My thanks to
Simon Yiu for providing this general update on the Alexander Dennis
Enviro500s operating in Canada.
Ottawa's OC Transpo's seventy-five new low-height Enviro500
double deckers(#8001 to
8075) have started to be delivered - thirty-five were in
service as of mid- November and delivery is expected to be completed by April
2013, with an option to purchase forty more still to
be exercised.
These new double-deckers are 12.8m in length, 4.14m height
(13ft 6) in order to get exempted from MTO (Ministry of Transportation
Ontario) regulation. Every vehicle with clearance more or
equal to 14ft has to obtain a special permit from MTO in order to run
in Ontario, Canada. The fuel tank of these
buses being relocated and actually placed above the 3rd axle,
right behind the last row of seats, and the secret door behind the fuel
cap on the door side is the access to the maintenance area for the
engine/air tank and fuel tank
Upper deck level clearance remains the same, the reduction of 6 inches
is reflected in the lower deck (as expected). Because of this, the a/c
duct/vent originally placed at the centre of the roof beside the
staircase, have to be moved to the sides in order to yield more
clearance out. The whole cockpit has dropped by 6
inches, which means it's "closer" to the ground, but remains the same
clearance/space as the three pilot buses #1201 to 1203
Owing to the drop of the cockpit, the battery/wiring/electric panels
originally placed underneath, have been split and some of them were
moved underneath the staircase, which explains the extra "openable"
panel behind the front axle, underneath the staircase
The 3 pilot buses #1201 to 1203 with 14ft clearance (4.27m), have been
sold, their current status remains unknown but rumours that BC
Transit, Victoria has purchased them.
GO Transit of Toronto, Ontario, has purchased twenty-five low height
Enviro500s and these buses (#8100 to 8124) have started to be delivered
in mid November, with an option to purchase eighty more, which has yet
to be exercised. These feature coach seats and suburban configuration
with single door (plug type door)
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