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Wright Renown

The Wright Renown is a low floor single-decker bus body built on Volvo B10BLE chassis by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.

Wright Renown
Transdev Lancashire United Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE in Blackburn in November 2010
Overview
ManufacturerWrightbus
Production1997 - 2002
AssemblyBallymena, Northern Ireland
DesignerTrevor Erskine[1]
Body and chassis
Doors1 or 2
Floor typeLow floor
ChassisVolvo B10BLE
Powertrain
EngineVolvo DH10A-245
Capacity44 seated
TransmissionZF Ecomat 5HP500
Voith DIWA D851.3
Chronology
PredecessorWright Liberator
SuccessorWright Eclipse

Design

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Rear of Keighley & District Wright Renown at Keighley bus station, August 2009

Launched as the successor to the Wright Liberator body on the Volvo B10L chassis in 1997, the Wright Renown was the first bus in the Wright range to debut the company's 'Floline' low-floor system. Compared to previous Wright low-entry buses which had multiple steps in the interior separating the entrance door from the back of the bus, the Renown had only one step along a gently sloped floor in the middle of the bus, with a manual wheelchair ramp at the entrance door also provided as standard. This system in both single and dual-door format was tested extensively at the Motor Industry Research Association's Warwickshire proving grounds before its official launch with the Renown.[2][3]

Built with an Alusuisse bolted aluminium frame as standard among other Wright products at the time, the Renown was also the first 12 metres (39 ft) low-floor bus in Europe to feature gasket glazed windows as a result of the extra body strength from the Floline design; previous low-floor buses had featured bonded glazed windows, which took longer to replace and compromised the structural integrity of the body when broken.[4][3]

The Renown, as well as the overall Floline concept, were replaced by the 'Millennium Design' Eclipse (later Eclipse Metro) on the Volvo B7L chassis.[1] Due to the unpopularity of the longitudinal chassis, Wright developed the Eclipse Urban on the Volvo B7RLE chassis in 2003, which became the true successor of the Renown.[5]

Operators

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First Somerset and Avon Wright Renown in Bristol in June 2011
 
Arriva Northumbria Wright Renown in Newcastle upon Tyne in May 2009

Upon its launch, the FirstGroup placed an initial order for 112 Renowns for delivery to its Manchester, Bristol, West Yorkshire and Northampton operations,[6][7] with the first nine production Renowns delivered as 'GOLDService' buses to First Manchester in late 1997;[8] the group ordered further Renowns until 2001 for its South Yorkshire,[9]: 207–208  Hampshire, Glasgow, Eastern Scotland and Aberdeen operations.[citation needed] These Renowns were among the first in the group's fleet to be delivered with a new low-floor interior design featuring purple, grey and aquamarine fittings and seat cushions as well as wider seat spacing and hard-wearing non-slip flooring.[10]

The Renown was also highly popular with the Blazefield Group, with a total of 125 delivered to its Harrogate, Keighley, Yorkshire Coastliner, Lancashire United and Burnley operations throughout the type's production run.[3][11][12][13] Among these, Blazefield took delivery of both the last Renowns built and the last Volvo B10BLEs for the UK market, consisting of an order for 41 examples that were delivered mainly to Lancashire United between late 2001 and early 2002.[14]

Ninety Renowns were delivered to Translink of Northern Ireland between late 1999 and early 2000, with 45 each entering service with Citybus of Belfast and Ulsterbus respectively.[15][16] Twenty Renowns were also delivered to Bus Éireann in 2000 for service in Cork.[17]

The Wright Renown was also popular with some Go-Ahead Group companies. Go North East took delivery of 38 Renowns across four batches between 1998 and 2000,[18] while 21 Renowns were delivered to Brighton & Hove in 1998.[19] The Oxford Bus Company also took delivery of Renowns specified in dual-door arrangement to deal with heavy passenger crowding in the tourist city between 1999 and 2000.[20]

Thirty Renowns were delivered to Arriva operations in Northumbria,[21] West Scotland and The Shires during 1999, twenty-five Renowns were delivered to Travel Dundee between 1997 and 1999,[3] while ten were delivered to Mainline Buses in December 1997 for service in Sheffield, with a further 20 ordered for delivery in 1998 prior to the company being acquired by the FirstGroup.[9]: 196–197  Liverpool-based independent CMT Buses took delivery of eighteen Renowns beteween 1999 and 2000,[22][23] while the Renown was also popular with some independently-run bus companies in Scotland, with examples delivered to Hutchinson's of Overtown as well as White of Walls, Shetland.[24][25]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Trevor Erskine, Wrights' legendary designer". Buses. No. 781. Stamford: Key Publishing. 19 March 2020. p. 16. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  2. ^ Morgan, Mike (17 May 1997). "Wrights add a new dimension to access". Coach & Bus Week. No. 269. Peterborough: Emap. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Morris, Stephen (July 1997). "Low Renown". Buses. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ^ Morgan, Mike (17 May 1997). "First 12-metre lowfloor to use gasket glazing". Coach & Bus Week. No. 269. Peterborough: Emap. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Eclipse Urban – A complement to the Wrightbus Eclipse" (Press release). Ballymena: WrightGroup. 29 October 2003. Archived from the original on 12 January 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Renown helps disabled". Belfast Telegraph. 8 May 1997. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  7. ^ Morgan, Mike (17 May 1997). "Orders taken for Floline". Coach & Bus Week. No. 269. Peterborough: Emap. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Service Renowned". Coach & Bus Week. No. 299. Peterborough: Emap. 11 December 1997. p. 30. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b Hudson, Neil; Nolan, Gary; Sentance, Darren (2021). The region's favourite: the story of South Yorkshire Transport and Mainline 1986 to 1998 from the inside. Walsall: The Omnibus Society. ISBN 978-1-909091-33-7.
  10. ^ Cole, Martin (15 August 1997). "Public reaction to the new FirstBus standard". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 422. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  11. ^ Barrow, David (2 August 2001). "Trail-blazing in the North West". Coach & Bus Week. No. 485. Peterborough: Emap. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  12. ^ "£2m new bus fleet hits road". Lancashire Telegraph. 16 July 2001. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  13. ^ Newton, Chris (22 October 2020). "A Volvo of Renown". Buses. No. 788. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 42–44. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Wrightbus expands as market contracts". Bus & Coach Professional. February 2002. Archived from the original on 9 August 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  15. ^ Morton, Robin (17 November 1998). "Bus builder wins new contract". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  16. ^ Savage, Paul (19 April 2023). "Through The Troubles to today". Buses. No. 818. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 50–55. Retrieved 5 December 2023. The low floor revolution reached Belfast in 1996 when the first of 50 Volvo B10Ls, with Alexander 'Ultra' bodies hit the streets. Forty-five Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown arrived in 1999-2000, as did six Mercedes-Benz O405N and four O405GN bendybuses.
  17. ^ "Buses roll out for Cork route". Belfast Telegraph. 9 August 2000. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  18. ^ Larkin, Nick (July 2016). "Getting the Go-Ahead". Bus & Coach Preservation. Vol. 19, no. 2. Meteor Books. pp. 22–26.
  19. ^ Lyons, Mark (30 June 2022). "Brighton & Hove". The Go-Ahead Group: The First 25 Years. Key Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-80282-082-9. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  20. ^ Lyons, Mark (30 June 2022). "Oxford Bus Company". The Go-Ahead Group: The First 25 Years. Key Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-80282-082-9. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  21. ^ Lidstone, John G. (February 2000). "Fleet News England & Wales". Buses. No. 539. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 42. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  22. ^ Lidstone, John G. (February 1999). "Fleet News England & Wales". Buses. No. 527. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 41. Retrieved 24 April 2024. The age profile of this fleet continues to drop; the latest additions are 10 Wright Renown B44F-bodied Volvo B10BLEs, S447-56 KCW. These are additional to the existing fleet, which now stands at 72, of which 32 are low-floor.
  23. ^ "Wright vehicles for CMT". Coach & Bus Week. No. 451. Peterborough: Emap. 30 November 2000. p. 32. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Renown regains Hutchinson hues". Buses. No. 780. Stamford: Key Publishing. 20 February 2020. p. 66.
  25. ^ "Blue and cream Renown from Shetland isles". Buses. No. 772. Stamford: Key Publishing. 20 June 2019. p. 67. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
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