Northern Counties Palatine

Northern Counties Palatine
A Warrington Borough Transport bus with Northern Counties Palatine bodywork.
Lower Saloon of a Northern Counties Palatine Leyland Olympian
Overview
Manufacturer	Northern Counties
Body and chassis
Doors	1 or 2 doors
Floor type	Step entrance
Chassis	Leyland Olympian, Volvo Citybus, Volvo Olympian, DAF DB250, Scania N113
Powertrain
Engine	Cummins & Gardner (Leyland Olympian) Volvo (Volvo Citybus and Volvo Olympian) DAF (DAF DB250) Scania (Scania N113)
Transmission	Voith or ZF
Dimensions
Length	Varies
Width	Varies
Height	Varies
Chronology

The Northern Counties Palatine is a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK. It was built mainly on Leyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian chassis, although some were also built on DAF, Volvo B10M Citybus and Scania chassis. Two variants existed, the Palatine I (known as "Palatine" before 1992) which had a flatter windscreen, and the Palatine II (launched in 1993) which had a curved windscreen with an arched top resembling that of the single-decker Northern Counties Paladin.

MTL were a notable buyer, a batch of high-specification Palatine IIs entered service in 1996 on the 'Cross River' services through the Mersey Tunnels. Another batch of 22, branded as 'The Millennium Fleet' began operating on Merseyside in 1998.

Tri-axle Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodies were exported to Hong Kong. Between 1996 and 1998, Citybus received 55 and Kowloon and Canton Railway Corporation received 15.

Some Northern Counties Palatine buses were built as open-top buses for sightseeing purposes.

It was superseded by the Plaxton President body.

A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine I bodywork, operated by Go North East.

A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine I bodywork, operated by Arriva Southern Counties.