De Lijn contractor Deba-Mebo 151178 (987 P9) De Lijn 4788 (1369 P) in Mechelen – 1 Feb 1993

Monday 1 February 1993 (approx. 1040) – De Lijn (Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn) was created in 1991 from the northern part of NMVB (Nationale Maatschappij van Buurtspoorwegen).

In addition to operating its own vehicles both NMVB and De Lijn have employed numerous outside companies as contractors.
In this photograph taken at Mechelen the bus on the left is 151178 (987 P9) in the fleet of a De Lijn contractor Deba-Mebo. It is a Gardner engined Pegaso with a Van Hool bodywork new in May 1976. The livery is an earlier NMVB layout. Buses of contractors carry six digit fleet numbers – the first four are the De Lijn contract number and the remaining two are the operators own fleet number.

The bus on the right is De Lijn’s own 4788 (1369 P), a DAF powered Van Hool AI 119 integral, one of a batch of 325 such buses (4500-4824) placed in service by NMVB between November 1975 and March 1977. This particular bus was new in October 1976. (I believe the AI designation was ‘Autobus Interurban’).