The VDL DB250 (originally the DAF DB250) was a twin-axle

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 ...

chassis manufactured by

VDL Bus & Coach VDL Bus & Coach is a Netherlands based bus manufacturer. It is an amalgamation of several bus building companies within the VDL Groep. VDL Bus & Coach has manufacturing plants in Belgium and the Netherlands. By 2018 VDL Bus & Coach sold 500 elec ...

DB250

The DAF DB250 was launched in October 1991 and originally only available with

Optare Spectra The Optare Spectra was a double-decker bus body built on the DAF (now VDL) DB250 chassis between 1991 and 2006. The vehicle was developed as a joint project between Optare and DAF; it was based on the designs of the successful MCW Metrobus, ...

bodywork with 260 built, mainly for operators in the United Kingdom.Optare Spectra
Bus Lists on the Web 25 DAF DB250s with Optare Spectra bodywork were delivered to

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 s ...

in 1992, with all but one delivered to the

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Bus ...

subsidiary with a single door arrangement;

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

received a single dual door example for evaluating replacements for MCW Metrobuses on route 16. Capital Logistics also received a delayed order of six dual door Spectras in 1999 for their operation of route 60. 31 left-hand drive examples were exported to Turkey in 1994, with 26 being delivered to IETT in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and the remaining five being delivered to İzulaş in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

. The DAF DB250 later became available with Northern Counties Palatine II bodywork in 1994. Cowie London purchased 13 Palatine IIs on DAF chassis, while Harris Bus would also acquire fleets of DB250s.

DB250LF

The DB250LF, the

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

version of the DB250, was the first

chassis available in the United Kingdom. The DB250LF is readily identified by the centrally-exiting exhaust at the rear, which can cause problems with extreme changes of slope. A revised version of DB250LF was launched in 2004 as the DB250+. The design has received a number of modifications, one of which is the use of independent front suspension. The first DB250LFs received

body, which was sold exclusively on the DB250. The first low-floor variant entered service on 4 February 1998 with Abus of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, narrowly beating a

Travel West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, s ...

DB250LF to operate the first low floor double-decker bus service in the UK. Travel West Midlands would later go on to order 20 more Spectras in 1999. Additional operators of the DB250LF with Optare Spectra bodywork included

Reading Buses Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater ...

, who purchased 26, and Wilts & Dorset, who purchased 78. Later DB250 chassis were fitted with

Alexander ALX400 The Alexander ALX400 (later known as the TransBus ALX400 and the Alexander Dennis ALX400) was a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders (later by TransBus International/Alexander Dennis). It was one of the ALX-seri ...

Plaxton President The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chas ...

East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander The East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander is the type of double-decker bus body built on the DAF/VDL DB250 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name "Lowlander" was derived from the chassis being built by a company from The Netherlands. ...

and Wright Pulsar Gemini bodies. The development of a

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 ...

alternative arose because

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Wright Eclipse Gemini The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the ...

bodied

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 ...

s. Wright subsequently developed the Pulsar Gemini in 2003 in order to win more orders from Arriva.

Arriva London Arriva London is a major bus company operating services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in 1998 from a fusion of previously separate Arriva s ...

purchased and acquired 632 DB250s between 1998 and 2005 with Alexander ALX400 (389), Plaxton President (110) and Wright Pulsar Gemini (133) bodywork.

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

and Arriva Yorkshire also purchased examples. The DB250LF chassis was also adopted by Wrightbus for the development of its hybrid-powered

, the Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV. Production of the DB250 ended in 2006, although examples continued entering service until 2008. Its successor, the

Wright Gemini 2 The Wright Gemini 2 is a double-decker bus built by Wrightbus between 2009 and 2013. It was announced in December 2007 but was not named until 2008. It was constructed as a semi-integral vehicle, with chassis modules provided by VDL. The bodywo ...

integral double decker with VDL chassis modules, was launched in November 2008.New integrated Wrightbus double-deck
''Bus & Coach Professional'' 13 December 2007

References

External links

{{Portal, Buses Double-decker buses Low-floor buses DB250 Vehicles introduced in 1991