Volvo Super Olympian

For the buses with Wright Explorer bodywork (numbered as AVW??), please click here.

Volvo Super Olympian, also known as B10TL, is the largest group of super low-floor buses of KMB. Some of them were owned by NWFB. There are 492 12-metre, about 100 10.6-metre in KMB and over 100 12-metre buses in NWFB.

History

Volvo Super Olympian was conceived in 1998. The chassis was sent to Hong Kong for UITP held in the same year. And then, the chassis was sent back to UK for body installation. In 1999, the first bus (numbered as 3ASV3 afterwards) was built and introduced.

In 1999, 3ASV3 passed the inclination test of Transport Department and was ready to be introduced. It was licenced as JE1672 and used as the official bus of the cover of KMB annual report 1998.

On the other hand, NWFB's first batch of Super Olympians were finished and painted in Scotland, and all buses were introduced in 1999.

Chassis

The chassis of Super Olympian was based on Volvo Olympian. The front grid was moved to the back of the first axle. The engine was still Volvo TD102KF (it was changed later to D10A285 since 3ASV101), which is why it is nicknamed as 豬 (Originally means "pig" in Chinese, but here it means that the bus was not powerful enough for a super low-floor bus. The TD102KF has the power of only 245hp, compared to 305hp of Cummins M305E used on Neoplan Centroliner and Dennis Trident. The power of D10A285 was only 285hp, compared to 335hp of Cummins ISM Euro III used on Trident.)

Due to the change of design, the steering function on the second axle was no longer used. For the same reason, the only tramission available is ZF's 5HP590. However, the suspension is soft, making passengers comfortable. The overall design is ideal for long-distance routes, such as 68X, 968.

Exterior

The body of the bus was Walter Alexander ALX500, which is also used on Dennis Tridents. Out of all 492 buses of KMB, 20 of them (all in the last batch, randomly chosen) uses Volgren CR223LD.

As the main components were placed at the front to facilitate low-floor design, there is a long T-place of 3.40m, which is suitable for T-banner and allover advertisements.

On the other hand, the lights of the rear is also different from Trident. Lights of the engine part were supplied by Volvo.

Interior

Driving cab

The driving cab of Super Olympian was similar to that of Olympians. There was also enough space for Octopus card system.

Decks

There were 8 seats on the low-floor area for KMB Super Olympians, and 7 for NWFB ones. Due to the tradition of Olympian, the corridors of the decks were wide. The handrails were curved.

Air-conditioning

The air-conditioning was made by Denso.

Services

The buses, including the 10.6m version, were allocated to different routes of KMB and NWFB. This made great improvement on the bus services of both companies.

KMB

The first batch

The first batch was introduced in 1999 and allocated to long-distance routes such as 81C, 68X and 968. The Volvo engine and the transmission take advantage of long-distances. These buses were numbered as 3ASV1-61. They were equipped with Volvo TD102KF engine and plastic route display. In 2000, they are also the first batch of buses to be equipped with RoadShow.

The second batch

On the second batch, the route display was changed to electronic route display and the buses were allocated to 101, 89X, etc.. Route 42A also uses the second batch of the buses. When 43B added air-conditioned buses on October 2, 2004, some of those buses were used on the route.

3ASV78, registered as JP6375, was the 3000th bus with Walter Alexander bodywork supplied to KMB.

The third batch

It is also the last batch of Volvo Super Olympians, starting from 2001. They were allocated to most routes, including 6 (passengers of this route complained that TransBus Enviro 500s were allocated just less than a year later), 42C, 277X, etc..

3ASV492 (KW1624) is the last bus of this model. This does not mark the end of Volvo low-floor buses. Volvo also offered B9TL prototype to KMB. KMB has also ordered B9TL buses with TransBus Enviro bodywork.

The 10.6m version (ASV)

The first bus of the 10.6m version was introduced in 2001. Due to the length, the front grid was located before the second axle and there are horizontal seats at the lower deck. A pair of them was "raised" due to the location of the grid.

64K, which runs between Yuen Long and Tai Po via Lam Kam Road, had used this version in the past, but they seem incapable of running on Lam Kam Road, so they were replaced by Dennis Trident of the same length, which are more powerful. 92, 96R, etc. also uses this version of Super Olympian.

The first 49 ASVs are equipped with D10A285 Euro II engines, while the 50th one is equipped with a Euro III version of D10A285, which has been put on to service by 2002. The next 50 ASVs are known as the second batch. They are equipped with the Euro III version D10A285 engines as well. The two batches are almost identical, but the second batch has a slightly different interior. The second batch has a moulded panel shield and the floor is coated with a new texture. However, only 24 of the batch had been put on to service by 2003. The remaining ones were kept in the depots. Some of them has been put on to service since late 2004.

NWFB

There are over 100 buses in NWFB, all are 12-metre. When the first batch were introduced, they were allocated to 8P, 680, etc.. In 2001, when NWFB got the right to open routes in Tseung Kwan O (numbered as 79??), the second batch of buses were allocated on these routes. 694 (now running at a loss), 792M (formerly 792), 796B, 796C, 796X (formerly 296X of KMB) and 797M (cancelled right upon the commencement of MTR Tseung Kwan O Line) uses or used those buses. The last batch, introduced in 2002, were allocated mainly to routes 82 and 682 serving the Chai Wan district.