NEW DESIGN of Danishit Leyland double-decker, iew Duple coach body, but
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minibuses feature in the D'aish Bus Group's
der for 120 buses and aches for next year.
Only eight of the 11 SBG crating companies are buy; buses in this programme, t the absence of minibuses orders for Clydeside, rwland or Western may be nnected.
While SBG is saying noth;, there is speculation in the s industry that these cornales will place a separate ler for a pilot minibus trial lore long.
Leyland, which has won 61 cent of the chassis orders the new programme, is to )ply Eastern Scottish with
underfloor-engined low
floor double-deckers being built by DAB in Denmark as a rival for the Volvo Citybus.
They are being developed from DA B's Series Eight single-decker and will have British-built TL11 horizontal engines, Olympian front and Tiger rear axles, and Germanbuilt ZF gearboxes.
Nottingham City Transport, which shares Eastern Scottish's preference for lower weight mid-engined doubledeckers, has also ordered three of the new Leylands.
The SBG vehicles are all to be fitted with Alexander Rtype 82-seat semi-coach bodies.
The rest of the Leyland double-deck order calls for 39 Olympians with Alexander R-type bodies (nine semicoaches, the rest buses) for Central (which previously was a Dennis Dominator customer), Highland, Northern and Strathtay Scottish.
The new Duple coaches are of a design based on the technology used in the Integral 425 launched at last year's Motor Show and which will be launched at the CM-sponsored Bus and Coach Exhibition in London next month.
They are designated 3.2GL, are understood to be of stronger construction than the Laser which is expected to be dropped, and will he built on five Leyland Tigers for Central Scottish.
Apart from Central's coaches, there are only 19 Tigers, all for bus .work. Fife Scottish is taking four 12m models with Alexander Ptype 57-seat bodies, Central 15 llm models with Alexander TS bus-in-a-coach bodies.
The only Volvos are 22 double-deck Citybuses — the biggest order from anyone so far for this model — with R type bodies for Fife. Two will be semi-coaches.
And Metro-Cammell Weymann gets a 21 per cent share to help it in a year when it will have no London Buses business. It is to supply 22 Rtype-bodied Metrobuses to Kelvin, Midland and Strathtay Scottish, the three for Strathtay being semi-coaches.
Northern Scottish gets three MCW coaches, two Metro Hi-liner 48-seat toiletequipped 12m models and a 69-scat Metroliner doubledecker.
The order is good news for Alexander, which gets 93 per cent of the body contracts.
• Older buses of a familiar design may be bought by SBG in readiness for deregulation next year.
Clydeside Scottish borrowed a London Buses Routemaster last month, ostensibly for an open day and to attract enthusiasts on to some of its services, but the vehicle was still in Scotland last week.