Bus Manufacturers throughout the UKThere are many makes and models of buses on routes in the UK but there are three British bus manufacturers in operation. These are Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus (who built the new Routemaster) and Optare.
The UK has three main bus manufacturers: Alexander Dennis in Falkirk, Scotland and in Scarborough; Switch Mobility, formerly known as Optare, which is based in Sherburn in Elmet in my constituency; and Wrightbus in Northern Ireland.
Current British bus manufacturers include Alexander Dennis, Plaxton, Switch (Formerly Optare) and Wrightbus. During nationalisation, two UK manufacturers fell under government ownership, Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works. Later, Leyland Bus was also effectively nationalised.
Leyland is situated 5 miles south of Preston and was home to Leyland Motors once the 5th largest producer of trucks and buses in the world. It is now owned by the US company PACCAR and assembles 14,000 trucks a year at Leyland near Preston, although I think it's actually now in an adjoining area called Farrington.
Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) is an Egyptian manufacturer for buses and trucks. The manufacturing plant is located in Salheya, the Head Office in Obour City, near Cairo. The manufacturer owns the trademark rights of the brands ECHOLINE, eVolution and MCV.
1988 The business was acquired by Volvo Buses. 1993 Volvo discontinues Leyland ending all production of the buses and the Workington factory, where they were built.
Last year, Wrightbus signed a deal with German Bus operator Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK) to supply up to 60 Kite Hydroliner single deck buses. The new buses will be manufactured at Wrightbus's headquarters in Ballymena, supporting hundreds of new high-skilled jobs to help level up and grow the economy.
Megabus is the brand of a low cost inter-city bus service from Stagecoach Group. The brand originated in the United Kingdom and started up a few years later in the United States, followed later by Canada, where services are operated by Stagecoach Group subsidiaries Coach USA and Coach Canada.
The reason behind their colour dates to the early 1900s, when the transport system was operated by different rival companies. London General Omnibus Company (or L.G.O.C.) owned most of the buses and in 1907 painted its entire fleet red to stand out from competitors.
Alexander Dennis ultimately inherited a number of plants from TransBus: the former Alexander factories in Falkirk, Scotland; the Dennis factory in Guildford and later the former Plaxton factories in Anston and Scarborough.
But 1929 was also the year a Suffolk-based Dennis bus, known as 'Ermintrude,' first entered service and the vehicle – reputed to be the oldest working bus in the UK – is still going strong nearly 100 years later.