The East Lancs Pyoneer is a type of step entrance

double-decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are coaches too for long-distance travel. They app ...

body built on the Volvo Olympian, Dennis Arrow and Volvo B10M by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name continues the pattern of using 'misspelt' product names, started by the Cityzen.

Design

Launched in early 1997, the East Lancs Pyoneer was introduced on Volvo and Dennis chassis complement the earlier Cityzen, using a steel-framed structure and sharing styling aspects and components with East Lancs' single-deck Spryte and Flyte. Originally, the Pyoneer was intended to be called the Premyer, however as Plaxton objected to the name due to its similarity with their

Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

coach body, East Lancs renamed their body to Pyoneer.

Operators

The largest operator of East Lancs Pyoneers was Nottingham City Transport, who took delivery of 42 Pyoneers between 1998 and 2002, predominantly built on Volvo Olympian chassis; of these, Nottingham took delivery ten Pyoneers on Volvo B10M chassis in 1998, taking delivery of another in 2002 as both the last Pyoneer body produced as well as the last step-entrance double-decker to enter service in Britain. Two other major operators of Pyoneers on Volvo Olympian chassis were Metrobus of

Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...

and Harris Bus, both of which were operators of tendered

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operation ...

(LRT) bus services. Harris Bus initially took delivery of 22 Pyoneers for a range of its LRT tendered services, having a further 13 delivered in early 1998, while Metrobus took delivery of fifteen Pyoneers for use on route 64 in 1997. The Pyoneer body was one of only three that were built on the short-lived Dennis Arrow chassis, the other being East Lancs' EL2000 body and the Northern Counties Palatine II. Of 41 produced, all but three Pyoneers on Dennis Arrow chassis were delivered to Capital Citybus. One of the remaining three Arrows was delivered to Aintree Coachline, another delivered to London Traveller, and the remaining Arrow was purchased for conversion into a playbus. Pyoneers were also popular with the Traction Group companies, already a major purchaser of East Lancs products. During 1998, eight Pyoneer-bodied short-wheelbase Volvo Olympians were delivered to Strathtay Scottish, with an additional two long-wheelbase examples delivered to Lincolnshire RoadCar for use on a service between Lincoln and

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

. Smaller operators of Pyoneers included Blue Bus of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, taking five on Volvo Olympian chassis between 1998 and 1999.

Rebodies

Six Pyoneers were constructed as rebodies of coach-bodied Volvo B10Ms. Four of these were delivered to Dunn-Line of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

between 1997 and 1998, one was delivered to First Northampton in 1998, and another was delivered to Rodger's of Weldon that same year.

Open-top exports

Open-top left-hand drive Pyoneers on Volvo B10M chassis were supplied to the Cityrama sightseeing company in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France in 1998, one of which was used to transport the

France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...

in a victory parade along the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

following the 1998 FIFA World Cup final, resulting in a further six being ordered by Cityrama.

References

External links

{{Portal, Buses Double-decker buses Pyoneer Vehicles introduced in 1997