Optare MetroDeckers

40844/5 -  YJ70EWD & YJ70 EWC  

Reading Buses ordered five Optare MetroDecker double-deck buses for delivery during the early part of 2020. However, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the order was cancelled. By this stage the vehicles had already been completed, leaving Optare to find alternative customers for them. The first two vehicles were sold to Johnson's Coach & Bus of Henley-in-Arden, the third became a demonstrator, and the remaining two were eventually purchased by Mullany's Coaches. As part of Rotala's acquisition of the bus operations of Johnson's Coach & Bus in April 2022, the two MetroDeckers entered the Diamond Bus fleet. Having been purchased by Johnson's from dealer stock during 2020, they had partially replaced older double-deck buses that had been sold to Bournemouth Transport. The two vehicles were built to a high specification, featuring full coach-style seating to reflect Johnson's mixed-use operation. In addition to local bus services, they were regularly employed on private hire work and rail replacement contracts. During the Christmas and New Year period of 2024, both MetroDeckers were transferred from the Redditch depot to Diamond North West's Eccles depot. There they were required to operate newly awarded Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) school contracts secured as part of the Tranche 3 franchising programme, alongside other commercial services. As the transfer would have resulted in the vehicles accumulating significantly higher annual mileages than they had at Redditch, Diamond Bus acquired two brand-new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-deck buses to replace them in the Redditch fleet.