Wright StreetCar

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Wright StreetCar
York ftr.jpg
First York Wright StreetCar in York in April 2007
Overview
Manufacturer Wrightbus
Production2006–2009
Assembly Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Body and chassis
Doors2 or 3
Floor type Low floor
Chassis
Powertrain
Engine
Capacity76 standing, 43 seated
Transmission
Dimensions
Wheelbase 6,410 mm (252+1⁄2 in) (F) [1]
7,110 mm (280 in) (R) [1]
Length18,620 mm (61 ft 1 in) [1]
Width2,530 mm (99.5 in) [1]
Height3,400 mm (134 in) [1]
Curb weight 22,000 kg (48,600 lb) [1]
Chronology
Predecessor Wright Eclipse Fusion

The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo on the Volvo B7LA chassis. The body was also produced on Carrosserie Hess for export to the United States.

Contents

Design

The StreetCar was designed for use on the FirstGroup's FTR premium services, featuring high frequencies and dedicated stops. The body was designed with heavily curved elements to mimic the appearance of a tram, uniquely featuring non-rotating hubcaps on the front axle and fender skirts over the rear wheels. [2] [3] The StreetCar uniquely featured a separate driver compartment at the front, with a single-piece curved windscreen fitted alongside two curved side windows; as tickets could not be issued by the driver, on the FTR system, passengers of the StreetCar were encouraged to either buy tickets from "pay points" or buy mobile phone tickets before they boarded, however an exact change ticket machine was also available on board. Live satellite tracking of FTR StreetCars was also available as standard. [4]

Internally, the StreetCars featured air conditioning and infotainment systems, and carried a maximum of 113 passengers, 76 of these standing and the remaining 37 seated; as well as being built with conventional forward-facing seats, StreetCars had wrap-around seating in the rear section to create "lounge areas". [2] [4] [5]

Operators

United Kingdom

The StreetCar's only UK customer was the FirstGroup's bus operations, who first launched the ftr network using StreetCars on First York's route 4 between Acomb and the University of York on 8 May 2006, after the City of York Council had made significant alterations to the road layout to accommodate the new vehicles. [6] [7] Further examples entered service with First Leeds, [8] on First Capital Connect's Luton Airport Parkway railway station to Luton Airport shuttle and with First Cymru in Swansea. [9] [10]

York's StreetCars were withdrawn in 2012, following the end of a five-year contract which the City of York Council refused to renew. [11] These StreetCars were transferred over to Leeds to operate on the Leeds-Bradford bus corridor, [12] [13] but StreetCars there were later withdrawn in 2016. Swansea's StreetCars, which caused major road layout changes around the city centre to fit the buses that were later blamed for causing two fatal accidents, were withdrawn in 2015 due to them proving too expensive to run. [14]

A pre-delivery ftr StreetCar was trialled by Go North East for two weeks in 2006 on the X66 express MetroCentre CentreLink shuttle serving Gateshead, with conductors issuing tickets for the service on both termini of the route, however no orders resulted. [15]

United States

In 2008/09, 50 StreetCar Rapid Transit Vehicles were built for Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada in the United States for use on the RTC Transit. [16] [17] Developed from the Wright StreetCar, they were built on Carrosserie Hess chassis, and first arrived in the United States in October 2008. [18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 STURAA Test: 12 Year / 500,000 mile bus from Wright Group Ltd., Model Streetcar RTV (PTI-BT-R0906) (Report). Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Bus Testing and Research Center. October 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 Jarosz, Andrew (23 June 2005). "Prince Andrew sees the StreetCar". Coach & Bus Week . No. 684. Peterborough: Emap. p. 6. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  3. ↑ "First confirms orders for 39 Streetcars". Bus & Coach Professional. Telford: Plum Publishing. 22 July 2005. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 "It's the ftr of city travel". The Press . York. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "All change". routeone. No. 81. Peterborough: Expo Publishing. 9 June 2005. p. 27. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "City first to use new bus fleet". BBC News . 22 February 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "The ftr of city travel arrives". The Press. York. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Jagdev, Rav (29 August 2007). "Leeds partnership: Spirit of Leeds". Bus & Coach Professional. Telford: Plum Publishing. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "StreetCars upgrade Luton airport link". Bus & Coach Professional. Telford: Plum Publishing. 30 January 2008. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "First's Swansea Metro service launched". Bus & Coach Professional. Telford: Plum Publishing. 16 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Row over York StreetCars". Bus & Coach Professional. Telford: Plum Publishing. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "First to redeploy York ftr's to Leeds-Bradford corridor in local authority backed project" . TransportXtra. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "First to launch new StreetCar buses in Bradford". Telegraph & Argus . Bradford. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "Bendy buses in Swansea to be scrapped over cost". BBC News. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "Go North East evaluates StreetCar on Gateshead shuttle". Buses . No. 628. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. July 2007. p. 11. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "Wrightbus celebrates £31m deal for its new StreetCar". Belfast Telegraph . 8 October 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  17. ↑ "Fifty Wrightbus new StreetCar RTV vehicles for southern Nevada". Busworld. 19 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "American debut for Las Vegas StreetCar RTV" . TransportXtra. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2025.

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