The Alexander PS-type was a step-floor

single-decker bus A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which ...

body built by

Walter Alexander Coachbuilders Walter Alexander CoachbuildersCompanies House extract company no SC0261 ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and was produced from 1988 to the late 1990s predominantly on the

Dennis Lance The Dennis Lance was a single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF (Super Low Floor) was built between 1993 and 1996. Between 1995 and 1998, D ...

Mercedes-Benz O405 The Mercedes-Benz O405 was a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an integral bus or a bus chassis and was the last VöV SL-II standard bus in production. It was the replacement for th ...

, Scania N113,

Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

chassis. The Alexander PS-type was developed from the Alexander's single-deck export body for

Singapore Bus Service SBS Transit Limited (SBST or just SBS) () is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. With a majority of its shares owned by Singaporean multinational transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro Corporatio ...

s, and was based on the domestic P-type with a revised front end. It was initially launched in the United Kingdom on the Scania N113CR chassis in 1988. The Alexander PS-type was ultimately succeeded by the

Alexander ALX200 __NOTOC__ The Alexander ALX200 was a single-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was created for low-floor bus chassis produced from the late 1990s. It was launched in spring 1996 as a low floor replacement of the Ale ...

and

Alexander ALX300 The Alexander ALX300 (later known as the TransBus ALX300 and the Alexander Dennis ALX300) was a low-floor bus body manufactured by Alexander and later Alexander Dennis in Falkirk, Scotland. It was launched in 1997 as a replacement for the Stri ...

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low ...

bodies.

Operators

The Alexander PS-type on the Volvo B10M chassis was the primary single decker for the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

, with the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

divisions taking on large numbers for their fleets. Most were withdrawn by 2016 due to regulations mandating

es, but some were retained as late as 2020 as school buses by

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which ...

. The second-biggest operator of the Alexander PS-type were

Mainline Buses South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, whic ...

, who ordered a total of 180 Alexander PS-types on Volvo B10M chassis from 1990 to 1996. Mainline's first Alexander PS-types were the first to be bodied on a Volvo chassis.

Kelvin Central Buses Kelvin Central Buses was a bus operator in Scotland. Formed as a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group in July 1989 from the merger of Kelvin Scottish and Central Scottish, it was sold in a management buyout and in July 1998 became part of Fi ...

also purchased 60 PS-types from 1995 to 1997. Following the purchase of Mainline and SB Holdings by the

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Busways Travel Services Busways Travel Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in Tyne and Wear, England. The company was purchased by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994. History In October 1986, to comply with the Transport Act 1985, ...

took an order of 20 Scanias with PS-type bodies, while

Nottingham City Transport Nottingham City TransportCompanies House extract company no 2004 ...

took an order of eight.

Yorkshire Traction Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005. History In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the Barnsley area until around 1930 ...

purchased five Scania PS-types in 1992 as their first new full-size buses since

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

. Sixteen

s with dual door Alexander PS-type bodies were built for

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

subsidiary

Selkent Selkent (an acronym of South East London & Kent) is a bus company operating in central and south London and some parts of north-west Kent. It is a subsidiary brand of Stagecoach London and operates services under contract to Transport for London ...

, while in Hong Kong,

Kowloon Motor Bus The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International. ...

took on 24 Lances with PS-type bodywork. Two examples on the

chassis was built with Alexander PS-type bodies in 1992, one being a rigid Mercedes demonstrator and a sole

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...

example being bodied for

Grampian Regional Transport Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region t ...

. These were branded as the ''Cityranger''.

Gallery

File:FirstGroup bus 60605 Volvo B10M Alexander PS N768 CKY in Sheffield 24 March 2009.jpg, Alexander PS-type bodied

operated by

First South Yorkshire First South Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing bus services within and across South Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History In 1989, South Yorkshire Transport introduced the ''Mainline'' brand on certain bus routes aro ...

File:Yorkshire Traction Scania N113 X92 to Doncaster.jpg,

Alexander PS-type bodied Scania N113 File:AN-d.jpg, Alexander PS-type bodied

opterated by

file:ScaniaN113-SBS.JPG,

SBS Transit SBS Transit Limited (SBST or just SBS) () is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. With a majority of its shares owned by Singaporean multinational transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro Corporation ...

Scania N113 with non-AC Alexander PS-type bodywork

References

External links

* {{Walter Alexander bodies PS Single-deck buses Step-entrance buses Vehicles introduced in 1988