Sunday 23 December 2012

Dart 145 prepared for service

Dennis Dart 145 has been resprayed in all-over London red ready for a return to passenger service in January, to coincide with the enhanced 20-minute service on Catch 22. The bus was part of a batch of thirteen Darts with dual-door Alexander bodies that were delivered new to Armchair in London in May 1999 in their orange, white & black livery. The operation later passed to Metroline (becoming DA140 - 152) and the batch operated until 2008/9 when they were withdrawn for mid-life overhaul. Unfortunately for Metroline, tender changes resulted in new buses being specified and the refurbishment work was abandoned and the buses stored until their lease agreements expired and they were returned to their finance company.
145 upon collection from respray into all-over London red for CBNW operations.
DA145 was one of the examples refurbished but then stored and is now one of the few survivors (DA143/DA152 are also known to survive) - the others were sold to dealers and ended up being scrapped. In superb condition, 145 has been tidied up after joining our fleet and adds a bit of variety to the Darts already in service.