Leading British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) presents two buses at this year’s Busworld exhibition in Kortrijk, where it is exhibiting for the first time. The Enviro200 and Enviro500 models illustrate the design and quality of ADL’s best-selling lightweight single-deck and double-deck buses. Using its global expertise, ADL is committed to bringing their benefits and added value to the continental European market.
British and worldwide success
ADL was founded in 2004 and combines the traditional British bus and coach manufacturing brands Dennis, Alexander and Plaxton, whose history dates back to 1895. ADL is an independent business owned by strategic investors. It has its own production facilities in the United Kingdom and North America, while local manufacturing and assembly in the Asia-Pacific region is conducted in partnership with local partners in China, Malaysia and New Zealand.
With an annual production of up to 2,500 buses and coaches per year, ADL employs 2,500 staff and supports a further 1,500 through its partnerships. A sustainable growth strategy is aimed at growing annual turnover from £602 million (€680 million) in 2016 to over £1 billion (€1.13 billion) by 2020.
ADL is the bus market leader in the United Kingdom with a market share consistently over 45%. Its unrivalled expertise in designing and building double deck buses that are purpose-designed as city and regional buses has made ADL the worldwide market leader in this field, building over 50% of all new double deck buses around the globe.
ADL leads the market in one of the toughest operating territories for buses, Hong Kong, and has used this as a springboard to developing new markets in Singapore and Malaysia. ADL’s single and double deck buses have revolutionised the New Zealand bus industry since they were launched there five years ago. In America, ADL successfully introduced the double deck concept to transit services in Canada, the USA and Mexico.
Adding value in continental Europe
As part of its sustainable medium and long term growth strategy, ADL made a strategic decision to enter the continental European market.
Identifying an unmet demand for double deck buses that are designed for city or regional operation rather than derived from coaches, ADL is bringing to Europe its unique worldwide experience in tailoring vehicles to local requirements. Swiss national operator PostAuto became the launch customer when it ordered 19 Enviro500 three-axle double deck buses, the first of which were delivered this year.
“We see potential for growth of the double deck bus market in continental Europe,” says ADL Chief Executive Colin Robertson. “We know from our customers around the world how double deck buses can get people to switch their commute from cars to buses as they offer an unsurpassed ride quality with forward facing seats and great views.”
ADL is working with operators to identify ridership growth potential through the use of double deck buses where road and depot infrastructure allows their use in place of existing vehicle types.
In the single deck market, ADL is planning to develop a left hand drive version of its lightweight Enviro200 product.
“We want to create added value for operators as well as passengers, city dwellers and the wider environment, so rather than rushing out a prototype we first want to discuss the potential benefits with operators and learn how we can help solve their operational challenges. We will keep British ideas and experience that can fruitfully be transposed, such as the relentless drive for efficiency with best in class fuel economy, while reflecting continental practice where necessary,” says Colin Robertson.
ADL is known throughout its established markets for its class-leading aftermarket support, and market entry in continental Europe will be phased to ensure that all vehicles are fully supported by the company’s comprehensive aftermarket services. These now include the powerful AD Connected tool which allows engineers to better plan maintenance and further reduces the Enviro family’s low total cost of ownership.
Enviro500: the favourite double deck bus around the world
The Enviro500 is ADL’s internationally successful three-axle double deck bus, complementing the two-axle Enviro400 that is mainly aimed at the British and Irish markets. The Enviro500 is a modular platform that can be built in different heights and lengths to suit local requirements throughout the world.
Over 5,000 Enviro500 and predecessor models have been built to date. Recent major contracts include an ongoing supply of 253 Enviro500 SuperLo – only 3.91 metres tall to fit into existing bus stations – for Greater Ontario and Hamilton Area transit agency Metrolinx in Canada, and 90 Enviro500 for Mexico City, where they are about to become the world’s first double deck buses used as part of a Bus Rapid Transit system.
The Enviro500 is represented at Busworld by a customer vehicle for PostAuto of Switzerland. This is the third bus out of PostAuto’s order for 19. The first two have been operating reliably in regular service since this summer.
ADL has built buses to different lengths and heights around the world and used this engineering pedigree to develop a vehicle that matched European legal requirements as well as those of the operator, resulting in a vehicle 13 metres long and exactly 4 metres tall.
The bus has three doors and two staircases, with the rear staircase leading directly to the rear set of doors to facilitate quick boarding and alighting. There are 78 seats in the air-conditioned interior, which features a fully usable lower deck.
The Enviro500 for PostAuto are built at ADL’s chassis factory in Guildford (England) and the company’s body assembly plant in Falkirk (Scotland). They are powered by 8.9-litre Euro 6 Cummins ISL engines. Key components such as transmission, axles, seats or passenger information equipment are supplied by continental European suppliers.
Enviro200: the world’s best-selling lightweight single decker
The Enviro200 is the world’s best-selling lightweight single-deck bus. Together with its predecessor Dart, over 18,000 have been sold since it was first launched in 1989.
It combines a steel chassis with a welded aluminium body. The resulting low unladen weight – just 8.5 tonnes for an air-conditioned 12-metre bus – makes the Enviro200 highly fuel efficient.
The Enviro200 is built in lengths from 9 to 12.8 metres, although not all lengths are destined for all markets around the world. It is a ‘low entry’ type vehicle with step free access at both doors. The Enviro200’s short rear overhang maximises the amount of flat floor available between its axles.
The bus shown at Busworld is a 10.4-metre example specified according to Transport for London’s standards and intended for the fleet of Dutch Railways-owned Abellio. It exemplifies the several thousand buses built by ADL which serve the world-class bus network of the British capital.
Not included in the London specification but optionally available are many features which have been introduced by ADL in cooperation with progressive British and international bus operators, many of which have been proven to contribute to substantial increases in ridership. These include social seating with a rear ‘sofa lounge’ or vis-à-vis tables, high backed seating with integrated passenger amenities, USB power ports, wifi router, skylight roof glazing and even backlit operator logos on the exterior front dash.
Different models of driver–passenger interaction can be suited with open cabs and glazed cab rear partitions, while interior cleaning can be simplified with cantilevered seating.
The Enviro200 is powered by the Cummins ISB engine series, using either the 4.5-litre (4 cylinders) or 6.7-litre (6 cylinders) version depending on vehicle length and specification. Meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be further reduced with SmartPack, a driveline efficiency package combining electric cooling and smart accessories where alternators and compressors only draw power when the engine is in coast. An engine stop-start function also is available. The Euro 6 driveline with SmartPack has been independent proven to reduce CO2 emission and fuel consumption by over 15% compared with a Euro 5 vehicle of the same length and passenger specification.