
The Wright Commander was a low-floor single-decker bus body built on the DAF/VDL SB200 chassis by Wrightbus between 2002 and 2007.
Arriva Buses Wales is a bus operator providing services in northern Wales and Chester in northern England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
The Wright Gemini 2 is a double-decker bus built by Wrightbus between 2009 and 2013. It was announced in December 2007 but was not named until 2008. It was constructed as a semi-integral vehicle, with chassis modules provided by VDL. The bodywork utilised some lighter materials so that the vehicle was lighter than the Eclipse Gemini and Pulsar Gemini bodied buses. It was available in two versions; the Gemini 2 DL diesel-powered version, and the Gemini 2 HEV diesel-electric hybrid version.
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.
The Volvo B5TL is a 2-axle low-floor double decker built by Volvo. It replaced the B9TL as Volvo's Euro 6 2-axle double decker product for the UK and Irish markets.
The Wright StreetDeck is an integral double-decker bus manufactured by Wrightbus since 2014, originally delivered as standard with a Daimler OM934 diesel engine. Hybrid-electric, full-electric and hydrogen-powered variants have subsequently been produced. Production of the StreetDeck range was briefly suspended when Wrightbus entered administration in September 2019.
Media related to Wright Pulsar Gemini at Wikimedia Commons