Wright StreetCar

The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo for FirstGroup. It was built on the Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in Europe.

Wright StreetCar
First York Wright StreetCar in York in April 2007
Overview
ManufacturerWrightbus
Production2006 - 2009
AssemblyBallymena, Northern Ireland
Body and chassis
Doors2 or 3
Floor typeLow floor
ChassisVolvo B7LA
Carrosserie Hess
Powertrain
EngineVolvo (Volvo B7LA)
Cummins (Carrosserie Hess)
TransmissionZF Friedrichshafen
Allison Transmission
Chronology
PredecessorWright Eclipse Fusion

It features wrap-around seating arrangement at the rear. They were designed to mimic trams and used on FirstGroup's FTR services with high frequencies and dedicated stops to further enforce the impression of a premium service.[1][2][3] They gain the nickname of "understeer streetcar" with some drivers because of a tendency to understeer negotiating roundabouts.

They were introduced on First York's route 4 between Acomb and the University of York on 8 May 2006, after the City of York Council had made significant alterations to the road layout to accommodate the new vehicles.[4][5][6] Further examples entered service with First Leeds, on First Capital Connect's Luton Airport Parkway railway station to Luton Airport shuttle and with First Cymru in Swansea.[7][8][9]

In 2008/09, 50 StreetCar Rapid Transit Vehicles were built for Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada in the United States for use on the RTC Transit.[10][11][12] Developed from the Wright StreetCar, they were built on Carrosserie Hess chassis. The first arrived in December 2008.

See also

References
  1. StreetCar from the Wright Group Wrightbus 23 September 2004
  2. StreetCar creates Desire Wrightbus 10 March 2005
  3. First confirms orders for 39 Streetcars Bus & Coach Professional 22 July 2005
  4. City first to use new bus fleet BBC News 22 February 2006
  5. It's the ftr of city travel The Press 24 April 2006
  6. The ftr of city travel arrives The Press 8 May 2006
  7. StreetCars upgrade Luton Airport link Bus & Coach Professional 30 January 2008
  8. First's Swansea Metro service launched Bus & Coach Professional 16 September 2009
  9. Bendy buses in Swansea to be scrapped over cost BBC News 24 June 2015
  10. StreetCar Breaks New Ground For The Wright Group Wrightbus 12 June 2006
  11. Wrightbus celebrates £31m deal for its new StreetCar Belfast Telegraph 8 October 2008
  12. Fifty Wrightbus New StreetCar RTV Vehicles for Southern Nevada Bus World 19 October 2008

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