Bus and Coach Buyer 6 January 2012 features a profile of Bus and Coach World which includes a shot of what is believed to be Bus Vannin 50 under refurbishment for Blackpool as 344. Its new front end is in place and the roof panels have been repaired (50 having suffered roof damage). Since then the bus has been completely repainted.
The magazine also reports that ten of Bus Vannin's DAF DB250s with East Lancs bodies are also due to follow the Tridents. These should be their 89-98 (FMN298, 503, 618-23, 835/6J) with the option for two more batches to follow in later years. This will bring in 21 mid life low floor double deckers allowing great inroads into the 26 strong closed top Olympian fleet.
The article notes that the Manx Tridents are low height (13'9" v 14'3") have Voith gearboxes rather than ZF and have been down seated to by one (H45/26F) and that the purchase and refurbishment is costing between £45,000 and £50,000 per bus.
Click here for the Bus and Coach Buyer website. You can subscribe for free downloads, and chose the 6 January issue with the Blackpool article on pages 12 to 14.
