Duple's single-decker
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• Hestair Duple has delivered• the first of its new 300 series single deck bus bodies to Gypsy Queen coaches of Durham. It completes the 300 series coach body range first announced two years ago at the Commercial Motorsponsored Bus and Coach exhibition held at Earls Court in London.
It shares a number of body components with the coach models including the structure from the waist rail down and the front grille mouldings. The body is built to a standard overall length of 1L5 metres to accommodate either 11 or 12 metre chassis. The first body is mounted on a Volvo B1OM chassis and the design is being engineered to fit the Leyland Tiger, Scania K92 and the Dennis Javelin.
Features include a wide entrance with a two leaf jackknife door, which can be opened in either two leaf or single leaf form, low riser easy access entry steps, a selfcoloured fire retardent GRP stepwell with reinforced tread areas finished with heavy duty ribbed rubber mats and a ramped floor. It also has bodyside panels divided into six sections of aluminium individually bonded from waist to hinge rail for simple and low cost accident repair and a three-panel laminated gasket glazed windscreen.
Side windows are made up using Duple perimeter rubber gla7ing sections. Four windows have top opening sections and these consist of complete framed window units. The standard interior arrangement includes 55 low back bus seats together with a luggage pen. The 300 bus has room for up to 23 standing passengers. Duple can vary the interior seating layouts to meet individual operator requirements.
The body also features a pull-out battery carrier. All electrics are colour-coded with plug-in connectors for the main body wiring. Optional extras include a rear boot, interior luggage racks, a convector heating system rather than the standard three underfloor heaters and rear destination equipment.
The 300 series bus is a competitor for Plaxtons' Derwent bus as well as providing a body on chassis alternatives for Leyland's Lynx, and the recentlyannounced right-hand-drive version of the German built VoV design Neoplan SL2. Base body price for the Duple 300 bus body is 227,293.