Volvo B10L

Volvo B10L
A Wright Liberator-bodied Volvo B10L.
Overview
Manufacturer	Volvo
Production	1993–2005
Body and chassis
Class	Bus chassis
Doors	1, 2 or 3 doors
Floor type	Low floor
Dimensions
Length	12.0m to 18.0m
Width	2.5m
Height	3.0m
Chronology

The Volvo B10L was a rear-engined, low-floor single-decker public bus chassis built by Volvo between c. 1993 and c. 2005. An articulated version of the B10L, known as the B10LA, was also produced.

The B10L was available in the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1994 and 1999, with a choice of two types of bodywork, the Alexander (Belfast) Ultra and the Wright Liberator. The Alexander Ultra body was based on the Swedish design produced by Säffle (a subsidiary of Volvo), who built the body on the first B10L imported to Britain. The Wright bodywork proved slightly more popular.

In the UK, the articulated B10LA was bodied exclusively by Wrights for FirstGroup subsidiaries in Manchester (15), Leeds (15) and Glasgow (10). The Wright body for the B10LA is named Fusion.

The B10L enjoyed limited success in Britain. In 1997 the Volvo B10BLE was introduced to the British market, and this chassis rapidly became more popular. The B10BLE was cheaper than the B10L, and shared more in common with the step-entrance B10B, examples of which were already owned by many of its customers.

Other UK operators who purchased B10Ls include:

The pioneer Säffle-bodied B10L was new to Mainline (now First South Yorkshire) but they did not order any further examples and quickly disposed of it. As of November 2006 it was being used around Lincoln by Stagecoach subsidiary RoadCar.Now Preserved In Essex in Cream and Green. Ironically, the 15 Wright-bodied examples in the FirstGroup are all due to be transferred to First South Yorkshire.