About 10 months ago (October 2009), I brought myself a second Citaro model, which was the first right-hand-drive (RHD) production model from Mercedes-Benz for First Manchester. Less than a month later, news was out that SMRT Buses had taken one (real) Citaro RHD, which was also fitted with a OM 906 hLA diesel similar to the First Manchester’s unit, with a Euro 5 version compared to Euro 2 of First’s unit. Most importantly, it has two doors, an urban use Citaro.

Given some tip-off by a visitor to this site, a few more Citaro RHD are destined for Singapore in the coming months. At this juncture, I decided to get another Citaro RHD model, again a one-door ‘sub-urban’ version, but with a larger radiator, then, in 2006, used for the OM 457 hLA. Presently, all Citaro buses use the larger radiator for greater energy efficiency, a practice since the advent of the Euro 4 model, hence identifying their engines is no longer possible by looking at the radiator itself.

This unit is owned by Arriva Guildford and West Surrey, which is based in Guildford, Surrey. It is located 43 kilometers south-west of London on the A3 trunk road linking the capital with Portsmouth. In 1974, the Provisional IRA carried out the Guildford pub bombing which killed five persons, in which four were off-duty British soldiers. The suspects arrested thereafter are known as the Guildford Four.

Pardon me for the history thing; when it comes to the UK, I always focus myself on the IRA and ethnic conflicts.

Bus services in Guildford is primarily served by Arriva with additional services by Countryliner, Safeguard and Stagecoach.

This Mercedes-Benz Citaro model depicts 3903/BX56 VTW, a O 530 Euro 3, fitted with a 300 PS OM 457 hLA diesel engine. One-door design, barrier-free access and ample amount of seats (42 seating), this Citaro also carries my favorite color of blue matched with grey.

What defines your Citaro? For me are the radiators. Facing the traffic-side for a RHD model, the large and horizontal radiator makes it easy to identify Citaro buses. Another model of bus that has these similarly big horizontal radiators are the Volvo Super Olympians (B10TL).

With the other Citaro models.

A comparison on radiator sizes.

Mercedes-Benz/Evobus/Daimler O 530 Citaro Euro 3
Chassis number: WEB62804023110741
Registration: BX56 VTW
Body and seating code: B42F
New: September 2006
Owner: Arriva Guildford and West Surrey, UK

Some photos of the Chitson owned Mercedes-Benz OC 500 LE.

A filling meal at Manhattan Fish Market.

S rank with Keikyu (京浜急行) 1500 Chopper, Haneda Airport to Keikyu Kamata.

Also named as the Circle Line Stage 2 Discovery, the open house is held on 4th April 2010 by SMRT Corporation and supported by Citibank, National Heritage Board (museum open house), Alstom (train builders), ST Electronics (infrastructure support) and numerous government and private organizations.

There are 11 stations open for viewing. Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Promenade, Nicholl Highway, Stadium, Mountbatten, Dakota, Paya Lebar, MacPherson and Tai Seng are the stations open for free.

Some selected photos taken at the event.

Visitors checking out the signboards at Dakota Station.

Crowd disembarking at Mountbatten Station.

MacPherson Station.

Paya Lebar Station.

Stadium Station.

Nicholl Highway Station.

Esplanade Station.

Bras Basah Station.

Dhoby Ghaut Station.

Wide Metro-type doors. Still of the hanging-out design…

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An 偶然 (incidental) chance with a foreigner allows me the excuse to advertise my hometown service. Your friendly site admin is the service ‘representative’ for SBS/TIBS/SMRT service 189 since November 1996 (162 months), clocked (an average of) over 3200 trips (since Secondary/High School 1) and 22400 kilometers (7 km on average per trip/mileage more than half of the Earth’s circumference) on this service. TIB1162S is a Mercedes-Benz O 405 G Euro 2 with a ZF 4-speed gearbox and has since been serving permanent S/TQ shifts for 50 months on this service.

Site Admin of Minibus Group, an Administrator of BusInfoHub, several bus enthusiasts and members of Friends of SMRT (FOSMRT) are invited to the launch of Southeast Asia’s first 100% low-floor Mercedes-Benz Citaro (O530) at SMRT Ang Mo Kio Depot on 9th March 2010. This historical moment marks the progress into a new era in Singapore bus industry, a full low floor, accessibility-friendly and *no internal steps bus.

Some quick facts of this bus:
1 driver, 39 passengers (including fold-up seat for two passengers) and 44 standing passengers.
Full low-floor along the corridor of the bus. One step to access rear section seats.
Fully built bodywork by EvoBus AG in Germany. Basically a one-through manufacture.
Large Gorba front display to enable passengers to spot the service number and route details.

Press Release:
SMRT: http://www.smrt.com.sg/Upload/201031010315179993.pdf

Articles written by enthusiasts on the launch:
BusInfoHub (affiliated): http://businfohub.com/cms/articles/specialfeature/smrtcitarolaunch

Photos taken during the event.

Mr Thomas Bauer, Senior Manager, Bus & Coach, Daimler SEA

Mr Wolfgang Huppenbauer, Executive Managing Director, Daimler Bus (Germany)

Mr Michael Gopfarth, CEO, Daimler SEA

Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, President and CEO, SMRT Corporation

Handover of key to Ms Saw.

Handover of Citaro model (scale 1:32) to Ms Saw.

Round of applause as the bus is driven in.

Demonstrating its wheelchair-friendly feature.

Executives from Daimler and SMRT impressed by the bus’ features.

Interior without stairs; guests move quickly towards the rear, demonstrating what the bus is designed to do.

Showcasing its full 11.9-meter length.

Two buses, decades apart. The step-bus Nissan Diesel U31 RCN (JDM: K-U31) and the Mercedes-Benz Citaro (O530).

I am very grateful to FOSMRT liason officer, Vivian, for finding two staff from Daimler Group SEA who could answer my technical questions. Excerpts.

Q: Why is the OM 906 hLA used on the Citaro instead of the OM 457 hLA that present OC500LE buses are using?
A: Citaro buses come with the smaller 906 as it is suited for the bus. The 457 is designed for sub-urban usage and has a larger power, while the 906 is sufficient for city usage.

Q: Fuel consumption wise, would it be lower and more effective than the 457?
A: This has to depend on many conditions. Different routes, different drivers will affect fuel consumption. At this point there cannot be a specific figure other than benchmark ones.

Q: In achieving this full low-floor design, the engine has to be shifted to the side. Does this mean more sophistication?
A: Yes, a total new design of the engine mounted on the left is what makes it able to achieve a full low-floor specification.

Q: What is special about the radiator system?
A: The radiator for the Citaro uses a hydraulic driven fan. The radiator is mounted on the outer frame, the intercooler on the inner frame. The fan is driven using hydraulic oil. This is different from magnetic driven ones on the OC500LE.

Q: The OM 906 hLA have more horsepower-per-liter compared to the 457. How different would this be in performance?
A: The 906 would be efficient and depending on its mixture method and its efficiency, it would be as effective as the 457.

Q: In the hot and humid climate of Singapore, does the cooling efficiency of the vehicle need special or larger cooling capacity?
A: The Citaro is sold worldwide. They even operate in Dubai, where its a desert climate. One size fits all.

Q: Gearbox of the vehicle?
A: ZF 6HP592C.

Q: Why not the Ecolife drive-line?
A: The Ecolife is suitable for countries with more terrain, and is fitted with the TopoDyn software system. in Singapore, a conventional drive-line is sufficient.

Q: Air conditioning unit?
A: Konvekta.

Q: Does IFS (Independent Front Suspension) make it a more comfortable ride for this bus?
A: You would have to ride it to find out. Basically it is better than a conventional suspension.

Q: Fuel capacity?
A: About 200 liters.

Regarding the secret of full low-floor…

Longitudinal, side mounted horizontal diesel engine.

Scania, Checkmate.

*No internal steps mean no step(s) along the corridor of the bus.

A tour on the Mercedes-Benz O 405 and Dennis Dart was organized by Bus Culture group on 30th January 2010. SBS278S and SBS8009A were chartered. Some photos of the event as follows.

First day of 963R as passengers ask for directions

A clear sky as the Dart is being caught attention of

The side views

The upright inline-6 of the Dennis Dart (Cummins 6BT)…

to the horizontal inline-6 of the Mercedes-Benz O405 (OM447h, 447.908)

Letterings on the original Cummins product

On the way to cross the Yishun Dam

One generation apart; the Mercedes-Benz O 405 G Euro 1

Square butts

Under the Winter Skies

Strong wall of reporters

The unique shape of gear selector on the Dennis Dart

A service that it will probably not run in the future

Flatted factory unit at Bukit Batok St 23 catches fire

SINGAPORE: A fire broke out in a unit at Bukit Batok Street 23 on Tuesday morning.

The ground floor unit of a flatted factory at Block 2019 was in flames when civil defence officers arrived at the scene at around 10am.

The unit deals in electrical products.

No one was injured in the fire, which was brought under control in 20 minutes.

- CNA/yb

A fire occurred at Blk 2019 Bukit Batok Industrial Estate yesterday (26 Jan 2009), 0958 hrs, destroyed two warehouses and damaged another one.

Following photos are taken around 1800 hrs.

The fire gutted at least a vehicle outside the warehouse

Large amount of black smoke darkened the exterior walls and windows of units above

Note the melted office structure

Spent extinguishers in the attempt to put out the fire

Water constantly pumped into the scene of the fire

Extinguishing extends into the night as the Light Tender comes

Three Toyota forklifts and several crates of electronic goods were the only items saved from the fire. No one was injured in the incident.

深夜急行バス, ‘Night Rapid Bus’ which a ride would cost 400 to 1900 yen or more in Tokyo. But in Singapore, its just 170 to 270 yen equivalent (SGD 2.50 – 4). Remember, a cab ride of 18 kilometers can cost JPY 6000 (SGD 90), so bus is still as cheap as here!

The oldest Mercedes-Benz O405 (Pre-Euro) on a sponsored night bus from Tiger Beer.

Two Mercedes-Benz O405 Euro 1 on respective Night Rapid services.

31st December 2009 was also the last day of operations for TVMobile.

Moove Love with fireworks.

Mercedes-Benz OC500LE Euro 5 waiting for clearance to return to depot.

Some trips of the Night Rapid Bus was operated by Bendies, as demonstrated by TIB1202K, a Mercedes Benz O405G Euro 2 ‘Habit’.

Night Rapid = NightRider.

Some photos of the accident today before noon time at Boon Tat Street/Robinson Road junction, involving SMB108J (Mercedes Benz OC500LE, “Batch 2 OC”/”Gemicity-LE”) of SMRT buses and a lorry carrying foreign workers. There were no indications of injury to persons.

The bus as-is after the accident.

The lorry as-is after the accident. The bus was shifted to the front.

The lorry as-is after the accident, with its right side damaged and windscreen dropped.

Close up of the damage of SMB108J.

Impact speed estimated at about 20 – 30 km/h, <90 degrees angle.

This reminds me of the first “Gemicity-LE” Accident that happened 11 months ago, the one that sparked off talk about the Gemilang bodywork for the OC buses.

SMB15T (s189), the first “Gemicity-LE” to meet in an accident while on revenue service.

Been sick for the past week and staying at home. Given two days of LOA (for last Wednesday and Thursday) but still not feeling well now. Would like to get more MCs and LOAs if I can, cause this sickness has to be dealt with anyways. Don’t know what kind of funny virus. Not H1N1.

Some record of temperature. Before this the high was 39.2 degrees.

Sneaked out on Saturday…

At the starting line

But after going out, the flu feeling came back again…

18th July was a rewarding day. First up, a photoshoot with WJ at Old School, with the models we brought along. Some photos taken:

The chassis + bodywork:

Volvo B7TL. East Lancs Vyking bodywork (original).

Volvo B7TL. East Lancs Vyking bodywork (second generation).

Volvo B10BLE. Wright Renown bodywork.

The integrals:

Mercedes Benz Citaro M-Spec 354. Mercedes Benz bodywork (facelifted Citaro).

Hino S’elega R FD (KL-RU4FSEA). Hino bodywork.

The single deck citybuses, low-floor and low-entry.

The lineup.

Comparing the radiator sizes!
Photo courtesy of WJ.

Then the birthday party for JY and KP!

Teaser for the birthday party! Two birthday boys are not inside. Want the photos, ask and link will be given to download the original fun.
Photo courtesy of WJ.

The much awaited models have arrived! Went to collect them on Saturday.

The box which the models came in from and the complimentary catalogue from Hattons.