The Designline Olymbus was a diesel-electric hybrid bus from DesignLine, the New Zealand bus maker. One example was evaluated by Stagecoach in 2004, and the type went on to form the ten-bus fleet of the QuayLink service in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead.
Designline Olymbus at a glance
| Maker | DesignLine Corporation, later Environmental Performance Vehicles |
|---|---|
| Type | diesel-electric hybrid city bus |
| Operator | Stagecoach, QuayLink service |
| Route | Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead, United Kingdom |
| Evaluation | one Olymbus tested by Stagecoach in 2004 |
| Fleet | ten buses for QuayLink |
| In service | 22 July 2005 – 10 August 2010 |
| Replaced by | Optare Versa |
| Reason for withdrawal | difficulty coping with hills on the route |
| Company origin | Ashburton, New Zealand, 1985 |
| Headquarters from 2006 | Charlotte, North Carolina |
DesignLine has no separate Wikipedia page for the Olymbus, and the company article mentions the model only briefly. Based on one source.
History of the Designline Olymbus
A New Zealand bus maker
DesignLine was founded in Ashburton, New Zealand, in 1985 as a manufacturer of tour coaches. In the 1990s it diversified into conventional transit buses and then, late in the decade, added hybrid city buses to its range. American interests acquired the company in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina.
QuayLink in Newcastle
Stagecoach evaluated a single Olymbus diesel-electric bus in 2004. The type was then chosen for QuayLink, the bus service linking Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead, where ten Olymbus buses entered service on 22 July 2005. They remained on the route until 10 August 2010, when they were replaced by the Optare Versa; the reason given was that the buses had difficulty coping with the hills on the route.
The end of DesignLine
DesignLine filed for protection under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on 15 August 2013, by which time it employed over 250 people in Charlotte. On 28 October 2013 Wonderland Investment Group acquired most of its assets at auction and renamed the company Environmental Performance Vehicles in January 2014. The New Zealand business had already been placed in liquidation in 2011; it was sold and traded as DesignLine Bus Pacific before becoming Global Bus Ventures (NZ) on 30 May 2016.
Design and features
- Diesel-electric hybrid drive: the Olymbus combined a diesel engine with an electric transmission, part of DesignLine’s move into hybrid city buses in the late 1990s.
- Purpose-built city fleet: ten buses were supplied as a single fleet for the QuayLink service.
- Route limitations: the buses struggled with the hills on the QuayLink route, which led to their replacement in 2010.
- Evaluation first: a single bus was tested by Stagecoach in 2004 before the production order.
Designline Olymbus versions
- Olymbus diesel-electric: the hybrid city bus evaluated by Stagecoach in 2004 and used on QuayLink from 2005 to 2010.
- EcoSaver: a range-extended electric hybrid bus with sodium batteries and an on-board Capstone turbine.
- EcoSmart: an all-electric bus using sodium batteries and the EcoSaver drivetrain.
- EcoCoach: a high-floor single-door coach powered by compressed natural gas or diesel.
The Olymbus was one of several low-emission buses from the same maker; the Designline bus range covers the EcoSaver, EcoSmart and EcoCoach. More buses are in the Designline collection.
Sources
- Environmental Performance Vehicles, English Wikipedia: company history, Olymbus, hybrid products
