Lothian Buses: Volvo B7RLE / Wrightbus Eclipse Urban 2

English: Wrightbus Eclipse Urban 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE buses operated by Lothian Buses. The company took delivery of 29 between January 2009 and May 2013, in four batches of 4, 5, 5 and 15 buses respectively. They were the only new single-decker type bought in this period, following on from the earlier B7RLE / Eclipse Urban 1 batches, although in 2011 two second hand 55-reg Urban 1's also arrived (no.s 193/4). For various reasons they have worn a variety of liveries and fleetnames, both with and without branding.

batch 1 - 167-170 - 58 reg
batch 2 - 171-175 - 60 reg
batch 3 - 195-199 - 62 reg
batch 4 - 176-190 - 13 reg

Overview
batch 1
batch 2
batch 3
batch 4

First batch (58 reg) edit

The first batch saw 4 buses arrive with 58 registrations (SN58 Bxx), the same age identifier as on the last of the Urban 1 batches. Fleet numbers were assigned from 167, continuing the series ended with the Urban 1's. These were the last single-deckers to arrive in Harlequin livery - the first three were in plain, while the fourth (170) was delivered with Leader of the Pack branding, joining the similarly branded 57 registered B7RLE / Urban 1's - see Lothian Buses: route branding. All four were subsequently repainted into Classic livery.

fleetnumbers & registrations
No. 167 (SN58 BYU) No. 168 (SN58 BYV) No. 169 (SN58 BYW) No. 170 (SN58 BYX)

167-169 in Harlequin edit

170 in Leader of the Pack edit

Classic livery (Lothianbuses.com fleetname) edit

Classic livery (TfE fleetname) edit

Second batch (60 reg) edit

The second batch saw 5 buses arrive with 60 registrations (SN60 Exx, plus one cherished plate, LB60 BUS). Fleet numbers were assigned from 171, continuing the series from batch 1. These were the first new buses (of any type) to arrive with the new Classic livery, although they also carried a new route branding scheme - Queen of Scots - the same scheme was also applied to 57 registered B7RLE / Urban 1's in their repaint - see Lothian Buses: route branding. All five were eventually de-branded into normal Classic livery (TfE fleetnames). A fourth change came when the buses were repainted into the green & cream livery of the Lothian Country Buses fleet.

fleetnumbers & registrations
No. 171 (SN60 EOD) No. 172 (SN60 EOE) No. 173 (SN60 EOF) No. 174 (SN60 EOG) No. 175 (LB60 BUS)

Queen of Scots (Lothianbuses.com fleetname) edit

Queen of Scots (TfE fleetname) edit

Classic livery (TfE fleetname) edit

Lothian Country Buses livery edit

Third batch (62 reg) edit

The third batch saw 5 buses arrive with 62 registrations (SN62 Bxx, plus one cherished plate, LB62 BUS). Fleet numbers were assigned from a new position, from 195 (193/4 having been assigned to the second hand Urban 1's bought in 2011). These buses were first new buses to be bought for the the subsidiary fleet operating into East Lothian, which at the time was using the fleetname eastLothianbuses.com. The operation later became Lothian Country Buses, with the buses receiving the fleetname 'Lothian Country Buses' in the TfE style.

fleetnumbers & registrations
No. 195 (SN62 BNY) No. 196 (SN62 BPV) No. 197 (SN62 BTF) No. 198 (SN62 BUF) No. 199 (LB62 BUS)

eastLothianbuses.com livery edit

Lothian Country Buses livery edit

Fourth batch (13 reg) edit

The fourth batch saw 15 buses arrive with 13 registrations (SN13 Bxx). Fleet numbers were assigned from 176, returning the series back to the end of batch 3. These were the first single-deckers to be delivered in an unbranded version of Classic livery, much later than the first new double-deckers (11-registered B9TL / Gemini 2 batch), and with large numbers of single and double-deckers having been repainted into it by then.

fleetnumbers & registrations
No. 176 (SN13 BDZ) No. 177 (SN13 BEJ) No. 178 (SN13 BEO) No. 179 (SN13 BEU) No. 180 (SN13 BEY) No. 181 (SN13 BFA) No. 182 (SN13 BFE) No. 183 (SN13 BFF) No. 184 (SN13 BFJ) No. 185 (SN13 BFK) No. 186 (SN13 BFL) No. 187 (SN13 BFM) No. 188 (SN13 BFO) No. 189 (SN13 BFP) No. 190 (SN13 BFV)