32-474: Wrightbus is a Northern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus . The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright , until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman Jo Bamford . Wrightbus was founded in 1946 as Robert Wright & Son Coachbuilders. In its early years it rebodied lorries . In 1978, the company released its first aluminium-structured bus bodywork. Wright's breakthrough into
64-500: A Grayson HVAC system, all capable of being performed over a period of three weeks at a factory capacity of six buses being converted at one time. Wrightbus also announced it had opened a bus refurbishment business a short distance from the NewPower facility, which is aimed to complete external and internal refurbishments of buses following their battery electric conversions. In 1997, an order for 25 Wright Crusader -bodied Dennis Darts
96-738: A desire to appear 'neutral'. However, surveys show that 'Northern Irish' identity tends to have different meanings for Catholics and Protestants. Surveys also show that those choosing 'Northern Irish' alone regard their national identity as less important than those choosing British and Irish. In recent Northern Ireland censuses, respondents could choose more than one national identity. In 2021: The main national identities given in recent censuses were: The numbers for each identity were as follows: 1,073,200 respondents total. 1,137,546 respondents total. National Identity by Religion (2011) Those people in Northern Ireland who fall into
128-710: A driveline based on the GB Kite Hydroliner for a hydrogen fuel cell-powered coach, which will be intended as a functional "technology demonstrator". A driveline demonstrator capable of a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) was unveiled in September 2024 at the Cenex net-zero mobility show in Bedfordshire, with development work on the coach set to complete by 2025 before it takes to the road during 2026. In June 2024, Wrightbus announced it had formed NewPower,
160-567: A majority of people of Catholic background are Irish. This has origins in the 17th-century Plantation of Ulster . In the early 20th century, most Ulster Protestants and Catholics saw themselves as Irish, although Protestants tended to have a strong sense of Britishness also. Following the Home Rule Crisis and Irish War of Independence , Protestants gradually began to abandon Irish identity, as Irishness and Britishness came to be seen moreso as mutually exclusive. In 1968 – just before
192-535: A new subsidiary headquartered at the former Arrival Bus factory in Bicester , Oxfordshire , aimed at facilitating battery electric repowering of existing diesel Wrightbus buses, such as the StreetDeck, Gemini 2 and New Routemaster. At a cost of over £200,000, the repowering process involves the removal of the diesel drivetrain and ensuing fitment of a Voith Electric Drive System coupled with NMC battery packs and
224-525: A part of the Wright Group. Companies formed alongside Wrightbus in the Wright Group were Expotech, handling the export of the group's technologies and international joint ventures such as Chance Coaches , and CustomCare, an aftermarket support operation servicing buses delivered by both Wrightbus and other bus manufacturers. After production of the Volvo B10BLE ceased in 2001, Wrightbus developed
256-594: A partnership with Daimler Buses to manufacture buses in Chennai , India. In March 2014, orders were secured from Hong Kong operators Citybus and New World First Bus for 51 bodies on Volvo B9TL chassis. These were sent in CKD form from Northern Ireland and assembled in Malaysia. In July 2014, SBS Transit ordered a further 415 Eclipse Gemini 2-bodied Volvo B9TLs which will be delivered from August 2015 till 2017, increasing
288-435: A takeover of the company. Since the takeover of Wrightbus, Bamford has been committed to creating a market for hydrogen buses with a reconfigured StreetDeck that is powered by hydrogen. In 2020, Bamford said he planned to build 3,000 buses of this type by 2024. Wrightbus has followed two strategies towards achieving zero emission : creating battery-powered and fuel cell (powered by hydrogen) vehicles. Early orders following
320-539: Is a British citizen , an Irish citizen or is otherwise entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence, under the Belfast Agreement . Under the agreement, people of Northern Ireland have the right to identify either as Irish or British, or both, and their entitlement to Irish citizenship and British citizenship is recognised by the Government of Ireland and
352-599: The Endeavour which was fitted to Dennis Javelin , Leyland Tiger and Scania K93 chassis, and enabled Wright to develop its highly successful Endurance body which competed with the Alexander Strider and Northern Counties Paladin for orders on Volvo B10B and Scania N113 CRB chassis. Other Wright products introduced in this period included two Mercedes-Benz -based products, the O405 based Cityranger and
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#1732794087708384-507: The Government of the United Kingdom . Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern Irish, Irish or British , or a combination thereof. In Northern Ireland, national identity is complex and diverse. The question of national identity was asked in the 2021 census with the three most common identities given being British , Irish and Northern Irish. Most people of Protestant background consider themselves British, while
416-996: The MAN A22 full low-floor single-deck chassis. Wrightbus' first double-decker bus , the Wright Eclipse Gemini , was launched on the Volvo B7TL chassis in 2001. A similarly styled bus entered service with Arriva London in August 2003 as the Wright Pulsar Gemini on the VDL DB250 chassis. Large operators of Gemini-bodied Wrightbus buses included Arriva , the FirstGroup , the Go-Ahead Group , Lothian Buses and National Express ' West Midlands , Coventry and Dundee operations. One of
448-680: The Volvo B5TL , Volvo B5LH and Volvo B8RLE . In 2016, the Wright SRM was introduced on the Volvo B5LH . It was an adaptation of the New Routemaster body onto Volvo's hybrid chassis at a shorter length of 10.6 metres (35 ft), with only six sold to RATP Dev subsidiary London United that same year. Between September and October 2019, Wrightbus entered administration with the suspension of 1,300 jobs at its factory. At
480-518: The Wright Eclipse body for the new Volvo B7L chassis, which due to its vertical rear engine wasn't popular with many operators. Nevertheless, Wright did not lose custom and many operators such as Ulsterbus switched to the incline-engined Scania L94UB , on a similar Wright Solar body. Another bodywork which resembles the current Solar/ Eclipse range is the Meridian , which was bodied on
512-743: The Axcess-Ultralow was FirstGroup , taking approximately 240. Next up was the Volvo B10L based Liberator introduced at the end of 1995: National Express ordered 120 in 1997. This would be followed by the Renown body built on the Volvo B10BLE chassis, which went on to become the standard bus of the Blazefield Group . Robert Wright & Son was restructured in 2000, with the bus building operation rebranded to Wrightbus as
544-568: The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey started asking respondents whether they think of themselves as British, Irish, Ulster, or Northern Irish. According to the 2019 survey of this series, individuals from Northern Ireland identify as: In the 2007 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, the question was asked, "thinking about each of these national identities in turn, how strongly do you feel yourself to be [Irish/British/Northern Irish/Ulster?]" Individuals responded for each of
576-629: The OH1416 based Urbanranger . The latter was launched around the time bus operators in the UK began switching to low floor chassis and consequently only attracted a handful of orders. However, Wright had become well established in the bus bodybuilding sector by then, and was able to exploit the opportunities the low-floor revolution would offer it from the mid-1990s onwards. In 1993, the Pathfinder on low floor Dennis Lance SLF and Scania N113 CRL chassis
608-427: The category of other religions amounts to less than one percent of the population. Detail by Religion (2011) Note that Northern Ireland is made up of approximately 42% Protestant; 41% Roman Catholic; 17% no religion; and 0.8% other religions. National Identity by District (2011) National identity by religion or religion brought up in for each district (2011) National Identity by Age (2011) In 1998
640-498: The company's former workers, including members of the Wright family. On 11 October 2019, a deal was reached in principle between Jo Bamford (son of Anthony Bamford , chairman of the construction equipment manufacturer JCB ) and the Wright family for the land used by the factory, a sticking point in negotiations to sell the firm. A deal was made with the administrators eleven days later, with Jo Bamford's Bamford Bus Company concluding
672-651: The company's most notable products is the New Routemaster London bus, introduced in February 2012 as an update of the AEC Routemaster . Production ended in 2017 when the 1,000th New Routemaster left the production line. Since May 2013, Wrightbus began building its own chassis, the StreetLite single-decker and StreetDeck double decker. However, they still continue to produce bodywork for
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#1732794087708704-677: The first of 450 Wright Eclipse Gemini 2-bodied Volvo B9TLs was delivered to SBS Transit , Singapore till end 2012. In 2011, Wrightbus International was established. A contract was awarded by SBS Transit for 565 Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs and delivered since January 2013 till June 2015. In November 2012, a contract for 50 Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvos was awarded by Kowloon Motor Bus. These were sent in knock-down kit (CKD) form from Northern Ireland and assembled in China and followed by another 85, including two 12.8-metre-long demonstrators. In September 2013, Wrightbus entered into
736-600: The identities as follows: Northern Irish British Irish Ulster Wright Meridian The Wright Meridian was a low floor single-decker bus body built on the MAN NL273F chassis by Wrightbus . The body was essentially the same as the Eclipse . The first production vehicle was launched as a demonstrator in October 2007. It was later purchased by Whitelaw's Coaches of Stonehouse who ordered
768-594: The introduction of Wright's Electroliner and Hydroliner range included the Go-Ahead Group , who placed orders for fuel cell buses for its Metrobus fleet on the Fastway bus rapid transit service, and Translink of Northern Ireland, who placed an initial order for 38 battery electric buses . Wrightbus announced in February 2023 that it was planning to build a green hydrogen production facility on its Ballymena site in partnership with Hygen Energy, capable of producing enough hydrogen to fuel up to 300 buses per day with
800-402: The mainstream bus bodybuilding sector came in the early 1990s. The Handybus was a midibus body offered on a variety of chassis but was most successful on the emerging Dennis Dart , attracting reasonably-sized orders from a variety of operators including London Buses , Go Ahead Northern , Ulsterbus and Citybus (Belfast) . This was followed by a move into the full-size single deck market with
832-410: The majority of Catholics have continued to see themselves as Irish. From 1989, 'Northern Irish' began to be included as an identity choice in surveys, and its popularity has grown since then. Some organizations have promoted 'Northern Irish' identity as a way of overcoming sectarian division. In a 1998 survey of students, this was one of the main reasons they gave for choosing that identity, along with
864-484: The onset of the Troubles – 39% of Protestants described themselves as British and 20% of Protestants described themselves as Irish, while 32% chose an Ulster identity. By 1978, following the worst years of the conflict, there had been a large shift in identity amongst Protestants, with the majority (67%) now calling themselves British and only 8% calling themselves Irish. This shift has not been reversed. Meanwhile,
896-471: The option to triple its production in line with future demand for the fuel. Funding for the construction of electrolysers at the facility was secured from the first round of the UK government's £37.9 million UK Net Zero Hydrogen Fund in March 2023. Wrightbus was later granted up to £534,000 million in funding from the UK government-sponsored Advanced Propulsion Centre fund in September 2023 to develop
928-512: The time Deloitte was appointed as the company's administrators, Wrightbus was £60 million in debt, with £38.1 million of that debt owed to the Bank of Ireland . During the six years prior to Wrightbus going into administration, it was reported that Jeff Wright, the owner of the company, had donated £15 million to a church he had founded in 2007, Green Pastures Church. This led to protests on 29 September 2019 which were joined by many of
960-534: The total to 1,430 by 2017. A single Eclipse Gemini 3-bodied Volvo B8L prototype was exported to Singapore for trial with SBS Transit but was subsequently sold to A&S Transit, a private bus operator in Singapore. Northern Irish Modern ethnicities The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who
992-408: Was delivered to Australian operator ACTION . Between 2003 and 2006, Hong Kong operator Kowloon Motor Bus received a total of 164 Wrightbus three-axle double-deckers; 100 of them were on Volvo Super Olympian and 64 of them were on Volvo B9TL chassis. In 2009, Kowloon Motor Bus had ordered a total of 291 buses, including one demonstrator with two-axle, and all buses were in service in 2012. In 2010,
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1024-555: Was unveiled. The Axcess-Ultralow was introduced in 1995 and offered on the Scania L113 chassis. At this time it was selling in reasonable numbers to UK bus operators, but unlike other bodybuilders who could only offer the L113 with step-entrance bodies, Wright modified it by removing the middle section of the chassis and thus offered UK bus operators one of the first mainstream low-floor body/chassis combinations. A major customer for
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