Transition to ADL
Much of the Delaine fleet is made up of Wrightbus-bodied Volvos, and the company had been a loyal Volvo customer for 25 years. Prior to that, it purchased vehicles from Leyland before the company was bought out by Volvo. For bodywork, the choice was East Lancs customer, but Delaine switched to Wrightbus when the East Lancs brand disappeared.
Delaine continued with the Wright-Volvo combination until Wrightbus ceased trading in 2019. At the time, it had two vehicles on order, though thankfully they had not yet started moving down the production line.
Alexander Dennis had been pressing the company for years to try its product, and so an Enviro200 demonstrator was brought into the fleet. The vehicle proved very successful, and Delaine is now in the process of replacing vehicles in its fleet with new Alexander Dennis buses.
So far, five 11.8m Enviro200MMCs have joined the fleet, the most recent (AD72 DBL) joining in September. The programme for these new single-deckers is scheduled end in Spring 2023, by which time six in total should have been delivered. The company has also ordered its first Alexander Dennis double-decker, an Enviro400 City, for late summer 2023.
“The fuel saving compared to the Volvos they are replacing is incredible,” Anthony enthused. “We’re seeing a 35% better return on fuel.
“We plan to continue ordering Enviro400s as a gradual fleet replacement, but there is a concern about the availability of diesel buses coming to an end before new technology is available and cost-effective.”
