Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (2005- 2016)- Opinions? (1 Viewer)

Do You Like The Enviro 400?


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Mar 16, 2017
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As the result of the poll, the Enviro 400 is the featured bus for this post. Nice choice.

DISCLAIMER
As I am a Londoner, my knowledge of buses outside of Greater London and mailnly the South East region is weaker than others, especially those who live outside of London, so not everything is a fact. Please feel free to correct me.

Also, I'm under the assumption that the E400H buses are B9TL chassis, since this chassis is the most popular. This isn't a fact.

ORIGINS
The Enviro 400 was the result of Alexander and Dennis' complete merge in 2004, following their previous joint ownership of TransBus International in 2001.

Taking inspiration from the exported success of the 2002 Enviro 500 in Hong Kong, a two axle replacement was created for use in Britain. One of the first units was given to Stagecoach London (East London- in 2005), a rare 10.8m 2 door iteration (LX55HGC) known as the Spirit of London, after the 7/7 bombings caused the destruction of LX03BUF, an ALX400 on route 30.

Other early examples can be seen with Metroline's fleet, also registrated 55. The E400 expanded outwards to various cities and counties across the UK from 2006.

CHASSIS ITERATIONS
As a successor the popular Plaxton President and ALX400, the E400 retained the title of the best selling double decker in the UK, with serval iterations and variations. Despite having its own chassis, as an integral bus, the body was seen on Volvo B9TL and Scania N230UD chassis. Rarer chassis included the Trident 2 and Volvo B7TL, originally options for the President and ALX400

Enviro 400 Chassis- As far as I know, only offered/sold in 2005.
Metroline (London)

Scania N230UD
Stagecoach West Scotland
Stagecoach Huntingdonshire

Trident 2
Arriva North East
Spirit of London (Stagecoach London) (LX55HGC)- The rear design of 2005 reg E400s differ from the rest. This bus was torched in an arsonist attack in North London in 2012, leaving the top deck severely damaged, but was later repaired, costing £60,000.
Stagecoach Manchester
Stagecoach North East

Volvo B7TL- Only one example of a B7TL E400 exists and it was given to Blue Star in late 2006.
Bluestar (South Hampshire) (SN56AWX)

Volvo B9TL- The most popular chassis, available from 2006 until 2016.
Abellio London
Arriva London
Dublin Bus (Atha Cliath)
East Yorkshire
First Greater Manchester
Go- Ahead London
Stagecoach London

ENGINE ITERATIONS
I don't have much knowledge on the engines, but a noticeable iteration was the E400 Hybrid from 2008-2014. This more economical version is known for its roaring, aggressive engine, most notably heard whilst climbing and braking on hills.

SUCCESS ELSEWHERE
The E400 has an open top version on the streets of New York , despite no such right hand version. There's also a Hong Kong variant, continuing ADL's success overseas.

POLL AND EXTRA NOTES
I've always like the E400, including the Hybrid, as there hasn't been any notable flaws found whilst travelling, so I definitely prefer them to the E200.

How about you?

Vote and feel free to post a comment to further detail your preference, provide an experience or correct me about any mistakes made.

Thanks for reading and I hope the revised layout was worth your while.
 
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Florence3099

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Where do I start I wonder...

B9TL was most certainly not the most popular choice, not by a long shot. Only 3 operators bought Volvo B9TLs with Enviro400 bodies, that would be Dublin Bus, East Yorkshire and Go-Ahead London.

The vast majority had Trident 2 chassis, including all hybrids before 2012, these were the integrals from 2005 to 2012. After 2012 they were called E40Ds and E40Hs.

Scanias were fairly common as well, although primarily for express routes although Oxford Bus Company bought some as well.

There's also 20 2009 Trident 2s with MAN Engines and Enviro400 bodies, these all operate with Stagecoach Manchester's Stockport depot.
 
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Mar 16, 2017
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Where do I start I wonder...

B9TL was most certainly not the most popular choice, not by a long shot. Only 3 operators bought Volvo B9TLs with Enviro400 bodies, that would be Dublin Bus, East Yorkshire and Go-Ahead London.

The vast majority had Trident 2 chassis, including all hybrids before 2012, these were the integrals from 2005 to 2012. After 2012 they were called E40Ds and E40Hs.

Scanias were fairly common as well, although primarily for express routes although Oxford Bus Company bought some as well.

There's also 20 2009 Trident 2s with MAN Engines and Enviro400 bodies, these all operate with Stagecoach Manchester's Stockport depot.

As I've said in the disclaimer, not everything is a fact. B9TLs are extremely popular in London, almost all are here.

I was under the impression that all E400s were also named E40D from the start. Thanks for clearing up the Hybrid, E400 and Trident chassis.
Thinking about it, it makes sense that the Trident, or Dennis Trident, would be offered as integral.
 
Mar 16, 2017
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I presume you mean with Gemini 2 bodies, because there's only 3 with Enviro400 bodies.

Also I forgot about the East Lancs/Optare-bodied Enviro400s



No, I mean Volvo B9TL chassis for a Enviro 400 body. Almost every company in London owns them.

The Gemini body on a B9TL chassis aren't as popular.

Also, that image with the 213 is a East Lancs/Optare Olympus, which uses a Scania N230UD chassis. Elsewhere in the UK it may use a Enviro 400 chassis.
 

The_Growl

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Moskie

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I, for one can vouch having worked for First Greater Manchester, I have seen the Chassis plates and they certainly do not say Volvo B9TL on them - these are ADL E40Ds, with a ZF Ecolife transmission. Unless you're mixing up the transmission sets for a different chassis, as it does change the noise the bus makes substantially, then I can confirm you cannot be more wrong and it might be best to take the advice we are giving you. :)
 
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Mar 16, 2017
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@Lakitu

I was under the assumption that the Olympus pictured, had the Scania chassis, as when I'd ridden it, it made a similar sound to a Scania Omnidekka, which uses that chassis.

Thanks for clearing things up.

I, for one can vouch having worked for First Greater Manchester, I have seen the Chassis plates and they certainly do not say Volvo B9TL on them - these are ADL E40Ds, with a ZF Ecolife transmission. Unless you're mixing up the transmission sets for a different chassis, as it does change the noise the bus makes substantially, then I can confirm you cannot be more wrong and it might be best to take the advice we are giving you. :)

I didn't take the transmission into consideration. Thanks for the help.
 

Moskie

Fixing timetables brb
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Enviro400s are a hard one to gauge tbh, because of the sheer amount of different configurations.

ADL Enviro 400 Bodywork just comes as standard.

Then you have all possible chassis/engine and gearbox configurations to consider:
Dennis Trident 2 - ZF Ecomat 4/Voith DIWA respectively
Volvo B7TL - you only have one example which will be ZF Ecomat 4 I believe
Scania N230UD - ZF Ecomat 4 earlier, now ZF Ecolife i believe)
Volvo B9TL - ZF Ecolife, Voith DIWA
Alexander Dennis E40D - ZF Ecolife and Voith DIWA

As you can imagine, some of these can sound very similar, but some can actually have the same engine but sound completely different.

Hopefully this information is accurate and will further your understanding some more. This can apply to every bus by the way, and not just Enviro400s
 
Mar 16, 2017
166
2
143
Enviro400s are a hard one to gauge tbh, because of the sheer amount of different configurations.

ADL Enviro 400 Bodywork just comes as standard.

Then you have all possible chassis/engine and gearbox configurations to consider:
Dennis Trident 2 - ZF Ecomat 4/Voith DIWA respectively
Volvo B7TL - you only have one example which will be ZF Ecomat 4 I believe
Scania N230UD - ZF Ecomat 4 earlier, now ZF Ecolife i believe)
Volvo B9TL - ZF Ecolife, Voith DIWA
Alexander Dennis E40D - ZF Ecolife and Voith DIWA

As you can imagine, some of these can sound very similar, but some can actually have the same engine but sound completely different.

Hopefully this information is accurate and will further your understanding some more. This can apply to every bus by the way, and not just Enviro400s

This helps, since its not like anyone's able to easily research these facts, so its good to receive it from an actual driver. Thanks.
 

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No, I mean Volvo B9TL chassis for a Enviro 400 body. Almost every company in London owns them.

The Gemini body on a B9TL chassis aren't as popular.

Also, that image with the 213 is a East Lancs/Optare Olympus, which uses a Scania N230UD chassis. Elsewhere in the UK it may use a Enviro 400 chassis.
Most companies in London, have Enviro400s...but they are most certainly not B9TLs. They are mostly on the Trident2 (later called the E40D or E40H) chassis. Arriva London's fleet of Enviro400s have the fleetnumbers Txxx, 'T' standing for Trident, so they are most certainly not B9TLs. Stagecoach again operate no B9TL E400s in London, only Trident2/E40D and E40H models, and you can scroll thought the garage fleet lists on Stagecoachs website, and see for yourself, no B9TLs are mentioned (Stagecoach London bus history | Stagecoach). Abellio London also have no B9TL E400s. GAL only had three, having the fleet numbers 'VE' for 'Volvo Enviro'. Of which there were only 3, VE1-3, and I believe they are the only 3 in London.


There was also two examples made on the Scania N280UD chassis, which nobody has mentioned yet, which were sold to Express Motors of Porthmadog, I believe they have moved on from there now though.
 
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Ah, the good old Enviro400.
IMG_20180601_124410.jpg

IMG_20180626_153649.jpg
 

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