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East Lancs Pyoneer
Preserved Metrobus East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympian in July 2015
Overview
ManufacturerEast Lancashire Coachbuilders
Production1997-2002
Body and chassis
Doors1 or 2 door
Floor typeStep entrance
ChassisVolvo Olympian
Dennis Arrow
Volvo B10M
Powertrain
EngineCummins C-series (Dennis Arrow)
Volvo (Volvo)
Chronology
PredecessorEast Lancs E Type
East Lancs Cityzen
SuccessorEast Lancs Lolyne
East Lancs Vyking

The East Lancs Pyoneer is a type of step entrance double-decker bus body built on the Volvo Olympian, Dennis Arrow and Volvo B10M by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name continues the pattern of using 'misspelt' product names, started by the Cityzen.

Design

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The high floor Pyoneer was launched around 1997 to complement the earlier Cityzen. Around the time the Pyoneer was introduced, however, the first low-floor double-decker bus chassis began to break in the United Kingdom and Irish operating markets, with mainstream production of these buses beginning in 1998. With the Pyoneer being a design tailored for step entrance chassis, this led to the subsequent development of the similarly-styled Loylne on Dennis Trident 2 chassis in 1998, later complemented by the Vyking on Volvo B7TL chassis, the Volvo Olympian's successor, in 2000.

Operators

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Aintree Coachline East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Dennis Arrow in November 2017

The largest operator of East Lancs Pyoneers was Nottingham City Transport, who took delivery of 42 Pyoneers between 1998 and 2002, predominantly built on Volvo Olympian chassis; of these, Nottingham took delivery ten Pyoneers on Volvo B10M chassis in 1998,[1] taking delivery of another in 2002 as both the last Pyoneer body produced as well as the last step-entrance double-decker to enter service in Britain.[citation needed]

Two other major operators of Pyoneers on Volvo Olympian chassis were Metrobus of Orpington and Harris Bus, both of which were operators of tendered London Regional Transport (LRT) bus services. Harris Bus initially took delivery of 22 Pyoneers for a range of its LRT tendered services,[2] having a further 13 delivered in early 1998,[citation needed] while Metrobus took delivery of fifteen Pyoneers for use on route 64 in 1997.[3]

The Pyoneer body was one of only three that were built on the short-lived Dennis Arrow chassis, the other being East Lancs' EL2000 body and the Northern Counties Palatine II. Of 41 produced, all but three Pyoneers on Dennis Arrow chassis were delivered to Capital Citybus.[4] One of the remaining two Arrows was delivered to Aintree Coachline, another delivered to London Traveller, and the remaining Pyoneer was purchased for conversion into a playbus.[5]

Pyoneers were also popular with the Traction Group companies, already a major purchaser of East Lancs products. During 1998, eight Pyoneer-bodied short-wheelbase Volvo Olympians were delivered to Strathtay Scottish, with an additional two long-wheelbase examples delivered to Lincolnshire RoadCar for use on a service between Lincoln and Skegness.[6]

Smaller operators of Pyoneers included Blue Bus of Bolton, taking five on Volvo Olympian chassis between 1998 and 1999.[7]

Rebodies

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Six Pyoneers were constructed as rebodies of coach-bodied Volvo B10Ms. Four of these were delivered to Dunn-Line of Nottingham between 1997 and 1998,[8] one was delivered to First Northampton in 1998,[9] and another was delivered to Rodger's of Weldon that same year.

Open-top exports

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Open-top left-hand drive Pyoneers on Volvo B10M chassis were supplied to the Cityrama sightseeing company in Paris, France in 1998, one of which was used to transport the France national football team in a victory parade along the Champs-Élysées following the 1998 FIFA World Cup final, resulting in a further six being ordered by Cityrama.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "NCT getting 25 Pyoneer deckers". Coach & Bus Week. No. 299. Peterborough: Emap. 11 December 1997. p. 31. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  2. ^ "East Lancs for Harris". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 432. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 24 October 1997.
  3. ^ "Metrobus invest". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 432. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 24 October 1997.
  4. ^ "Arrows 'right on target'". Coach & Bus Week. No. 299. Peterborough: Emap. 11 December 1997. p. 30. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  5. ^ Morgan, Mike (11 May 1996). "Targeting a ton". Coach & Bus Week. No. 217. Peterborough: Emap. p. 10. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Tracky puts in £4.5m order". Coach & Bus Week. No. 303. Peterborough: Emap. 15 January 1998. p. 11. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  7. ^ Lidstone, John G. (November 1998). "Fleet News England & Wales". Buses. No. 524. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 41. Retrieved 24 September 2024. Following the delivery of new coach-seated Volvo Olympian/East Lancs Pyoneer DPH45/30F 44 (R44 BLU), a further pair has been delivered as bus-seated 43 and 45 (S43, 45 SNB).
  8. ^ "Pyoneering way forward". Coach & Bus Week. No. 288. Peterborough: Emap. 25 September 1997. p. 31. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  9. ^ Fenton, Mike (April 2002). "The Fenton File". Buses. No. 565. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. p. 36. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Lancs bus for champs along the Champs". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. 15 July 1998. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
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