DANIEL STAZICKER tells the story of an early Volvo B8L that is turning heads as a private hire vehicle in Singapore
Double-deckers have been operated in Singapore since a trial fleet of 20 Leyland Atlanteans was introduced in 1977 and today they are a highly visible part of the public transport system, moving thousands of passengers every day. It is one of the key Asia Pacific markets for manufacturers of double-deckers as they evolve their products to balance modern technological advances, production design improvements, regulation and tough emission standards, while still giving the operator what they demand in terms of maintenance, performance, costs and fuel economy.
Towards that end, Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) and ComfortDelGro-owned SBS Transit evaluated a 12m tri-axle Volvo B8L on demonstration in 2018 for two years. This bus had much to prove , as the B8L, with in-line 8litre engine, replaced the wellrespected tri-axle B9TL which had sold in quantity in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Singapore demonstrator, chassis number YV3U2U529HA184195 with 84-seat Wright Gemini 3 dual-door body number Wt ZC592, was registered in December 2017 as SG4003D. The Eclipse Gemini 2 body is a…
