The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman Jo Bamf ...

between 2000 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister design the

Solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

, were named for a

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

which was visible in the UK in 1999, the year of its introduction. The Eclipse was launched in 2000 on Volvo B7L chassis and, in 2003, the body was made available on the more popular

Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013, with production of the B7RLE continuing until 2018. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the ...

chassis. A coach version, the Eclipse SchoolRun, was later launched on high floor Volvo B7R chassis. In November 2008, Wright unveiled the Eclipse 2 at that year's Euro Bus Expo, with front and rear ends facelifted to match the

Wright StreetCar The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo for FirstGroup. It was built on the Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in Europe. It ...

. In 2015, the Eclipse 3 was launched on

Volvo B8RLE The Volvo B8RLE is a 7.7-litre-engined low-entry bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for left-hand drive markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7RLE and the B9RLE. The right-hand drive version was launched in November 2 ...

chassis, the successor to the B7RLE. A double-decker version of the Eclipse was also available, known as the

Wright Eclipse Gemini The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 2001 and 2021, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, fo ...

, as well as an articulated version known as the Wright Eclipse Fusion.

First generation (2000–2010)

The first generation Wright Eclipse was launched in 2000 by

on Volvo B7L chassis as the replacement for the

Wright Renown The Wright Renown is a Low-floor bus, low floor single-decker bus body built on Volvo B10BLE chassis by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Design Launched as the successor to the Wright Liberator body on the Volvo B10L chassis in 1997, ...

bodywork on the older

Volvo B10BLE The Volvo B10BLE is a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1993 and 2004. The first prototypes were built in 1992, but mass production started in 1993, only a year after the high-floor B10B. I ...

chassis. A majority of these were purchased by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013, with production of the B7RLE continuing until 2018. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the ...

chassis in 2003, at which time the original B7L bodywork was renamed to the Eclipse Metro. The Eclipse Urban proved to be far more successful in terms of sales and remained in production until 2009, while the Eclipse Metro was withdrawn from sale several years after introduction of the Eclipse Urban. File:Arriva The Shires 3890 LF02 PVA 3.JPG, alt=,

Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Herts & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Arriva Colchester, Col ...

Wright Eclipse Metro bodied Volvo B7L in July 2009 File:First Wright Eclipse 01.jpg, alt=, First Calderdale & Huddersfield Wright Eclipse Urban bodied

in July 2007

Eclipse Commuter

Wrightbus also offered the Eclipse Commuter for a time, which was built on a version of the B7RLE chassis with the higher floor section extended to the front axle of the bus. It was intended for longer distance and intercity work. The design included all of the features of a standard coach, such as under-floor storage and a high seating position, while maintaining a small low floor section for passengers in wheelchairs. The first entered service with

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...

in April 2004 while

Yorkshire Coastliner Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus company that operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. History The company was established in 1990, when the York-base ...

ordered six (which never entered service) and Stagecoach West Scotland ordered two, supplied with funding with

Dumfries and Galloway Council Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the ...

Eclipse SchoolRun

In 2006, Wrightbus launched the Eclipse SchoolRun; effectively an entirely high floor version of the Eclipse Commuter, bodied on Volvo B7R coach chassis. The Eclipse SchoolRun was mainly intended for school bus work. Northern Ireland bus operator

were the only customer to order the Eclipse SchoolRun, initially taking delivery of 160 of the type in their first batch order between 2007 and 2008, with an additional batch of 61 Eclipse SchoolRuns delivered to the operator between 2009 and 2010. The first 110 Eclipse SchoolRuns delivered between 2007 and 2008 were equipped with 66 cyan seats in a high-density 2+3 layout and orange handrails, featuring several seats at the front of the bus that could be removed to make room for wheelchair spaces; the latter 50 buses were delivered with 62 seats and a permanent wheelchair area to save time reconfiguring the seating arrangement. The head directional indicators were LED instead of using

Halogen light bulb A halogen lamp (also called tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, and quartz iodine lamp) is an incandescent lamp consisting of a tungsten filament sealed in a compact transparent envelope that is filled with a mixture of an inert gas and a small ...

. The second batch of 61 buses were delivered to Ulsterbus in this latter configuration between 2009 and 2010. With a new style of interior of having blue seats and pink handrails.

Second generation (2008–2015)

The second generation Wright Eclipse, known as the Eclipse Urban 2, was launched at the 2008 Euro Bus Expo as the successor to the Eclipse Urban, although the two designs were produced concurrently until 2009. The Eclipse 2 features a facelifted front fascia and rear end, and was available exclusively on the

chassis. The Burnley Bus Company were the first customer to take delivery of the Wright Eclipse Urban 2, with nineteen delivered for the operator's 'Mainline' services in 2009. A batch of Urban 2s with air conditioning were leased to Malta Public Transport in 2014.

Third generation (2015–2019)

The third generation Eclipse, known as the Eclipse 3, was launched in 2015. The Eclipse 3 was only available on

chassis, the successor to the B7RLE. As well as the difference in chassis, the front and rear ends initially underwent a minor facelift, incorporating design features from the

Wright StreetLite The Wright StreetLite is a low-floor bus, low-floor midibus introduced by Wrightbus in 2010. It was originally available in only one body style (wheel forward) before the door forward and StreetLite Max variants were introduced in 2011 and 2012 ...

integral design. The first Eclipse 3s entered service with

Trentbarton Trentbarton (stylised in all lowercase) is a bus operator providing both local and regional services in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the Wellglade Group. History In October 19 ...

in October 2015 and the second batch by Stagecoach in the Fens for the Cambridgeshire Busway. The front design was revised further in spring 2017 with the first (and only) examples being purchased by East Coast Buses. The first variant with the revised bodywork has since entered service with

Delaine Buses Delaine BusesCompanies House extract company no 367317
Delain ...

References

External links

Wright Eclipse Commuter product description

Wright Eclipse SchoolRun product description
{{Wrightbus, state=collapsed Low-floor buses Vehicles introduced in 1999

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...