Alexander Dennis Enviro 500

The Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro 500) is one of the Enviro-series bus models made by British manufacturer Alexander Dennis (formerly by TransBus). It is designed and built according to current European standards and the operating environment of Hong Kong. Currently, there are 262 such buses in service in Hong Kong and at least 82 more in North America.

Design

The Enviro 500, unveiled in 2002, is a 12-metre tri-axle double-decker bus with a Guildford-built chassis and Falkirk-made body designed to carry more than 120 people.

The Dennis chassis for Enviro 500 (also known as Trident E500) is actually a modified Trident 3. It can be fitted with Cummins ISMe335 Euro III engine, or ISM-330 engine for the buses delivered to North America, and coupled to Voith DIWA864.3E 4-speed or ZF 5HP602 5-speed gearbox. Voith DIWA864.5 4-speed gearbox is also available since 2003.

The Enviro 500 bodywork is also available with Volvo B9TL chassis. As of January 2006, 21 buses had been built with this combination. One is a demonstrator for KMB, the other 20 are in service with Dublin Bus, as the VT class.

External appearance

The body of the Enviro 500 was based on the single-deck Enviro 300, and the upper-deck frontal design was similar to the design used on the Plaxton President body.

The vehicle exceeded some design limitations in Hong Kong, prompting the local Transport Department to make some exclusions in order to make the buses available to KMB on time.

The width of the bus is 2550mm, exceeded the limit of 2500mm. The width of 2550mm, approved by the EU, became the current standard.
A fixed glass replaced the emergency door at the rear of the upper deck, but with more hammers available for emergency.
The front indicators are the smallest of all current models of KMB.

The modified version of Enviro 500 body, first built in late 2003, have revised frontal and rear designs.

Hong Kong

The Enviro 500 is the first model of second-generation low-floor buses for KMB, with straight staircase and plug door (only at the exit) fitted. All KMB's Enviro 500 buses had a bronze band added to the champagne livery to differentiate them from the first-generation low-floor buses.

When TransBus announced the development of the Enviro 500, KMB became the launch customer by switching the last 20 of an order of 100 Dennis Trident 3 to the Enviro 500 in 2002. Later in the same year, KMB placed a second order for a further 100 of the vehicles. The first Enviro 500 arrived in Hong Kong on 12 November 2002 and was registered in January 2003. The remaining 119 buses entered service between March 2003 and November 2003.

In 2003 KMB placed the third order for 65 Enviro 500s, quickly followed by a further 50. The bodywork of these buses received a number of minor modifications. The first 112 buses entered service between November 2003 and June 2005, and the remaining 3 buses were registered by its subsidiary Long Win Bus in August 2005 to cope with the increased demand for bus services after the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Due to the commencement of the KCR West Rail in late 2003 and KCR Ma On Shan Rail in late 2004, Transport Department of Hong Kong requested KMB to reduce its fleet size, so the registration of these four batches of KMB Enviro 500 were delayed and some of them were stored for a long time before entering service.

In 2005, KMB placed a further order for 25 more vehicles with modified bodywork and new Alexander Dennis badge, 24 of them (at least five had their electronic route destination displays supplied by Gorba instead of Hanover) entered service in early 2006, and the last one, a Euro IV-engined prototype, with fleet number ATEU1 (originally ATE257), has entered service on 24 May 2006. The bus is one of the two buses which are first to meet the Euro IV emission standard in Hong Kong. (Another one is a Volvo B9TL with fleet number AVD1.)

A new order of 20 more vehicles was placed by KMB in late 2005, in which 5 of them were ordered for Long Win Bus fleet. They started to arrive Hong Kong in early 2006, two of the LWB buses entered service in June 2006.

North America

In 2004 Alexander Dennis decided to explore the North American market for its Enviro 500. The American version of Enviro 500 have modified bodies and redesigned fuel tanks, which enable the straight staircase to be moved forward. Alexander Dennis built one left hand drive Enviro 500 for demonstration in the United States and Canada.

Canada

BC Transit ordered nine Enviro 500 in 2004. Two of them had taken part in a promotional show in USA, which was organized by Alexander Dennis in January 2005. These buses were allocated to Victoria, British Columbia and entered service in early 2005.

OC Transpo, Ottawa's transit authority, tested the Enviro 500 from June 28th to July 12th, 2006.

United States

Gray Line ordered 20 open-top Enviro 500 in 2004 for its sightseeing operations in New York and put them into service in spring 2005, these being the first open-top Enviro 500 built. Gray Line also received three single-door Enviro 500 in summer 2005 for operation in San Francisco.

Citizens Area Transit of Las Vegas also ordered 50 Enviro 500 in 2004, which had entered service by October 2005. The service, marketed as "The Deuce", runs along the Las Vegas Strip and they offer extra ventilation grilles outside engine compartment to cope with Neveda's dry climate and high temperature. Las Vegas's Enviro 500's have the biggest A/C system ever created for a transit vehicle, with 8 A/C units on the coach.

In early 2006, Unitrans received an Enviro 500 for a two-week evaluation period. If selected for purchase, it would join their existing fleet of vintage double deckers.

External links

Buses | KMB Bus Models

亞歷山大丹尼士Enviro 500

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