Enviro400 MMC The
Enviro400 MMC (Major Model Change) was unveiled by Alexander Dennis on 1 May 2014 as the successor to the
Enviro400. Compared to the Enviro400, changes included a complete body redesign with new front and rear ends and
Euro VI engines as standard. The
Oxford Bus Company were among the first operators to purchase the Enviro400 MMC, followed by the
Go-Ahead Group, the
Stagecoach Group and
Reading Buses. The Stagecoach Group, the founders of which were shareholders of Alexander Dennis until 2019, operate a large number of Enviro400 MMCs across the group's operations in England, Wales and Scotland. Outside London, some of the largest fleets are in service with their
Manchester and
Merseyside and South Lancashire subsidiaries. Most have been delivered to the company's standard single-door specification, but there have been some exceptions: at
Stagecoach East Midlands, six Enviro400 MMCs entered service on
Lincolnshire InterConnect cross-county services in November 2017 in a purple variation of the standard Stagecoach livery, while fourteen Enviro400 MMCs entered service at
Mansfield and Workshop depots between 2018 and 2020 for the
Nottingham to
Chesterfield 'Pronto' service.
Stagecoach East introduced 22 dual-door Enviro400 MMCs painted in colour-coded liveries to
Cambridge's park & ride network in 2017, while
Stagecoach Bluebird introduced eight branded Enviro400 MMCs equipped with luggage racks to its 'JET 727' service to
Aberdeen Airport, and 12 branded examples were introduced to
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire's scenic '
The Lakes Connection 555' service in the
Lake District in 2016; these were replaced by nine Enviro400 MMCs with improved interiors in April 2023. Enviro400 MMCs for
Stagecoach Gold services began to be delivered from 2016 onwards; examples have entered service with
Stagecoach South,
Stagecoach Yorkshire,
Stagecoach West and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire. A further 96 Platinum Enviro400 MMCs were purchased in 2016 for services in the
Black Country, 38 more were delivered throughout December 2017 for services in
Harborne, and 72 more were delivered in 2018 for the 9, 50, X10 and X70 services, as well as for sister company
National Express Coventry's first Platinum services. Enviro400 MMCs built to similar specification were also purchased for service with
Xplore Dundee between 2018 and 2019. Orders of the diesel Enviro400 MMC ceased in 2020 after
National Express pledged to stop buying diesel buses for its West Midlands and Coventry operations. The Enviro400 MMC has also received orders from the
FirstGroup.
First Scotland East received 19 Enviro400 MMCs in 2016 for services in
West Lothian, and a total of 96 Enviro400 MMCs were delivered to
First Glasgow by 2019. Enviro400 MMCs have also entered service with
First West of England, primarily for its
Bristol operation,
First West Yorkshire, who had eight high-specification Enviro400 MMCs delivered for the
Wharfedale Connection X84 service between
Leeds and
Skipton, and with
First Kernow, where 51 Enviro400 MMCs entered service on the company's branded services. 16 Enviro400 MMCs were delivered to
Go Cornwall Bus in 2020 following the subsequent tendering of the entire
Cornwall Council/
Transport for Cornwall bus network to the Go-Ahead Group.
Arriva UK Bus also operate Enviro400 MMCs.
Arriva Midlands introduced 35 of the type for services in
Leicester in 2016, while 18 were delivered to
Arriva Southend that same year. In 2017,
Arriva North East introduced 12 Enviro400 MMCs, delivered to newly redesigned
Arriva Sapphire specification for services to
Newcastle upon Tyne and
Ashington, and
Arriva Yorkshire placed 50 Enviro400 MMCs into service at their
Castleford and
Heckmondwike depots, with thirteen delivered to Sapphire specification for Leeds to
Dewsbury and
Halifax services 254 and 255 and the remaining 37 delivered in standard fleet livery. 47 Enviro400 MMCs were later delivered to Arriva North East's
Ashington and Arriva Midlands'
Thurmaston depots in mid-2022.
East Yorkshire and then-parent company
Go North East placed fourteen Enviro400 MMCs with high-specification interiors into service in November 2019 for services in and around
Kingston upon Hull and Newcastle upon Tyne. More Enviro400 MMCs were delivered to both companies in 2020; Go North East took on eleven Enviro400 MMCs in two batches for a pair of flagship
X-Lines express routes, while eight Enviro400 MMCs built to similar specification were delivered to East Yorkshire in August 2020 for use on flagship
EastRider services X46 and 45 serving Hull,
Bridlington and
York.
Transdev Blazefield ordered a batch of Enviro 400 MMCs for two of their flagship services in December 2020. Built to Transdev's own "Sky Class" specification, fourteen were allocated to the
Witchway X43 between
Burnley and
Manchester, with next stop announcements on these buses voiced by
Coronation Street actress
Jennie McAlpine. The remaining five of the new vehicles were allocated to the
CityZap express route between
Leeds and York, featuring next stop announcements voiced by
BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire weather forecaster
Paul Hudson. In 2016,
Bluestar took delivery of 10 Enviro400 MMCs, primarily for use on the Bluestar 1 between
Southampton and
Winchester. A further five Enviro400 MMCs were also delivered between 2019 and 2020. Bluestar also took delivery of 32 Enviro400 MMCs for their
Unilink operation in 2018, which allowed displacement of buses to Bluestar in order to replace the older buses in their fleet. Fellow Go-Ahead company
morebus of
Dorset took delivery of 28 Enviro400 MMCs in October 2023 for use on two express routes serving
Bournemouth,
Westbourne and
Poole, with Bluestar subsequently taking delivery of 16 more Enviro400 MMCs in May 2024 following major expansions to its bus network. In January 2026, it was announced that morebus would receive 5 additional Enviro400 MMCs to arrive in spring 2026 for their New Forest Breezer brand, serving routes from
Lymington to Bournemouth and Southampton. Other operators of conventional Enviro400 MMCs include
Cardiff Bus, who had ten of the type delivered in 2015, followed by a further seven on rental from the Mistral Group in 2022;
Southern Vectis, who took delivery of 16 Enviro400 MMCs in 2017 and another seven in November 2023;
Yellow Buses, who took delivery of six in 2017, and
Borders Buses, who took three of the type which were fitted with lower deck
bicycle carriers in 2019.
Enviro400 City In late 2015, Alexander Dennis launched the
Enviro400 City, a premium model of the Enviro400 MMC, featuring a restyled front end to match the single-decker
Enviro200 MMC and a glass staircase as standard amongst other features, designed to compete with the
New Routemaster and
Wright SRM designs in the
London bus market. The first production examples, built with hybrid powertrains, entered service with
Arriva London on
route 78; a repeat order in 2016 would later see this fleet grow to a total of 53 Enviro400 Cities.
Enviro400 XLB branded Enviro400 XLBs operated by
Lothian Buses on
Waverley Bridge The tri-axle
Enviro400 XLB was launched in late 2018, providing an equivalent option to the
Enviro500 MMC for the United Kingdom market. The Enviro400 XLB features essentially the same body style as the standard Enviro400 MMC, but stretched over three axles and fitted onto
Volvo B8L chassis.
Lothian Buses were the launch customer for the Enviro400 XLB, with an initial order of 42 vehicles for inner city core routes, which was followed by further examples delivered later in the year for service on the
Airlink network to
Edinburgh Airport. The only other operator to take delivery of Enviro400 XLBs was
Stagecoach East, who took twelve equipped with guide wheels for use on the
Cambridgeshire Busway in early 2020. == Powertrain variants ==