The Dennis Loline was a low-height
double-decker bus
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
manufactured by
Dennis between 1958 and 1966.
History
The Dennis Loline was basically a license-built
Bristol Lodekka
The Bristol Lodekka was a half-cab low-height step-free double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England. It was the first production bus design to have no step up from the passenger entrance throughout the lower deck; alth ...
, being primarily supplied to
municipal
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, private sector
British Electric Traction
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rento ...
fleets and independent bus companies in the United Kingdom, during a period when
Bristol's sales were restricted to state-owned bus companies.
Production was to cease in 1962, however this was quickly reversed and it continued to be made until 1966.
Three versions of the Dennis Loline were built: the Loline with rear entrance, Loline II with front entrance and the later Loline III with a revised front grille in front of the radiator and a different clutch and
constant mesh gearbox
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
.
In 1961,
commissioned No. 861, which had
lowbridge bodywork on a Loline chassis, and was the lowest ever roofed British double-decker. It was specially designed to pass under an ultra low railway bridge at Sawley Junction, now , station.
Aldershot & District Traction
Aldershot & District Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services in East Hampshire, West Surrey and parts of adjoining counties for sixty years during the 20th century, from 1912 until 1972 when it became part of Alde ...
operated the largest number of Dennis Loline buses.
China Motor Bus
The China Motor Bus Company, Limited (), often abbreviated as CMB, is a property developer in Hong Kong. Before its franchise lapsed in 1998, it was the first motor bus operator in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-d ...
in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
put one Dennis Loline into service in 1963. It was the first double-decker bus on
Hong Kong Island.
References
Further reading
* Brown, S. (2013). ''The Lodekka Alternatives''.
Ian Allan Publishing
Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in transport books. It was founded by Ian Allan.
In 1942 Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at Waterloo st ...
.
External links
Aldershot & District Bus Interest Group
{{Dennis, state=collapsed
Loline
Double-decker buses
Half-cab buses
Vehicles introduced in 1956