Dennis Tridents first appeared in the Preston Bus fleet in 1999 with the delivery of 190-196 [V190-196EBV]. From November 2000-January 2001 a further 11 were bought and these were 182-189, 197-199 [X182-189, 197-199RRN]. All have East Lancashire Lolyne H45/30F bodies. They carry route branding for either Super Route 22/23 from Asda (23) / Fulwood (22) via Plungington Road to town of 33/35 from Tanterton to town via Brook Street (33) of Fylde Road (35)
As can be seen from the photos, they are also occasionally used on school services and private hire

Preston Bus once operated a large fleet of Leyland Atlanteans, the majority of which were 2 door when new. That number has steadily dwindled over the years to the extent that only 8 now survive. These are
142/3 [UNG142/3V] with Alexander H49/36F body, new in 1980
172 [URN172Y] with East Lancs H50/36F body, new in 1982
173-177 [DRN173-177Y] with East Lancs H50/36F body, 1983
Generally, they are only used on school services and this can often take them out of Preston to Garstang, Chorley, Freckleton or Much Hoole. However, it is not uncommon to see at least one vehicle on all day service on routes 11 or 16
The photos here show some vehicles that have now left the fleet. It also shows some in the old and new livery. At the present time, these vehicles are going through the bodyshop to have their side destinations removed and pannelled over, giving them a rather different look [photos shortly]

Single deckers in the Preston Bus fleet are represented by a group of 16 Leyland Lynx vehicles. These comprise
210-213 [F210-213YHG], 214-218 [G214-218KRN] new in 1989.
Mark 2 Lynx 222 [J929MKC] which came from Halton in 2003.
223,224,226-229 [H23,24,26-29YBV] new in 1991.
The majority carry DP45F bodies, although 210 & 211 are B47F. Several have recently been refurbished by the Company, including 215, 218 & 228.
They are mainly found on services 11 to Gamull Lane and 16 to Farringdon Park. Occasionally used on private hires, they are rarely used on school services. During 2006 seven of these vehicles are due to be replaced by Scania / East Lancashire single deckers

The fleet consists of 18 Leyland Olympians with a variety of types and bodies. These are as follows
100 [F32AHG] ONCL10/2RZ / Northern Counties H51/34F, 1989
101-104 [H101-104BFR] ON2R50C13Z4 / Northern Counties Palatine H47/30F, 1991
106 [J976PRW] ON2R50C13Z4 / Leyland H47/31F, 1991
107,114 [J107,114KCW] ON2R50C13Z4 / Leyland DPH43/29F, 1992
108-110,112,113 [J108-110,112,113KCW] ON2R50C13Z4 / Leyland H47/31F, 1992
133 [A33MRN] ONTL11/2R / ECW H47/25F, 1984
134,135 [G34,35OCK] ONCL10/1RZ / ECW DPH43/29F, 1990
136,137 [G36,37OCK] ONCL10/1RZ / ECW H47/31F, 1990
Note the West Midlands registration of 106, which shows it to have been a demonstrator before purchase. Other photos worthy of mention are those of 107 in an experimental livery that never saw the light of day and those taken far away from Preston [107 at Heathrow, 110 in the Peak District, 114 at Crawley and 136 at Huntingdon and Black Country Museum]. On a more realistic note, Olympians can be found operating on almost any decker route in Preston and, with the demise of the Atlanteans, on school buses and baths contracts on most days throughout the city.
The photo to the left shows 108 on the morning of the final day of operation of the school service 680 from Much Hoole to Penwortham. A happy time was had by all.

Preston Bus recently took the decision to replace some of the time expired Atlanteans that had served the company well since the early 80's. Vehicles from several operators were considered, but the final decision was made to purchase 10 Leyland Olympians from Lothian Transport. These are of type ONCL10/2RZ and are fitted with Alexander RH H51/30D bodies. This a brief photographic history of the delivery runs, conversions and eventual entry into service.

Delivery runs were made on the following days
08/03/05 [127,130] ; 15/03/05 [125.131] ; 22/03/05 [129,132] ; 05/04/05 [123,124] ; 19/04/05 [126,128].
The delivery run photos were taken at either a suitable layby on the A702 just after leaving Edinburgh or at Annandale Water Services

All were painted by Lothian before leaving Edinburgh, but the centre doors were left intact [making some of these photos quite rare]. They were all taken directly to S&T at Blackburn for conversion to single door. The first vehicle to see service was 125 on 08/04/08 and since that photo was taken minor modifications have been made to the fleet name positioning. It is also noticeable that all the vehicles are different from each other. This may be only in minor detail or something more obvious. 126 & 127, for example, are fitted with moquette seats ; 126 has a different grille ; cab layouts are variable as well.

The first MetroRiders arrived in 1994 and a total of 40 of this type of vehicle were operated new by Preston Bus. These consisted of
1-10 [M401-10TCK] MetroRider MR37 / B25F, 1994
11-16 [P411-6TFR] MetroRider MR37 / B25F, 1996
17-19 [R417-9RCW] MetroRider MR17 / B29F , 1998
20-31 [N420-31GBV] MetroRider MR17 / B29F, 1995
32-37 [R432-7NFR] MetroRider MR17 / B29F, 1997
38-40 [R438-40RCW] MetroRider MR17 / B29F, 1998
They are used on a variety of routes such as 6 & 7 [to Brookfield], 14 [to Fairfax Road], 21 [to Broadgate] and 36 [to Cottam]. At the time of preparing this section, 1-10, 20/1 have left the fleet. Two former London vehicles were acquired from Blackburn Transport in 2000, but these departed in 2005 [41/2 J697/9CGK]

The first batch of Optare Solo's were delivered from December 2001. These comprised 51-58 [PE51 YHF/G/H/J/K/L/M/N]. All are Optare Solo M850 with Optare B29F body. They are dedicated to Super Route 19 from Preston Bus Station to Royal Preston Hospital. The route passes several important buildings in the city and these are clearly listed along the side of the vehicles above the windows - Preston North End Football Ground - National Football Museum - Preston College. During the day, the service operates about every 5/6 minutes.
In November 2002 the second batch of Optatre Solo's started to arrive. These too were M850's with B29F bodywork. The vehicles comprised 59-67 [PN52ZVH/J/K/L/M/O/P/R/S]. They are all dedicated vehicles to the two Park & Ride services that operate into the City centre. Service 1 operates from Portway to Lune Street up to every 6 minutes during the day. This service has operated for several years, originally using dedicated MetroRiders. In December 2002, service 2 was started from Walton-le-Dale to Jacson Street [by Harris Library] and opportunity was taken to upgrade the vehicles to a common standard for both srervices. They are easy access with air conditioning, double glazing and internal / external CCTV for added security. The Park & Ride vehicles are all in a special livery developed between Preston Bus and Lancashire County Council.
Delivered in December 2005, Solo's 81-83, which are M920/B32F, were placed in service on route 27 from Larches Estate. These formed part of the order for vehicles which were eventually put on the Preston Orbital service

This section covers former Preston Bus vehicles and the two coaches that have operated recently.

There are photos of Atlanteans 101 & 110, both of which passed to Hyndburn Transport in 1990. Then, via Ribble in 1996, they moved to Blazefield and are seen here with Lancashire United fleetnames (at Blackburn) in 2001.

Preston Atlantean 146 is seen at both Newark (23/09/96) and Lincoln (21/08/04) in Lincolnshire Road Car colours. It was sold to that operator in 1996 and was only withdrawn in autumn 2005.

Preston Bus operate private hire and excursions using the one coach in the fleet. Until 2003, a Leyland Tiger with Duple 320 C51F body was used (309) and there are views of the vehicle at Crawley (in June 2002) and after sale at Bon Chaunce, Bilsborrow. It was replaced by a Volvo B10M / Van Hool Alizee C53F vehicle from Bassetts, Stoke-on-Trent (323). There are views of this vehicle in depot (with the original registration mark of T894HBF) and at Holyhead, Edinburgh and Lincoln.

The remainder of the photos show some of the various demonstrators that have appeared at Preston Bus over the past few years

A few photos of Preston Bus vehicles operating services on Thursday 22nd January. At midnight on that day Preston Bus passed into the ownership of Stagecoach Holdings. Preston Bus is no more.

These are a collection of photo's of the vehicles that are currently owned by Preston Bus. With the impending sale to Stagecoach in late January, I thought it might be a good idea to show this in photographic form. Not all the photo's have been taken recently, not all the photo's have been taken in Preston, not all the photo's show the vehicle in its current livery. All vehicles are operational except for one MetroRider [30] It does, however, show that Preston Bus is a little more diverse than people may think. I hope you enjoy the photo's.