Development
The Titan was conceived in 1973 as project B15 and was intended as a replacement for the Leyland Atlantean, Daimler Fleetline and Bristol VRT. Following the success of the single-deck Leyland National, it was decided, from the outset, that the vehicle would be very standardised and of integral construction. This allowed more flexibility in the location of mechanical components and allowed a reduced step-height. The move away from body-on-chassis construction caused concern for the bodybuilders, who had already lost market to the Leyland National. Talks regarding licensing agreements were held with Alexander and Northern Counties, both major suppliers to their respective local markets, but no agreements were reached.
Leyland saw London Transport as a major market, so the specification was heavily influenced by LT's preferences. LT was suffering problems with its DMS class of Daimler/Leyland Fleetline one-man-operated double-deckers and wanted rather more input into the design than they had had with the DMS. Leyland, too, wanted to gain more operator input than had been the case with the Leyland National.
Five prototypes (B15.01-B15.05) were constructed in 1975-1977, two of which were evaluated in London.
Read more about this topic: Leyland Titan (B15)
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