East Lancs Lolyne

East Lancs Lolyne
Carousel Buses Lolyne bodied Dennis Trident 2 in 2007
Overview
ManufacturerEast Lancashire Coachbuilders
Production1999-2006 (Non-Myllenium Facelift)
2002-2006 (Myllenium Facelift)
Body and chassis
Doors1 or 2
Floor typeLow floor
ChassisDennis Trident 2
RelatedEast Lancs Vyking
Powertrain
Capacity76 to 94 seated
Dimensions
Length10 metres (33 ft) to 11.5 metres (38 ft)
Width2,535 millimetres (99.8 in)
Height4,195 millimetres (165.2 in) to 4,300 millimetres (170 in)
Chronology
PredecessorEast Lancs Pyoneer
SuccessorEast Lancs Olympus

The East Lancs Lolyne is a type of low-floor double-decker bus body built by East Lancs. Launched in 1999, the Lolyne was the double-decker version of the Spryte, built on the Dennis Trident 2 twin-axle low-floor chassis. The body could be built as either a closed top bus or an open-top bus, and the Lolyne name continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka.[1]

Myllennium Lolyne

A Blackpool Transport Myllennium Lolyne in 2013

The facelifted East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne superseded the original Lolyne in 2002, featuring a revised front end based on the East Lancs Myllennium single-deck bus. The structure of the Myllennium Lolyne was built using the Alusuisse "System M5438" system.[2]

Operators

The first Lolynes were delivered to Nottingham City Transport in early 1999 as part of an order of 12 of the type, these being among the first Trident 2s produced.[1] Nottingham City Transport would eventually become a major operator of pre-facelift Lolynes, taking a total of 54 between 1999 and 2001 as the company's standard low-floor double-decker bus.[3]

Subsequent operators following the Lolyne's launch included Brighton & Hove, who ordered 20 Lolynes, some with convertible open-top roofs, in 1999 before taking delivery of a further 20 during 2000, Yellow Buses of Bournemouth, who took delivery of nine during 1999, and Maynes Buses of Manchester, who took delivery of five during 1999.[1] Preston Bus took delivery of its first seven Lolynes with funding from Lancashire County Council in late 1999 as part of a 'Quality Bus' scheme to improve services running from Preston bus station to Tanterton,[4][5] subsequently taking delivery of a further ten Lolynes during 2000.[6]

Exports

The only export operators of East Lancs Lolynes in Continental Europe were two sightseeing operators in Spain, with these buses being built to open-top configuration; 25 Lolynes were delivered to Madrid Vision between 2001 and early 2002,[7] with an additional 18 delivered to Barcelona Tours during 2002.

Isle of Man Transport was also an export operator of both variants of the Lolyne, taking delivery of eleven original Lolynes between 2000 and 2001.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dennis Trident appears". Buses. No. 527. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. February 1999. p. 8. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Lolyne body specification". East Lancashire Coachbuilders. Archived from the original on 5 September 2004. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  3. ^ Millar, Alan (August 2000). "68 Solos, 48 Tridents & 1 tram: Nottingham's 21st century profile". Buses. No. 545. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 31–34. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  4. ^ Hesketh, Peter (August 2000). "Behind the scenes of two quality partnerships". Buses. No. 545. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 18–30. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  5. ^ "New buses hit the road". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. 10 December 1999. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  6. ^ Lidstone, John G. (February 1999). "Fleet News England & Wales". Buses. No. 550. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 49. Retrieved 29 June 2024. The first two of the next batch of East Lancs Lolyne-bodied Dennis Tridents, 183/4 (X183/4 RRN) entered traffic on 31 October on service 11 (Bus Station-Ribbleton) although the batch is earmarked for services 22/23. 186 (X186 RRN) was noted shortly afterwards, and 185/7 were due imminently with 188/9/97-9 after a pause.
  7. ^ Turner, Anna (2 August 2001). "First two-axle Tridents for export run in Madrid". Coach & Bus Week. No. 485. Peterborough: Emap. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Isle of Man acquires Dennis buses". Mass Transit. Vol. 26, no. 7. Springfield Information Services. November 2000. p. 88. Retrieved 29 June 2024 – via General OneFile.
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