The Featured Bus for March/April 2017 is the Dennis Dart SLF class
Between May 1997 and February 1998, ACTION took delivery of 25 Dennis Dart SLF (Super Low Floor) “midi” buses, with bodies built by Robert Wright & Son of Ballymena, Northern Ireland. The buses seated 27 people with a single wheelchair space and were the first buses in the ACTION fleet built on a dedicated low-floor chassis.
As part of Network 1998, Routes 34 and 83 were scheduled to be operated by wheelchair-accessible buses, meaning that the Dennis Dart were often to be found on these routes, although they were used on other services on the network – including weekends.
With the delivery of full-sized low floor buses commencing in 2004, the Darts’ usefulness gradually declined with some vehicles being withdrawn from service commencing in 2012.
In 2013, three Darts (Buses 140, 141 and 142) were wrapped in a special livery and used to operate the Centenary Loop, a free service which operated around the Parliamentary Zone (although plain Darts also operated this service).
By March 2017, only six Darts remained active in the fleet – all of these buses operated the free City Loop service and were based at Belconnen Depot.
The City Loop service was discontinued as part of Network 2019. Buses 135, 145 and 151 were the last Darts to operate on 26 April 2019.
Selected images:
Further details:
- Dennis Dart class on ACT Bus Fleetwiki
- Dennis Dart photos on ACT Bus Gallery
- Dennis Dart specifications on ACT Bus
Related Featured Bus article:
- Bus 148 – December 2012
This page was last updated on 25 February 2024
