27/07/2026
In 1998, Arriva Yorkshire purchased 51 DAF SB220s with Alexander ALX300 body. A prototype was bought in May 1998 with a further 50 which were all delivered between June and November that year so a very large batch overall. They were delivered to various depots across Arriva Yorkshire's network including their North Yorkshire operations in Selby with of course Dewsbury and Wakefield with perhaps some to Heckmondwike and Castleford as well.
467 as depicted was delivered new to Belle Isle, Wakefield and like with the rest of the fleet were painted into the Arriva Cotswold Stone livery and were some of Arriva Yorkshire's first buses to be painted in such livery, if these weren't the first for the operator after the purchase of the Caldaire Group these buses were the first low-floor buses bought by Arriva as a year later the company bought step-entry Optare Spectras for Dewsbury and Wakefield. These buses were joining similar ALX200 bodied Dennis Darts but these were bought new by Caldaire for their Yorkshire Woollen operations in Dewsbury. These were the sole low-floor buses bought by the Caldaire Group.
No.467 worked a number of local services, many linking Leeds as no.467's siblings weren't branded for any specific services but one of the routes the 482 linked Wakefield to Leeds via Middleton and Dewsbury Road along with the 481 and 483. The route is still be worked to this day but as the 118 not to be confused with the route which ran alongside the 117 (now 116). The 118 as we know now is still being run by Arriva although for a time was run by independent operator Yorkshire Buses on evenings and Sundays but until they ceased trading Arriva after sometime took on those missing runs once more.
After a few years 467 was given a repaint again into the Cotswold Stone livery which was lightly revised now featuring a more receded cream front and no large Arriva fleet names under the windows as adverts took their place. Instead the logos were more small scale above the entrance and cab window.
In later life, the bus was painted into the Interurban livery and also featured LED destination displays and was transferred to Heckmondwike when new buses started to be delivered to Wakefield. I believe the bus also benefitted from an interior refurbishment as well so if anyone can confirm this please comment below as I'd be very curious.
Sadly though, 467's time with Arriva came to a sad end when she was sold to independent operator Stagecarriage of Cleveland in the early 2010s who painted the bus all-red for her stay.
After a good few years with the small operator 467 was sold to a preservationist after spending some time off the radar and wasn't spoken much about. In 2026 though, it's been announced that the bus would be sold on again to other preservationists at the White Rose Bus Group where the bus is going through a massive overhaul whilst under the care of dedicated enthusiasts. Be sure to follow 467Preservation for updates about this now very rare bus.
Overall 63 ALX300 bodied DAF SB220s have been produced as Arriva Yorkshire wasn't the only operator to run these, as Arriva Manchester also ran these but were new in January/February of 2000 so were a couple of years newer.
Alexander's ALX300 replaces the step-entry Strider, PS and the Säffle designed low-floor Ultra which was never that popular. But like the PS and Strider, the ALX300 saw good success in particular with the large operators like Arriva, First and Stagecoach as the body was also built on the Volvo B10BLE and MAN 18.220, the Volvo B10BLE was in particular the most popular as all the big three bought the ALX300 bodied Volvo B10BLE with Stagecoach being the sole buyer of the MAN 18.220 like Arriva being the sole customer for the DAF SB220 examples.
The DAF SB220 was also popular in low floor configuration like the step entry equivalents. Arriva being the main operator of buses with this chassis and not just with ALX300 bodies but also Ikarus bodies as well, including the Polaris worked by Arriva Yorkshire and Arriva North West basically wherever the ALX300s were bought for, but the Ikarus Polaris fleet weren't bought new by Arriva as those buses were initially bought by independent operators who'd cease trading including Aztecbird, Guiseley and Blue Bus, Manchester.
The ALX300 meanwhile was replaced by the Enviro300, however that didn't seem to be as popular among operators with Arriva Yorkshire only trialling out a demonstrator which I infact rode back in 2008 on the 117. The bus was also built as an integral having launched in 2002 under the TransBus brand when Alexander and Plaxton merged for a while but later Alexander launched their own style body which we all know today but again wasn't that popular with the larger operators in particular First and Stagecoach buying the lion's share with First the integral versions and Stagecoach with MAN and Scania frames. There's been no official replacement of the Enviro300 range although full sized Enviro200 EVs have since been produced being built to the MMC style body and built on the BYD K9 chassis.
