Volvo B8L

The Volvo B8L is a 3-axle bus chassis, for double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo Buses since 2018, with pre-production batches being produced as early as in 2016.

Volvo B8L
Kowloon Motor Bus Wright Gemini 3-bodied Volvo B8L in March 2019
Overview
ManufacturerVolvo
Production2016 - present
AssemblyBorås, Sweden
Body and chassis
Doors2
Floor typeLow floor
RelatedVolvo B5TL
Powertrain
EngineVolvo D8K
Power output350hp
TransmissionZF EcoLife
Voith DIWA (Optional but still haven't built any units)
Chronology
PredecessorVolvo B9TL

History

In 2017, two pre-production Volvo B8Ls were completed; one with a Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 body that entered service with Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) in Hong Kong (Registered as UU8290, fleet number AVBWL1) and a Wright Gemini 3 bodied example with SBS Transit in Singapore (registered as SG4003D).[1][2]

The B8L was officially launched in January 2018 as a replacement for the Volvo B9TL.[3][4] A MCV EvoSeti bodied example of Kowloon Motor Bus completed Motor Vehicle Examination and tilt test in early 2018.[5] The MCV bodied B8L was registered in March 2019 as WA756 with fleet number AVBML1. Another MCV bodied B8L was arrived to Hong Kong in April 2019 and was registered in December 2019 as WM5028 with fleet number AVBML2.

In October 2018, orders for 213 Wrightbus bodied examples for Hong Kong were announced, 46 for Citybus, 150 for KMB, 10 for Long Win Bus and seven for New World First Bus.[6][7][8] This was followed in November with an announcement of 42 Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB-bodied vehicles for Lothian Buses, Scotland with a subsequent order for another 36 vehicles bringing their total to 78.[9]

In October 2019, KMB ordered 110 MCV bodied B8Ls, the first batch of B8Ls to be 12.8m in length. Some of these have been shipped to Hong Kong as of July 2020, and entered service in October 2020.

In November 2019, Prasarana Malaysia ordered 90 Gemilang bodied B8L's for Rapid Bus as part of fleet replacement programme.[10] The first 3 buses, registered as VEN634, VEN1373 and VEN9768 entered service with RapidKL in 1st June 2020, with followings were delivered and operate in stages.

In April 2020, the SBST B8L has rumoured that it was returned to Volvo as sometime during the month the bus went missing.

As of August 2020, 159 Volvo B8Ls are in service with KMB, 23 are in service with Citybus (Fleet numbers 8800-8822), 7 are in service with NWFB (Fleet numbers 5230-5236) and 10 are in service with RapidKL.

  • A Kowloon Motor Bus-operated Volvo B8L with an MCV Evoseti body
  • The sole Volvo B8L in Singapore as operated by SBS Transit
  • A Lothian-operated Volvo B8L is bodied with an Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB body
  • Volvo B8L operated by RapidKL entered service in 1st June 2020

References
  1. Volvo launches B8L tri-axle Route One 30 January 2018
  2. "Volvo goes East" Buses Worldwide issue 208 April 2018 page 36
  3. Volvo Buses introduces new Euro VI Double-Decker Volvo 25 January 2018
  4. Volvo Buses unveil B8L Euro VI double-decker Transport Engineer 1 February 2018
  5. Volvo B8L Land Transport Guru 28 January 2018
  6. Wrightbus wins orders for more than 200 buses BBC News 5 October 2018
  7. Ballymena bus manufacturer Wrightbus lands Hong Kong orders Belfast Telegraph 5 October 2018
  8. Wrightbus announces two new orders for Hong Kong Coach & Bus Week issue 1363 9 October 2018 page 8
  9. "100 seats for Lothian in new three-axle ADL Enviro400xlb on Volvo chassis". Alexander Dennis. 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  10. King, Nicholas (20 November 2019). "Rapid Bus gets 90 Volvo double deckers | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
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