WMPTE Daimler Fleetline conversion WDA 956T

One of many Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines delivered to West Midlands PTE, this bus gained fame by being converted to single deck by West Midlands Travel in 1994, surprisingly NOT as a result of a low bridge incident!

There was a plan to utilise cheap minibus drivers for off peak services. To do that would have needed far more minibuses than the company owned but there were a lot of unused Fleetlines in store and one or two other operators had converted/rebodied Atlanteans to single deck to meet similar if smaller needs so a plan was made to convert a Fleetline.

The conversion of 1956 did prove to be somewhat expensive as basically all the good metal from the top deck was cut away leaving all the corroded lower deck which had to be rebuilt. There was also the cost of producing the special front and rear domes and it was used to trial several features such as rubber floor covering, tip up seats and a stanchion less entrance.

By the time it was completed the minibus trial had been declared a failure and quietly scrapped eliminating the need for any further conversions.