Optare Esteem
Encyclopedia
Optare
Optare plc is a bus manufacturer and importer based in Leeds and Blackburn, UK. The company operates from three main business units, Bus Manufacturing, Coach Sales and Unitec....
Esteem (introduced in 2006 as the East Lancs Esteem, and sold as the Darwen Esteem between 2007 and 2008) is a single-deck bus body. It has been built on Scania N94UB
Scania N94
The Scania N94 was a transverse-engined low-floor city bus built by Scania AB, which was a direct replacement of Scania N113.It was originally available with rigid version N94UB and articulated version N94UA, but from 2002 a double-deck version known as the N94UD also became available.The N94UD was...
, Scania N230UB
Scania N-series
Scania N-series is a series of city bus with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV/Euro V engine at the rear.It is available as N230UB, N270UB as well as the N230UD and N270UD...
, Volvo B7RLE
Volvo B7RLE
Volvo B7RLE is a low-floor single-deck citybus launched initially in Australia in 2001, and then in the United Kingdom in 2003 to supplement the B7L single-decker, which was unsuccessful in both countries. It is similar to the B7L's predecessor, the B10BLE...
, MAN 12.240, Dennis Dart SLF, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis.
The Esteem was launched by East Lancashire Coachbuilders
East Lancashire Coachbuilders
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.In 1994 the company expanded in to new premises and commenced a programme of development that resulted in a range of single and double deck buses which was the...
. When they went into administration, they were bought by Darwen Group
Darwen Group
The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007...
and the Esteem was rebranded. Darwen later performed a reverse takeover
Reverse takeover
A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...
of Optare, resulting in the Esteem being rebranded again.
Metrobus
Metrobus (Go-Ahead Group)
Metrobus is a bus operator with routes in south and south-east London, and parts of Surrey, Kent, West and East Sussex. The company operates many routes on tender from Transport for London. Formed through a management buyout of Tillingbourne Ltd...
have the largest number of the original East Lancs Esteems, approximately half of which are on the OmniTown chassis while the other half are on Dennis Dart SLF chassis (which has now been superseded by the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart). The first two Esteems to be built on the Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis were delivered to Courtney Coaches
Courtney Coaches
Courtney Coaches are a bus operator baseed in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. They operate a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in and around Bracknell and Maidenhead...
in 2006, and were the first Enviro300s with bodywork not built by Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis Limited is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom. It incorporated the three last surviving bus manufacturers which started bus production before World War II: Dennis, Alexander and Plaxton.- History :Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus on 1 January 2001, after the...
. Other companies who have Esteems in service are Stagecoach in Preston
Stagecoach in Preston
Stagecoach in Preston was a network of bus routes running within the city of Preston, Lancashire and into the surrounding area. It was founded in 2009 after Stagecoach Group acquired Preston Bus that was founded in 1904...
, Heathrow Airport (on contract to an operator) and many more.
The first few examples of the Esteem only had new front and rear ends, the sides still being of the older Myllennium
East Lancs Myllennium
The East Lancs Myllennium is a type of bus body built on MAN, Volvo, DAF/VDL and Alexander Dennis chassis. It was built as a single and double deck body, with double deck bodies having slightly different names .-Single decker:...
design.
There are also two double-deck variants of this body - the Olympus
Optare Olympus
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare...
and the Visionaire (open top). An open top single decker, the Panaire
Darwen Panaire
The Darwen Panaire is a bus body built by the Darwen Group. It was in terms of engineering an open top Esteem in all but name. It was launched at Coach and Bus Live in November 2007. A double decker open top, the Visionaire, is also produced....
is also available.
A East Lancs demonstrator has toured the UK (2006/2007, some of the main places it has been to are London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with Blue Triangle
Blue Triangle
Blue Triangle is one of many operators of London Buses, it is based in Rainham and is part of Go-Ahead London. It is the operator of the East London Transit service.-History:...
; Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, with Nottingham City Transport
Nottingham City Transport
Nottingham City Transport is the major bus operator of the English city of Nottingham, running a comprehensive network of services in the Greater Nottingham area, with some services continuing to Southwell, Loughborough, and East Midlands Airport. There are over 80 routes across the City, giving...
; Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, with Reading Buses Picture, Blackburn, with Blackburn Transport
Blackburn Transport
Blackburn Transport was a British bus company that operated bus services within the Borough of Blackburn and Darwen and surrounding areas in Lancashire.-History:...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, with Uni-link
Uni-link
Uni-link is the brand for bus services run under contract for the University of Southampton in Southampton, Hampshire, England, by existing bus companies...
.
The first cutomers for the Esteem under Darwen ownership were Preston Bus
Preston Bus
Preston Bus is a bus operator running within the city of Preston, England and into the surrounding area. In 2009, it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group and was rebranded Stagecoach in Preston, before they were subsequently ordered to sell the company as a result of competition concerns...
, one of whose vehicles was shown at Coach and Bus Live 2007.
As of December 2008, the Esteem has been removed (along with the Solo+) from the products list on Optare's website. Production of Optare Esteem ended in 2009, with the last being built on Enviro200 Dart chassis for Go-Ahead London
Go-Ahead London
Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the Go-Ahead Group. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands...
.