A once-common London type, and the Capital’s first low-floor double-decker, is now proving popular in preservation, reports Nick Larkin
Bus drivers and engineers in Kent are among those preserving examples of a highly important class of London bus, which includes one of the most significant vehicles to enter service in the Capital.
DLA 1, registration S233 JUA, was London’s first low-floor bus. It was officially launched on 18 May 1998 at a gala reception at London’s Barbican Centre, with then Transport Minister Glenda Jackson as star guest.
Arriva would go on to buy 632 DAF DB250s between 1998 and 2005; 389 of them, like this one, having Alexander ALX 400 bodywork. DLA 1, or DAF Low-Floor Alexander number 1, was put together in the experimental shop at Alexander’s Falkirk plant, the bus having the RS engine normally found in DAF’s truck range.
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