Volvo B10L

The Volvo B10L was a rear-engined, low-floor single-decker public bus chassis built by Volvo between c. 1993 and c. 2005. An articulated version of the B10L, known as the B10LA, was also produced.

Volvo B10L
A Wright Liberator-bodied Volvo B10L.
Overview
ManufacturerVolvo
Production1993–2005
Body and chassis
ClassBus chassis
Doors1, 2 or 3 doors
Floor typeLow floor
Dimensions
Length12.0 to 18.0 m (39 ft 4 in to 59 ft 1 in)
Width2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Height3.0 m (9 ft 10 in)
Chronology

United Kingdom
CNG-powered B10L of Travel West Midlands. Note this bus is now converted to run of diesel and is a driver-trainer.
Diesel-engined B10L with Alexander Ultra bodywork in the Ulsterbus fleet

The B10L was available in the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1994 and 1999, with a choice of two types of bodywork, the Alexander (Belfast) Ultra and the Wright Liberator. The Alexander Ultra body was marketed by Volvo,[1] and based on the Swedish design produced by Säffle (a subsidiary of Volvo), who built the body on the first B10L imported to Britain. The Wright bodywork proved slightly more popular.

In the UK, the articulated B10LA was bodied exclusively by Wrights for FirstGroup subsidiaries in Manchester (15), Leeds (15) and Glasgow (10). The Wright body for the B10LA is named Fusion.

The B10L enjoyed limited success in Britain. In 1997 the Volvo B10BLE was introduced to the British market, and this chassis rapidly became more popular. The B10BLE was cheaper than the B10L, and shared more in common with the step-entrance B10B, examples of which were already owned by many of its customers.

Customers
  • The largest fleet of Volvo B10L buses in the UK was purchased by Travel West Midlands, consisting of 80 conventional diesel-powered chassis with Wright Liberator bodywork, and 14 CNG-powered buses with Alexander Ultra bodies. The Alexander Ultra models are now converted to run on conventional diesel, with seven having been transferred to the training fleet before being returned to normal passenger use to replace the ageing Volvo B10Bs withdrawn from the fleet.
  • The second largest fleet was purchased by Translink, whose Citybus (later Metro) and Ulsterbus divisions acquired sixty new, plus a further two ex-demonstrators. All have Alexander Ultra bodies. There have been a small number of withdrawals but most remain largely intact as of January 2007, operating services in the Belfast and Derry areas. The B10Ls with Alexander Ultra bodies have proved unpopular with the drivers and the engineering due to poor electrics.
  • Travel Dundee received 30 Wright-bodied examples which began to enter service in February 1997.

Other UK operators who purchased B10Ls include:

The pioneer Säffle-bodied B10L was new to Mainline (now First South Yorkshire) but they did not order any further examples and quickly disposed of it. As of November 2006 it was being used around Lincoln by Stagecoach subsidiary RoadCar, and is now preserved.

Ireland

Eleven Wright Liberator-bodied B10Ls are operated by Bus Éireann in Cork, and sister CIÉ company Dublin Bus purchased five Alexander Ultra-bodied B10Ls for use in Dublin. A sixth, experimental LPG-powered, vehicle was leased and later returned.

Finland

Helsingin Bussiliikenne has 41 Volvo B10L buses with Carrus City U bodies purchased between 1995 and 1999. 21 of these are gas-powered.[2] Pohjolan Liikenne has bought four Volvo B10L buses with Lahti 402 bodies in 1999.[3]

Tampereen kaupunkiliikenne has eight articulated Volvo B10LA buses with Carrus City U bodies bought between 1996–1998 and in 2008. [4]

Jyväskylän Liikenne B10L

Jyväskylän Liikenne has 29 Volvo B10L buses with Carrus City U bodies built between 1997 and 1998. Part of these buses have been bought from Kuopion Liikenne. [5] Koiviston Auto has five Volvo B10L buses with Carrus City U bodies bought in 1997 and 1998. [6]

See also

References
  1. Woodifield, Peter (2 July 1994). "Ultra bus commission for Walter Alexander". The Scotsman. Factiva sc00000020011106dq72000la.
  2. Arttu Kuukankorpi (2009-08-31). "Pääkaupunkiseudun bussikuvasto" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  3. Arttu Kuukankorpi (2008-06-03). "Pääkaupunkiseudun bussikuvasto" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  4. Kari Paavola. "Tampereen seudun bussisivut > Kalustolista > Volvo" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  5. Antti Moilanen (2009-08-28). "Koiviston Auto-yhtymä; Jyväskylän Liikenne kalustoluettelo" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  6. Antti Moilanen (2009-09-02). "Koiviston Auto-yhtymä; Koiviston Auto / Lahden Liikenne kalustoluettelo" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
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