SCANIA SINGLE DECKERS
30114-8
In September 2011 Rotala acquired five Scania single
deckers for their Wessex operation in Bristol. These
proved to be the only such vehicles to enter the group
fleet and as the Bristol operation started to contract
the vehicles were moved to the south east to be used on
the Surry County Council contracts that the group’s
Hallmark operation runs. In October 2017 the vehicles used on
these contracts were replaced with new Wrights Streetlites and the surplus vehicles were cascaded to
other parts of the group. The four Scania single decks
ended up at the Kidderminster depot of Diamond Bus.
The vehicles operated alongside other buses at the garage
on a variety of routes and currently retain their red
and silver livery that was originally applied when the
buses were based in Bristol. In January 2019 30114
was transferred to Hallmark operations in the London
area. In preparation for the acquisition of the Bolton
depot from First in August 2019 the remaining of the
batch 30115 to 30118 were transferred to Preston
Bus so that four of their Streetlites could move to the
new Bolton operation. W
| Registration Number | Fleet Number | Body type | Seating Capacity | Date into Service | Current Allocation |
| YT61FEV | 30114 | Scania | B45F | November 2017 | Withdrawn 1/19 - transferred to Hallmark |
| YT61FEU | 30115 | Scania | B45F | October 2017 | Withdrawn 7/19 - transferred to Preston Bus |
| YT61FEP | 30116 | Scania | B45F | October 2017 | Withdrawn 7/19 - transferred to Preston Bus |
| YT61FEO | 30117 | Scania | B45F | November 2017 | Withdrawn 7/19 - transferred to Preston Bus |
| YT61FEM | 30118 | Scania | B45F | October 2017 | Withdrawn 7/19 - transferred to Preston Bus |
30121-4
On
30th May 2022 Rotala purchased the bus operations of
Johnson's Coaches. Included in the deal were 4 Scania
single deck vehicles which entered the Diamond Bus fleet
at Redditch. With the loss of Warwickshire work Rotala
had purchased with the Johnson's operation from end of
July 2022 these vehicles have seen less use in service.
The 4 vehicles were taken out of service in August 2022
after Diamond Bus lost virtually all of the work they
had acquired from Johnson's. The four vehicles were
store at Redditch garage and during September were part
exchanged with Ensign bus for 19 14 and 13 plate Wrights
Streetlites that Ensign had acquired from the official
Receivers of Bournemouth Yellow buses following the
closure of that business.
| Registration Number | Fleet Number | Body type | Seating Capacity | Date into Service | Current Allocation |
| YN63BYP | 30121 | Scania | B45F | 30th May 2022 | Withdrawn 8/22 sold to Ensign bus 9/22 |
| YN63BYO | 30122 | Scania | B45F | 30th May 2022 | Withdrawn 8/22 sold to Ensign bus 9/22 |
| YT13HKY | 30123 | Scania | B45F | 30th May 2022 | Withdrawn 8/22 sold to Ensign bus 9/22 |
| YT13HKZ | 30124 | Scania | B45F | 30th May 2022 | Withdrawn 8/22 sold to Ensign bus 9/22 |
30901-8
With purchase of the Midland Classic business on the 4th
August 2022 eight older Scania based single deck buses
joined the Diamond bus fleet. All these vehicles have
Wrights bodies and apart from 30908 have L94UB chassis.
30908 has a K230UB chassis. All eight entered the Diamond
fleet staying at the Burton on Trent depot.
| Registration Number | Fleet Number | Body type | Seating Capacity | Date into Service | Current Allocation |
| YN05GXL | 30901 | Scania | B43F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 12/01/24 - sold to Willenhall Commercials 2/24 |
| YN05GXJ | 30902 | Scania | B43F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 13th March 2024 sold to Willenhall Commercials for scrap 3/24 |
| YN05GXH | 30903 | Scania | B43F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 30th March 2024 sold to Willenhall Commercials for scrap 4/24 |
| YN05GXG | 30904 | Scania | B43F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 22nd March 2024 sold to Willenhall Commercials for scrap 4/24 |
| FX55VLO | 30905 | Scania | B44F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 4/23 Sold to Wigleys for scrap 12/23 |
| FX55VKH | 30906 | Scania | B44F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 8/22 sold for scrap 8/22 |
| FX55VKG | 30907 | Scania | B44F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 4/23 Sold to Willenhall Commercials 7/23 |
| YN57FWG | 30908 | Scania | B43F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 12th March 2024 - sold 3/24 |
30985-90
Some rather unusual Scania single deck vehicles bodied
by Irizar came with the Midland Classic business. In the
UK most Irizar bodied vehicles are coaches rather than
buses. The first batch of 5 vehicles were new in January
2005 to Menzies Aviation who required the vehicles to
operate a car park contract at Heathrow Airport. The
vehicles were built to a 24-seater configuration with
large luggage racks. The vehicles carried the fleet
numbers P39-43 in the fleet. Menzies Aviation had its
origins as the newsagent chain of shops called John
Menzies. When the business sold the newsagent business
it has since concentrated on businesses around airport
operation. These vehicles joined the Midland Classic
fleet in January 2021. The vehicles were refurbished
with the luggage racks removed and were up seated. The
vehicles were not strangers to the Diamond Midlands area
as they have been regularly used on rail replacement
services including to and from Redditch. The vehicles
joined the Diamond fleet on Thursday 4th August 2022
when the Midland Classic operation was acquired.
| Registration Number | Fleet Number | Body type | Seating Capacity | Date into Service | Current Allocation |
| YN64FWZ | 30985 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN64FWY | 30986 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN64FWX | 30987 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN64FWW | 30988 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN64FWV | 30989 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN64FWU | 30990 | Scania | B27F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
30997-31002
After
the purchase of the 6 vehicles from Menzies Aviation the
opportunity soon came to purchase a further 6 similar
vehicles that had been in use with Nottingham City
Transport. These vehicles had been built to be
used as conventional buses so did not require any up
seating before they entered service many of them in the
all over red livery they arrived in. The vehicles were
soon painted into the standard Midland Classic livery.
Like the sitter vehicles they see service both on local
bus services and rail replacement contracts The vehicles
joined the Diamond fleet on Thursday 4th August 2022
when the Midland Classic operation was acquired.
| Registration Number | Fleet Number | Body type | Seating Capacity | Date into Service | Current Allocation |
| YN17ONL | 30997 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 10/22 and returned to Reading Buses |
| YN17ONK | 30998 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 10/22 and returned to Reading Buses |
| YN17ONJ | 30999 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Withdrawn 10/22 and returned to Reading Buses |
| YN17ONH | 31000 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN17ONG | 31001 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |
| YN17ONF | 31002 | Scania | B41F | 4th August 2022 | Burton on Trent |