Hong Kong Buses (1 Viewer)

Oct 30, 2016
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Basically this is just a thread to discuss Hong Kong buses and coaches, also maybe Hong Kong derived vehicles. You are also more than welcome to discuss HK books, models, and the like on this thread.

Anyways to get the ball rolling here we have Capital Citybus 331, a Leyland Olympian operated for a while in East London on loan from Citybus in Hong Kong (at the time Capital Citybus was the London division) mainly on the 123 route, although it was also trialled on the 180. Credit to Stuart Dobie.


Corgi later made a model of it (43214), which I personally own, portrayed on the 248 to Cranham, although I couldn't find any evidence this happened. Could anyone shed some light?
 
I am from Hong Kong. It is likely to have a post discussing Hong Kong buses here.
Hong Kong bus services can be defined into several types related to their functions including public buses, residential services, China-Hong Kong cross border services, tour buses, staff buses, MTR buses, minibuses and school buses. There are five companies providing public buses, which are Citybus (CTB), New World First Bus (NWFB), Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB), New Lantau Bus (NLB) and Long Win Bus (LWB). These companies are owned by big commercial groups in Hong Kong. Those big groups also own multiple non-public bus service companies.

All buses in Hong Kong are import from other countries and regions. Most of them for public buses are UK brands due to historical background, and some are from Germany and Sweden. For coaches, there are many Japanese buses in a few Korean buses. Chinese buses are also common for coaches and electric buses but their stability are not very well.

Introduction for some bus models:
1. NWFB E400 FL
This is the real bus you call them E400MMC in OMSI.
There are total 74 models in the world for this model as this model is a special design for Hong Kong market. It uses old Trident 2 chassis related to repairing issues.The height is only 4.168 metres so the bus can pass under an old bridge which has already list as historical structure. NWFB has 60 models and mainly apply for route 9, 14, 15 (Service between Central and the Peak which can be found on tourist guides) and other low demand routes. New Lantau Bus then ordered 14 same models later for new routes in 2017.
These buses has an MMC appearance but they are NOT MMC buses because these buses are still using Euro 5 engine, old Trident 2 chassis and old dash. It is unique in Hong Kong and cannot be found in other regions in the world.
20180922_141442.jpg


2. Volvo B9TL
Hong Kong is one of the largest regions for using B9TL (The largest region is Singapore). There are 4 kinds of bodies can be found on B9TL including Wrightbus, ADL, Volgren (An Australian bodywork group) and Gemilang (A Malaysian bodywork group). Over 90% of Hong Kong B9TLs are using Wrightbus Gemini 2 body. KMB is the largest user in Hong Kong. There are four different lengths can be found in Hong Kong including 10.6-metre (2-axle), 11.3-metre (3-axle), 12-metre (3-axle) and 12.8-metre (3-axles). There are only 2 10.6-metre models in Hong Kong as test models for 2-axle double decker air-con buses and 3 12.8-metre models for ultra-long buses. Other than public bus companies, MTR and Discovery Bay bus services (A residential bus company) have also purchased several models for future passenger growth.

Photos:
A. CTB 12.8-metre Volvo B9TL with Wrightbus Gemini 2 body, bus VIN 6500, bodied by Masdef in Malaysia
20180511_170032.jpg


B. LWB 12-metre Volvo B9TL with ADL E500 body, bodied in Hong Kong, willbe transferred to KMB very soon
20180911_155526.jpg


C. NWFB 11.3-metre Volvo B9TL with Wrightbus Gemini 2 body, VIN 4508, bodied by Masdef in Malaysia
20180405_152141.jpg


D. CTB 10.6-metre B9TL with Wrightbus Gemini 2 body, VIN 7500, bodied by Wrightbus company in Northern Ireland
20180310_154913.jpg


3. MAN A95 (ND323F/ND363F)
MAN A95 is a double decker bus which is designed for Asia Pacific market so it only has RHD version. It released in 2014. The chassis are build in Germany or Poland. The official body combination for A95 is Gemilang body in Malaysia which the design is authorized by MAN, and therefore many characteristics of the head and rear design is almost as same as original body design which can be found on single decker buses and coaches. However, due to the cost and repairing issues, the are less than 100 MAN A95 in Hong Kong. Several of them are open-top buses and residential buses.

A. NWFB 12.8-metre MAN A95 (ND323F), VIN 6090, bodied by Gemilang in Johor Bahru, Malaysia
20180909_145723.jpg


B. Crystal Bus 12-metre MAN A95 (ND323F). This bus is one of the two A95 tour buses which provide dining tours in Hong Kong. Passengers can taste Michelin award meals on board. This company accept day tour and night booking. Each passengers have to pay around HKD$500-600 per tour.

20180714_145905.jpg


C. NLB 12-metre MAN A95 (ND363F) with a 'Facelift' design body
20180914_155404.jpg

20180914_164425.jpg


4. Toyota Coaster
Toyota Coaster is a famous minibus model made in Japan and it can found all over the world (Are there any in UK for bus services?). It is everywhere in Hong Kong and over 90% of minibus services are using this model. This model has changed a brand new body in 2017, but it has become heavier than the old one which had been used for over 20 years. The formation of minibus services is around 50 years ago. There were around 9 seats during that period. Later, the government set up the law for minibus. Each minibus can only contain 14 seats. In 1988, the government edited the law and increased the maximum capacity into 16 passengers. In 2017, the limit has increased to 19 seats. Hong Kong minibus services can be defined into two types: Specific roue services (Green hat) and Public services (Red hat). Green hat services must provide regular services including assigned route, frequency and fare approved by the government. Red hat services does not have to provide specific route and fares, but the regions available for those services are limited by the government. For example, red hats are prohibited to enter new towns, highways, airport and border restricted areas.

A. Green hat 19-seat Toyota Coaster with new body (B70), reg VS9134, using LPG as fuel
20180922_163209.jpg


B. Green hat 16-seat Toyota Coaster with old body, reg LJ1196, using LPG as fuel
20171101_093204.jpg


C.
Red hat 19-seat Toyota Coaster with new body (B70), using diesel as fuel
20180607_213552.jpg


More photos will be shared later.
 

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Jem

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Feb 18, 2018
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I don't think the Toyota coaster hasn't actually reached the UK just yet, a close equivalent would be the Optare Solo M780SL, which afaik has been exported as Public Light buses to HK. Speaking of Optare Solos, how are they over there?
 
I don't think the Toyota coaster hasn't actually reached the UK just yet, a close equivalent would be the Optare Solo M780SL, which afaik has been exported as Public Light buses to HK. Speaking of Optare Solos, how are they over there?
There are currently around 2 to 3 Optare Solos SR in Hong Kong for Minibus services. The introduction for them is due to the new idea of providing SLF minibus services for disabled people to public hospitals. They are assigned to specific hospital routes in weekdays, but not for whole day. These Optare Solos has stopped services for over a month due to yearly checking, air-con repairing and tuning. The first one in the photo below has re-entered services now.
Due to the law, these Optare Solos can only carry 19 passengers and no standings are allowed. 19 passengers are including the wheelchair. If a wheelchair is on board, one of the seats are not allowed to carry a passenger.
20180407_154158.jpg
20180407_154358.jpg
 
Oct 30, 2016
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By the way, do you hope that MAN A95 will be imported to the UK in the future?
Yes, it would look nice in different liveries and such.

What we have here is New World First Bus 3601, a 10.6m Duple Metsec bodied Dennis Trident. From what I could find out, New World First Bus 3601 started life as a demonstrator and it's specification is somewhat different to other Duple Metsec bodied vehicles in the fleet. Most noticeable is the rounded headlights - these are normally rectangular. Details of where and when it operated as a demonstator are not known. It entered service in September 2000 and could easily be identified at the time as the headlight/indicator surrounds were painted green.


As seen in this image from Gakei (credit to them), it used to have these interesting headlight surrounds as mentioned above.
1541330808475.png


By comparison, here is an image of another 10.6m Trident with NWFB, 3301.

The differences can clearly be seen.
 

sancouve

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Nov 10, 2016
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Yes, it would look nice in different liveries and such.

What we have here is New World First Bus 3601, a 10.6m Duple Metsec bodied Dennis Trident. From what I could find out, New World First Bus 3601 started life as a demonstrator and it's specification is somewhat different to other Duple Metsec bodied vehicles in the fleet. Most noticeable is the rounded headlights - these are normally rectangular. Details of where and when it operated as a demonstator are not known. It entered service in September 2000 and could easily be identified at the time as the headlight/indicator surrounds were painted green.


As seen in this image from Gakei (credit to them), it used to have these interesting headlight surrounds as mentioned above.
View attachment 36413

By comparison, here is an image of another 10.6m Trident with NWFB, 3301.

The differences can clearly be seen.

Actually the 33xx’s are only 10.4m long. You can see that they have shorter front overhangs and narrower doors.
I think it's also worth mentioning that 3601 originally comes with a Lawo blind which is said to have never worked, hence the signs behind the windshield.
 

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Oct 30, 2016
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Leeds, West Yorkshire
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Actually the 33xx’s are only 10.4m long. You can see that they have shorter front overhangs and narrower doors.
I think it's also worth mentioning that 3601 originally comes with a Lawo blind which is said to have never worked, hence the signs behind the windshield.
Ah right, I had read they were 10.6 so thanks for pointing that out. I'm assuming the Lawo was replaced with a Hanover?
 

Thundxr__-

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Feb 17, 2016
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Yes, it would look nice in different liveries and such.

What we have here is New World First Bus 3601, a 10.6m Duple Metsec bodied Dennis Trident. From what I could find out, New World First Bus 3601 started life as a demonstrator and it's specification is somewhat different to other Duple Metsec bodied vehicles in the fleet. Most noticeable is the rounded headlights - these are normally rectangular. Details of where and when it operated as a demonstator are not known. It entered service in September 2000 and could easily be identified at the time as the headlight/indicator surrounds were painted green.


As seen in this image from Gakei (credit to them), it used to have these interesting headlight surrounds as mentioned above.
View attachment 36413

By comparison, here is an image of another 10.6m Trident with NWFB, 3301.

The differences can clearly be seen.

why does a 10.6m bus require tri-axle? Lothian have 11.9m buses with no tri-axle
 

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I think it was something to do with the axle load weight limits at the time. There were 9.9m tri-axle Dennis Dragons until recently when the last went for scrap.
The limit total weight for 2-axle vehicles is 16 tons and 18 tons is for lorries. The E400s in Hong Kong must firstly get special licenses before registration and it can only carry 90 passengers.
 
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