VDL DB250

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A DAF DB250LF (with Optare Spectra bodywork) owned by Wilts & Dorset.

A DAF DB250 double decker bus with Northern Counties Palatine II bodywork, new to Metrobus in 1995, converted to an open top bus for the Cambridge City Sightseeing Tour

The VDL DB250 (launched as the DAF DB250 in 1991) is a double-decker bus sold in the UK through VDL Bus International's UK dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. Apart from the UK, a small number of DB250 had been sold for service in Istanbul, Turkey.

The original DB250 was sold on a variety of bodies, including the Optare Spectra and Northern Counties Palatine. The original design was based on the MCW Metrobus for which Optare and DAF Bus International (then VDL) bought the rights after MCW decided to end bus production.

The DB250LF, the Low Floor version of the DB250 chassis, is perhaps more well known as the first low floor double-decker bus chassis in the UK. The DB250LF is readily identified by the centrally-exiting exhaust at the rear, which can cause problems with extreme changes of slope. The new version of DB250LF was launched in 2004 which is officially known as DB250+. The design has received a number of modifications, one of which is the use of independent front suspension.

The first DB250LFs were bodied by Optare, with the modified Spectra body which was sold exclusively on the DB250. Later the Alexander ALX400, Plaxton President, East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander and Wright Pulsar Gemini (which was almost identical to the Eclipse Gemini sold on the Volvo B7TL chassis) also became available. The development of a Wright alternative arose because Arriva wished to buy both the Wright body and VDL chassis. Unable to do so, Arriva took delivery of over 100 Wright-bodied Volvo B7TLs. Wright subsequently developed the Pulsar Gemini in order to win more orders from Arriva.

The low floor variant entered service in 1997 with AB Buses of Bristol, which narrowly beat a Travel West Midlands DB250LF from being the UK's first low-floor double-decker bus.

Despite the DB250LF arriving early to the market, DAF had always struggled to find orders. Travel West Midlands (TWM) ordered 20, for example, but after Dennis and Volvo entered the market with the Trident 2 and B7TL respectively, TWM never ordered any more. Despite this DB250s are quite numberable, by far the biggest number owned by the operator Arriva, mostly for its London subsidiary, but a number of the type can be found with Arriva Midlands and Arriva Yorkshire on both the East Lancs body and unusually on the Wright Pulsar Gemini body, these being some of few Pulsar Gemini single-door bodies. Apart from Arriva, other sizeable operators are Travel West Midlands and Wilts and Dorset.

Production of the DB250 ended in 2006, but still with examples entering service in the UK in 2008. Its successor, a VDL/Wright integral double decker, was announced in December 2007 and expected to be launched in 2008. ^[1]