Five Enviro 400 CBGs were ordered on 30 April 2016, becoming 701-705. The
vehicles were the world’s first Euro 6 gas powered double deckers, and
followed on from Scania & Alexander Dennis' development of the gas powered
Enviro300 which had proven both economically sound and reliable. Gas tanks
are installed under the staircase and rear seats instead of the roof pod
used on the single-decker. Gas produces almost no particulates or
hydrocarbons, almost zero carbon and 99% less nitrogen oxide than a diesel
vehicle. The Natural Gas comes from a certified carbon neutral bio-methane
source, mainly cow poo.
The interior features high back seating with black flat-cloth, at-seat
USB charging sockets for mobile phones and tablets, a table area upstairs
with a wireless ‘aircharge’ mobile and tablet charging pad, free superfast
4G Wi-Fi, wood effect flooring and next stop audio and visual customer
information systems. The buses also feature two wheelchair bays as part of a
trial for future specifications, allowing two wheelchair users to travel
together.
701 was exhibited at the Coach and Bus Live show at the NEC in Birmingham
from 1st to 3rd November 2016, and 703 was displayed in Broad Street as part
of the official launch of the vehicles on 14 January 2017. All five were
delivered to the Scania dealership in Thatcham in December where they were
stored pending registration and taxation, apart from 704 which was brought
to Reading for staff familiarisation, albeit still un-registered.
701 is seen below in Friar Street on 31st March 2017:
Pending delivery of 701-5, three diesel Scania N250 / ADL Enviro 400 MMCs
were loaned from Scania in October 2016 pending delayed delivery of 701-5.
The first arrived on 18th October, followed by the other two by 23rd and
were allocated fleet numbers 775-77 following on from the Enviro 400
chassied Enviro 400 MMCs.
All three entered service on 24th
October 2016 with Royal Blue logos on dealer white livery. This
branding was removed in January following 701-5
entering service, with the vehicles acting as additional generic fleet vehicles
until returning off loan. 776 was with Ipswich Buses by 21st February
2017, 775 remained in service until 19th March and 777 until 17th March,
returning to Scania around 22nd March and passing directly to Borders Buses
where they were joined by 776 from Ipswich.
Scania demonstrator DD16 GAS, the first production gas powered double
decker, was used on demonstration between 22nd December 2017 and 22nd
January 2018 to assist with releasing vehicles for the Green Line 702
implementation.
It arrived again on 22nd August 2018 to cover warranty work on the Purple
17 vehicles, and was subsequently acquired on 17 January 2019 upon completion of that work.
It was renumbered 700 on 18th May 2019 ahead of a future repaint into Royal
Blue 33 livery to replace the single remaining diesel vehicle 756 on that
route, but currently remains in Scania livery. It went away for that repaint
on 21 February 2020, returning to service on 16 March. It is seen below on
21 February 2020 preparing to depart:
Alexander Dennis Enviro
400 CBG City
A further 17 vehicles were ordered for route 17 in 2017, this time with
the "City" version of the Enviro 400 body which feature glazed staircase as
standard, and were specified with centre doors for the first time since the
Leyland Olympians of 1988.
708/10 had been delivered by 13th December 2017 and 707/9/11 by 21st. 712 was used for route surveying on 15th
December in unbranded condition, and received its branding on 18th.
709 was
the first to enter service on 22nd December, with 707, 708 and 710 following
by 24th. 706 entered service on 8th January, and the rest entered service
following an official launch on Broad Street on Saturday 13 January 2018
featuring vehicle 708. 715 and a few others entered service on 8th on rail
replacement duties between Virginia Water and Weybridge prior to going onto
ordinary services after 13th. 710 is seen below on 24th December 2017:
711 is seen below on 2 June 2018:
719, 721 and 722 arrived on 17th January. 722 is seen below on 21 April
2018:
It later became clear that only 13 vehicles were required to operate
route 17, and that a proposed frequency increase had been shelved prior to
the vehicles arriving, leaving four of the vehicles effectively surplus to
requirements, or three if you include a branded spare. It was therefore
decided to seek advertising wraps for the vehicles to cover the livery on
up, but this did not transpire. A fourteenth peak vehicle working was added
in January 2019 to cater for growing passenger numbers and over-crowding, in
part due to the vehicles reduced 68 seat capacity compared to the 78 seat
vehicles they replaced.
706 gained a ColourBus livery for
Hits Radio in September 2018,
and a silver front in January 2019. The livery was
removed in February and
replaced by one for Heart FM in March, the vehicle running in purple 17
livery with a silver front for a few weeks. It is considered a generic
vehicle whilst the advertising livery is in place.
707 was repainted into generic silver in August 2019 following an
agreement to introduce a double decker on a specific busy Greenwave working
from 26 September 2019. Commemorative adverts for the centenary of the first
motorbus route were added in December 2019. It is seen below on 22 June 2020
with those adverts still in place:
