Plaxton Elite
| Plaxton Elite | |
|---|---|
 A Stagecoach in Fife Plaxton Elite in Glenrothes. | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Plaxton |
| Body and chassis | |
| Floor type | Step entrance |
| Chassis | Volvo B12B Volvo B9R Volvo B13R |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Volvo |
The Plaxton Elite is a coach body unveiled at the Euro Bus Expo at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in November 2008 by the British coach manufacturer Plaxton. It went into production in late 2008. Each vehicle costs an estimated £780,000. The vehicles are easily identifiable due to their Boeing 747 like, curved front end and low-level destination board, resulting in a larger front window than most comparable coaches.[1]
Entry into service
The type began service with National Express (NX) in early 2010 with seven operating between London and Liverpool. A further 16 vehicles are being procured to operate in Yorkshire, Oxford and Peterborough. In Yorkshire, Elites have replaced Caetano Levantes on the long distance 560 service to London, with the latter having been assigned to the 007 and 022 routes between London and Kent. Onboard features on National Express vehicles include a central TV screen and power sockets. Elites also have wheelchair lifts installed in their doorways, making them only the second type operated by National Express to be completely wheelchair friendly. National Express Elites have destination displays positioned below the windscreen, in order to avoid obscuring the passengers' forward vision.
The 100th Elite was delivered to Howard Snaith Coaches in 2011 built on the Volvo B9R chassis.[2]
Elite i
In 2012, Plaxton introduced a new "interdeck" version of the Elite, named Elite i, in which the passenger cabin extends above the driver's cab to span the full length of the vehicle; in addition there is a small lower saloon. The Elite i is 15 m long and 3.96 m high, and is built on Volvo B11RT chassis.[3] The first batch of eleven went to Stagecoach Western for Megabus services in December 2012.
See Also
References
- ^ http://www.plaxtonelite.co.uk/pdf/Elite12-6Spec.pdf
- ^ "Plaxton delivers its 100th Elite". Bus and Coach. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ "Elite i brochure" (PDF). Plaxton Ltd. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
External links
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