Merlin Travel Alexander Dennis Enviro 500
Some of the best uniqueness…..
Time to reacquaint myself with some dear departed friends. Former First Glasgow 38212 (SN09CCE) is now employed with Merlin Travel
These buses were ordered by First Glasgow's then Managing Director who came from Hong Kong, where these are pretty common place. Some of the best buses to run in Glasgow in my opinion but they were transferred en masse to Aberdeen, primarily as artic replacements. Some were branded for services 1&2, known as The Bridges where their capacity scooped up lots of passengers.
Sadly these buses remained an interesting one-offs. Despite the Enviro 500 being one of the best selling double-deckers on the planet and being operated around the world from Las Vegas to Berlin, Hong Kong to Mexico City, Tri-axle buses have never really taken off in the UK. Fuel usage is the main reason - these buses came with aircon when new in Glasgow - it’s standard on the Enviro 500 - and while it was welcomed by locals on the odd balmy days in the city, it drank fuel like a thirsty man in a desert. So the aircon was disconnected. The only similar buses to work within the British Isles were a batch of similarly bodied buses but on Volvo B9TL tri-axle chassis for Dublin Bus. Plus a one-off development vehicle which pottered about Alexander Dennis’s Guildford plant and later was rebuilt into open-top form and joined EnsignBus.
In the end, the buses were deemed too specialist and were sold through the EnsignBus dealership where they were snapped up as high-capacity buses for schools and rail-replacement.
With Volvo having success selling the tri-axle Volvo B8L with MCV eVoSeTi bodywork as a semi-coach, I’m surprised Alexander Dennis hasn’t offered the Enviro 500 to compete. It does offer the Enviro 400XLB on the Volvo B8L chassis and Lothian has more on order.
Merlin Travel Alexander Dennis Enviro 500
Some of the best uniqueness…..
Time to reacquaint myself with some dear departed friends. Former First Glasgow 38212 (SN09CCE) is now employed with Merlin Travel
These buses were ordered by First Glasgow's then Managing Director who came from Hong Kong, where these are pretty common place. Some of the best buses to run in Glasgow in my opinion but they were transferred en masse to Aberdeen, primarily as artic replacements. Some were branded for services 1&2, known as The Bridges where their capacity scooped up lots of passengers.
Sadly these buses remained an interesting one-offs. Despite the Enviro 500 being one of the best selling double-deckers on the planet and being operated around the world from Las Vegas to Berlin, Hong Kong to Mexico City, Tri-axle buses have never really taken off in the UK. Fuel usage is the main reason - these buses came with aircon when new in Glasgow - it’s standard on the Enviro 500 - and while it was welcomed by locals on the odd balmy days in the city, it drank fuel like a thirsty man in a desert. So the aircon was disconnected. The only similar buses to work within the British Isles were a batch of similarly bodied buses but on Volvo B9TL tri-axle chassis for Dublin Bus. Plus a one-off development vehicle which pottered about Alexander Dennis’s Guildford plant and later was rebuilt into open-top form and joined EnsignBus.
In the end, the buses were deemed too specialist and were sold through the EnsignBus dealership where they were snapped up as high-capacity buses for schools and rail-replacement.
With Volvo having success selling the tri-axle Volvo B8L with MCV eVoSeTi bodywork as a semi-coach, I’m surprised Alexander Dennis hasn’t offered the Enviro 500 to compete. It does offer the Enviro 400XLB on the Volvo B8L chassis and Lothian has more on order.