The Volvo B6 was a 5.5-litre (1.2-imperial-gallon) engined midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 1999. It was also available as the low-entry Volvo B6LE .
31-616: In the United Kingdom, the B6 competed in the midibus market with the Dennis Dart , and with the MAN 10.xxx HOCL and 12.xxx HOCL / 12.xxx HOCL-NL throughout Europe. When launched in 1991, it was presented as being available in several different lengths; 8.5 metres (28 feet) ( B6-36 ), 9.0 metres ( B6-41 ), 9.9 metres ( B6-50 ) and a 9.1-metre coach version ( B6-45 ). For LHD markets it
62-718: A Cummins 6BT engine and coupled to the Allison AT545 gearbox. In 1989, the Dart chassis was made available for bodying by other manufacturers. In 1990, Wadham Stringer became the next builder to body the Dart with a body called the Portsdown, but it was sold in small numbers and replaced by the UVG Urbanstar in 1995. In the same year, Wright bodied the Dart with the Handybus . In early 1991, Plaxton launched
93-461: A low-floor version of the Dart known as the Dart SLF, with the letters SLF standing for Super Low Floor in reference to the new low-floor design. It was 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) wide and initially offered in lengths of 10 m (33 ft) and 10.6 m (35 ft), with air suspension introduced in place of the taper leaf used in the original design. It was initially offered with
124-554: A minibus and a full-sized single-decker . It was launched in October 1988 at the British International Motor Show and was originally only available with Duple Dartline bodywork. It was 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) wide and was initially available in the length of 9.0 m (29.5 ft), but later available in lengths of 8.5 m (28 ft) and 9.8 m (32 ft). It was powered by
155-501: A 10.6 metres (35 ft) East Lancs Spryte body equipped with large hopper windows and electronically-operated sun visors, while the remaining two were later delivered with Plaxton Pointer bodies. A Transbus Dart SLF built with Neobus bodywork was delivered to Malta in 2002 by Gasan Transport Systems Ltd and presented to members of the Maltese Public Transport Association. A second demonstrator
186-555: A narrower-width variant of the Dart SLF at the request of bus operators in the Channel Islands of Guernsey and then Jersey , who replaced the majority of their fleets with slightly narrower Darts designed to comply with the islands' vehicle size restrictions, sporting adapted versions of existing East Lancs Myllennium and Caetano Nimbus bodies respectively. Further examples have since joined them and small numbers of similar buses have entered service with other operators around
217-487: A sufficient number of seats compared to full size single-decker buses. Midibuses are often designed to be lightweight to save on diesel fuel (e.g. smaller wheels than on larger buses), making them not as durable as heavier 'full size' buses. Some midibuses, such as the Scania OmniTown , are heavier and therefore more durable. In some places such as Hong Kong, some bus routes have to be served by midibuses due to
248-476: Is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between 8 metres (26 ft 3 in) and 11 metres (36 ft 1 in) long. While used in many parts of the world, the midibus is perhaps most common in the United Kingdom , where operators have found them more economical , and to have
279-399: Is indeed a gap between the minibus (12–28 seats) and the touring coach (47–50 seats). Several shuttle bus companies such as Goshen Coach and Crystal have manufactured rear-engined vehicles with 30–35 seats, but no generic term has ever been applied to them. They are usually lumped together with smaller "minibuses", and called "minibus" or "shuttle bus". The only other alternative was to import
310-535: The Asia-Pacific region. The initial pre-production series of around 30 (or more) chassis were manufactured by Volvo subsidiary Steyr Bus GmbH in Vienna , Austria. This would however not be the case with the production series, as Volvo moved it to Scotland. Most of the pre-production units were built as coaches. Only nine of these units were delivered in the United Kingdom. In March 1993, serial production of
341-750: The Pointer (which was initially designated as Reeve Burgess Pointer as it was built at Reeve Burgess's plant, until later in the same year when it was transferred to Plaxton's Scarborough plant). Later in 1991, East Lancs bodied the Dart with its EL2000 . In the latter half of 1991, Alexander launched the Dash . As the low-floor single-decker buses became more popular in late 1990s, orders for standard-floor Dart dropped heavily and production ceased in 1998. Over 3,400 first generation Darts were produced. In 1993, Southampton Citybus adapted six Dart 9SDL Carlyle bodied buses to use compressed natural gas ,
SECTION 10
#1732801751176372-664: The Russian embassy in 1998, being unsold since 1995. No further RHD B6-45s were ever built. For the RHD markets also the entire step-entrance B6 lineup was discontinued in 1997, while the LHD version was available until the introduction of the B6BLE in 1999. The step-entrance B6 never received a proper successor. Between 1993 and 1997 a total of 627 B6s were delivered in the UK. The B6 were labelled as
403-527: The Volvo B6R in the Asia-Pacific region. In Australia , Blue Ribbon purchased five, Southtrans four and Whyalla City Transport two. Citybus of Hong Kong took delivery of one Alexander bodied B6R. The B6LE was initially only available as left-hand drive, but in 1995 it also became available as right-hand drive, to compete with the Dennis Dart SLF . However, after sales proved promising,
434-733: The low floor version of the Pointer bodywork (which was notable for being wider), replaced by the updated Pointer 2 in 1997. It was also offered with a wide variety of bodies, namely the East Lancs Spryte , UVG Urbanstar (later renamed as the Caetano Compass ; replaced by the Nimbus in 1999), the Wright Crusader , Alexander ALX200 (discontinued in 2001 with the formation of TransBus International and being replaced by
465-702: The resort municipality of Whistler and its other transit system companies in the province. In Hong Kong, Citybus , Kowloon Motor Bus , New Lantao Bus , New World First Bus and Park Island Transport purchased Darts. Some of Citybus vehicles were repatriated back to England by parent Stagecoach Group for use at its Devon and Hampshire subsidiaries. In Macau, Transmac took delivery of ten dual-door and air-conditioned Pointer-bodied Darts in January 1996. Four Dennis Dart SLFs with Eaton six-speed manual transmissions were delivered to Paramount Garage of Malta in 1997. The first two Darts were delivered with
496-518: The B6 started up at Volvo's brand new bus chassis plant in Irvine , Scotland. The B6-50 length was instantly popular. The short-wheelbase B6-36 sold a few from the start, but customers soon chose the B6-41 instead. The B6-45 midicoach suffered from disappointingly low sales in the UK - by 1995, when the RHD version was withdrawn from sale, only fourteen had been built. The last one being delivered to
527-897: The B6LE completely replaced the B6 in some markets in 1997 before it was itself replaced by the B6BLE in 1999. A total of 394 B6LEs were produced for the UK between 1995 and 1999; this includes two modified vehicles used as the testbed for the then-upcoming B6BLE. The B6LE were labelled as the Volvo B6RLE in the Asia-Pacific region. In Australia , Brisbane Transport purchased two B6RLE. Three were purchased by National Bus Company in Brisbane . Citybus (Hong Kong) took delivery of 20 Plaxton Pointer bodied B6LEs, with 10 being single door and 10 being double doors. There’s also 10 bodied with ALX200 that had overhead luggage racks and 30 B6LE bodied with
558-658: The Dart SLF, but also with an option of a Voith gearbox. Originally offered only with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork (hence the 'P' in the name), this larger bus was later offered with other bodywork such as the East Lancs Myllennium , the Alexander ALX200 with a few bodied by Marshall . In 1998, the Dart MPD (short for Mini Pointer Dart) was launched. At 8.8 m (29 ft) long, the Dart MPD
589-528: The Pointer 2), Marshall Capital (developed from the C37; later built by MCV ), Caetano Nimbus and MCV Evolution (since 2005 - a further evolution of the Marshall bodywork). With the move to Euro III emissions in October 2001, the new Cummins ISBe engine was launched, with the four-cylinder 3.9-litre (240-cubic-inch)-litre model being used in all lengths except the 11.3 m (37 ft) version, which uses
620-648: The UK. Gibraltar also has a fleet of these narrower buses. The last ones entered service in summer 2007 in Gibraltar. In 1998, a joint venture was formed between Dennis and Thomas Built Buses to build the Dennis Dart SLF with Alexander ALX200 bodywork for the North American market. Initially sold as the Thomas SLF 200, following a restructure by parent company Daimler Truck North America , it
651-554: The United States, the Dart SLF, with Alexander ALX200 bodywork, was built and sold by Thomas Built Buses as the Thomas SLF 200. The first generation Dart ceased production in 1998. Production of the Dart SLF continued until 2008, when it was replaced by the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 . The Dennis Dart was conceived when Hestair Group (owner of Dennis and Duple ) decided to produce a bus between
SECTION 20
#1732801751176682-669: The cylinders being mounted in a pod on the roof. In 1996 a further 10 adapted vehicles were ordered. At the time of the delivery of the Darts, Southampton Citybus were the largest operator of gas-powered vehicles in the United Kingdom. They were fitted with an engine developed in the United States by Cummins and Westport . First Cityline in Bristol trialled a pair of Plaxton Pointer bodied Dart MPDs in 1996, which were powered by six CNG canisters mounted on their roofs. These buses were branded by First as 'GasBus'. In 1996, Dennis launched
713-504: The local Jit Luen bodywork. TD63 , 5478 cc , in-line 6 cyl. turbodiesel (1991-1995) D6A , 5478 cc , in-line 6 cyl. turbodiesel (1995-1999) Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis of Guildford , England, in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino . Initially built as a high-floor design, in 1996 the low-floor second generation Dennis Dart SLF
744-520: The more powerful six-cylinder, 5.9 L (360 cu in) version. The Cummins ISBe Euro IV engine became available on the Dart SLF chassis since late 2006. In 2007, the Dennis Dart SLF was superseded by the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 . Over 9,100 low floor Darts were built, the last entering service with Park Island Transport in March 2008. In 1997, the Dart SPD (short for Super Pointer Dart)
775-639: The winding roads along such routes. The term "midibus" is not in common use in the United States ; such smaller and lighter-duty buses are not used for public transit there except in some very specialized instances. For example, Muni in San Francisco operates both 30-foot (9.1 m) and 40-foot (12 m) versions of the Orion VII transit bus to serve routes that include some of the steeper and curvier hills. In charter / tour roles, there
806-631: Was a model reminiscent of the original 8.5 m (28 ft) Darts; it was launched to compete with newly emerging shorter midibuses such as the Optare Solo . The Dart MPD typically seated 23 to 29 passengers, and was available in both provincial and London specifications. As with the Dart SPD, the MPD was launched initially with only the Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork, although other bodies became available later on. In 2002, TransBus launched
837-562: Was available with a 350 mm (14 in) low-entry floor, while the RHD markets had to wait until 1995 before this option became available. Most B6s were built for the UK market, but 61 were exported to Hong Kong and some to Australia . They were also sold in mainland Europe, both in bus and in coach versions. When launched in the UK, it was marketed as the B6R, but this name would later only be used in
868-609: Was built by Transbus but was not exported to Malta, later entering service in the United Kingdom with Flimwell independent operator Hams Travel. Arriva Netherlands purchased 50 Darts with Alexander ALX200 bodies. Stagecoach Group had 10 Dart SLFs bodied locally in 1999 for its Portuguese subsidiary in Lisbon . In Singapore, Singapore Bus Service purchased 10 Duple Metsec bodied Darts in 1994 for smaller routes (M1, M2, M4 and 183). [REDACTED] Media related to Dennis Dart at Wikimedia Commons Midibus A midibus
899-486: Was launched with a length of 11.3 m (about the same length as a long Leyland National ), typically seating 40 to 44 passengers. The Dart SPD was launched to compete with full-size buses such as the Volvo B10BLE and Scania L94UB , while retaining the more lightweight construction of the basic Dart SLF. The Dart SPD has a more powerful engine and a more heavy duty Allison World Series B300R gearbox than
930-663: Was launched. In 2001, production of the Dart SLF passed to TransBus International, during which time it was sold as the TransBus Dart SLF; Alexander Dennis took over production in 2004, renaming the product as the Alexander Dennis Dart SLF . More than 12,600 Darts were produced in total during a 19-year production run. Most were purchased by United Kingdom operators, although examples were sold in Europe, North America, Australia and Hong Kong. In
961-916: Was sold as the DaimlerChrysler SLF 200. It was launched at the American Public Transportation Association Expo 1999. Initially built with a Cummins engine, it was later sold with a Mercedes-Benz engine. After sales failed to line up to expectations, the joint venture was dissolved in 2003. Although primarily sold in the United Kingdom, some were sold overseas: In Australia, ACTION of Canberra took delivery of 25 Wright Crusader bodied Dennis Dart SLFs in 1997, Brisbane Bus Lines (3), Invicta Bus Services (27), TransAdelaide (2) and Transperth (2) purchased Darts. In British Columbia , BC Transit took delivery of 90 Dart SLFs with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodies from 1999 to 2001 for services in