Being supplied by Scania (Great Britain) Limited's Purfleet branch, these vehicles are the first double-deckers to be purchased by East London since the company became an independent operator two years ago.  Delivery commences in October 2008.

"We have gone for Scania as we were interested in a product which has long been held in high regard within the market place," comments East London Bus Group Chief Executive Officer Nigel Barrett.   "They are also competitively priced and through our previous operating experience we know that Scania major units have a long in-service life, which in turn contributes to lower whole-life costs. 

"The vehicles will be integrated into our 1,250-strong fleet and will operate out of our Rainham, West Ham and Plumstead depots.  The routes served will be the 248 out of Rainham, the 106 from West Ham and the 51, 96 and 177 services out of Plumstead."

Built to Transport for London specification, East London's Scania OmniCitys all feature 230 horsepower Scania DC9-16 Euro 4 engines with Scania EGR and will be equipped with five-speed ZF 5HP504 fully-automatic transmission units.  "EGR was another factor in our purchasing decision, as it provides a straightforward, simple and reliable means of Euro 4 compliance," comments Nigel Barrett. 

With 330 million passenger journeys recorded annually, East London Bus Group is London's third largest operator.