The Wright Pulsar Gemini was a design of

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 ...

bodywork built onto VDL DB250LF chassis by

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based 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 ...

between 2003 and 2006. It was visually almost identical to the

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 ...

that was mounted on the Volvo B7TL and later

Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version has been su ...

chassis. In 2007, Wrightbus launched 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 DB300 chassis modules as the successor to the Pulsar Gemini in both diesel and hybrid-electric forms.

Features

As with the

, this bus has both the upper and lower deck front windscreens forming part of a single oval shape, with the

destination display A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that dis ...

in between. In London, they have two doors for passenger loading, one at the front and one in the centre. The staircase is situated between the front and centre entrances.

Operators

The Pulsar Gemini was ordered almost exclusively by

Arriva UK Bus Arriva UK Bus is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom based in Sunderland, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, which has been a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn since 2010. Arriva UK Bus operates ...

, with its

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 ...

subsidiary purchasing 133 examples between 2003 and 2005, numbered in the DW series, and

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 ...

purchasing 32 for use in Leicester in 2006, which were numbered 4746-77, sharing the 47xx series numbers in the Midlands fleet with other DAF DB250s (with East Lancs Mylennium Lowlanders being numbered 4701-45 and ex-Arriva London Alexander ALX400s being numbered 4778 onwards). While Arriva London's Pulsar Geminis have been sold or cascaded to regional fleets, the majority of Arriva Midlands' Pulsar Geminis presently remain in use with their original operator on their original network in Leicester, for much of their career being solely based at Thurmaston, although because they are now Arriva's oldest buses in Leicester, many of them are set for withdrawal in the coming years. As of September 2022 ten of the Midlands' Pulsar Geminis have been withdrawn, one in an accident in April 2019 and the remainder from late 2021 onwards, with five being withdrawn in September 2022 alone. In spring 2022, two Pulsar Geminis were also transferred from Leicester to High Wycombe, the first major transfer since two were briefly painted red and branded for the X50 service between Derby and Stoke on Trent in the early 2010s.

Konectbus Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and forms part of Go East Anglia. History Konectbus was formed in 1999 when the Saham Toney depot of Norfolk Green was purchased from wi ...

purchased five Wright Pulsar Geminis in 2005.

Pulsar Gemini HEV

The Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV was the hybrid-electric variant of the Pulsar Gemini, introduced in 2006. It was the first hybrid double-decker to be built in the United Kingdom. It was based on the same

VDL DB250 The VDL DB250 (originally the DAF DB250) was a twin-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by VDL Bus & Coach. DB250 The DAF DB250 was launched in October 1991 and originally only available with Optare Spectra bodywork with 260 built, mai ...

chassis as the diesel Pulsar Gemini, but with the DAF engine removed and replaced with a smaller

Ford Duratorq engine The Ford Duratorq engine, commonly referred to as Duratorq, is the marketing name of a range of Ford diesel engines first introduced in 2000 for the Ford Mondeo range of cars. The larger capacity 5-cylinder units use the Power Stroke branding wh ...

coupled to a hybrid-electric driveline. Only three Pulsar Gemini HEVs were built – as detailed below – before the model was superseded by the introduction of the

Wright Gemini 2 HEV 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 ...

in 2007.

Production vehicles

The first Wright Pulsar Gemini HEV was unveiled by

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Ken Livingstone in October 2006. After being exhibited at the Euro Bus Expo at the

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway sta ...

, in March 2007 it entered service with

on route 141 for evaluation. In 2008 it moved to

East Thames Buses East Thames Buses was the trading name of London Buses Limited, an arms length subsidiary of Transport for London. In 2009, it was sold to the Go-Ahead Group. History East Thames Buses was formed in 1999 to take over the services operated ...

' Mandela Way garage for six months, mainly being used on route 1. From August 2010 until February 2012, it operated for First Somerset & Avon in Bath after having its centre door removed. The second production Pulsar Gemini HEV was delivered to

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

of Ireland in late 2008.Dublin Bus puts hybrid-electric vehicle into service for test period
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' 16 December 2008 It was withdrawn in January 2012 and sold to

Ensignbus Ensignbus is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex. History Ensignbus was formed in 1972 by Peter Newman, who remains involved today as chairman and his sons Ross and Steve as directors. Ensignbus commenced with ...

, where it caught fire on June 9, 2012 due to an electrical fault. The third and final Pulsar Gemini HEV to be completed was delivered to

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

and entered service in 2009. It left the fleet in early 2012 and its current whereabouts are unknown.

Gallery

File:Arriva bus 4764 (FJ06 ZSN), 18 August 2012.jpg, An example of Arriva Midlands' Pulsar Geminis in original livery File:Arriva Midlands 4746 FJ06 ZTO.jpg, An example of Arriva Midlands' Pulsar Geminis, this one with special vinyls advertising services 126 and 127 between Coalville, Shepshed and Leicester via Loughborough File:Arriva new corporate livery - worn by VDL DB250 Wright Pulsar Gemini 4772 (35913809393).jpg, An example of Arriva Midlands' Pulsar Geminis in Arriva's standard Journey Mark livery File:KONECTBUS - Flickr - secret coach park (2).jpg, Konectbus Wright Pulsar Gemini File:Wrights bodied VDL buses, Arriva. (7532955762).jpg, Lineup of Wright Pulsar Geminis (the two blue buses are Wright Eclipse Geminis)

References

External links

Wrightbus product description for Pulsar Gemini HEV
{{Wrightbus, state=collapsed Double-decker buses Low-floor buses Hybrid electric buses Vehicles introduced in 2003 Pulsar Gemini