“The younger generation would have grew up with this.” Transport Museum in Manchester hopes to attract a different group of visitors with “new” 90s bus.
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Greater Manchester’s first low floor double decker bus is preserved at the Cheetham Hill based Museum of Transport, more than two decades after being displayed there as a new bus.
The T reg Dennis Trident II, bearing the fleet number 612 and later 17612, was formerly with Stagecoach Manchester between 1999 and 2021. It stands out in the museum’s massive collection of more than 70 vehicles, many of which are from the 1960s and 70s with the oldest being a Manchester Carriage & Tramways Company horse bus from 1890.
Museum Volunteer Paul Nicholson said: “The museum made enquiries through people we know there, saying we needed a modern vehicle to represent changing times, and this was probably one of the best candidates because it’s significant and relatively easy to keep on the road.
“The younger generation will have grew up with this, it’s 23 years old, so people will have gone to school on this, who have now left school in their adult life, they’ll probably look at it as it’s the bus I used to go to school on.”
The Alexander ALX400 bodied bus was collected from Stagecoach’s Wigan depot and welcomed into the museum’s growing collection in early 2021. This was not its first visit to the museum as it was previously on display there during an accessible transport event in 1999 prior to entering revenue service.
The current livery on the bus is Stagecoach’s second version of its corporate livery that dates back to 2004. Mr Nicholson hopes to see 17612 eventually restored to its original stripes livery from 1999, a task that the museum intends to complete in the future.
Currently, the bus does not have an MOT and therefore cannot be used on the public roads. The museum is working to get it sorted so they can eventually deploy it on one of their free heritage routes where members of the public can board a rotating fleet of vintage buses for free rides around Manchester.
The most common route, Heritage Bus 5, takes passengers on a journey back in time from the museum to Shudehill Bus Interchange, calling at Queen’s Road Metrolink and Manchester Victoria along the way. The route typically operates twice a month and usually coincides with event days.
The museum was first opened to the public at its current Boyle Street location in May 1977, and is a former bus garage, complete with preserved offices and other transport related memorabilia. It is open to the public on Wednesdays, weekends and bank holidays except Christmas between 10am to 4.30pm. More information can be found here.
Dennis Tridents have mostly disappeared from the streets of Greater Manchester since late 2021, save for a few that are still in service with private operators. They can usually be found on open top bus tours, school charters or rail replacement services.
