The
trial by SMRT Buses (Singapore) of MAN demonstrator
SMB138Y proved successful, resulting in an order of 200
complete buses.
The production MAN NL323F buses are to be bodied by
Gemilang (design based on MAN Lion City Hybrid). The
buses are Euro V compliant with the engine producing 320 hp, fully low
floor, equipped with Alcoa rims, Vogelsitze seatings and
Mobitec electronic destination signage. The air-conditioning appears to
be supplied by Denso like the demonstrator, but this is unconfirmed
owing to the black area covering the front top of the bus.
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Photograph courtesy and
copyright of
Christopher Tan (Public Transport Hub) |
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| One of the batch of production batch
buses, SMB189A,
was spotted on the road on 15th September 2011
while undergoing tests with
trade plates. The revenue equipment and side electronic
destination signage are not installed yet. More
buses are expected to be delivered in the coming months. |
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The 1st October
2011 saw the official handover of two buses by ST Kinetics to
SMRT Buses. The two buses involved were SMB189A and
SMB191S. Both sport a full body advertisment
promoting the new bus and its features, such as Euro V compliant and
sliding plug doors.
Photograph
courtesy and copyright of Teo Wei Shen
Also, a site has been
launched by SMRT for this bus : http://smrt.com.sg/manbus/.
It is stated that the first unit will debut service 963
plying between HarbourFront Interchange to Woodlands
Regional Interchange from 1st Oct, however this has been pushed back to
3rd Oct 2011 as reported by the media : http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC111001-0000486/SMRT-unveils-new-fleet-of-buses
(this link is no longer available). This media article also mentions the introduction of another 40
Mercedes Benz Citaro buses.
My
thanks to Teo
Wei Shen
and Mark Chua for providing this news and photographs.
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| The new MAN NL323F A22 SMB189A debuted
this morning (3rd October 2011) on route 963E. |
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| Above photographs
courtesy and copyright of Mark Chua |
