The East Lancs OmniDekka (later sold as the Darwen OmniDekka and Optare OmniDekka) is a
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 ...
built for sale in the UK market, introduced by
East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
N94UD chassis at
Euro 3, and later
Scania N230UD and N270UD at
Euro 4 and
Euro 5
The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for pollution from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the European Union and EEA member states and the UK, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a seri ...
, the bodywork consists of a modified
East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral
OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the
Darwen Group
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June ...
and finally
Optare
Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...
before ceasing in 2011.
History
Collaboration with Scania
Scania was late in bringing a low-floor double-deck chassis to the market, having previously only sold low floor single deckers mainly bodied by
Wright
Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright i ...
, which included the
N113CRL/
Wright Pathfinder
The Wright Pathfinder is a low entry and low floor single-decker bus body built on Dennis Lance SLF and Scania N113CRL chassis by Wrightbus between 1993 and 1995.
History
Of the 95 Pathfinders produced, London Regional Transport subsidiaries ...
(also with
East Lancs MaxCi
The East Lancs MaxCi was a low-floor single-decker bus body built on the Scania N113CRL chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.
The MaxCi was based on a design produced for the Scania N113CLL low-entry single-decker bus chassis MaxCi in Swed ...
bodywork), the
L113CRL/
Wright Axcess-Ultralow
The Wright Axcess-Ultralow was a low-floor single-decker bus body built on the Scania L113CRL chassis by Wrightbus between 1995 and 1998.
History
The Wright Axcess-Ultralow was introduced in 1995 as a replacement for the Wright Endurance and ...
, the
L94UB/
Wright Axcess-Floline
The Wright Axcess-Floline was a low floor single-deck bus body built on the Scania L94UB chassis by Wrightbus between 1998 and 2001.
It was the successor to the Axcess-Ultralow on the Scania L113
The Scania L113 was a step entrance and low ...
, the
L94UB/
Wright Solar
The Wright Solar is a low entry single-decker bus body that was built on Scania L94UB and Scania K UB chassis by Wrightbus between 2000 and 2011. The Wright Solar Fusion is an articulated version.
Most of the buses are fitted with the same ...
and then latterly the integral
OmniCity product on
CN94UB chassis. It had however worked with
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
some years prior in 1995 to produce a high-floor step entrance double decker on the
N113DRB chassis, this being the
Cityzen.
In 2002,
East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodied a batch of short wheelbase N94UB chassis with
Myllennium bodywork (at this point still with the original design) for London Easylink. The
OmniTown midibus was to be a further development of this product, modifying the front end panelling to resemble that of an
OmniCity. A year later in March 2003, the OmniDekka was finally unveiled - the first examples (being of the 10.6m short wheelbase and of dual door layout) going to
Metrobus in south east London. A near identical batch for
Brighton & Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton a ...
(only differing in being single door) followed this in the May, along with the first 11.9m long wheelbase examples, which went to
in the September of that year.
Eventually, the OmniDekka became commonplace across the UK, being featured in the fleets of numerous London operators, as well as the provincial operations of
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...
, and from 2005,
First, who had previously failed in getting
Wrightbus to body the
N94UD, citing body to chassis weight distribution issues with the
Gemini bodywork.
In November 2006, the bus was officially replaced in
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
’ product range by the
Olympus
Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to:
Mountains
In antiquity
Greece
* Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology
* Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Le ...
model on the then-new
Scania N-series chassis at
Euro 4 emissions certification. The
Olympus
Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to:
Mountains
In antiquity
Greece
* Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology
* Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Le ...
was not as successful as had been hoped; around a year earlier,
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
had soft launched a double decker version of their integral
OmniCity, which at
Euro 4 would go into full production and ultimately replace the
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
effort as the
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
vehicle of choice, especially amongst London operators.
From this point onwards, the OmniDekka was not on general sale, subsequent vehicles generally only being built for existing customers.
Darwen takeover
With the collapse of
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
in August 2007, the assets were purchased by the
Darwen Group
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June ...
, who quickly rebranded the former product range with their own badge and name, however this was short lived; a year later in June 2008, the assets of
Optare
Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...
were acquired in a ‘reverse takeover’, once again the former
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
product range was rebadged, this time with the branding of
Optare
Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...
.
Customers
Many of its original customers became repeat buyers, most notably
, who by the mid 2000s had begun to standardise its fleet with this model, purchasing 84 11.9m examples on
N94UD chassis, along with a further 40 on N270UD (
Euro 4) and 50 on N230UD (
Euro 5
The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for pollution from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the European Union and EEA member states and the UK, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a seri ...
) chassis - the last batch of these in November 2011 (on ’61’ plates) also being the final ever buses built at the former
East Lancs
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group ...
factory in
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
, which by this point, was under the badge of
Optare
Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...
.
End of production
Shortly after the
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
site was closed for good in 2012,
all subsequently all double deck body-on-chassis products were discontinued; Optare preferring to focus on its integral range at a new facility in
Sherburn-in-Elmet, of which in time it intended to add a new double deck product too, in 2014 being unveiled as the
MetroDecker.
The spiritual successor to the
Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...
chassis products however, came from rival
Alexander Dennis, who began offering their
Enviro400
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident (from which the Enviro400 was de ...
and later Enviro400 MMC and City bodywork styles on the
N-series chassis.
See also
Competitors:
*
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400, Dennis Trident (from which the Enviro400 was d ...
*
Dennis Trident 2
The Dennis Trident 2 is a 2-axle low-floor double-decker bus chassis originally manufactured by Dennis, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow. It was built by TransBus after Dennis was incorporated into the group in 2001, t ...
*
MAN ND283F
*
VDL DB250
*
Volvo B7TL
The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian (its 3-axle version was replaced by the Volvo Super Olympian). It was built as the British bus operators ...
*
Volvo B9TL
Other Scania buses sold in the UK:
*
L94UB (single decker chassis)
*
OmniCity
References
{{Scania AB, state=collapsed
Double-decker buses
Low-floor buses
East Lancashire Coachbuilders
OmniDekka
Vehicles introduced in 2003
sv:Scania Omni-serien