Prototype Enviro 200

Pre Note by Au: This was in draft when James left the blog. This has meant that this is still left. So, instead of wasting a subject, the WLTM Transport Blog as a team have completed this post. I've done a few edits to this rusty post, because, well, why not?

Now, James?:
The Enviro 200 Dart is a well known bus around the UK and especially London, where many of the main operators in London have at least a batch of them for a route. We're all familiar of the shape, the size and the layout of the E200.

An Enviro 200 of Abellio London at West Middlesex Hospital. These have gone a redesign since the launch to comply with ECWTA regulations. (James Panaligan)

It, however, had a prototype. The initial design differs from the original, mainly for the front styling but mainly because of the doors. Unlike the Dart chassis, where the door is located on the centre of the bus, inbetween the wheels, the prototype Enviro 200 "Easy Flow" bus had a door at the very rear, behind the rear wheel, creating a fully low floor bus. This was done by mounting the engine to the side making enough space for a rear door. This was a very strange layout. It never caught on with operators and the period of time it was conceived was when TransBus became Alexander Dennis and this had an impact on the sales of the bus that none were ordered.

The Demonstrator, SN54 GRU, at the Cobham Bus Rally, 2007 (Arriva436, photo under creative commons. Yes, it is on Wikipedia...)

It found service on Route 33, 214 before going to Stagecoach, Safeguard amongst other operators on the course of the very eventful life it has had so far:

London United trialled the bus for a bit on Route 33 back in 2005-2006 (Unisouth, photo under creative commons. Yes, it is on Wikipedia...)

So, where is it now? Including the London demonstrator, three were built. These were originally built for London, where the rear door would provide easy access to the pavement and it would benefit from a dual door bus like this. Two other examples, GX56 BKY and GX56 BKZ were operated by Far East Buses and was, for a while, left in a yard to rust.
It was then bought by it's present home at Buses Excetera. It currently operates on any route with Buses Excetera, to be honest. It is however "allocated" to the 516. SN54 GRU is now at Buses Excetera too, with the rest. It's an interesting sight to see what could've been the E200 we all know today, with a strange rear door at the very back...

Here are some pictures of the Enviro 200 demonstrators at the Cobham Spring Gathering by Lewis:

Buses Excetera S12ETC (formerly GX56 BKZ) on route 462 (Lewis)

Buses Excetera S13ETC (formerly GX56 BKY) displaying route 25 (Lewis)

The interior view of the bus shows the unusual layout adopted by Transbus in this prototype (Lewis)

The cab of the Enviro 200 (Lewis)

Here is S40ETC (SN54GRU) on Rail Replacement by Josh:

 
Buses Excetera S40 (S40ETC, formerly SN54 GRU), Surbiton, 17/11/13 (Josh)

And now, Buses Excetera have the demonstrator of the current, "newer" E20D:

Buses Excetera YX63 GYG on Rail Replacement, 17/11/13 (Josh)

What next for the now successful Enviro 200 design?...

(text by James and Aubrey, photos by James, Arriva436, Unisouth, Joshua Perrett, Lewis Nagle)