Scania OmniCity Double Deck
Reading have a total of 15 OmniCity double deckers, which are based on the Scania CN270UD chassis.
The first fourteen, 1101-14 were introduced onto route 17, which from 26 May 2008 became a 24-hour service, operating every hour all night (and half-hourly on Friday/Saturday nights). They were originally due to arrive for launch at the end of April 2008, but over optimistic scheduling by Scania meant that in the end delivery dates were as follows: 1101 on 23rd April, 1102/3 on 15th May, 1104/5 on 20th May, 1106/7 on 22nd May, 1108 by 27th May, 1109/10 on 6th June, 1112 on 11th June, 1111/13 on 12th June and 1114 on 25th June.
The vehicles were all initially fitted with ethanol powered engines, and intended to run on ethanol produced as a by-product of the sugar refining process at a factory in Norfolk using sugar beet grown in Britain. Carbon emissions from an ethanol engine are 40 per cent lower than a Euro 5 diesel engine, and smell slightly different. However as recession struck during 2009 the higher running costs of ethanol powered vehicles, primarily due to their much higher fuel consumption and the limited difference in fuel price, meant that a decision was made to convert them to run on standard diesel. It also turned out that the source of the ethanol being used has been switched to that produced by a Wood Pulp factory in Sweden, which whilst still a very green by-product wasn't local.
The vehicles were finished to a high internal specification to make them stand out from similar looking diesel powered vehicles in the fleet, as otherwise the vehicles would look and sound like any other. They feature full colour Hanover LED destination displays, leather seats stitched with the Reading Buses logo and an air chill system on the top deck.
The first vehicle, 1101, was used to shuttle approx 100 delegates attending the Bus Users AGM from the Station to the Wesley Methodist Centre in Queens Road on 26th April 2008. The proceedings were opened in fine style by Reading Transport's Chairman, Tony Jones, and all the participants were given a complementary Busabout for the day. It is seen below on one of its return trips:
The top deck of 1101 prior to the application of its internal route branding. The air chill system can just about be seen at the left above the stairs:
The following week 1101 went to the Scania dealership at Thatcham for work on various technical issues, returning on 13th May. 1101 is seen below on 27th May 2008, it's first day in revenue earning service, and now with full branding:
1103 is seen below in Broad Street on 30th May 2008 as part of Reading Town Centre Day, held during the school half term:
The rear branding on 1101, 1102, 1103, 1105, 1110 and 1114 was altered by 4th August from "I'm powered by sugar waste!" to "next stop: helping you tackle climate change" as illustrated by 1114 below on 26th August 2008:
The remaining vehicles had the "I'm powered by sugar waste!" message removed on or around the weekend of 17/18th October 2009 following the discovery that the source of the ethanol had been changed to Wood Pulp.
Conversions from ethanol to diesel commenced in December 2009, taking approximately one week per vehicle. The first to be treated was 1107 by 16th December 2009, followed by 1101 which returned to service by 29th January 2010 following delays sourcing parts. The third vehicle was 1103, with work underway by 1st February and completed by 10th. 1102 and 1111 were also completed by 10th February. 1113 was completed by around 24th February, followed by 1110 which was back in service by 6th March.
YN07 LHD arrived on demonstration from 29 September 2007 as part of an evaluation of ethanol powered vehicles. It was fitted with a mk2 ethanol engine, whilst 1101-14 had more modern mk3 engines. Numbered 599, it is seen below on 10th October 2007:
More information about the trial was featured on the October 2007 news page.
The vehicle was subsequently purchased by Reading Transport in August 2008, and was noted at North West Bus and Coach on 30th August for the start of a process to remove the centre door, repaint and reseat the vehicle to get it up to Reading standard. It finally returned to Reading in July 2009, and is seen below at the Reading Transport Open Day on 5th July 2009 before re-entering service on 10th:
The vehicle features a number of different types of seat inside intended to gauge opinion on the best designs.