Dennis Lance

The Dennis Lance was a single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF (Super Low Floor) was built between 1993 and 1996.

Dennis Lance
Arriva North West and Wales Plaxton Verde bodied Dennis Lance in Liverpool in March 2007
Overview
ManufacturerDennis
Production1991-2000
Body and chassis
Doors1 or 2
Floor typeDennis Lance:
Step entrance
Dennis Lance SLF:
Low floor
Powertrain
EngineCummins C8.3
TransmissionZF Ecomat
Dimensions
Length10 metres, 10.6 metres & 11.6 metres
Width2.5 metres
Chronology
PredecessorDennis Falcon
SuccessorDennis Dart SPD

History

The Dennis Lance was unveiled at the 1991 Coach & Bus Show.[1][2]

The Dennis Lance was available with a number of bodies, most commonly the Alexander PS and Plaxton Verde also 31 with Northern Counties, were built for Metroline in 1993 for routes 113 and 302 from Cricklewood garage. It was sold to a number of bus operators in the United Kingdom, and was also exported to Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. UMW-Dennis of Malaysia also built a number of Lance chassis (known as the UMW-Dennis Lance) for the Southeast Asian market.

In 1993, the low floor Dennis Lance SLF was unveiled.[3] Of around 105 Dennis Lance SLF built, the majority had Wright Pathfinder bodywork, including 38 for London Buses for use on the first London routes to be converted to low floor including London United's route 120 and CentreWest's route 222, being two of five routes to introduce the type to the capital.

The Berkhof Excellence 1000 NL bodywork was fitted to 30 dual purpose specialist vehicles for the British Airports Authority for use on staff shuttle duties at Heathrow Airport, delivered in 1994/95, and also five each for Stagecoach East Kent and Stagecoach Ribble.

In Hong Kong, Kowloon Motor Bus had 24 units with Alexander PS bodywork and they were retired by 2010.[4]

In Malaysia, Triton Commuter used to operate a fleet of UMW-Dennis Lance with Duple Metsec bodywork before the company was bought over by Causeway Link. Some of the buses continued service with Causeway Link, while others were sold to 707 Travel Group. Transit Link JB also operated a small number of UMW-Dennis Lance with Duple Metsec bodywork.

In New Zealand, Ritchies Coachlines operate a UMW-Dennis Lance with Duple Metsec bodywork.

In Singapore, Trans-Island Bus Services ordered 72 units, of which 52 were built by UMW-Dennis. Most were fitted with Duple Metsec bodywork, while the last 2 were fitted with Volgren bodywork. 59 units were allocated for public service and 13 units for charter under subsidiary company Bus-Plus Services. All public service buses were scrapped by July 2013, while the charter buses were scrapped by October 2018.

Not many survive today, in fact there are only 13 known in preservation within the UK.

References
  1. Lance creates a star Commercial Motor 7 March 1991
  2. Dennis Lance: first order Commercial Motor 5 September 1991
  3. Lowdown on a Lance Commercial Motor 27 May 1993
  4. "Hong Kong Buses Part 3: Kowloon Motor Bus" Fleetline issue 249 July 1997 page 118
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.