Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Network Shuttle

Released in Hong Kong today is this 1/76 scale Commer lorry from Best Choose.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
David Lam

Thanks to David Lam, I have just added to the  section of the site photographs and an interesting report on three Enviro500s operating for OC Transpo in Ottawa, Canada. 

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
EriC Lee

Pictured above is believed to be the next tram release from 80M Bus Model Shop. Whilst carrying a fictitious livery, it is clearly aimed at the tourist market. I hope to be able to publish further details shortly. For tram enthusiasts, who are also Facebook users, I would recommend a visit to the 'MY Tramways' group. 

Larger and higher resolution photographs of former China Motor Bus MCW Metrobus ML40 now operating for City Sightseeing Sydney, Australia have been added to the  section of the site, under the category 'Buses from the Rest of the World'.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Stephen Cho

My thanks to Stephen Cho for providing the following news from Australia.

Preserved Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Olympian BL66, Mercedes-Benz O305 ME30 and China Motor Bus MCW Metrobus ML1  provided a free shuttle service from Hurstville train station and Kogarah train station to Carss Park, for people attending the recent  TVB Australia 10th anniversary carnival. TVB Australia is a paid TV station which broadcasts programmes from TVB Hong Kong. A replica Toyota  Coaster Hong Kong red minibus was also provided.

All these vehicles are under the name of Hong Kong Bus Preservation Society.
 

Photographs courtesy and copyright of
Stephen Cho

Pictured above is the second City Sightseeing MCW Metrobus to be fitted with a Euro IV engine. This is former China Motor Bus ML40. Larger images will be added to the  section of site shortly. 

The new Wright Group double deckers destined for service with SBS Transit in Singapore.

Jonathan Poynton, Wright Group Business Development Director and Gan Juay Kiat CEO SBS Transit at the launch in Singapore.

The Wright Group celebrated a triple milestone last week when the first ever Wrightbus Double Deck bus officially entered service in Singapore (Thursday 16th September).  The event also marked the successful completion of the first locally-produced vehicle, as well as confirmation of a further order for 300 Double Deck buses from SBS Transit of Singapore.

Last August saw the announcement of an initial export order, won in tandem with Volvo Bus Corporation, for the Wright Group to supply the bodywork for 150 new Double Deck buses in kit form to SBS Transit. One year on, the initial prototype vehicle is entering service and local production is operational, with the first Double Deck bus rolling off the production line at the C.D.G.E. facility in Singapore.

Such has been the success of the venture, that a further 300 vehicles have been ordered, which will mean that a total of 450 Wrightbus bodied Double Deck buses will be in service with SBS Transit by 2012. “This is a hugely significant milestone for the Wright Group here in Singapore, in what has been a major project for the company, both in terms of scope and scale,” said Wright Group Business Development Director Jonathan Poynton.

As well as the design, and build in Northern Ireland of an initial prototype vehicle to provide a benchmark for local production, the project has also drawn upon our production management and logistics capabilities to produce and package completely knocked down (CKD) kits in Ballymena, which are then shipped across the globe, with local assembly workers trained to Wright Group quality standards by staff seconded from Ballymena.” 

Designed to meet the specific requirements of the local climate and high capacity transport demands on the Island City State, the 12m long, fully air-conditioned Wrightbus Gemini 2 Double Deck buses are built on Volvo B9TL tri-axle chassis, featuring environmentally-enhanced Euro V emission standard engines, which are not yet mandatory in Asia Pacific. 

My thanks to Jom Naik Bas for tipping me off about the above press release from Wrights. 

Photographs have now been added to the  section of site of Citybus Olympian No. 186 whilst on a special tour last Sunday.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of Philip Chan

For some reason, not all the new Volvo B9TL/Wrights Gemini 2s have '2010' applied - AVBWU41 is one such example. Larger photographs have just been added to the  section.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of 3cubian.com

My thanks to 3cubian.com for advising they have commissioned 25 models of the 312 (P&T Model) Airport Express liveried Dennis Dart/Carlyle (B0034A) and these will feature a destination of 'Airport' (the original is 'Central via Pacific Place'). As these models form part of the original quantity of 300, each comes with the original certificate from 312 (P&T Model) together with another tailor made certificate from 3cubian.com, both of which carry the same certificate number. Also included are three three decal banners. Further photographs will be added shortly.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of Alex Cheng

Miniplate organised a tour yesterday using recently repainted Citybus Olympian No. 186. The Hong Kong Transport Society is believed to be holding a similar tour on 10th October. Further photographs will be added to the  section of site shortly. My thanks to Alex Cheng for providing this news and photographs.

The first, Minibusgrp.com, is owned by Terence Au, a transport enthusiast from Singapore who is interested in collecting model buses from all over the world as well as studying bus technology.
 

The second, Modellbus.info, is owned by Rüdiger Schreiber from Germany, and whilst written in German, the homepage has an English translation, enabling the visitor to find his way around the site.

Both are worth taking a look at.

I have just received Issue 63 of Bus Fan World's magazine 'Bus Focus'. This edition includes articles (in Chinese) on KMB's planned introduction of a zero-emission supercapacitor bus, KMB's new Volvo B9TLs with Wrights bodywork, Hong Kong Asia's World City liveries on buses, trams and ferries, Wrights Gemini 2 in the UK, KMB Enviro500s being 'built up' in China, former Hong Kong buses now operating in the UK with Wardle Transport, Mass Transit, Impact Travel and Kinch Coaches, new Volvo B9TL/Optare Visionaire operating with Big Bus in London plus all the regular features, making a total of 58 colourful pages. It also includes a quite superb full page photograph, a very small and low resolution image of which I have included below.
 

Photograph courtesy and copyright of Dave Rogers

My thanks again to Dave Rogers, who captured this Volvo B9TL/Wrights yesterday on the A419 in Swindon. One of two heading towards the Star Ferry!

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Kowloon Motor Bus

Kowloon Motor Bus has launched an 'on-line' auction for bus memorabilia from its recently withdrawn buses - just follow the link.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Grant Ng Kwok Kuen 

My thanks to Neo Chung for providing details of the next model from KMB, due to be released later this month:-

Model Number: 39410
Model: Alexander Dennis Trident
Body:  Enviro 500
Manufacturer: Cars Workshop
Scale: 1:76
Route: E41
Destination: Asia World Expo
Fleet Number: 8417
Registration Number: PD 7770
Quantity: 1600
Color: Orange and White

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Dennis Law

The above photograph of Star Ferry's Northern Star shows her adorning LG's latest advertisement livery. LG's coverage not only covers Northern Star, but also includes Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, as shown. My thanks to Dennis Law for providing this news and photographs.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of Dave Rogers

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Venus Collectibles

Released in Hong Kong today is the third version of Venus Collectibles Kowloon Motor Bus Guy Victory J with BUSAF bodywork (MBG01c). This version again represents fleet number G3, but in its later life, the twin headlights having been replaced with single. It is on route 40 to Kwun Tong Ferry. 

The latest purchase brings SBS Transit's total investment in new buses over the past five years to Singapore$854 million. They will also lower the average age of the existing buses from nine years to seven.

The official press releases from both SBS Transit and Volvo Buses can be viewed on the links whilst an article from channelnewsasia.com can also be viewed on the link. 

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
312 Model

My thanks to 312 Model for clarifying the product codes for the recently released resin Carlyle bodied Dennis Darts, which corrects the information published three days ago:-

B0034-260      features DC1 on route 260 to Stanley - issued May 2010
B0034-84M     features DC17 on route 84M to Siu Sai Wan - issued May 2010
B0034B-590    features DC9 on route 590 to South Horizons - issued August 2010
B0034B-15       features DC13 on route 15 to The Peak - issued August 2010
B0034A           features DC2 on route A20 to Airport - due for release in September

Photograph courtesy and copyright of 
Dennis Law

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong Transport Society, a special livery has been applied to Citybus Leyland Olympian 186 (FC 4750), as shown above. It is believed that a model release featuring this dedicated livery will soon follow. Further photographs can be found in the  section of the site.

B0034A-260   features DC1 on route 260 to Stanley - issued May 2010
B0034A-84M  features DC17 on route 84M to Siu Sai Wan - issued May 2010
B0034B-590   features DC9 on route 590 to South Horizons - issued August 2010
B0034B-15      features DC13 on route 15 to The Peak - issued August 2010
B0034C           features DC2 on route A20 to Airport - due for release in September

Photograph courtesy and copyright of
80M Bus Model Shop

Confirmation has been received from 80M Bus Model Shop that the recently announced Kowloon Motor Bus Scania from Drumwell (DW10803) is set for release on 4th September. New photographs have now been added.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of
80M Bus Model Shop

Two further 1:64 scale Enviro500s from Cars Workshop are also set for release on 4th September, details of which are as follows:-

Long Win version (95004) on route S1 to Airport (PTB)

KMB version (95005) on route 1A to Star Ferry