 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transport |
| Founded | 1946; 79 years ago (1946) |
| Founder | Robert Wright |
| Headquarters | Ballymena, Northern Ireland |
Key people | Jean-Marc Gales (CEO)[1] |
| Products | Bus and coachwork |
| Revenue | £181 million (2017) |
Number of employees | 1,300 (2023)[2] |
| Parent | Bamford Bus Company |
| Website | Official website |
Wrightbus is aNorthern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of thelow-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his sonWilliam Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessmanJo Bamford.
Wrightbus was founded in 1946 as Robert Wright & Son Coachbuilders.[3] In its early years it rebodiedlorries. In 1978, the company released its first aluminium-structured bus bodywork.
Wright's breakthrough into the mainstream bus bodybuilding sector came in the early 1990s.[4] TheHandybus was a midibus body offered on a variety of chassis but was most successful on the emergingDennis Dart, attracting reasonably-sized orders from a variety of operators includingLondon Buses,Go Ahead Northern,Ulsterbus andCitybus (Belfast).[5] This was followed by a move into the full-size single deck market with theEndeavour which was fitted toDennis Javelin,Leyland Tiger andScania K93 chassis, and enabled Wright to develop its highly successfulEndurance body which competed with theAlexander Strider andNorthern Counties Paladin for orders onVolvo B10B andScania N113CRB chassis.[6][7]
Other Wright products introduced in this period included twoMercedes-Benz-based products, theO405 basedCityranger and the OH1416 basedUrbanranger. The latter was launched around the time bus operators in the UK began switching tolow floor chassis and consequently only attracted a handful of orders. However, Wright had become well established in the bus bodybuilding sector by then, and was able to exploit the opportunities the low-floor revolution would offer it from the mid-1990s onwards.
In 1993, thePathfinder on low floorDennis Lance SLF andScania N113CRL chassis was unveiled.
TheAxcess-Ultralow was introduced in 1995 and offered on theScania L113 chassis. At this time it was selling in reasonable numbers to UK bus operators, but unlike other bodybuilders who could only offer the L113 with step-entrance bodies, Wright modified it by removing the middle section of the chassis and thus offered UK bus operators one of the first mainstream low-floor body/chassis combinations. A major customer for the Axcess-Ultralow wasFirstGroup, taking approximately 240.
Next up was theVolvo B10L basedLiberator introduced at the end of 1995:National Express ordered 120 in 1997. This would be followed by theRenown body built on theVolvo B10BLE chassis, which went on to become the standard bus of theBlazefield Group.
Robert Wright & Son was restructured in 2000, with the bus building operation rebranded to Wrightbus as a part of the Wright Group. Companies formed alongside Wrightbus in the Wright Group were Expotech, handling the export of the group's technologies and international joint ventures such asChance Coaches,[8] and CustomCare, an aftermarket support operation servicing buses delivered by both Wrightbus and other bus manufacturers.[9]
After production of the Volvo B10BLE ceased in 2001, Wrightbus developed theWright Eclipse body for the newVolvo B7L chassis, which, due to its vertical rear engine, was not popular with many operators. Nevertheless, Wright did not lose custom and many operators such asUlsterbus switched to the incline-enginedScania L94UB, on a similarWright Solar body. Another bodywork which resembles the Solar/Eclipse range is theMeridian, which was bodied on theMAN A22 full low-floor single-deck chassis.
Wrightbus' firstdouble-decker bus, theWright Eclipse Gemini, was launched on theVolvo B7TL chassis in 2001. A similarly-styled bus entered service withArriva London in August 2003 as theWright Pulsar Gemini on theVDL DB250 chassis. Large operators of Gemini-bodied Wrightbus buses includedArriva, theFirstGroup, theGo-Ahead Group,Lothian Buses andNational Express'West Midlands,Coventry andDundee operations.
In November 2004, Wrightbus announced it was returning to producing bodies for minibuses at the Coach & Bus 2004 expo with the launch of the low-floor Satellite body, which was to be built on theIveco Daily-basedIrisbus LoGo 65C17 chassis cowl. The body, capable of seating between 24 and 28 passengers with room for a wheelchair through the application of a drop-centre frame, was expected to be launched in mid-2005.[10][11][12] In July 2005, however, Wrightbus announced that the Wright Satellite had been place on 'indefinite hold' in favour of further developing theWright StreetCar and otherEuro IV products.[13]
One of the company's most notable products is theNew Routemaster London bus, introduced in February 2012 as an update of theAEC Routemaster.[14] Production ended in 2017 when the 1,000th New Routemaster left the production line.[15]
Since May 2013, Wrightbus began building its own chassis, theStreetLite single-decker andStreetDeck double decker. However, they still continue to produce bodywork for theVolvo B5TL,Volvo B5LH andVolvo B8RLE.[16][17]
In 2016, theWright SRM was introduced on theVolvo B5LH. It was an adaptation of the New Routemaster body onto Volvo's hybrid chassis at a shorter length of 10.6 metres (35 ft), with only six sold toRATP Dev subsidiaryLondon United that same year.[18]
Between September and October 2019, Wrightbus enteredadministration with the suspension of 1,300 jobs at its factory.[19] At the timeDeloitte was appointed as the company's administrators, Wrightbus was £60 million in debt,[20] with £38.1 million of that debt owed to theBank of Ireland.
During the six years prior to Wrightbus going into administration, it was reported that Jeff Wright, the owner of the company, had donated £15 million to a church he had founded in 2007, Green Pastures Church.[21] This led to protests on 29 September 2019 which were joined by many of the company's former workers, including members of the Wright family.[22]
On 11 October 2019, a deal was reached in principle betweenJo Bamford (son ofAnthony Bamford, chairman of the construction equipment manufacturerJCB) and the Wright family for the land used by the factory, a sticking point in negotiations to sell the firm.[23][24] A deal was made with the administrators eleven days later, with Jo Bamford's Bamford Bus Company concluding a takeover of the company.[25]
Since the takeover of Wrightbus, Bamford has been committed to creating a market for hydrogen buses with a reconfigured StreetDeck that is powered by hydrogen. In 2020, Bamford said he planned to build 3,000 buses of this type by 2024.[26]
Wrightbus has followed two strategies towards achievingzero emission: creating battery-powered andfuel cell (powered by hydrogen) vehicles. Early orders following the introduction of Wright's Electroliner and Hydroliner range included theGo-Ahead Group, who placed orders forfuel cell buses for itsMetrobus fleet on theFastwaybus rapid transit service, andTranslink of Northern Ireland, who placed an initial order for 38battery electric buses.[27]
Wrightbus announced in February 2023 that it was planning to build agreen hydrogen production facility on its Ballymena site in partnership with Hygen Energy, capable of producing enough hydrogen to fuel up to 300 buses per day with the option to triple its production in line with future demand for the fuel.[28][29] Funding for the construction ofelectrolysers at the facility was secured from the first round of the UK government's £37.9 million UK Net Zero Hydrogen Fund in March 2023.[30][31] Wrightbus was later granted up to £534,000 in funding from the UK government-sponsoredAdvanced Propulsion Centre fund in September 2023 to develop a driveline based on the GB Kite Hydroliner for a hydrogen fuel cell-powered coach, which will be intended as a functional "technology demonstrator".[32] A driveline demonstrator capable of a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) was unveiled in September 2024 at the Cenex net-zero mobility show in Bedfordshire, with development work on the coach set to complete by 2025 before it takes to the road during 2026.[33]
In June 2024, Wrightbus announced it had formed NewPower, a new subsidiary headquartered at the formerArrival Bus factory inBicester,Oxfordshire, aimed at facilitating battery electric repowering of existing diesel Wrightbus buses, such as the StreetDeck, Gemini 2 and New Routemaster. At a cost of over £200,000, the repowering process involves the removal of the diesel drivetrain and ensuing fitment of a Voith Electric Drive System coupled with NMC battery packs and a Grayson HVAC system, all capable of being performed over a period of three weeks at a factory capacity of six buses being converted at one time. Wrightbus also announced it had opened a bus refurbishment business a short distance from the NewPower facility, which is aimed to complete external and internal refurbishments of buses following their battery electric conversions.[34][35]
On 29 January 2025, Wrightbus launched its 'Rightech' sub-brand with the announcement of the 6 metres (20 ft)Rightech RB6 and 9 metres (30 ft)RB9 single-deck battery electric buses, produced in collaboration with Chinese bus and coach manufacturerKing Long, and entered into truck manufacturing with the additional announcement of theRightech RT75, a 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) battery electricbox truck produced in collaboration withJAC Motors and able to be specified at either a 3.85 metres (12.6 ft) or 4.48 metres (14.7 ft) wheelbase. Each model is available in bothleft- and right-hand drive variants for the UK and European bus and truck markets.[36][37]
In 1997, an order for 25Wright Crusader-bodiedDennis Darts was delivered to Australian operatorACTION. Between 2003 and 2006, Hong Kong operatorKowloon Motor Bus received a total of 164 Wrightbus three-axle double-deckers; 100 of them were onVolvo Super Olympian and 64 of them were onVolvo B9TL chassis. In 2009, Kowloon Motor Bus had ordered a total of 291 buses, including one demonstrator with two-axle, and all buses were in service in 2012. In 2010, the first of 450 Wright Eclipse Gemini 2-bodiedVolvo B9TLs was delivered toSBS Transit, Singapore till end 2012.[38]
In 2011, Wrightbus International was established. A contract was awarded by SBS Transit for 565Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs and delivered since January 2013 till June 2015.[39][40] In November 2012, a contract for 50 Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvos was awarded by Kowloon Motor Bus. These were sent inknock-down kit (CKD) form from Northern Ireland and assembled in China and followed by another 85, including two 12.8-metre-long demonstrators.[41][42] In September 2013, Wrightbus entered into a partnership withDaimler Buses to manufacture buses inChennai, India.[43][44]
In March 2014, orders were secured from Hong Kong operatorsCitybus andNew World First Bus for 51 bodies on Volvo B9TL chassis. These were sent in CKD form from Northern Ireland and assembled in Malaysia.[45][46] In July 2014, SBS Transit ordered a further 415 Eclipse Gemini 2-bodied Volvo B9TLs which will be delivered from August 2015 till 2017,[needs update] increasing the total to 1,430 by 2017.[38][47] A single Eclipse Gemini 3-bodiedVolvo B8L prototype was exported to Singapore for trial with SBS Transit but was subsequently sold to A&S Transit, a private bus operator in Singapore.[48]
| Name | Chassis | Decks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contour | Integral | 1 | RebadgedKing Long coach; diesel propulsion only. |
| GB Hawk | Integral | 1 | Diesel propulsion only |
| GB Kite | Integral | 1 | Electric or hydrogen propulsion only. |
| RB6 | Integral | 1 | Produced under Rightech sub-brand; electric propulsion only. |
| RB9 | Integral | 1 | Produced under Rightech sub-brand; electric propulsion only. |
| Gemini 3 | VolvoB5TL,B5LH,B8L | 2 | Bodywork on Volvo chassis; Volvo B5LH is a hybrid propulsion chassis |
| StreetDeck | Integral | 2 | |
| RT75 | Integral truck | N/A | Produced under Rightech sub-brand; electric propulsion only. |
| Name | Chassis | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eclipse Gemini | VolvoB7TL, two-axleB9TL &B5LH | |
| Eclipse Gemini 2 | VolvoB9TL,B8L,B5LH | Production for two-axle version ceased in 2013/2014 |
| Explorer | Volvo Super Olympian | |
| Gemini 2 | Integral with VDL modules | Comes in DL & HEV variants |
| Pulsar Gemini | DAF/VDL DB250 | |
| Pulsar Gemini HEV | VDL DB250 | Hybrid |
| New Routemaster | Integral | Hybrid bus produced exclusively forTfL between 2012 and 2017 |
| SRM | Volvo B5LH | A more basic spin-off of theNew Routemaster with fewer distinctive features |
The owners also looked toward Europe, where mass transit has traditionally been more popular than in America, to pick some innovative ideas for the new direction of the company. It entered into an agreement with Wright Expotech, an Irish company, to develop Opus buses.
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