Wright Renown

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Low-floor bus body on Volvo B10BLE chassis

title: "Wright Renown" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["low-floor-buses", "wrightbus-buses", "vehicles-introduced-in-1997", "vehicles-discontinued-in-2002"] description: "Low-floor bus body on Volvo B10BLE chassis" topic_path: "general/low-floor-buses" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Renown" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Low-floor bus body on Volvo B10BLE chassis ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK Bus"]

Field	Value
name	Wright Renown
image	Transdev-Lancashire-1096-2010 (cropped).jpg
caption	Transdev Lancashire United Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE in Blackburn in November 2010
manufacturer	Wrightbus
production	1997–2002
assembly	Ballymena, Northern Ireland
designer	Trevor Erskine
floortype	Low floor
doors	1 or 2
capacity	44 seated
chassis	Volvo B10BLE
engine	Volvo DH10A-245
transmission	ZF Ecomat 5HP500
Voith DIWA D851.3
predecessor	Wright Liberator
successor	Wright Eclipse
length	11.8 m
width	2.5 m
height	3 m
::

Design

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Keighley_&_District_bus_at_Keighley_bus_station.jpg" caption="Rear of [[Keighley & District]] Wright Renown at [[Keighley]] bus station, August 2009"] ::

Launched as the successor to the Wright Liberator body on the Volvo B10L chassis in 1997, the Wright Renown was the first bus in the Wright range to debut the company's 'Floline' low-floor system. Compared to previous Wright low-entry buses which had multiple steps in the interior separating the entrance door from the back of the bus, the Renown had only one step along a gently sloped floor in the middle of the bus, with a manual wheelchair ramp at the entrance door also provided as standard. This system in both single and dual-door format was tested extensively at the Motor Industry Research Association's Warwickshire proving grounds before its official launch with the Renown.

Built with an Alusuisse bolted aluminium frame as standard among other Wright products at the time, the Renown was also the first 12 m low-floor bus in Europe to feature gasket glazed windows as a result of the extra body strength from the Floline design; previous low-floor buses had featured bonded glazed windows, which took longer to replace and compromised the structural integrity of the body when broken.

The Renown, as well as the overall Floline concept, were replaced by the 'Millennium Design' Eclipse (later Eclipse Metro) on the Volvo B7L chassis. Due to the unpopularity of the longitudinal chassis, Wright developed the Eclipse Urban on the Volvo B7RLE chassis in 2003, which became the true successor of the Renown.

Operators

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/First_Somerset_and_Avon_bus_66110_(R910_BOU)_1998_Volvo_B10BLE_Wrightbus_Renown,_Bristol,_25_June_2011.jpg" caption="[[First Somerset and Avon]] Wright Renown in [[Bristol]] in June 2011"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Arriva_bus_4509_Volvo_B10BLE_Wrightbus_Renown_V509_DFT_in_Newcastle_9_May_2009_pic_1.jpg" caption="[[Arriva Northumbria]] Wright Renown in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in May 2009"] ::

Upon its launch, the FirstGroup placed an initial order for 112 Renowns for delivery to its Manchester, Bristol, West Yorkshire and Northampton operations, with the first nine production Renowns delivered as 'GOLDService' buses to First Manchester in late 1997; the group ordered further Renowns until 2001 for its South Yorkshire, Hampshire, Glasgow, Eastern Scotland and Aberdeen operations. These Renowns were among the first in the group's fleet to be delivered with a new low-floor interior design featuring purple, grey and aquamarine fittings and seat cushions as well as wider seat spacing and hard-wearing non-slip flooring.

The Renown was also highly popular with the Blazefield Group, with a total of 125 delivered to its Harrogate, Keighley, Yorkshire Coastliner, Lancashire United and Burnley operations throughout the type's production run. Among these, Blazefield took delivery of both the last Renowns built and the last Volvo B10BLEs for the UK market, consisting of an order for 41 examples that were delivered mainly to Lancashire United between late 2001 and early 2002.

Ninety Renowns were delivered to Translink of Northern Ireland between late 1999 and early 2000, with 45 each entering service with Citybus of Belfast and Ulsterbus respectively. Twenty Renowns were also delivered to Bus Éireann in 2000 for service in Cork.

The Wright Renown was also popular with some Go-Ahead Group companies. Go North East took delivery of 38 Renowns across four batches between 1998 and 2000, while 21 Renowns were delivered to Brighton & Hove in 1998. The Oxford Bus Company also took delivery of Renowns specified in dual-door arrangement to deal with heavy passenger crowding in the tourist city between 1999 and 2000.

Thirty Renowns were delivered to Arriva operations in Northumbria, West Scotland and The Shires during 1999, twenty-five Renowns were delivered to Travel Dundee between 1997 and 1999, while ten were delivered to Mainline Buses in December 1997 for service in Sheffield, with a further 20 ordered for delivery in 1998 prior to the company being acquired by the FirstGroup. Liverpool-based independent CMT Buses took delivery of eighteen Renowns between 1999 and 2000, while the Renown was also popular with some independently-run bus companies in Scotland, with examples delivered to Hutchinson's of Overtown as well as White of Walls, Shetland.

References

(19 March 2020). "Obituary: Trevor Erskine, Wrights' legendary designer". Key Publishing.
Morgan, Mike. (17 May 1997). "Wrights add a new dimension to access". Emap.
Morris, Stephen. (July 1997). "Low Renown". Ian Allan Publishing.
Morgan, Mike. (17 May 1997). "First 12-metre lowfloor to use gasket glazing". Emap.
. (29 October 2003). ["Eclipse Urban – A complement to the Wrightbus Eclipse"](http://www.wrightbus.com/newspopup.asp?item_id=97). *WrightGroup*.
(8 May 1997). "Renown helps disabled". Belfast Telegraph.
Morgan, Mike. (17 May 1997). "Orders taken for Floline". Emap.
(11 December 1997). "Service Renowned". Emap.
(2021). "The region's favourite: the story of South Yorkshire Transport and Mainline 1986 to 1998 from the inside". The Omnibus Society.
Cole, Martin. (15 August 1997). "Public reaction to the new FirstBus standard". Glen-Holland Limited.
Barrow, David. (2 August 2001). "Trail-blazing in the North West". Emap.
(16 July 2001). "£2m new bus fleet hits road". Lancashire Telegraph.
Newton, Chris. (22 October 2020). "A Volvo of Renown". Key Publishing.
. (February 2002). ["Wrightbus expands as market contracts"](http://www.busandcoach.com/february2002/main.html#news3). *Bus & Coach Professional*.
Morton, Robin. (17 November 1998). "Bus builder wins new contract". Belfast Telegraph.
Savage, Paul. (19 April 2023). "Through The Troubles to today". Key Publishing.
. (9 August 2000). ["Buses roll out for Cork route"](https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/buses-roll-out-for-cork-route/28316930.html). *Belfast Telegraph*.
Larkin, Nick. (July 2016). "Getting the Go-Ahead". Meteor Books.
Lyons, Mark. (30 June 2022). "The Go-Ahead Group: The First 25 Years". [[Key Publishing]].
Lyons, Mark. (30 June 2022). "The Go-Ahead Group: The First 25 Years". [[Key Publishing]].
Lidstone, John G.. (February 2000). "Fleet News England & Wales". Ian Allan Publishing.
Lidstone, John G.. (February 1999). "Fleet News England & Wales". Ian Allan Publishing.
(30 November 2000). "Wright vehicles for CMT". Emap.
. (20 February 2020). "Renown regains Hutchinson hues". *Key Publishing*.
. (20 June 2019). ["Blue and cream Renown from Shetland isles"](https://www.keybuses.com/article/poppy-red-renown-winchester). *Key Publishing*.

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