The vehicle was designed in conjunction with Lothian and chassis manufacturer Volvo, and is the first bus for the UK to be mounted on Volvo’s three-axle B8L chassis, powered by the 345bhp Euro VI D8K engine.
The first vehicle was handed over at a ceremony on 8 November at ADL’s Falkirk plant by ADL chief executive Colin Robertson to Lothian managing director Richard Hall. The event was also attended by Scottish transport secretary Michael Matheson and representatives of Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and CPT Scotland.
The 13.4m Enviro400XLB can seat 100 and carry up to 131 passengers in total. It has front and middle doors to speed times at bus stops, and inside it features high-backed seating, wifi, USB charging, mood lighting and audiovisual stop announcements.
Colin Robertson, ADL Chief Executive, said: “Customer collaboration is at the heart of what we do at Alexander Dennis and we are proud to work with Lothian to meet their exacting requirements as they are renowned as a leader in delivering an outstanding customer experience.
“As a company headquartered in Scotland, building buses again for Edinburgh is a great source of pride for the employees at our Falkirk factory and we look forward to further developing our relationship with Lothian.”
The Enviro400XLB shares its body structure with the two-axle Enviro400, which has been designed for British and Irish bus operators. This ensures a high degree of commonality between the models for ease of maintenance and repairs.