China brand public buses

A picture was taken in China, showing an Yutong bus painted in Singapore's bus operator SMRT livery.

It should be confirmed since the bus is painted into SMRT corporate livery. This will be the 2nd China-brand public bus serving in Singapore. It is also designed to suit the Wheelchair Accessible Bus and low-entry requirement.

The 1st China-brand bus which came to Singapore as a public bus, KING LONG, and it serves passengers at the Sentosa. Registered as PA8031M, in the orange Sentosa livery.

The news of the Yutong demonstrator was first reported in China's bus enthusiast forum 92bus.com and then to Singapore's bus enthusiast forum SGForums.com

If the picture and post is indeed accurate, SMRT has broken new grounds again by bringing in the first revenue service China-made city bus. TIll date, Singapore has got privately owned vehicles and tourist coaches (including the PA registered Sentosa King Long city bus) that are imported from China.

More information to be updated.

Nissan Diesel U31CRN Farewell Tour 2008

2 tours were held last year in 2008, on 15th November and 6th December respectively. It is estimated around 80 bus enthusiasts went for the tours on 6th December, with 2 types of Nissan Diesel U31CRN buses chartered, CSS185P (Original Aircon) and CSS194M (Converted Aircon).

These buses will soon be withdrawn from service totally. Out of the total 40 which were bought initially, it is left with a handful of 10 of them still in service, and they can still be found on services like 178 and 981. While the other U31CRN buses hibernates themselves in the depots, waiting for their expiry.

We wanted to charter the bus, before they face total extinction from service.

The main areas in the tour on 6th December:
> Geylang Lorong 1 terminal
> National Stadium
> Fort Road heavy vehicle park
> City Hall
> Sin Ming
> Serangoon Gardens
> Jalan Kayu
> Seletar Camp
> Yishun Interchange

These are some of the photos taken on 6th December 2008:

Before the tour:

Fort Road Heavy Vehicle Park:






Evening shot @ Sin Ming:

Driver's cabin:


Interior seating configuration:
1) Interior of an Original Aircon U31CRN

2) Interior of an Converted Aircon U31CRN:

Rear engine:

Again, I never fail to get a bus captain shot:

Group Shot:

Withdrawal of the old buses (Part 2)

Since last year till date, after the withdrawal of the Volvo B10M Mark2 and Scania N113CRB, the next batch of buses facing extinction will be the Mercedes Benz O.405 and Nissan Diesel U31CRN.

The O.405 story
The O.405s were actually the largest order from Singapore in the 1990s. Singapore Bus Services (now SBS Transit) ordered 700 of them, 500 air-conditional, 200 non-aircon buses. In late 1993s, Trans Island Bus Services (now SMRTBuses) started to order O.405 and 0.405G (the articulated version of O.405, commonly known as "Bendy Bus") too, which has currently become the majority models in the company's fleet of buses.

SMRTBuses has since continued to place their order on Mercedes Benz buses, and their latest batch of buses are the 66 new OC500LEs. However, SBS Transit hasn't made any order from Mercedes since the 700 units of O.405s were bought, but has chosen Volvo and Scania for its fleet of buses.

Aircon and non-aircon buses
The 200 Duple Metsec converted aircon were actually a batch of non-aircon buses before 1999. They were converted into aircon buses as there was a demand for aircon buses. Withdrawing them off from service wasn't an economical solution then. So, the non-aircon Volvo B10M Mark2, Mercedes Benz O.405, Scania N113CRB and the Nissan Diesel undergone the conversion. The single deck non-aircon buses will no longer be available. Most of the non-aircon double deckers can still be found in the western side of Singapore, Boon Lay. They are the last batch of non-aircon buses ordered in year 1995.

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Mercedes Benz O.405 (700 units)
Bodyworks: 200 Walter Aexander, 300 Duple Metsec original aircon, 200 Duple Metsec converted aircon
Introduction: 1990 - 1993

1) Walter Alexander (WA) body:

2) Duple Metsec (DM) body- Original Aircon

3) Duple Metsec (DM) body- Converted Aircon


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Nissan Diesel U31CRN (40 units)
Bodyworks: Fuji Heavy Industries
Introduction: 1992-1993

May be introduced in early 90's, yet it is filled with the retro feel. They are manufactured and designed in Japan. Compared to other models acquired in the 90's, the Fuji bodywork design looks the most outdated.

1) Original Aircon

2) Converted aircon


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As mentioned earlier, our last batch of non-aircon buses are still available. They are the Volvo Olympian 2-axle buses, which came into service in 1995. There are at least 95 of them left in service. Each bus has an average lifespan of 17 years, so there will be few more years left to the survival of these 'hotdogs'. Most of these buses resides in the west, mainly to cater to the industrial workers.

1) Location: Hougang Central

2) Location: Boon Lay


That's all for today!
04/12/2008

Wheelchair Accessible Buses (WAB)

New era. Buses are now design to accomodate the movements of passengers-in-wheelchair (PIWs).

The first batch of WAB double decker buses [ Volvo B9TL Olympians ] came into service on 27June2006. I can remember it clearly because I set off to Pasir Ris early in the morning to catch this bus before I went to school. These new buses made their debut on service 21, serving between Pasir and St Michael's Estate. Haha, I was almost late for school then.

[ Volvo B9TL Olympian ] (200 units)
Bodywork by ComfortDelgro Engineering (SG)

Service 21, the first WAB service in SG

My favourite, SBS7483U. Seen and touched its chassis before it got itself fitted with a body:


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[ Volvo B7RLE ] (1 unit - demonstrator bus)
Bodyworks by Soon Chow Corporation (SG)

The "TRANSFORMER" looking front:

First day on service, good morning! (by Terence Au)

The unique looking "U-shape" seating at the rear: (by Terence Au)


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[ Scania K230UB ] (900+1 units)
Bodywork by Gemilang (Malaysia)
First batch of the new Scania single decker WABs came into service on 1November2007

1) Demonstrator bus SBS8033D (1 unit)

2) The production batch (900 units)

Compare the difference!

Managed to take a picture of myself in the driver cabin of a typical K230UB when it was doing bus captain familiarisation before 1stNovember2007.

Nah, don't laugh. :P

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[ MAN 18.240 ] (1 unit)
Bodyworks by Gemilang (Malaysia)

1) SBS8031J Day shot (at Loyang)

2) SBS8031J Evening shot (opp Downtown East)

Love the performance of this bus, compared to the other new models. A recommended bus, commonly found on service 17 (Pasir - Bedok)

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[ Mercedes Benz OC500LE ] (66 units)
Bodywork by Gemilang (Malaysia)
First bus to use the new SMB prefix rego (i.e. SMB1H)

1) SMB1H - 1st day on the roads, July08:

2) My first attempt on raining shot
(with fog light switched on)


New buses look nice and new. BUT...lesser seats and more standing area, zero step entrance and so you've ot to climb the steps when you are looking for a seat. It is rather unstable, especially when you are standing on the higher part of the bus above the engine, and the bus makes a turn...you sway left or right.

The engine is design this way so that the front cabin of the bus allows the elderly passenger to board effortlessly, and to enable the PIW to row up and down the bus without a step as hindrance.

BUT you can't design an engine on top of the bus, unless it is operated by cables.

Well, that's for the day.

Cya!
01/12/2008

Withdrawal of the old buses (Part 1)

Serving people for years, these buses will be withdrawn from services too.

Let us take a look at the Volvo B10M Mark2 and Scania N113CRB. One-by-one, they are being removed from services, heading for the scrapyard. And they will be history.

Volvo B10M MarkII (1988 - April 2008)
[http://www.volvo.com/]
1) aircon (Duple Metsec bodyworks):

2) Non-aircon (Walter Alexander Bodyworks):

A farewell tour was held and I was invited.


Scania N113CRB (1989 - 2009)
[http://www.scania.com/]
1) Original Aircon:

2) Non-Aircon:

3) Converted Aircon:

There's also a farewell tour for this model in September 08:
1) Kranji Dam - scenery shot

2) Lim Chu Kang Rd end - the kampong feel

3) Lim Chu Kang Rd (Nearside shot)

4) Evening shot @ NTU:

5) Engine Compartment:

6) Me myself. The captain of the day!

7) Group shot (taken by Yusry):


While the Scania N113CRBs are still in service, there's still a chance to have a ride on them before they are gone. The non-aircon Scanias will be the last batch of single decker non-aircon buses in SBS Transit's fleet, and they will extinct by Jan 2009. By the end of 2009, this model faces total extinction.

Acknowledgement:
All photos are taken by me, unless indicated. If anyone would like to get these photos, please seek permission from me or the respective owners. Thanks.

Have a nice day!
22/11/2008

Harlow!

Harlow!

Let me introduce myself...

Kok Pern
17+
Cancer
Temasek Polytechnic
Integrated Facility Design & Management

A temporary blog for my assignment. :)