The Optare Prisma was a single-decker bus body that was fitted to the

Mercedes-Benz O405 The Mercedes-Benz O405 is a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz buses, Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an Bus manufacturing, integral bus or a bus chassis; it was the last VöV-Standard-Bus, VöV SL-II s ...

chassis, produced between 1995 and 1998, when it was discontinued in favour of the integral Optare Excel

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a l ...

Design

The Optare Prisma body was constructed on the O405 chassis with an OM447H engine, and was built with Alusuisse aluminium framework, retaining a Mercedes-Benz built front cowl and destination display as standard. The sides and back end of the body, however, followed the styling of other Optare products at that time, such as the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

and Vecta. The Prisma was also designed with the ability to have equipment for use on a guided busway fitted, with a demonstrator operated by Stagecoach Busways in 1996 being fitted with an

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

electronic guidance system. Capable of seating up to 54 passengers, to meet Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DiPTAC) accessibility recommendations, the Prisma has a step at the entrance door, capable of being reduced to with a kneeling front air suspension. The passenger compartment could be optioned with three further low steps towards the rear of the bus or a ramped floor towards the rear. Gasket-glazed tinted side windows were fitted as standard.

Operators

The most popular operator of Optare Prismas was the

GRT Group GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when First Aberdeen, Grampian Regional Transport (GRT) was privatised. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Scotland. In ...

, who took delivery of a total of 35 Prismas for its main Grampian Regional Transport subsidiary between 1995 and 1997, the first ten of which were equipped with double-glazed windows and air-conditing, as well as ten for its SMT "Diamond" services in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and ten for the Leicester Citybus subsidiary. After the company had rebranded to FirstBus, subsidiaries First Midland Bluebird and

Lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

took further deliveries of Prismas. Another large operator was North East Bus subsidiary Tees & District, who took delivery of 25 Prismas in late 1995, followed by East Yorkshire Motor Services, who took delivery of 16 Prismas between 1996 and 1998; three delivered to the operator from stock in 1998 were the last Optare Primsas produced. Smaller operators of Prismas included Sargeants of

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

, the first new full-size bus delivered to the company since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Black Prince Buses of Morley, the Tillingbourne Bus Company of

Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Waverley, Surrey, England. It lies southeast of Guildford on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner ...

, MacEwan of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, and Rhondda Buses.

References

External links

{{Optare timeline Full-size buses Prisma Single-deck buses Step-entrance buses Vehicles introduced in 1995