An unusual sighting was seen this afternoon when a brand new KCM/NLB Man A95 double decker (TV3935) drove through Discovery Bay Pier B/T. It is assumed that DBTSL was testing the Man A95. DBTSL already owns 6 double decker B9TL buses, that were registered between July and August of this year. The bus was also seen parked at Sunny Bay MTR station, most likely having been tested along route DB03R (Discovery Bay - Sunny Bay MTR). With DBTSL's external routes constantly increasing in demand, it appears that DBTSL are looking to expand their fleet by possibly purchasing even more double deckers.
0 Comments
Today NLB's newest bus, MAN LE 19.320 MN95 (TU1242) was spotted at Cheung Sha on route 11 from Tai O to Tung Chung. This makes the 19.320s the first super-low-floor buses to run on South Lantau since the retirement of NLB's Dennis Darts in 2010-11. This class of bus, which is shorter (at 11m) than NLB's other SLF buses, is presumably designed to be able to operate on South Lantau's steep, narrow and winding roads.
Interestingly, a push for NLB to confirm the use of SLF buses for South Lantau was in at least one of the manifestos of people running for the recent District Council Elections. DBAY212 (TP1192) Tung Chung Temporary Terminus Seen this afternoon was DBTSL's Volvo B9TL DBAY212 (TP1192) conducting driver training within Tung Chung. Currently, DBTSL's 6 double decker buses only operate on routes DB03R and DB03P, which shuttle between Discovery Bay and Sunny Bay MTR station. DBTSL's other external route DB01R, which shuttles between Discovery Bay and Tung Chung MTR station, still only operates with single decker buses. During peak hours, route DB01R runs overcapacity, and it is believed that DBAY212 was being tested today along route DB01R so that these double-decker buses can help cope with the high demand during peak hour periods.
If you would like to see footage of this bus being tested, please visit our Facebook page by clicking on the link below: https://www.facebook.com/hkbusstop/?fref=ts Further to the news two days ago of NLB’s newly registered MAN LE 19.320 buses, one of them - MN93 (TT583) has been spotted displaying destination information for a South Lantau route. Yesterday it was spotted out of service but with its destination equipment displaying route 23 to Ngong Ping. Today it was again spotted with the 23, however it is unfortunately unknown whether it ever actually operated the route. If this class of three buses is indeed for South Lantau, they will be the first super-low-floor (SLF) buses there since NLB retired their Dennis Darts in 2010. Pictures of MN93 (TT583) above show it with 23 displayed on the destination screen. Please click on the pictures to enlarge them.
MN92 (TS8262) @ Tung Chung Temporary Terminus Seen this morning parked in the Tung Chung Temporary Terminus was MN92 (TS8262). Two others have been given fleet numbers MN93 (TT583) and MN94 (TT1858). Although these buses had officially been registered almost three weeks ago , non of them have made a public appearance until this week. It is uncertain to what routes they will be serving, but most likely NLB's internal routes within Tung Chung and Kong Sham Western Highway routes between Shenzhen Bay Port and northwestern New Territories.
MTR is continuing to register their 11.3m Enviro500NGs, with 2 being registered on Wednesday, coinciding with the retirement of their last two Volvo Olympians - 238 and 239, on Monday. 529 (TT8108) - one of the two buses registered on Wednesday - was today spotted on route K51.
Citybus runs special cemetery route 347 at two times of the year - Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals where families traditionally go grave-sweeping. Thus demand is high to get to Hong Kong's various cemeteries, many of which are poorly served by public transport. Circular route 347 runs from Admiralty Station to Aberdeen, via Victoria Road and the large cemetery at Pok Fu Lam. There are many other routes run by KMB and NWFB on these festivals as well.
Sightseeing tour operator Bigbus has been replacing their fleet of 7 third-hand, former CMB Dennis Condors with more Chinese-made Ankai open-top buses. The Dennis Condors were bought from NWFB (who acquired them from CMB) in 2007-2008, and converted to open-top buses. #4 for instance was once DA14 (EU7840). However Bigbus has recently bought a new batch of 8 Ankai buses (supplementing their existing fleet of 9) to replace their 7 Condors and one Dennis Dominator. The new #4 (NR6564) was spotted today (an Ankai), having replaced Condor #4 (also NR6564).
One of DBTSL's 6 double deckers was spotted today in Tung Chung, undergoing testing for route DB01R. Currently the double-deckers are confined to operating Sunny Bay external routes DB03R and DB03P from Discovery Bay. It is hoped DBAY209 (TN8184) produces a successful test result to enable double-deckers to begin operating on the DB01R, which is currently over-capacity at rush-hour.
New Lantao bus has recently started route 37H - a new route from Tung Chung's North Lantau Hospital to Tung Chung North. Due to the constraints of entering the hospital drop-off area, and the relatively lower demand for the route, it is run by minibuses. NLB recently added 4 second-hand minibuses from parent company Kwoon Chung's fleet to augment the 2 they already had to run route 34. The new route (which runs all day at a frequency of between 15 and 20 minutes) began service yesterday. Above are some pictures of the minibuses that were spotted on the route.
4 unregistered MTR 11.3m Enviro500NGs were seen parked in Hung Shui Kiu MTR Depot today awaiting registration plates. All four have been allocated the individual fleet numbers of 526, 527, 528 & 529. MTR currently have a total of 22 11.3m E500NGs in service, and have been placing them in service since August of 2013.
Private coach operator Kwoon Chung Motors celebrates its 50th anniversary as a coach company this year, and to commemorate it they decorated several of their buses in special 50th anniversary livery, as well as releasing a set of limited edition bus models, organising a Lantau charity walk and holding a 'Kwoon Chung Bus Golden Jubilee Race Day' at Sha Tin Racecourse on the 19th of September. The buses decorated in 50th anniversary livery include new MAN A95 KU3998, MAN A91 coach PH8153, and several minibuses. Pictures of KU3998 and a minibus both with the livery are shown above.
6525 (TS4230) was seen today operating on route S1. The bus was registered yesterday, taking the total number of LWB coach-specified Enviro500NGs to 25.
Seen today in Tung Chung Town Centre B/T was ADS198 (JC570) operating on special route X1. Route X1 is jointly operated between LWB, CTB & KMB, and only operates if an event is being held at the Asia World Expo. In most occasions, KMB usually send their newest buses in either 'L' or 'U' district to operate this special route, so seeing an older bus such as ADS198 operating on this route, makes it extra special. Currently, ADS198 is an L-Spare bus, and is only 1 of 50 KMB Dennis Dragon 9.9m that still remain in service (originally 235 buses in the ADS class).
Recently Long Win Bus have been sporadically adding new buses to their fleet of coach-specification Enviro500NGs. Registered two days ago and seen today in service was 6524 (TS1334) on route S64.
|