Duple submits design for New York double deckers
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by Derek Moses
• A further development in the intriguing exercise which might lead to British-built or British-designed buses entering service in the States came last week with the announcement that Duple Coachbuilders Ltd, Blackpool, had had discussions with the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority about the possible design of double-deck buses for the Authority.
This news follows the unexpected bid by Duple to design the single-decker for the 100,000-vehicle order by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) of the United States Department of Transportation (CMDecember 311971).
British Leyland has already agreed to submit drawings of a prototype 100-passenger express double-deck bus to the New York MT A (CM December 24 1971).
Mr John McHugh, Duple's director of engineering, believes that his company is the only one able to offer an ultra-low floor design (one of UMTA's requirements); Duple's model would achieve a floor height of only 10in. — an important consideration with the Americans who aim to provide a bus which will enable handicapped people, including wheelchair patients, to get on or off buses unaided.
Now Mr McHugh is considering a doubledeck version of his low floor design. Returning from discussions with the New York MTA, he reports that they are showing a "keen interest in the low-floor Duple doubledecker".
Choice of power unit A notable feature of the Duple design is that, whether a singleor double-decker, it could accommodate a wide variety of power units such as diesel, petrol, LPG, gas-turbine — or even electric motor — without serious installation difficulties.
It is understood that Duple has expressed no interest in the production side of the UMTA order, but its relationship with the Flxible company suggests that a Duple design and Flxible production might go hand in hand.