Dennis Trident 2
Encyclopedia
- For 3-axle, longitudinal-engine Dennis Trident built for export, see Dennis Trident 3Dennis Trident 3Dennis Trident 3 is the first low floor double-decker bus chassis built by Dennis in the United Kingdom, with a large number purchased by bus companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and Canada.-Design:...
/Dennis Trident E500.
Dennis Trident 2 (marketed as Dennis Trident, but once known as TransBus Trident 2/TransBus Trident) is a 2-axle low-floor
Low-floor bus
A low-floor bus is a bus that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. Being low floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly or infirm, or those with push chairs, and increasingly, those in wheelchairs.In the modern...
double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
chassis originally built by Dennis
Dennis Specialist Vehicles
Dennis Specialist Vehicles is a major British coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow
Dennis Lance
The Dennis Lance is a single-decker bus built by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low-floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF, was built between 1993 and 1996...
. It was built by TransBus after Dennis was incorporated into the group in 2001 (the Dennis brand name was once dropped). From 2004, it was built by Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis Limited is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom. It incorporated the three last surviving bus manufacturers which started bus production before World War II: Dennis, Alexander and Plaxton.- History :Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus on 1 January 2001, after the...
.
The Trident 2 chassis features a transversely mounted engine on the right side, with the radiator mounted on the left side of the engine compartment. It could be fitted with Cummins
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is a Fortune 500 corporation that designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission control and electrical power generation systems...
C-series Euro II engine (later Cummins ISCe Euro III engine), coupled to Voith
Voith
The Voith GmbH, which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-run corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations....
DIWA or ZF Ecomat
ZF Ecomat
The ZF Ecomat automotive transmission was specifically designed by ZF Friedrichshafen AG primarily for city-buses and motorcoaches. It has several generations - all of the automatic transmission type, and many variants. The latest variants utilise a lock-up torque converter along with a retarder...
gearbox. Trident 2 was available with Alexander ALX400
Alexander ALX400
The Alexander ALX400 is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders...
, Plaxton President
Plaxton President
The Plaxton President was a double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was unveiled in 1997 and built between 1999 and 2005. When Plaxton became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under...
and East Lancs Lolyne
East Lancs Lolyne
The East Lancs Lolyne is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Dennis Trident 2 chassis.Later on in its life...
/Myllennium Lolyne
East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne
The East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne is a type of bus body built on the Dennis Trident 2 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-History:The Myllennium Lolyne superseded the East Lancs Lolyne. The Lolyne was also the East Lancs body for the Dennis Trident 2, but in 2000, was given a facelift with...
bodywork.
In the first few years of production, Trident 2 was popular in the United Kingdom, with a large number sold to large bus operators such as Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
, First Group, Travel West Midlands
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...
and Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...
. Some of the Tridents were exported to Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
(for Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company, established in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann which is...
) and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(for sightseeing operations in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
). But later, due to increased competition after the launch of Scania OmniDekka
Scania OmniDekka
The Scania OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK...
and TransBus being put into administration, the sales of Trident 2 dropped significantly, leaving Stagecoach as its major buyer.
In 2005, Alexander Dennis developed the new version of Trident 2 chassis for its Enviro400 double-decker. Marketed as the Enviro400 chassis, the name "Trident 2" continued to appear on the manufacturer's plate and it retained the Cummins ISCe Euro III engine (soon replaced by Cummins ISBe 6-cylinder Euro IV) and Voith/ZF gearbox, it also received a number of modifications such as a longer front overhang, with a different shape of fuel tank became available. Production of the older version of Trident 2 chassis continued until 2006, with the newest example being delivered to Isle of Man Transport
Isle of Man Transport
Isle of Man Transport is an agency of Isle of Man Government that operates public transport on the Isle of Man.They operates following services:* Bus Vannin, Island Wide Bus Service* Isle of Man Railway, Douglas - Ballasalla - Castletown - Port Erin...
.
The new version of Trident 2 chassis was also available with Darwen/Optare Olympus
Optare Olympus
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare...
bodywork, the first example was delivered to CT Plus of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2008.
In 2008, Alexander Dennis unveiled the hybrid-electric powered version of Trident 2 (the Enviro400H) using BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
's HybriDrive series drive system with Cummins ISBe 4-cylinder engine fitted for power generation. Also in the same year, Alexander Dennis unveiled the further developed version of Trident 2 for the "New Generation" Enviro400, with the engine being moved to the left side and the radiator being moved to the right side of the engine compartment. It could be fitted with Cummins ISBe Euro V or MAN D0836LOH engine, coupled to Voith DIWA or ZF EcoLife
ZF EcoLife
The ZF EcoLife transmission is the next generation 6 speed transmission specifically designed for city buses. It features boosted operating economy, longer service life, and higher temperature resistance for operation with Euro V compatible engines...
gearbox. In 2009, Alexander Dennis developed the Hong Kong version of the Trident 2 (Enviro400). Based on the further developed version unveiled in 2008, it has a longer rear overhang and could be fitted with Cummins ISLe Euro V engine.
See also
- 7 July 2005 London bombings7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
- in which a Stagecoach LondonStagecoach LondonStagecoach London , is a bus company which principally operates services in the UK capital city of London, under contract to the London Buses arm of Transport for London. It was formed in 1989 as a subsidiary of London Buses. The company privatised in 1994 and acquired by the Stagecoach Group, but...
-owned Trident 2 (LX03BUF with fleet number 17758) was destroyed
Competitors:
- Scania OmniDekkaScania OmniDekkaThe Scania OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK...
- VDL DB250VDL DB250The VDL DB250 is a double-decker bus sold in the UK through VDL Bus International's UK dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. A small number of DB250s have also been exported to Istanbul, Turkey.-DB250:...
- Volvo B7TLVolvo B7TLVolvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of Volvo Olympian...