| Wright Eclipse Gemini | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Wrightbus |
| Production | 2001–present |
| Assembly | Ballymena, Northern Ireland |
| Body and chassis | |
| Doors | 1-2 |
| Floor type | Low floor |
| Chassis | Volvo B8L Volvo B5TL Volvo B5LH Volvo B9TL Volvo B7TL Volvo Super Olympian (Explorer) Scania K410EB |
| Related | Wright Eclipse Wright Pulsar Gemini Wright StreetDeck (Chassis) |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Volvo D8K (Volvo B8L) Volvo D5K (Volvo B5TL) Volvo D5E/D5F/D5K (Volvo B5LH) Volvo D9A/D9B (Volvo B9TL) Volvo D7C (Volvo B7TL) Volvo D10A (Volvo Super Olympian) Scania DC13 (Scania K410) |
| Transmission | Volvo I-Shift Voith DIWA ZF Ecomat ZF EcoLife |
| Dimensions | |
| Length |
|
| Width | 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 4.23 m (13 ft 11 in) or 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) |
TheWright Eclipse Gemini is alow-floordouble-decker bus body that was built byWrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deckerWright Eclipse design. The second-generationEclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generationGemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available onVolvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as theWright Explorer.
The original Eclipse Gemini was launched in 2001 onVolvo B7TL chassis; from 2006, the body was also built on the replacementVolvo B9TL chassis and, from 2013, on the B9TL's replacement, theVolvo B5TL. From 2008, the body was also available onVolvo B5LH hybrid chassis. Eclipse Gemini's exported to the Asian market have been offered a choice of the tri-axleVolvo B8L and theScania K410EB.
Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied buses were mass-introduced onLondon Buses services from 2001. It has also been popular withFirstGroup, who from 2003 onwards have purchased over 1,200 into service.[2]Dublin Bus andBus Éireann have also acquired many Volvo B9TLs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork.
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The Wright Eclipse Gemini was launched in 2001, initially on theVolvo B7TL chassis, as adouble decker version of the existingWright Eclipse body.[3] The original Eclipse Gemini, and all versions up until the facelifted Gemini 3, have both the upper and lower deck front windscreens forming part of a single oval shape, with thedestination blind in between. The interior of the Eclipse Gemini features curves similar to its exterior, and continues the modern feel.
In 2006, the Volvo B7TL chassis, which had been the subject of noise complaints,[4] was superseded by theVolvo B9TL, with Wrightbus launching a facelifted version of the Wright Eclipse Gemini to fit the new chassis. The updated styling was largely confined to the rear of the body, where it has a more rounded appearance compared to the original and a central LED route number panel, housed within a smoked glass effect panel underneath the upper rear window. Other external modifications included the relocation of the rear number plate from its integrated position with the upper rear window to a more conventional siting at the bottom of the bus.
The first-generation Wright Eclipse Gemini was highly popular with theFirstGroup, with the group ordering examples from 2004 onwards. Wright Eclipse Geminis on the Volvo B7TL chassis entered service withFirst Glasgow,First West andSouth Yorkshire, andFirst Leicester, among others, between 2004 and the B7TL's discontinuation in 2007.[5][6] The first examples on the following Volvo B9TL chassis entered service with First South Yorkshire and First Glasgow in 2007, subsequently followed by a large order fromFirst Greater Manchester, who ordered over 200 of the type from 2007 to 2010.[7][8]
In London, the Wright Eclipse Gemini on the Volvo B7TL chassis was also highly popular withTransport for London operators, although these buses were the subject of criticism for noise from their cooling fans.[4]Arriva London were the launch customer for the Wright Eclipse Gemini, taking on its first two of the type in July 2001, one of which was displayed at the 2001International Association of Public Transport conference at theEarls Court Exhibition Centre.[9]: 166 Arriva London would go on to operate a total 179 Wright Eclipse Geminis on the Volvo B7TL chassis, while 273 B7TL Geminis were delivered toGo-AheadLondon Central andLondon General, 209 toFirst Capital, 73 toTravel London, 44 to East Thames Buses and three delivered toLondon United.[9]: 272 A singleEuro IV Volvo B9TL demonstrator with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork was delivered to London Central in July 2006, however orders did not materialise.[10]: 5 [11]
Lothian Buses were another popular customer of the Wright Eclipse Gemini, initially ordering 125 on the Volvo B7TL chassis between 2005 and 2006, having previously standardised with thePlaxton President on theDennis Trident chassis.[12][13] The company moved onto the Volvo B9TL chassis in 2007, taking on a first batch of 50 that year.[14] The Wright Eclipse Gemini on the Volvo B7TL chassis was similarly popular withTravel West Midlands, taking delivery of 150 of the type between 2004 and 2006,[15][16][17] as well asTranslink of Northern Ireland, who took delivery of 125 Geminis on Volvo B9TL chassis during 2007 for use by both itsMetro andUlsterbus companies.[18]
Go North East initially took delivery of three Wright Eclipse Geminis with high specification interiors on the Volvo B7TL chassis in 2005, which were used on the X10 express service connectingNewcastle upon Tyne andMiddlesbrough;[19] this was followed in 2006 by an order for five B7TL Geminis for use on the 724 service connecting Newcastle andChester-le-Street.[20]East Yorkshire Motor Services purchased a total of 60 Wright Eclipse Geminis on both the Volvo B7TL and B9TL chassis between 2005 and 2009, including four for its Manchester-basedFinglands Coachways operation,[21][22][18] andLincolnshire RoadCar took delivery of six Wright Eclipse Geminis on Volvo B7TL chassis forLincolnshire InterConnect services in 2006.[23]
TheBlazefield Group first ordered Wright Eclipse Geminis in 2003, ordering twelve Volvo B7TLs with high-specification interiors for use onThe 36, servingRipon,Harrogate andLeeds.[24] This was followed by a delivery of 16 Geminis on B7TL chassis in 2005 for use onThe Witch Way, servingBurnley andManchester.[25] Ten Wright Eclipse Geminis on Volvo B9TL chassis were later delivered toYorkshire Coastliner in 2008.[26]
Smaller operators of Wright Eclipse Geminis includedYellow Buses, who took delivery of six B7TL Wright Eclipse Geminis,[27] andWessex Bus, who took delivery of seven B9TL Geminis during 2007.[18]
The Wright Eclipse Gemini was also made available on the hybridVolvo B5LH chassis in 2008. The first six hybrid Eclipse Geminis were delivered to Arriva London in 2009.[28][10]: 136
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Between 2003 and 2005, Wrightbus bodied 100Volvo Super Olympian chassis forKowloon Motor Bus in Hong Kong; these received a modified version of the Eclipse Gemini body, initially marketed as The Wright Bus but later being renamed the Wright Explorer. The bodywork was modified to fit the Super Olympian chassis, with the most noticeable difference being the tri-axle layout.[29][30] The last Volvo Super Olympian to roll off the production line received Wright Explorer bodywork.[citation needed]
Subsequently, the Super Olympian was replaced by a tri-axle variant of theVolvo B9TL. Wrightbus offered similar tri-axle bodywork, which was unnamed and had slightly different rear styling, to the chassis. Deliveries commenced in 2006 with an initial batch of 64 Wright-bodied B9TLs.[31] After the introduction of Euro IV-engined Volvo B9TL, this bodywork became known as the Eclipse Gemini tri-axle, but no bodywork carrying this name were known to have been built.
The second generation Wright Eclipse Gemini, called the Eclipse Gemini 2, was launched in 2008 onVolvo B9TL andB5LH chassis. The Eclipse Gemini 2 features front and rear ends facelifted to match theEclipse 2 single-decker, as part of Wrightbus' new design philosophy.[32] A low-roof version was introduced in 2012.
After having been a significant customer for Wright Eclipse Geminis, outside London, theFirstGroup ordered comparatively fewer Wright Eclipse Gemini 2s on the Volvo B9TL chassis. First West Yorkshire took the largest delivery of Gemini 2s in the group, with 47 delivered to the operator in 2012 following their use in London on shuttle services for the2012 Summer Olympics.[10]: 184–185 Six were also delivered across two batches forFirst Berkshire'sGreen Lineservice 702 between 2011 and 2013,[10]: 178–179 whileFirst Eastern Counties took delivery of 15 Gemini 2s for services inNorwich in 2012.[33]
Lothian Buses was a continuing customer for the Gemini body on Volvo B9TL chassis, purchasing 145 Gemini 2s from 2009 to 2011.[34][35] 14 of these were delivered in 2010 for Lothian'sAirlink services, specified with luggage racks, free WiFi, tables and a route-branded livery.[36]
East Yorkshire Motor Services took delivery of twenty Gemini 2s in two batches in 2009.[37][38] Six more were delivered to the company in 2014, followed by three acquired from Volvo dealer stock in 2015.[39][40]
Delaine Buses took delivery of seven Wright Gemini 2s on Volvo B9TL chassis between 2011 and 2015, with Delaine's final example also being the last Volvo B9TL chassis and Wright Gemini 2 body built for the UK market.[41][42]Dublin Bus purchased 160 during 2012 and 2013.[citation needed]
TheVolvo B5LH with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodywork was popular withArriva UK Bus, with 77 examples delivered to group subsidiaries between 2012 and 2013. 44 were delivered toArriva North West, 33 of which were for use in Merseyside and the remaining eleven delivered for use in Manchester,[43][44][45] 12 were delivered toArriva Yorkshire,[46] eleven were delivered toArriva Southern Counties[47] and ten were delivered toArriva North East.[48]
Elsewhere, operators of Volvo B5LHs with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodywork include theOxford Bus Company, who had nineteen low-roof examples delivered in 2013,[49][50][51] andNational Express West Midlands, who had eighteen in two batches delivered between 2011 and 2013.[52][51] 22 were delivered to First West Yorkshire in 2011 for use on theLeedsguided busway,[53][54] while 14 were delivered toFirst Greater Manchester,[55] where four were also purchased that year byBullocks Coaches for use on shuttle services alongOxford Road to theUniversity of Manchester.[56][57] Smaller operators includeBrighton & Hove, who had eleven delivered in 2012,[58]Preston Bus, who had eight delivered in 2013,[59][60][51] andEnsignbus, who had five delivered in 2012.[61]
Like the Explorer, the Eclipse Gemini 2 was sold in Hong Kong, including a tri-axle variant that replaced the Explorer.Citybus, Kowloon Motor Bus,MTR Bus andNew World First Bus purchasing examples.[62][63][64] In 2013, Kowloon Motor Bus purchased two extended 12.8 metre long demonstrators.[65][66] and was delivered in mid-2014. Citybus took an example of the 12.8 metres long as well and was delivered in late-2013, with build quality issues delaying the registration process and eventually put into service in March 2015. In 2017, the first demonstratorVolvo B8L for Kowloon Motor Bus was fitted with an Eclipse Gemini 2 body.
Between 2010 and 2017,SBS Transit andLand Transport Authority took delivery of 1,606 Eclipse Gemini 2 for Volvo B9TLs being delivered as completeknock-down kits (CKD) and locally assembled byComfortDelGro Engineering (CDGE) atHougang Bus Depot (HGDEP). They are operated by all public transport operators in Singapore (SBS Transit,SMRT Buses,Tower Transit andGo-Ahead Singapore).[67][68][69][70] Most common bus model in Singapore, Likely theKMB Explorer-bodiedVolvo Super Olympian B10TL units, based on the exterior design of these buses and technical specifications of this batch.
The third generation Wright Eclipse Gemini, now called simply the Gemini 3, was launched in 2013 for the newVolvo B5TL chassis, the eventual replacement of the B9TL. The Gemini 3 also remained available onVolvo B5LH hybrid chassis. Some design features were taken from theNew Routemaster, anotherWrightbus design. The two most noticeable aesthetic changes were a substantial redesign of the rear end and the introduction of smaller upper deck windows to save weight; the front light clusters were also slightly redesigned, in order to incorporate separate LEDdaytime running lights for the first time.
The majority of orders for the pre-facelift Wright Gemini 3 were placed byDublin Bus, who have taken over 600 of the type on from 2014 onwards, the majority of which were built on the Volvo B5TL chassis. Some of these have since transferred toGo-Ahead Ireland following the retendering of Dublin Bus services to the new company by theNational Transport Authority.[71][page needed]
In London, pre-facelift Wright Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5LH chassis were delivered toStagecoach London, who took delivery of 32 of the type in 2014 for service onroute 53;[10]: 162–163 [72] these were subsequently disposed of to Arriva London in 2018.[73] Metroline, meanwhile, took delivery of 95 B5LHs with pre-facelift Wright Gemini 3 bodies,[10]: 109–112 and in 2015,London United took delivery of 28 Gemini 3s, withTower Transit also taking delivery of eleven Gemini 3s.[10]: 68, 90 [74]
Lothian Buses purchased 25 pre-facelift Wright Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5TL chassis in 2014,[75] andYellow Buses took delivery of eight Gemini 3s on Volvo B5TL chassis in 2015.[76][77] Delaine Buses purchased three Wright Gemini 3-bodied B5TLs between 2015 and 2017.[78]
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In 2014, to coincide with the launch of the integralWright StreetDeck, the Gemini 3 underwent a facelift. Both the front and rear ends were substantially redesigned to match the StreetDeck.
Lothian Buses took delivery of a large number of facelift Wright Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5TL and B5LH chassis from 2015 until 2019, many of which were ordered through a four-year agreement signed in 2016 with Wrightbus to supply new buses to Lothian's fleet.[79][80] A majority of these Gemini 3s were delivered for the standard fleet to replace older buses,[81][82] however some were also delivered for use onAirlink andSkylink services, the latter of which was specified to operate B5LH hybrids.[83][84]
The facelift Wright Gemini 3 also can be configured as a purpose-builtopen top bus. The biggest customer for the open-top Gemini 3 is Lothian Buses, who took 30 examples for use on the company'sCity Sightseeing, Edinburgh Tour and Majestic Tour operations in 2016.[85]Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire, meanwhile, received seven open-top Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5TL chassis for use on the operator'sLakesider sightseeing service in theLake District in 2017,[86][87] andStagecoach East received six B5TL Gemini 3 open-toppers in 2018 for its City Sightseeing operations inCambridge.[88][89]
Translink, who were a launch customer for the facelift Wright Gemini 3, standardised on both pre and post-facelift Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5TL chassis, with a majority being delivered toMetro for use inBelfast.[90] Ten facelift Gemini 3s were also delivered in May 2017 forAirport Express services servingBelfast International Airport.[91]
Transdev Blazefield first took delivery of 14 high-specification facelift Gemini 3s on the Volvo B5TL chassis to upgrade their36 service in 2016,[92] which was followed by the purchase of ten similar buses for theYorkshire Coastliner service in 2016.[93][94] Both services received three more Gemini 3s in 2017.
First Greater Manchester purchased 20 facelift Gemini 3s on Volvo B5LH hybrid chassis in 2015 for use onTransport for Greater Manchester-contractedVantage services on theLeigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit scheme, with five more acquired in 2016 to cope with increasing demand.[95][96]Arriva Merseyside also received 51 facelift Gemini 3s built with low-height bodies on the Volvo B5LH chassis between 2016 and 2017.[97] Smaller orders for the facelift Gemini 3 on the Volvo B5TL chassis, meanwhile, include theUniversity of Wolverhampton, who took delivery of five Gemini 3s for shuttle services between the university's campuses in 2017,[98] andSanders Services, who took delivery of two of the type in 2021.[99]
The first three-axle Volvo B8L delivered toSBS Transit in Singapore in 2017 received a facelifted Gemini 3 bodywork and was registered as SG4003D. It failed trials in Singapore as a demonstrator for 3 years, and was subsequently bought by private operator A&S Transit (bus is now registered as PD169L).
Hong Kong's franchised bus operators have also placed orders for Volvo B8Ls with Gemini 3 bodywork – 200 for Kowloon Motor Bus, 10 for Long Win Bus, 46 for Citybus and 7 for New World First Bus. KMB's vehicles entered service in March 2018, with Citybus and New World First Bus's examples entering service in December 2019.[citation needed]
Hato Bus ordered 5 sightseeing buses in December 2018 on the twin-axle Scania K410EB chassis.[100] These were delivered sometime in 2020 and were unveiled in 2021.[101][102]
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Competitors:
Brian Souter of Stagecoach [...] was enthusiastic about the whole InterConnect concept, agreeing that the injection of new buses will help. Six new Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Geminis are expected and Hill pulled out drawings of the livery that will be applied to these buses.
Media related toWright Eclipse Gemini at Wikimedia Commons