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The Optare Esteem was a low-floor single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders, Darwen East Lancs and Optare between 2006 and 2009 on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB, Volvo B7RLE,
The Esteem was launched by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2006. The first production examples entered service with Preston Bus in September 2006 on Scania N94UB chassis.
After East Lancashire Coachbuilders was placed in administration in August 2007, it was bought by
Esteem brochure
East Lancashire Coachbuilders
Optare {{Optare timeline, state=collapsed Esteem Esteem Buses of the United Kingdom Low-floor buses Full-size buses Midibuses Vehicles introduced in 2006
MAN
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
12.240, Alexander Dennis Dart SLF, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...
and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis.
History
The Esteem was launched by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2006. The first production examples entered service with Preston Bus in September 2006 on Scania N94UB chassis.
After East Lancashire Coachbuilders was placed in administration in August 2007, it was bought by Darwen Group
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June 20 ...
and the Esteem was rebranded as the Darwen Esteem. In 2008, Darwen Group merged its Darwen East Lancs and Optare businesses under the latter name, resulting in the Esteem being rebranded again.
The first few examples of the Esteem only had new front and rear ends, the sides still being of the older Myllennium design. There were also two double-decker variants of this body - the Olympus that was a closed top double-decker and the Visionaire that was an open top double-decker.
Production of the Optare Esteem ceased in 2009, with the last being 40 built on Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart
The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...
chassis for Go-Ahead London
Go-Ahead London is a major bus operator in Greater London. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of April 2025) the largest bus operator in Greater Londo ...
.
Panaire
It was also planned for an open top version of the Esteem to be launched alongside, named the Panaire. This version of the bus never attracted any orders and was removed from the product list during the reverse takeover.Customers
Metrobus had the largest number of the original East Lancs Esteems, some of which were on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB andMAN
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
12.240 chassis while 21 on Alexander Dennis Dart SLF chassis were purchased for Transport for London
Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom.
TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
contracted routes. The first two Esteems to be built on the Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis were delivered to Courtney Coaches in 2006, and were the first Enviro300s with bodywork not built by Alexander Dennis.
References
External links
Esteem brochure
East Lancashire Coachbuilders
Optare {{Optare timeline, state=collapsed Esteem Esteem Buses of the United Kingdom Low-floor buses Full-size buses Midibuses Vehicles introduced in 2006