Blackpool Transport Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 City
Stunning new additions to the Blackpool fleet are ten of these buses such as 407 (SN16OVH) painted in the company's new livery. These are the first brand new double-deckers for the company since a batch of East Lancs bodied Alexander Dennis Tridents came in 2006 - incidentally these were some of the last Tridents built before production switched to the then new Enviro 400.
Blackpool has been upgrading its fleet and introduced the 'Palladium' brand to specify services run with higher quality vehicles. It was first introduced on a batch of Mercedes-Benz Citaro's bought in 2015 and since then has been expanded to include a batch of Plaxton Centro bodied Volvo B7RLE, which until the Merc's were the fleets newest buses and which arrived in 2010.
However, for double-deckers it has bought something very different. This was a batch of the first single-door pure diesel Enviro 400 City buses for a UK-operator. The Enviro 400 City is a variant of the MMC which uses some New Routemaster styling cues. It was developed primarily for London and met Transport for London's desire to have more of the buses having a standard look. However, unlike the Wrightbus version - The SRM based Volvo B5LH - it is a distinctly ADL product. The SRM suffers - in my opinion - for looking too much like a New Routemaster and for the lack of a back window.
The ADL Enviro 400 City I feel is a better balanced design enhanced by the livery which follows the flow of the bus. Although launched as a hybrid it was always available as a pure diesel and has already achieved what the New Routemaster didn't as its attracted an order from a fleet outside London. Buses magazine reports that a further 25 are due to arrive in 2017.
Blackpool Transport Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 City
Stunning new additions to the Blackpool fleet are ten of these buses such as 407 (SN16OVH) painted in the company's new livery. These are the first brand new double-deckers for the company since a batch of East Lancs bodied Alexander Dennis Tridents came in 2006 - incidentally these were some of the last Tridents built before production switched to the then new Enviro 400.
Blackpool has been upgrading its fleet and introduced the 'Palladium' brand to specify services run with higher quality vehicles. It was first introduced on a batch of Mercedes-Benz Citaro's bought in 2015 and since then has been expanded to include a batch of Plaxton Centro bodied Volvo B7RLE, which until the Merc's were the fleets newest buses and which arrived in 2010.
However, for double-deckers it has bought something very different. This was a batch of the first single-door pure diesel Enviro 400 City buses for a UK-operator. The Enviro 400 City is a variant of the MMC which uses some New Routemaster styling cues. It was developed primarily for London and met Transport for London's desire to have more of the buses having a standard look. However, unlike the Wrightbus version - The SRM based Volvo B5LH - it is a distinctly ADL product. The SRM suffers - in my opinion - for looking too much like a New Routemaster and for the lack of a back window.
The ADL Enviro 400 City I feel is a better balanced design enhanced by the livery which follows the flow of the bus. Although launched as a hybrid it was always available as a pure diesel and has already achieved what the New Routemaster didn't as its attracted an order from a fleet outside London. Buses magazine reports that a further 25 are due to arrive in 2017.