When the shift to greater accessibility on buses occurred towards the end of the 1990s, Dennis were up against DAF and Volvo to develop a low-floor double-decker which would give them an edge when competing for orders. As a stop-gap Dennis produced the Arrow, a double-deck body on a modified Lance chassis, however it was an adaptation of a three-axle chassis produced for the Hong Kong market that was to become the answer.
Dennis manufactured the chassis as a two-axle version and in 1999 produced the first Trident 2. This design was to prove successful; supplied in two lengths, 9.9m and 10.5m, sales did well and London operators took more than 2000 of the low-floor double-deck buses during the period 1999 to 2006.
In 2001 Dennis was incorporated into the TransBus group and from 2004 the Dennis Trident 2 was built by Alexander Dennis. During 2005 a new version of the Trident 2 chassis was developed, set to supersede Trident it was promoted as the Enviro400. This replacement was further developed in 2008 as a hybrid-electric powered version the Enviro400H, and also as the “New Generation” Enviro400.
The Trident was versatile and user friendly, lasting two decades in London with the last models not being withdrawn from service until 2020.
The London Dennis Trident begins with sections covering the different London bus companies who purchased the Dennis Trident including an information list covering registration numbers, the date of delivery and the date when licensed for service, along with buses that were re-registrations, renumbered, hired, acquired or loaned and disposals.
These are followed by sections looking at other London operators of Trident buses and London tour operators using Trident. The author, Matthew Wharmby, ends by showing the fleet numbers and quantity of buses bought or leased new for LBSL/Transport for London services by each company between 1999 and 2006.
486 colour illustrations. Hardback. 280 pages.