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Coming to the 21st century, low floor is the major trend.
Three different manufacturers -- British Dennis, Dutch DAF and the
late comer Swedish Volvo -- all provide lots of choices for low floor
bus in London in the same time. A low floor bus battle is now
commenced!
Round 1 -- Long length The first batch of low floor buses introduced in London are 10.45 m in length, which are slightly longer than usual London buses. Stagecoach and Arriva have introduced Dennis Trident and DAF DB250SLF respectively. 
Trident has been popular in Hong Kong for quite a long time. But the specially designed 2-axles version for use in the UK appeared nearly one year later than the HK version. The one in the above is owned by Stagecoach with Alexander ALX400 bodywork. 
The rear end of Trident is a bit disappointing. It is not an air-conditioned bus and so why is there no window at all for the lower deck? If there is no advertisement, it will be nearly all red from top to bottom. 
Later on, Plaxton President has become a more popular bodywork option for Dennis Trident. Its appearance does look pretty good. This bus belongs to First London and is used to run on route 207, serving the busy Uxbridge Road corridor in West London. 
The DAF DB250SLF has an almost same appearance to the Trident because it is also with Alexander ALX400 bodywork. The one in the above is owned by Arriva. Page 2 >>> |