Plaxton President

The Plaxton President is a double-decker bus body originally built by Plaxton of the United Kingdom, it was unveiled in 1997 and built between 1999 and 2005. When Plaxton became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name; then becoming the Alexander Dennis President. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.

The body was designed to compete with the Alexander ALX400 body, and had neat rectangular front headlights below a large front windscreen. From the side, it can be easily recognised by the different depths of windows on the lower deck; however, this is less apparent with newer bonded-glazed models. Seating varied according to the chassis and specification. TfL models were typically built with 41 seats upstairs, and 23 downstairs, with a centre exit door. Early TfL versions also had the staircase moved to the centre of the bus, although this was later changed to the standard position of just behind the driver.

There is an enormous fleet of buses serving London, UK, with the result that if one bus was popular, they were built in big numbers. London Central/General have 469 President-bodied buses, numbered PVL1-419/PDL1-50. Metroline have their TP, TPL, VP and VPL classes, all President-bodied, which number in excess of 550. Arriva London North and London Sovereign have a batch on DAF chassis, unusual given the numbers of Volvos and Tridents with President bodies. Outside London the Presidents are somewhat less common, however several operators have large fleets including Stagecoach although some of these were converted from order for the ALX400 because the Presidents could be delivered quicker. Apart from this Lothian Buses have a large fleet on the Dennis Trident chassis and Travel West Midlands has a fleet of 102 all based on the Volvo B7TL chassis. East Yorkshire Motor Services have 30 Presidents on Volvo B7TL chassis.

The President body was phased out in January 2005, with the equally popular ALX400 body expected to give way to the Enviro400.

ee also

*Plaxton
*Alexander Dennis