East Lancs Olympus
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Optare Olympus (introduced in 2006 as the East Lancs Olympus) is a
double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...
built by
Optare Switch Mobility (Optare until 2020) is a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company is responsible for the EV operations of the group with Ashok Leylan ...
, East Lancs and Darwen. It could be built as a
body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...
available on
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 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...
,
Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses, 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 It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version ...
or Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis with the 2-axle and 3-axle variants. It is the double-decker equivalent of the
Optare Esteem The Optare Esteem was a low-floor single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders, Darwen East Lancs and Optare between 2006 and 2009 on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB, Volvo B7RLE, MAN 12.240, Alexander Dennis Dart SL ...
. Some 3-axle Olympus buses were built.


History

The Olympus was launched by
East Lancashire Coachbuilders 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 November 2006. The first example, built on a
Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses, 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 It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version ...
chassis for
Delaine Buses Delaine BusesCompanies House extract company no 367317
Delain ...
, was displayed at Euro Bus Expo 2006. It had been the intention to exhibit a higher specification model for Ham's of Flimwell, but this was not ready in time for the show, meaning the bus didn't show its full potential. The Olympus replaced the OmniDekka on Scania chassis (though was still sold alongside the bus until 2011), which is 10.6 or 11.9 metres in length. On Volvo chassis, it replaced the Myllennium Vyking and the Myllennium Nordic. On Alexander Dennis chassis, it replaced the Myllennium Lolyne. At the beginning of January 2007,
Reading Buses Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is an English Municipal bus company, municipal bus operator owned by Reading Borough Council, serving the towns of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, Slough, ...
ordered six Olympus with Scania chassis for their Loddon Bridge FastTrack park and ride contract to replace
Optare Excel The Optare Excel is a low-floor full-size single-decker bus manufactured by Optare. Manufactured as an integral bus, the Excel was launched in 1995 as one of the first fully low-floor single-deck buses in the United Kingdom, replacing the step ...
s. They entered service in a yellow and blue livery in July 2007. In
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, some bus operators purchased Olympus with Scania chassis. Transdev London and
Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...
had these buses operating on routes 148, 7, 90 and 297 respectively. Due to problems with the new
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
specified air-conditioning units, some buses failed the tilt test by one degree, and entered service late.


Acquisition by Darwen

East Lancashire Coachbuilders 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 ...
went into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
in August 2007 and was bought 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 20 ...
. The body was therefore renamed Darwen Olympus. The first buses to be delivered under the Darwen name were those ordered by
Cardiff Bus Cardiff Bus () is the main operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to remain in council ow ...
(one of which was shown at Coach and Bus live 2007) and
Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...
.
Reading Buses Reading Transport Limited, trading as Reading Buses, is an English Municipal bus company, municipal bus operator owned by Reading Borough Council, serving the towns of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, Slough, ...
has numerous examples bodied by Darwen, in addition to a few built by East Lancs before they went into administration.


Reverse takeover by Optare

Following the reverse takeover of
Optare Switch Mobility (Optare until 2020) is a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company is responsible for the EV operations of the group with Ashok Leylan ...
by
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 20 ...
in June 2008, the Olympus was again renamed, becoming the Optare Olympus.
London General London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The ...
ordered the Olympus with
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 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...
chassis instead of Scania which
Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...
and Transdev London had inherited. These buses have since largely been withdrawn, and moved to other Go Ahead operators such as Bluestar,
East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...
and
Go North East Go North East is a bus operator running both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead No ...
.
Metrobus Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...
have 30 buses on
Scania N230UD The Scania N series is a line of low-floor bus chassis with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV or newer engine at the rear, built by Scania since 2006, replacing the Scania N94. It is available as the N UB (N230UB, N270UB, N280UB) two-axl ...
chassis, which were used on London routes 54 and 75. In 2009, Optare announced that it had designed its own chassis for the Optare Olympus, with a
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
engine, as per previous products. A single prototype integral Olympus, designated the Olympus O1030, was built; this later became the basis for the new
Optare MetroDecker The Switch Metrodecker (formerly known as the Optare MetroDecker) is an integral twin-axle double-decker bus produced by British bus manufacturer Switch Mobility since 2014. The bus bears resemblance to the Switch Metrocity, sharing similar int ...
and was subsequently launched in 2014.


Open top variant

An open-top
double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...
version of the Olympus, named the Visionaire, was also built. Like the Olympus, it was also built on the same chassis.


Gallery

File:A Johnson's Excelbus in Moor Street, Birmingham, on route X20 to Stratford-on-Avon (Scania N230UD).jpg, Excelbus' Olympus with the
Scania N230UD The Scania N series is a line of low-floor bus chassis with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV or newer engine at the rear, built by Scania since 2006, replacing the Scania N94. It is available as the N UB (N230UB, N270UB, N280UB) two-axl ...
chassis File:Pi11kgf (15060395549).jpg, Mortons Travel's Olympus with the
Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses, 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 ...
chassis File:Doe13 (15178023625).jpg,
London General London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The ...
's Olympus with the
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 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 20 ...
chassis


See also

*
List of buses Year refers to the first year introduced. A range of years is the period the bus was manufactured. 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S ...
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 (from which the Enviro400 was developed). In 201 ...
*
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 ...


References


External links

*
Product brochure (East Lancs)
* {{Optare timeline, state=collapsed Double-decker buses Low-floor buses Tri-axle buses
Olympus Olympus or Olympos () 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 Lesbos * Mount Olympus (Euboea) ...
Vehicles introduced in 2006