Wright undercuts rivals
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• Robert Wright's low-floor citybus will cost 10% less than continental competitors in the line-up for the London Transport tender, says the company,
The Ballymena-based bodybuilder is believed to be bidding for the LT contract for up to 40 ultra-low-floor buses with a Dennis chassis (CM 20-26 Aug).
Alongside the Dennis lowfloor chassis, Wright will offer its Musuisse body on the Scania N113 CRB.
Operators will have to wait until Spring 1993 for production, but an 11.5m prototype is about to be built.
The prototype will be built to DiPTAC specification with an extended ramp for wheelchair access and a kneeling device. Depending on the chassis, either the complete bus, or the front or the side of the vehicle can be lowered. The kneeling device will be able to lower the entrance step height from 320mm to 240mm.
More than half the length of the bus will have a 320mm floor level, sloping up to around 350mm depending on the type of chassis used.
Seating capacity will vary from 35 to 42 seats with room for 30 to 32 standees.
Wright is believed to be joining Berkhof with an MAN NL202 and the United Bus Den Oudsten Alliance in the line-up for the tender which will be announced later this month. It says it is developing the bus to meet an increasing market.
"We are told that about 12% of the population have mobility problems which make it difficult or impossible for them to use conventional public transport and that in the next 10 years there will be a 40% increase in the over 65s," says Wright managing director William Wright. "It therefore makes sense for us, as accessible bus manufacturers for the past 15 years, to use our expertise."
So far Wright does not have any orders for the bus — but in the first 12 months after its launch it expects at least 10% of its single-deck sales will be for low-floor models.
Dennis has not yet released any details of its low-floor bus chassis.