The Plaxton Verde was a
step-entrance full-size
Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars. It is the largest size class for cars. In the United Kingdom, this class is referred to as ...
single-decker bus body
Body may refer to:
In science
* Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space
* Body (biology), the physical material of an organism
* Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...
built by
Plaxton between 1991 and 1997. It was built on a rear-engined chassis, the most popular of which was the
Dennis Lance which accounted for over half of the Verdes built. The rest were on
Volvo B10B,
DAF SB220 and
Scania N113 chassis.
Design
Launched in March 1991 as part of Plaxton's move away from traditional
coach body manufacturing, with ambitions to export the model to
Continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
, the Plaxton Verde has an aluminium structure and flat-sided, boxy shape, similar to that of the manufacturer's
Pointer midibus
A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...
. The front end of the bus, however, differs from the Pointer by having a distinctive "barrel-curvature" windscreen plus four headlights instead of the Pointer's two.
On early vehicles (primarily the
Scania N113s and
DAF SB220s), the side windows have rounded corners and the quarterlights extend below the windscreen. Later-built vehicles have square-cornered windows, an enlarged cab side window with an angled corner like that on the Pointer, and the lower edge of the quarterlights level with that of the windscreen and of the cab window. Minor alterations were also made to the front dash panel. Verdes were identified by the letter L in Plaxton's post-1989 body numbering system.
Operators
Sales of the Verde body initially proved very slow, with only two demonstrators produced by Plaxton during 1991. A year after the Verde was launched,
Cardiff Bus became the first bus operator in the United Kingdom to take delivery of the type, ordering 14 on Scania N113CRB chassis that were delivered in February 1992. These were followed in October 1993 by the delivery of ten Verdes on Dennis Lance chassis to
South Wales Transport.
The first large operator to order Verdes was
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann ...
, who took delivery of forty dual-door Plaxton Verdes on DAF SB220 chassis in 1992, entering service as the P class to introduce a new high-frequency brand known as 'CitySwift'. These Verdes received a number of modifications, mainly centred around the cab layout and overall strength, in order to be certified to Irish and
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
standards. Throughout their service life, however, Dublin Bus' Verdes were plagued with structural problems and would return to Plaxton's Scarborough factory more than once for remedial treatment.
The largest overall operator of Plaxton Verdes was the
Badgerline Group, taking large numbers of the type on Dennis Lance chassis between 1993 and 1996 for its
Midland Red West and
Yorkshire Rider subsidiaries. Yorkshire Rider took delivery of a total 78 Verdes between 1995 and 1996, a majority of which were delivered to
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
for 'Flagship' services,
with a further 30 delivered under
FirstBus for the rebranded
Leeds City Link operation.
The
Oxford Bus Company
The City of Oxford Motor Services Limited, trading as Oxford Bus Company, is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
History Horse trams and horse buses
The City of Oxf ...
took delivery of 43 Verdes on
Volvo B10B chassis, the first four of which were diverted from an order for eight for fellow
Go-Ahead Group
Go-Ahead Group Limited is a Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While the majority of its operations are within Great Britain, it also operates services in Ireland, Australia, Singapo ...
subsidiary
Go-Ahead Gateshead,
while
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
subsidiary
Selkent
South East London & Kent Bus Company Limited, trading as Stagecoach London, is a bus company operating in central and south London and some parts of north-west Kent. The Selkent brand is a subsidiary of Stagecoach London and operates services und ...
's
Catford
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...
garage took delivery of twelve dual-door Verdes on Dennis Lance chassis in 1994 for use on
London Buses route 208.
Other operators of Plaxton Verdes included
Cleveland Transit on the Volvo B10B chassis, as well as
Busways Travel Services,
Clydeside 2000,
North Western,
Nottingham City Transport and
Potteries Motor Traction on the Dennis Lance chassis.
See also
*
List of buses
References
External links
{{Plaxton
Verde
Full-size buses
Step-entrance buses
Vehicles introduced in 1991