Type History: The MCW/Optare MetroRider

[Strathclyder]

This is a topic I've been wanting to cover for a while now, finally got around to it now. Yes, it's yet another entry in my Type History series of threads lol

This is a vehicle type that often went under the radar in squadron service, and has virtually completely disappeared apart from a few lucky survivors in preservation, which I think is a shame. Yes, the MetroRider had the same issues with corrosion/rot as all other MCW products did (something it never managed to completely shake even after Optare reworked the design), but it was a interesting take on the 'small front-engined minibus' concept that was more or less defined by van-based products (may do a thread on all of those as a collective at some point).

This thread concerns itself with the MetroRider's development, it's transition from a MCW to Optare product, service history and surviving examples in preservation etc. As ever, personal recollections/experiences with them are always welcome.

 

[johnw]

My Personal recollections were not great. I was educated at Kimbolton School in Cambridgeshire and on a history trip Robinson Coaches provided a coach seated example on a history trip to London. It was awful - but I did sneak off when we arrived in London to get my first trip on a class 442 from Waterloo to Clapham Junction and back.

 

[Tempest3K]

Wilts and Dorset had a load branded as Skipper, had plenty of rides on them on the 29 through the Chalke Valley as a kid. The reworked larger version when Optare took over ended up being used on inappropriate routes such as the 51/52/53/54 Bemerton Heath services which frequently ended up full and standing. They were hammered and didn't last long compared to the larger vehicles in the W&D fleet, unlike the Solos which replaced them.

 

[Brooke]

Fantastic idea for a thread!

Growing up near Huddersfield in the 1980s, there were loads of these buses around, so will add my personal reflections & reminiscences here.

To me, these buses seemed well-suited to the spirit of innovation that came out of deregulation. Around the Holme and Colne Valleys they got used on new routes in all of urban areas, suburban estates, and in the hilly countryside too.

As a young kid like me, off on days out with grandparents, they could take you all kinds of places you’d never been!

Many of the Huddersfield operators small and large had them in bus or coach-style formats. From my memory:

Yorkshire Rider - short wheelbase buses, branded as MicroRider, used alongside bread vans. I remember a route 389(?) that climbed virtually every hilly street in Lockwood and Crosland Moor, on its way to Crosland Hill, as well as a few routes around Slawit and Golcar way.

Yorkshire Traction - long and short wheelbase buses, used amongst other things on the Holmfirth local network and branded as Summerwine buses.

K-Line - a couple of coach seat versions, used on a few routes around the Holme Valley, including around Netherton and Honley I think.

Abbeyways - had at least one coach seat long wheelbase version (I can remember a very long trip to London on it).

Stotts (Milnsbridge) would have been another obvious operator of them, but I don’t remember them having any; I think they had Mercedes bread vans instead, which Yorkshire Rider also moved to later in their Badgerline / First era.

Leaving aside that they went to some pretty adventurous places around the valleys, I mostly remember them being hot and rattly - probably unsurprising, given the local terrain and roads!

 

[MotCO]

I remember the MCWMetroRiders arriving with the Roundabaout fleet in Orpington, which gave a capacity increase over the existing Iveco/Robin Hood bread vans. Even that was not big enough, and the short wheelbase models were transferred to Bexleybus, and new long wheelbase modeels replaceed them. In the interim, Roundabout operated some MetroRiders in Bexleybus livery:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68359129@N02/8101135309/in/album-72157635204155219/ (my photo)

(Photo shows E639KYW, a MetroRider in blue and white Bexleybus livery operating route R1, at the Green Street Green terminus)

I think the real thing about the MetroRiders was that they were not breadvans. Breadvans had served their purpose in establishing new routes round housing estates where big buses could not go, and having established the customer base, larger buses were requird, initially MetroRiders, but later small Darts.

 

[Flange Squeal]

I can't contribute any technical or operational knowledge about the vehicles themselves, but they were undoubtedly the start of my interest in buses. During school holidays I was looked after by my grandparents so both my parents could work full time. They lived on a double-run served hourly to half-hourly in each direction, so would get between four and eight passes by these blue and yellow Optare Metroriders in the fleet of Tillingbourne each hour. For a treat, when he needed some shopping other than what the Safeway half hour walk away sold, we'd sometimes catch the bus to one of the towns they ran to from his estate and I kind of became hooked on buses thereafter!

503 Tillingbourne R503VOR Optare Metrorider Optare . Cranleigh garage 11.1.98

www.flickr.com

 

[Strathclyder]

I think the real thing about the MetroRiders was that they were not breadvans. Breadvans had served their purpose in establishing new routes round housing estates where big buses could not go, and having established the customer base, larger buses were requird, initially MetroRiders, but later small Darts.

Indeed. I only made the comparison in light of the fact that the MetroRider had a similar layout to breadvans despite being markedly different in it's construction and purpose.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Fantastic idea for a thread!

Growing up near Huddersfield in the 1980s, there were loads of these buses around, so will add my personal reflections & reminiscences here.

To me, these buses seemed well-suited to the spirit of innovation that came out of deregulation. Around the Holme and Colne Valleys they got used on new routes in all of urban areas, suburban estates, and in the hilly countryside too.

As a young kid like me, off on days out with grandparents, they could take you all kinds of places you’d never been!

Many of the Huddersfield operators small and large had them in bus or coach-style formats. From my memory:

Yorkshire Rider - short wheelbase buses, branded as MicroRider, used alongside bread vans. I remember a route 389(?) that climbed virtually every hilly street in Lockwood and Crosland Moor, on its way to Crosland Hill, as well as a few routes around Slawit and Golcar way.

Yorkshire Traction - long and short wheelbase buses, used amongst other things on the Holmfirth local network and branded as Summerwine buses.

K-Line - a couple of coach seat versions, used on a few routes around the Holme Valley, including around Netherton and Honley I think.

Abbeyways - had at least one coach seat long wheelbase version (I can remember a very long trip to London on it).

Stotts (Milnsbridge) would have been another obvious operator of them, but I don’t remember them having any; I think they had Mercedes bread vans instead, which Yorkshire Rider also moved to later in their Badgerline / First era.

Leaving aside that they went to some pretty adventurous places around the valleys, I mostly remember them being hot and rattly - probably unsurprising, given the local terrain and roads!

E. Stott & Sons (Stotts, Milnsbridge) only ever used Plaxton Beevers which were replaced with the very small 23 seater Optare Solo's. Interestingly, Arriva Yorkshire had a few Optare Metroriders as one managed to worm its way on to the long withdrawn 278 from Wakefield to Halifax, got to say it made a change from the usual Ikarus Citybuses usually used. Prior to be being taken over by Transdev, independant Northern Blue used one on service 92 between Todmorden and Burnley - sadly the 92 got axed and replaced with route Starship 1 which has also been scrapped and the only bus link between Tod and Burnley is now the 591 and 592. I don't think First ever used Metroriders once they fully took over Yorkshire Rider. Compass Travel (Sussex) Ltd did use Optare Metroriders and they also had the last one ever build but sadly I think that has since been scrapped.

I wonder if Faresaver (or when it was Faresaver Abus) ever used them?

 

[37114]

I wonder if Faresaver (or when it was Faresaver Abus) ever used them?

I don't think either Chippenham based Faresaver or Bristol based Abus Faresaver had them. Abus tended to be more double deckers and full sized saloons while Faresaver went through Dodges then onto Mercedes Benz Minibus.

One question I had re the Metro rider, did they have a proper chassis frame like a Mercedes or Renault, or were they integral like a solo?

 

[90sWereBetter]

In East Anglia, Ipswich Buses I think had the first production Optare Metroriders, buying a batch of G and H reg examples which they absolutely loved from memory, monopolising evening and Sunday services with them in the 1990s. Their last ones (with M registrations) lasted to around 2007/08.

Great Yarmouth Transport bought about 10 MCW versions in the late 1980s, most of which lasted into the FirstBus era. A few received First's interpretation of Blue Bus livery but they were all gone by the end of 1998 as non-standard. I vaguely recall the East Anglia Bus Handbook illustrating an image of one freshly repainted...with the caption then explaining it had been withdrawn prior to the publishing date and thus would not appear in the fleetlist. Those early Bus Handbooks were strange, why not just record it as "withdrawn" or "unallocated" in the list rather than not at all.

 

[asb]

My three memories of driving the Cambus ones are:
1. They were really hot in summer, due to the engine position
2. Winding the destination blind was difficult if you liked keeping the skin on your hands intact
3. The accelerators were quite stiff, except on 962 which I had the pleasure of using on an X64 to Guilden Morden and back one Saturday.

 

[Brooke]

E. Stott & Sons (Stotts, Milnsbridge) only ever used Plaxton Beevers which were replaced with the very small 23 seater Optare Solo's. Interestingly, Arriva Yorkshire had a few Optare Metroriders as one managed to worm its way on to the long withdrawn 278 from Wakefield to Halifax

STOTTS - Yes, that’s how I remember it too. They had one early, old-shape Mercedes minibus (https://flic.kr/p/iKFJJF ; not my image) in the days when they were still in Marsden, then seemed to standardise on Mercedes from then on. I don’t know, but I imagine all the subsequent Solos have had the Mercedes engine.

ARRIVA YORKSHIRE - I’d forgotten about these. I don’t remember there being any MCW versions, but there was quite a number of Optare ones. These were originally with West Riding in the main and extensively used on Wakefield urban routes, e.g. Lupset, Wrenthorpe, Stanley.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Yorkshire Rider - short wheelbase buses, branded as MicroRider, used alongside bread vans. I remember a route 389(?) that climbed virtually every hilly street in Lockwood and Crosland Moor, on its way to Crosland Hill, as well as a few routes around Slawit and Golcar way.

Now that brings back memories... if I recall correctly the route you're thinking of was the Milnsbridge Circular, which finally ended in around 2011-ish as service 393/395 under First when they ended minibus use in Huddersfield.

My 'local' MicroRider route as a kid was the 841 Oakes Circular (later 368) which as far as I know still runs as service 377 extended up to Outlane, now run by TLC.

 

[Brooke]

Now that brings back memories... if I recall correctly the route you're thinking of was the Milnsbridge Circular, which finally ended in around 2011-ish as service 393/395 under First when they ended minibus use in Huddersfield.

Could be! There were so many different MicroRider routes at the time!

One did roughly the same route as today’s 393, but also included all of Yews Hill and Walpole on its way to Tom Lane. Another one went a bit more directly by missing Walpole out, then drifted around Linfit and Cowlersley before going to Milnsbridge, and on it went.

I don’t know if it was the Oakes Circular, but I seem to remember one that looped some random back streets in Paddock as well? Perhaps down around the royds hall estate and then one of Beech / Fir / Larch to get back to Heaton Road?

All were a mix of MCWs and Sherpas at the time, then they gradually fell away.

I guess it just shows what an innovation those MCWs were and how they were the right product for the era: suddenly you could put a bus down any random street and speculatively see if you got passengers…

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Could be! There were so many different MicroRider routes at the time!

One did roughly the same route as today’s 393, but also included all of Yews Hill and Walpole on its way to Tom Lane. Another one went a bit more directly by missing Walpole out, then drifted around Linfit and Cowlersley before going to Milnsbridge, and on it went.

I don’t know if it was the Oakes Circular, but I seem to remember one that looped some random back streets in Paddock as well? Perhaps down around the royds hall estate and then one of Beech / Fir / Larch to get back to Heaton Road?

All were a mix of MCWs and Sherpas at the time, then they gradually fell away.

I guess it just shows what an innovation those MCWs were and how they were the right product for the era: suddenly you could put a bus down any random street and speculatively see if you got passengers…

The Oakes circular went from town up through Springwood (via Oastler Ave rather than past Greenhead College) then Gledholt Road, Heaton Road, Jim Lane, Luck Lane, Carr Street to Reinwood School then round the houses at Oakes. Nowadays the TLC service rejoins New Hey Road by the Merrie England and runs up to Outlane.

The Scapegoat Hill routes (usually 303) have changed a fair bit over the years- nowadays they run via Golcar and Milnsbridge but under Yorkshire Rider they had a spell running via New Hey Road, Luck Lane (past Royds Hall school) and Church Street.

 

[A0]

I remember the MCWMetroRiders arriving with the Roundabaout fleet in Orpington, which gave a capacity increase over the existing Iveco/Robin Hood bread vans. Even that was not big enough, and the short wheelbase models were transferred to Bexleybus, and new long wheelbase modeels replaceed them. In the interim, Roundabout operated some MetroRiders in Bexleybus livery:
View attachment 109840
https://www.flickr.com/photos/68359129@N02/8101135309/in/album-72157635204155219/ (my photo)

(Photo shows E639KYW, a MetroRider in blue and white Bexleybus livery operating route R1, at the Green Street Green terminus)

I think the real thing about the MetroRiders was that they were not breadvans. Breadvans had served their purpose in establishing new routes round housing estates where big buses could not go, and having established the customer base, larger buses were requird, initially MetroRiders, but later small Darts.

There were 2 minibuses which did this really - the Optare City Pacer was one (yes, I know it used the VW LT55 chassis) which had a stylish body quite different to the 'windows in a bread van' look of the Ivecos, Transits and Sherpas. The MCW Metrorider was the other.

Having travelled on both (albeit 30 years ago) I'd have said the MCW rode better and had better performance - at least on the short wheelbase versions.

On the long wheelbase versions - I'd have said the gap was closer between the MCW and the Optare Star Rider (which used a Mercedes chassis) but I'd still have the MCW as the better rider of the two, but performance from a passenger perspective there seemed to be little difference.

 

[MotCO]

There were 2 minibuses which did this really - the Optare City Pacer was one (yes, I know it used the VW LT55 chassis) which had a stylish body quite different to the 'windows in a bread van' look of the Ivecos, Transits and Sherpas.

I sense they were a bit underpowered. But they were quite stylish in typical Optare fashion, although current Optare/Switch products are not so avant garde.

 

[A0]

I sense they were a bit underpowered. But they were quite stylish in typical Optare fashion, although current Optare/Switch products are not so avant garde.

The manual ones seemed better than the autos - the autos fully loaded always felt sluggish.

Whereas Metroriders always felt quite sprightly by comparison - not surprising when most of those had Cummins B series engines at 5.9 litres compared to the 2.4 litre VW engines.

 

[BVW]

Didn't mind them as a passenger but loathed the one example I actually drove. It was allocated to me on the day it was withdrawn so I took pleasure in marking its demise.

 

[jammy36]

One question I had re the Metro rider, did they have a proper chassis frame like a Mercedes or Renault, or were they integral like a solo?

Yes, an integral with metal box-section frames. They made use of tried and tested heavy duty components from the bus and truck world – so Perkins Phaser diesel engine (initially) and later Cummins B-series (naturally aspirated, but with the turbo version as an option) coupled to ZF manual gearbox or Allison automatic. Use was made of the Ford parts bin, steering column, wheel and some switchgear came from the Ford Cargo truck and the braking system on early models was derived from that used on the Ford D-Series (drum brakes were initially used, but the longer version made use of disk brakes, which were offered as an option on the shorter version by MCW and were standard with Optare). A Telma retarder was added as an option. The steering rack was a ZF power-assisted unit. Even the original MCW rear light clusters were those used on the Mk4 Escort estate/cabriolet!

As a purpose-built bus the Metrorider had much going for it. It was designed for the rigours of bus operation, unlike the early van derived “breadvan” minibuses and used heavier duty parts. Ride quality was also good, although the front mounted Perkins/Cummins engine meant that cab was a somewhat noisy place to be. They also had a better seating capacity (and proper body width) compared with the Transit/Sherpa/608D/Dodge S56 alternatives. Corrosion was of course a major weak-point (as it was for much of MCW’s output). I understand this issue was around the powder-coating used on the steel box-section. This worked well on flat surfaces, but on angular pieces of steel was prone to cracking at the joint allowing moisture behind the coating and essentially letting the steelwork rot from the inside out. Removing the glazing could reveal all manner of body horrors.

Optare made several improvements to the MetroRider (as they styled its name), including to the anti-corrosion treatment, making better use of galvanised steel, extruded alluminium sections, and wax-sealing. Other structural changes included a reworked roof, aluminium side panels (MCW used welded zinc-coated steel stretch panels) and greater use of moulded GRP. There were also interior and cosmetic changes. By the time Optare had finished fettling the MetroRider design it was a solid product, but by then the Dennis Dart had appeared on the scene which was a similar length to the long MetroRider and used the same engine and gearbox, but in a more ‘bus-like’ body which seated more passengers, had a shorter wheelbase, albeit the Dart cost more. Alternatively tried and tested larger Mercedes-Benz 709/711/811D based vehicles were also available and were attractive to many operators wanting a minibus sized vehicle. By the time Optare had developed the MetroRider into the product it perhaps should have been from the outset the bus world had started to move on from the minibus revolution. The work that Optare put into refining the MetroRider did however put them in good stead for the development of the Solo.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Didn't mind them as a passenger but loathed the one example I actually drove. It was allocated to me on the day it was withdrawn so I took pleasure in marking its demise.

View attachment 109857

Were you also responsible for the appropriate destination display, or was that a happy accident?

 

[MotCO]

Didn't mind them as a passenger but loathed the one example I actually drove. It was allocated to me on the day it was withdrawn so I took pleasure in marking its demise.

View attachment 109857

New to Metrobus of Orpington

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Got to remember that the early minibuses were 16 seater Transits and Sherpas or 20 seat Merc 608s in the main. If you wanted something larger, then a Dodge S56 was the cheap option whereas the Metrorider was a revelation for a 25 seater. Then they created long-wheelbase versions to rival the Merc 811s; the Metrorider had a better ride quality though the corrosion was a hidden pest.

The sad aspect I had was the policy of Northumbria/Arriva North East who pursued a policy of 33 seat Metroriders to replace Nationals and even deckers on a one for one basis leading to overcrowding etc. That was soon sorted as passengers deserted those services.

 

[GusB]

The Metrorider was one type that I've never had the chance to travel on. When I was at university in Aberdeen there were a couple that Grampian occasionally used on service work, but any time I saw one I always had other things to do.

I was an occasional visitor to Glasgow and Edinburgh, but they were never on any of the routes that I used.

 

[37114]

Yes, an integral with metal box-section frames. They made use of tried and tested heavy duty components from the bus and truck world – so Perkins Phaser diesel engine (initially) and later Cummins B-series (naturally aspirated, but with the turbo version as an option) coupled to ZF manual gearbox or Allison automatic. Use was made of the Ford parts bin, steering column, wheel and some switchgear came from the Ford Cargo truck and the braking system on early models was derived from that used on the Ford D-Series (drum brakes were initially used, but the longer version made use of disk brakes, which were offered as an option on the shorter version by MCW and were standard with Optare). A Telma retarder was added as an option. The steering rack was a ZF power-assisted unit. Even the original MCW rear light clusters were those used on the Mk4 Escort estate/cabriolet!

As a purpose-built bus the Metrorider had much going for it. It was designed for the rigours of bus operation, unlike the early van derived “breadvan” minibuses and used heavier duty parts. Ride quality was also good, although the front mounted Perkins/Cummins engine meant that cab was a somewhat noisy place to be. They also had a better seating capacity (and proper body width) compared with the Transit/Sherpa/608D/Dodge S56 alternatives. Corrosion was of course a major weak-point (as it was for much of MCW’s output). I understand this issue was around the powder-coating used on the steel box-section. This worked well on flat surfaces, but on angular pieces of steel was prone to cracking at the joint allowing moisture behind the coating and essentially letting the steelwork rot from the inside out. Removing the glazing could reveal all manner of body horrors.

Optare made several improvements to the MetroRider (as they styled its name), including to the anti-corrosion treatment, making better use of galvanised steel, extruded alluminium sections, and wax-sealing. Other structural changes included a reworked roof, aluminium side panels (MCW used welded zinc-coated steel stretch panels) and greater use of moulded GRP. There were also interior and cosmetic changes. By the time Optare had finished fettling the MetroRider design it was a solid product, but by then the Dennis Dart had appeared on the scene which was a similar length to the long MetroRider and used the same engine and gearbox, but in a more ‘bus-like’ body which seated more passengers, had a shorter wheelbase, albeit the Dart cost more. Alternatively tried and tested larger Mercedes-Benz 709/711/811D based vehicles were also available and were attractive to many operators wanting a minibus sized vehicle. By the time Optare had developed the MetroRider into the product it perhaps should have been from the outset the bus world had started to move on from the minibus revolution. The work that Optare put into refining the MetroRider did however put them in good stead for the development of the Solo.

Thanks, I guessed there was some Ford parts in there, the Metrocab was the same.

 

[Mikey C]

I remember (as a passenger) thinking the Metrorider was a real step up from the van conversions, BUT once the Dart appeared - a compact "proper" bus - it immediately made it looked crude and outclassed, other than in its smallest variants

 

[Darandio]

Although buses aren't my thing I certainly seem remember these on United services in 'RoadRanger' branding and in some cases in a different white livery, something local to Aycliffe with the acorn symbol? @TheGrandWazoo will certainly know more than me. I believe Martindales of Ferryhill also got a couple in the end for their 112 service.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Although buses aren't my thing I certainly seem remember these on United services in 'RoadRanger' branding and in some cases in a different white livery, something local to Aycliffe with the acorn symbol? @TheGrandWazoo will certainly know more than me. I believe Martindales of Ferryhill also got a couple in the end for their 112 service.

Indeed I do remember that United did get a load of Mercedes L608s and Dodge S56s for their minibus services. They had local brands initially and whilst Darlington had "RoadRanger", three had the same livery but wore Newtonian fleetnames. The acorn was the symbol of Newton Aycliffe New Town.

Interestingly, Darlington Transport did purchase long wheelbase MCW Metroriders that with 33 high backed seats, followed by 4 Optares just as the second bus war began.

Northumbria had a batch of 45 MCWs that worked for them and Kentish Bus (on loan) but a few gained a tow hitch for this... (credit to John Carter) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jncar...Wq-7KhVgC-7Ki2q9-dzmcjm-5AzTjN-5AvBiR-5A3jrH/

 

[BVW]

Were you also responsible for the appropriate destination display, or was that a happy accident?

No accident about it, I'd have lit the match given the chance.

 

[Stan Drews]

Northumbria had a batch of 45 MCWs that worked for them and Kentish Bus (on loan) but a few gained a tow hitch for this... (credit to John Carter) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jncar...Wq-7KhVgC-7Ki2q9-dzmcjm-5AzTjN-5AvBiR-5A3jrH/

Quite a number of those Northumbria MCWs started life as ‘Wee Happy Buses’ with Strathclyde Buses.