Volvo B8L

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Volvo B8L
The Volvo B8L (AVBWL1/UU8290) is the first traditional power double-decker bus in Hong Kong to meet the Euro VI emission standards
Manufacturer	Volvo Bus Ltd
Built at	Chassis: Sweden Body: UK, Egypt , Malaysia
Year manufactured	2016 - present
Operator(s)	KMB, LWB, Citybus, NWFB
Nickname(s)	B8, cucumber , eggplant , UU , B8 Egg , Queen of Egypt , British Queen , Egyptian pharaoh , Red Diamond , Orange Diamond , Long Red Diamond , Long Orange Diamond , Glass Staircase , Pudding , mango pudding , Wellcome , 7-11/7-Eleven , Wing Wah Sausage
Technical information
Length	12 metres, 12.8 metres (with an option of 13.4 metres )
Width	2.55 metres
Height	Low-floor
Floor height	2
Door(s)	Ventura pneumatic doors (Netherlands)
Weight	Design: 24.8 tons Legally allowed: 23.7 tons
Body	Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 MCV EvoSeti Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 (with Enviro400 XLB and Gemilang body options)
Engine	Volvo D8K-350 (Euro 6)

The Volvo B8L is a low floor, tri-axle double-deck bus chassis produced by Volvo in Sweden. The B8L model unveiled in 2017 is the successor model of the Volvo B9TL widely adopted by bus companies in Hong Kong.

Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) has the world's first produced Volvo B8L, which is also the first traditional double-decker bus in Hong Kong to meet the Euro VI (or Euro 6) emission standards.

Model design

The three-axle version of the Volvo B9TL chassis, which was mass-produced as early as 2003, continued to be produced in 2016, 13 years after its launch in the market, and no successor models have been released. In fact, Volvo originally did not want to develop a new model of diesel-engined double-decker buses to replace the three-axle B9TL, and focused its research and development on more environmentally friendly hybrid buses and electric buses. However, seeing that the competition in the double-decker bus market has been fierce in recent years, the share of the rich market has fallen day by day, and the price of alternative energy buses is generally higher than that of diesel engine buses, and there are still many restrictions in practical application, which have not been widely accepted by customers. Therefore, the Volvo Bus factory changed its original intention and began to develop the Asia-Pacific market. The new low-level three-axis double-decker bus replaces the three-axis B9TL, which is expected to be officially discontinued in 2018.

The new chassis is called "B8L" and is equipped with a 7.7-litre D8K-350 diesel engine that meets the EU Phase VI emission standards. It adopts a vertical engine layout and is changed to the central axis as the driving shaft. In addition to adopting selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and exhaust recirculation (EGR) technology at the same time to meet the EU phase VI emission standards, the 350 horsepower output is also better than the 9.36-liter D9A-300/340 or D9B-310 engine previously used by B9TL. The central axle drive layout of the chassis allows the B8L to get rid of the image of the poor steering and climbing ability of the rich bus in the past. The vehicle is also quieter than the previous models, but the vibration is also more obvious when parking.

The B8L is specially designed for the Hong Kong and Singapore markets. Before the official release of this new model, Volvo has provided a demonstrator bus to each of the two places. The first prototype car (AVBWL1/UU8290) for Hong Kong KMB trial, following the Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 body commonly used in Hong Kong B9TL, was revealed on 17 September 2016 and arrived in Hong Kong the following year.

At the end of the same year, the second B8L demonstrator (SG4003D) of the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) was not only equipped with the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 body, which is similar in shape to the Gemini 2, but also the chassis design is different from the first sample car (such as redesigned bodywork; the tires are all size 305/70R 22.5), and there is also a glass wall next to the stairs. The bus was then handed over to SBS Transit for operation. It debutted on Service 94 (Eunos Interchange ↺ Airport Road) on 2 April 2018, and then changed to Service 71 (Yio Chu Kang Interchange ↺ Bishan Street 11) in July of the same year. However, compared with the demonstrator in Hong Kong, the performance of SG4003D is not as good as expected, and it has failed many times. The Land Transport Administration and SBS Transit's evaluation of it was only average, and in the end, they failed to obtain new orders from Singapore for B8L. After two years of testing, SG4003D had not been out of the depot since April 2020. After that, there was news that the LTA decided not to buy SG4003D, thus retiring it and returned it to Volvo. In June 2022, the bus was officially sold to A&S Transport for charter service after being idle for many years and re-registered as PD169L .

The Hong Kong version mostly uses the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 body, which arrived in Hong Kong starting in early 2018. This bodywork is designated by KMB as the V6B/V6P (12 m) and V6X/V6XP (12.8 m) classes.

The third B8L adopts the MCV EvoSeti body, which is similar to the first-generation body of Enviro500 MMC, which is also owned by KMB and arrived in Hong Kong in early 2018.

The fourth B8L, which adopts the newest MCV bodywork, is similar to the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 body. The official name of the body is not officially named, which is also owned by KMB and arrived in Hong Kong in early 2023.

The world-renowned Volvo Ocean Race landed in Hong Kong for the first time in 2018 and held a carnival in Kai Tak Runway Park. Volvo held a press conference on 25 January to announce that the B8L was officially put into production as the successor model of the three-axle B9TL. KMB even leased out the demonstrator bus for exhibition at the carnival.

KMB fleet

Demonstrator

(AVBWL1)

Chassis number: YV3U2U526GA100025

On 17 December 2016, it was rumored on the Internet that a 12m double-decker bus with a Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 body and a central axle drive was unveiled in the Wright factory in Northern Ireland, which is the world's first Volvo B8L to be introduced by KMB , and would following the arrangement of Euro V B9TL, only the front axle tyre is 305/70R 22.5 size, while the rest of the tyres are 275/70R 22.5 size. The bus arrived in Hong Kong by the transportation vessel Capricornus Leader on 22 January 2017, and then conducted road tests in different areas of Hong Kong. On 7 April of same year, the bus carried out the inspection process at the To Kwa Wan Vehicle Inspection Centre .

According to the first registration tax system of Hong Kong Customs, the approved retail price of this new bus is 2.41 million Hong Kong dollars, equipped with a D8K-350 diesel engine with an exhaust volume of only 7,698cc, which is the fourth largest double-decker bus in Hong Kong, second only to Scania K124EB (420) and Volvo B12 (405 horsepowers) and some MAN A95 (ND363F, 360 horsepowers) , tied with the MAN 24.350 (Citybus 2500, 350 horsepowers).

On 11 May 2017, KMB held a reception ceremony for Hong Kong's first Euro 6 double-decker pure diesel-powered bus at Kowloon Bay Depot . The unique "NEW" on the bus - Natural, Evolutionary, Wise - green advertising, which means that the bus meets the latest EU emission standards . KMB said that the nitrogen oxide emissions of Euro VI buses are 80% lower than the existing Euro V buses, and the emissions of suspended particles and hydrocarbons were reduced by 50% and 72% respectively, which was more in line with environmental protection benefits. In addition, Euro 6 buses are lighter, which not only effectively improves fuel consumption, but also makes driving more peaceful. B8L is equipped with the latest Electronic Stability Program (ESP), which significantly reduces the risk of overturning when the bus was running.

The appearance of this bus is similar to the Euro V Volvo B9TLs with the same body (such as NWFB's 5200-5224) and AVBWU291, which has been equipped with a fan in the water tank) ; the lower rear of the bus is equipped with a water tank, so the seats are mounted on the left side, and the upper cylinder unit is placed under the fifth row of seats on the upper left side, the air-conditioning vents on both sides of the rear of the bus and the right side of the engine radiator are designed with dense horizontal aluminium panels, same as the first generation of the Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied buses, with the radiator fan shifted from the left rear of the bus to the side of the bus with the round shaped radiator network and dense horizontal aluminium panels for the air-conditioning. The rectangular engine cooling grill is added underneath the design, and the bus has Volvo water plate at the rear, then "Volvo B8L Euro 6" water plate is added under the Volvo water plate.。

On 15 May of the same year, the first Volvo B8L was officially licensed alongside AVBWU519. The license plate was UU8290, the fleet number was AVBWL1, and then was assigned to Tuen Mun Depot (U) followed by its debut on Route 968 on the Engineering Department Running Order968-N01 on 19 May and then on 25 May to test the performance of the new bus in long-distance express services. Later, in July, it was transferred to Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) and was assigned to serve Route 6C to collect operating data in urban sections.

Under sponsor by Volvo Group, the "Volvo Ocean Race" which was recognized as the most difficult round the globe yacht race in the world, made its stop in Hong Kong, and held a sailing carnival at Kai Tak Runway Park on 17 January 2018 . Volvo borrowed AVBWL1 from KMB for the event, where it was used to display in the "Volvo Pavilion" of the Carnival venue, for which the bus was taken out of service on 10 January. By 15 January AVBWL1 was fully wrapped for the event and KMB temporarily removed the coinbox and Octopus processor, and had AVBWL1 appear at the sailing carnival venue of Kai Tak Runway Park. Its purple and blue advertisement completely covered all the windows on the left and right sides of the body, attracting many bus fans to take photos.

At the end of the carnival, the agent returned AVBWL1 to KMB and parked it at Lai Chi Kok Depot in Stonecutters Island. After removing the advertisement wrap from the doors and windows which made it illegal to operate, it was re-entered into passenger service, retaining the wrap until late May 2018 ; AVBWL1 was then unwrapped and did not get further advertising banners until December 2021, when advertisements were posted on the 4th of the month.

After being transferred to Kowloon Bay Depot (Tseung Kwan O Sub-depot) (K) in late April 2018, the bus was assigned to Route 93K and used to take other routes from time to time, or stay in the depot. On 26 August, a traffic accident occurred while the bus was operating on Route 80, and the front end of the bus was damaged . It was returned to service after repair.

In January 2019, the bus returned to Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) again and continued to serve on Route 6C. Since then, every holiday, AVBWL1 was often kept out of service by the bus captains, and its whereabouts are uncertain, and it was transferred to Route 6F in September.

In August 2021, the bus was stored in the depot for a long time, and returned to service in November of the same year, and had "e-payment system reader installed". In January 2022, it was transferred to Route 60X, and in March of the following year, it was assigned as a spare bus.

In May 2023, AVBWL1 was transferred to Sha Tin Depot (S) for the first time and was assigned to Route 900.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/AVBWL

Vehicle appearance

KMB's Volvo B8L (AVBWL1/UU8290) was once arranged to operate on Route 968 as a test, with body affixed with the unique green "NEW" promotional advertisements

Rear

During Volvo Ocean Race, KMB's Volvo B8L (AVBWL1/UU8290) was once sticked with the related advertisements and was arranged to exhibit at the Hong Kong Race carnival.

KMB's Volvo B8L (AVBWL1/UU8290) had the advertisement removed at a later time

AVBML1, 2

Chassis number: YV3U2U522HA186175 (AVBML1), YV3U2U527JA188994 (AVBML2)

According to a netizen, KMB would introduce the Volvo B8L with bodywork supplied by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles Group (MCV) of Egypt in 2018, marking the third MCV-bodied bus to be introduced by KMB after the Volvo B7RLE (AVC) and the VDL DB300 (AMC) . The relevant transaction was confirmed on 30 July 2018, with Transport International waiting until 17 October 2019 for the first external disclosure .

The bus was delivered to the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in Hong Kong by the vessel "Asian Parade", and arrived on 5 February 2018, with the bodywork painted all-white upon arrival in Hong Kong, the bodywork design is identical to that of Volvo B5TL's EvoSeti model, with all tyres shifted to the 305/70R 22.5 size, the same as the Singapore's demonstrator bus, with thick black wire window frames for the exterior windows, which are obviously smaller, and black headlights and rear warning lights. As for the interior equipment, it is close to the specification of "Red Bus 2.0", with dark grey colouring on the upper and lower front end and upper rear fibre components, the fibre components above the lower upper and lower doors, and the lower rear air-conditioning return mesh, the thickness of the front end components has not been thinned out, and the seats are made of Lazzerini Ethos seats, with the rear seat being installed on the left side as a result of placing a water tank in the rear position, and the "Door Closing" light box has been replaced by the Dynamic Passenger Information System (DPIS) above the doors, as well as light grey armrest posts and yellow armrest rings, a "VOLVO B8L" water plate at the lower right rear and an "MCV" water plate below it, a "VOLVO" water plate under the windscreen at the front of the car, and an "MCV" water plate affixed to the front of the bus .

On 20 March 2018, the bus made its historic visit to the NWFB Chong Fu Road Depot for testing and its first inspection was arranged by the agent on 11 April . On 5 March 2019, it was officially licensed as WA756, the first franchised bus in Hong Kong to have its registration number prefixed with a W. It was also registered at the Tuen Mun Depot (U) and painted in "Heartbeat of The City" colours . Finally, it and V6B1 made their maiden trip on Route 69X on 22 March 2019 and both became scheduled buses for the route. However, V6B1 was transferred to Route 61X in December of the same year, leaving this vehicle to continue to hold its position until January 2021, when it was transferred to Route 67X. In July of the same year, AVBML1 was transferred to Kowloon Bay Depot (Tseung Kwan O Sub-depot) (K), and in November of the following year, AVBML1 was transferred to Sha Tin Depot (S), and is now a scheduled bus for Route 83K. Previously a scheduled bus for Route 61M and 290 series, it was converted to a spare bus in June due to a complaint from the driver.

On 29 April 2019, another Volvo B8L with MCV body arrived in Hong Kong. The bus body has been painted in red, not yet affixed with KMB decals and logo, while the rear air-conditioning net is sprayed in black, the rear window, electric signboard and warning lamps are mostly sprayed in black in trapezoidal shape, the headlamps and rear warning lamps are painted in silver with grey armrest rings, while all seats on the bus are equipped with seat belts, with black crash pads on each side of the upper front T-shaped armrest pillar near the seats, and the rear "VOLVO B8L" is equipped with a seat belt, and the rear "VOLVO B8L" was not yet affixed with the KMB logo. The rear "VOLVO B8L" water plate was moved from the lower right to the lower left and the same position as the "MCV" water plate, and an "eVoSeti" body plate was added on the left side under the windscreen at the front end of the bus, which was slightly different from that of the AVBML1 . The bus was then driven by the agent to KMB Tuen Mun Maintenance Centre for parking ; by 27 November 2019, a netizen photographed the bus with a retrofitted "Heartbeat of The City" decal and KMB logo, which was in line with the AVBML1 livery . On 6 December 2019, the bus was officially licensed as WM5028 and was registered at the Sha Tin Depot (S), and immediately made its maiden trip on the following day after being licensed on Routes 282, 48X, 281A, 81K, 49X, 46X and 80K, and was subsequently scheduled bus of Route 681. On 19 May 2021, AVBML2 was transferred to the Lai Chi Kok Depot (L), where it is now a scheduled bus of Route 900, but in January 2022, it was transferred back to Sha Tin Depot (S).

The AVBML2/WM5028 switched to Arcol electric reversing mirrors into dovetailed metal frames after licensing, followed by AVBML1/WA756 in December 2019.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/AVBML

Appearance

KMB's first MCV-bodied Volvo B8L makes its maiden trip on Route 69X (Shown in picture was AVBML1/WA756)

The rear electronic destination sign (EDS) was faulty on its debut day (Shown in picture was AVBML1/WA756)

Another MCV-bodied Volvo B8L was travelling on Route 680 (Shown in picture was AVBML2/WM5028)

Another MCV-bodied Volvo B8L at KMB has its rear end painted in black (Shown in picture was AVBML2/WM5028).

Interior Layout

Upper deck layout

Lower deck layout

Lower deck layout

The staircase design of Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles Group. The bus originally had a window in the stairwell instead of a glass curtain wall, which was sealed with imitation wood veneer prior to its arrival in Hong Kong

The lower deck wheelchair parking bay

Production buses (12-metre version)

V6B1-140, 143, 145-146, 188-194

KMB placed an order for 150 buses complying with the Euro 6 emission standard on 29 January 2018 . The Volvo factory won the contract on 18 July of the same year to supply 150 12-metre Volvo B8Ls to KMB, with a total value of £38.3 million (about HK$390 million) . 80 of the buses were assembled by the original factory in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, while the remaining 70 buses were assembled by Masdef in Kuala Lumpur. There were four different layouts for these buses, but only three layouts were available when the buses eventually entered service:

• 90-seat versions , 45 of which were assembled by Masdef Kuala Lumpur and 80 of which were assembled by the original factory in Northern Ireland;
• 82-seat version with luggage racks and standing bays , of which there were 18, all of which were body-built by Masdef Kuala Lumpur;
• Ex-luxury version (86 seats and 1 wheelchair parking area, only 55 seats upstairs and no podium, with 2 USB charging sockets on the wheelchair parking area, upper and lower deck side seat walls), originally planned to be ordered in 13 units for use on the planned Deluxe Bus routes P960 and P968, but due to the suspension of the P968 programme for a period of time, the current batch of 7 units was ordered first, with the bodywork being fully assembled by Masdef of Kuala Lumpur. However, due to the suspension of the P968 programme, the current batch of seven were ordered first, all of which were assembled by Masdef in Kuala Lumpur, and the remaining six were shifted to the next batch, but eventually the 12-metre deluxe version, which had not been in service with LWB, was used as a regular bus, with additional parking spaces, and only operated on Routes P960 and P968 as and when required.
• The layout of the fourth model with the original standing bays were the same as the 90-seat version as the seats on the lower deck had been restored before it was put into service.

The difference between this batch of Volvo B8L and the AVBWL1 demonstrator bus are as follows:

• They were fitted with the same style as the Volvo B5LH and the same Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodywork as the Singaporean demonstrator bus, with a glass curtain wall next to the staircase, although there were comments that the design could easily expose passengers wearing skirts to light.
• All buses adopted the first-generation Heartbeat of the City specification with red City Red livery, but the Heartbeat of the City logo is no longer present on the roof and the silver KMB logo "KMB" has been painted on the lower half of the body, with the silver lines on both sides of the body modified, and a silver full KMB logo painted on the centre rear bonnet. The silver KMB logo is painted in the centre of the bonnet at the rear of the vehicle. Only the right hand side of the front end of the vehicle is painted with the silver KMB logo, and the underside of the drop door is painted in black, please refer to the relevant article for other details.
• There was no setup cover on the upper front end, only the fibre optic unit of the stop reporter remained.
• The side and rear route signs are fitted with 'extended' Hanover orange LEDs.
• The GPS cover on the roof was changed to red.
• The rear air-conditioning vents on both sides and the engine radiator on the right side of the rear are made of the same dense horizontal aluminium as the Wright Explorer bodywork, with square engine radiators underneath on the left side of the rear, and rectangular engine radiators underneath the air-conditioning vents, which are painted red.
• The area between the upper window and the rear window was painted black.
• The lower part of the dense horizontal aluminium sheet outside the air-conditioning radiator on both sides is painted black along the horizontal aluminium strip outside the rear air-conditioning radiator.
• The horizontal aluminium strip outside the rear engine radiator is sprayed in black.
• The small lamps in the middle of the two axles are mounted higher up, reduced from the previous two lamps to one, and painted red.
• The headlamps are painted black.
• The lower right rear pax door was made of black, one-piece, reinforced glass, with an external breakable hammer (to the right of the pax door, above the rear axle).
• The upper half of the driver's window is a sliding window and the lower half is sealed with glass.

As there are CCTV cameras on both left and right sides of the bus, the original display screen could not clearly show all the cameras on the bus, so a slightly larger CCTV screen was installed in the driver's cab.

• The door frames have been changed to milky white colour, together with the horizontal sliding centre door and the reprogrammable alarm sound from the Roshni Low Profile alarm.
• The drop doors are factory fitted with thicker guards, and the drop door glass is blackened where it faces the guards.
• Stairwell crash cushions were in cream or red colour.
• The back cushion of the wheelchair parking area is in red colour.
• At the time of manufacture, horizontal handrail posts were installed along the existing handrail posts on the right side and straight handrail posts on the left side of the staircase.
• Armrest posts and armrest rings are added to the opposite seats on the lower level.
• Light grey handrail posts and grey handrail rings are used on all vehicles, except for V6B34-37, 41, 43, 50, 52, 110, 112, where yellow handrail rings are used.
• All straight handrail posts on the lower deck were fitted with a stop bell, except for the straight handrail post on the left side of the lower deck.
• All straight handrail posts on the upper deck near the staircase were fitted with a stop bell.
• Compared with the previous model, the thickness of the route plate box on the upper deck is not thinner, but the centre of the fibre element is slightly slanted.
• The fire extinguishers are now positioned above the front axle and behind the upper doors, instead of in the wheelchair backrests.
• Electronic Stability Program (ESP) was been added to keep the car stable.
• The Openmatics Driver Alert was installed.
• Unlike the previous windscreen design for buses, the upper front end featured a three-spoke windscreen with trapezoidal glass at the left and right A-pillar positions and a breakable hammer nearby, and the upper front windscreen is coated with a blue blackout coating at the upper edge.
• The window openings on both sides of the upper deck were smaller due to the adaptation of the roof design.
• The larger, thicker window frames continue to be used on the upper deck rear sides.
• Instead of half-moon windows, the lower deck has a single front windscreen.
• The upper and lower light tubes are also lined with a hole in the side, which serves only as a decorative panel and not as an air outlet.
• There is no air-conditioning outlet in the upper deck that supplies air to the front of the car.
• The bottom of the lower air conditioning duct is designed with honeycomb holes and the sides of the upper air conditioning duct are designed with rows of holes, with ball vents at the very front and very back of the lower deck.
• The width of the upper front-end fibre components has been slightly increased.
• The upper front handrail post is 'm' shaped and is similar in design to the Plastic Denise Trident 12 metre without the additional guard rails.
• Only for V6B122, 124-125, 128, part of the handrail next to the staircase is a pitted handrail common to old buses.
• Due to the lack of space near the staircase on the lower deck and the continuation of the original handrail posts, no additional handrail posts could be installed.
• The interior lighting system has been completely changed to beige LED.
• There are no spotlights above the stairwell, only a reserved position.
• All seats are equipped with seat belts.
• Dynamic Passenger Information System (PIS) displays are installed behind the upper and lower staircases, but not above the wheelchair spaces, only a reserved space is provided.
• Long LCD display is used in the annunciator.

The "Door Closing" light box is replaced by a dynamic passenger information system above the drop door, and the installation position is reserved at the factory.

• Apart from the Vogel Revo S440 440mm wide seats on the upper deck, centre and rear axle wheel arches, all seats on the lower deck are the Vogel Revo S400 400mm narrow version with brown and cream seat upholstery, dark grey armrest rings next to the seat headrests, and the new shorter black armrests on all lower deck nearside seats and upper deck staircase seats, and cream and red on the caring seats. All lower level nearside seats and upper level staircase side seats were replaced with the new shorter black armrests.
• Lower rear seats are narrower and mounted to the left due to the position of the cooling water tank, and hand pillows have been added to the seats near the cooling water tank.
• The lower tailgate seats are no longer fitted with hand pillows, but the armrests and hand pillows are retained in the middle tailgate seats.
• Glass panels are no longer installed on both sides of the drop door, and straight armrest posts are installed on both sides near the drop door. The upper and lower halves of both sides are replaced by armrest arrays and lower halves of imitation wood fire-resistant vinyl panels, and only the upper half of the armrest array in the middle of the right side of the drop door is equipped with a horizontal armrest post.
• Clock lights on the upper and lower decks are located on the right side of the stop reporter screen.

Fibre-optic components behind the lower staircase are fitted with drop-down bells and straight handrail posts.

• A "VOLVO B8L Euro 6" water plate is located on the lower right-hand side of the rear.
• Wi-Fi is not pre-installed, except in the front luxury version.
• V6B64, 72-74, 76-81, 83, 85, 88, 90, 93, 103, 107, 131 are the versions with luggage racks and reservoirs, with a small double-decked luggage rack above the left axle; to prevent passengers from taking out the fire extinguishers in the luggage racks in the event of a fire, there is space in the luggage racks for a small space to be separated out, and small luggage racks in front of the left priority seat, and the standing bays and the right priority seat is replaced by a red fireproof plastic sheet.
• V6B188-194 is the ex-luxury version.

The first Wright Eclipse Gemini 3-bodied Volvo B8L was assembled in Malaysia in October 2018[50] and arrived in Hong Kong on 15 October[51].

These buses have been licensed since 14 March 2019, with the fleet number prefixed with V6B (which is generally inferred to be the English prefix for Volvo Euro 6 B8L), with most of the first buses to be licensed being assigned to Tuen Mun Depot (U) , and only from V6B53/WF653 onwards being assigned to Kowloon Bay Depot (K) , Sha Tin Depot (S) and Lai Chi Kok Depot (L).

All the new buses have been officially licensed and put into service between March and December 2019; May 2020 and July 2021 respectively.

At present, these buses mainly serve Routes 60X, 61X, 67X, 276A, W2 and W3, with a small number of buses serving Routes 52X, 54, 59A, 59M, 59X, 60M, 62X, 67M , 68M, 68X , 74X, 75X, 85X, 102, 104, 118, 258D, 259D, 263, 268C, 269D, 270A, 271, 276A, 276P, 277X , 307, 681, 900 and 968.

On the evening of 30 March 2019, V6B6/WA9522 running on Route 265B lost control and crashed into the rear of an Enviro500 MMC (ATENU1334/VG5669) on the same route in front of it at the Park Avenue Bus Terminus . Due to a shortage of spare parts, repairs were not completed until mid-August of the following year before it was re-introduced into service.

On 11 August 2019, V6B81/WF9483 crashed into the front end of the vehicle during an accident at Sheung Shui Bus Terminus. While being towed back to the depot, it lost control again at a junction and crashed into a road sign at the safety island in the centre of the road. The bus was repaired and returned to service in January 2020, but the KMB logo on the bodywork was not repainted.

V6B104/WH5413 was wrapped with KMB's 87th Anniversary full-body advertisement in April 2020, which was replaced in mid-November 2020 with an advertisement for a property development.

From August 2020, these buses were gradually converted to Arcol electric mirrors with dovetailed metal frames.

In September 2020, V6B59/WF2739 was fitted with ventilation windows on the upper and lower left-hand front and right-hand rear.

In May 2021, V6B65/WF5471 was the first bus of this batch to be tested with Driver Assistance System, Sleep Alert System and GreenRoad Premium Driver Monitoring System. The remaining vehicles were fitted with these systems from August 2021 onwards.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/V6B

Appearance

KMB's first production version of Wright Eclipse Gemini 3-bodied Volvo B8L makes its maiden trip on Route 69X (Shown in picture was V6B1/WA4799)

Some Volvo B8Ls are fitted with luggage racks and standing bays (Shown in picture was V6B80/WF9466)

The first batch of ex-luxury buses (Shown in picture was V6B194/XL4432)

These batch of buses are fitted only with one ventillation windows temporarily (Shown in picture was V6B59/WF2739)

The silver KMB logo on the top (Shown in picture was V6B58/WF2361)

Rear of this batch of buses (Shown in picture was V6B17/WC1766)

Interior layout

Volvo B8L with mass-produced Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodywork features glass staircase design (Shown in picture was V6B1/WA4799)

The design of glass staircases is said to make female passengers wearing skirts easily get naked (Shown in picture was V6B1/WA4799)

Upper deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B74/WF6351)

Upper deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B193/XL3342)

Upper deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B95/WG7910)

Lower deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B87/WG1107)

Lower deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B193/XL3342)

Lower deck layout, some are fitted with luggage racks and standing bays (Shown in picture was V6B93/WG7574)

Lower deck layout, some are fitted with luggage racks and standing bays (Shown in picture was V6B93/WG7574)

Lower deck layout, some are fitted with luggage racks and standing bays (Shown in picture was V6B93/WG7574)

V6B141-142, 144, 147-187, 195-200

On 28 March 2019, KMB ordered another 50 Volvo B8L 12m from Volvo, comprising 44 90-seat versions and 6 86-seat ex-luxury versions, and continued to use the Wright Gemini 3 bodywork, with all buses having their bodywork assembled by Masdef Kuala Lumpur.

Most of the Volvo B8Ls in this batch have the same configuration as the 90-seat and 86-seat front luxury versions in the previous batch, but with a difference:

• The buses were finally converted to the old Hanover white LED electronic destination signs, with the old Hanover Eric+ electric licence plate controller in the cab.
• Part of the handrail next to the staircase is a pitted handrail, which is common on older buses.
• Straight handrail posts are being added to the handrail posts along the lower deck near the staircase.
• There is no silver KMB logo on the roof.
• The cylinder unit originally located under the second row of seats on the right-hand side of the lower deck was moved to the first row of seats on the left-hand side of the lower deck.
• Armrest posts were installed at the rear of the lower deck at the location of the cooling water tank, and the original hand restraints were retained near the cooling water tank to prevent passengers from falling into the cooling water tank.
• Among them, V6B147, 150-154, 158-172, 174, 180, 182 are equipped with ventilation windows on the left side of the front and right side of the rear of the upper and lower decks.
• Among them, V6B195-200 are the former luxury version.
• One of the buses (V6B198/XL6027) had its bodywork repainted before entering service with a simplified "Heartbeat of The City" livery similar to that of the luxury version (V6P), but without the red frame on its front LED display.
• The driving cab door was pre-installed with an anti-attack panel when the buses left the factory.

The buses were assembled at the Malaysian factory in early 2020 and delivered to Hong Kong from January of the same year . The first bus of this batch arrived in Hong Kong on 13 January .

The first bus weas licensed in May 2020. At present, this batch of buses mainly serves Routes 67M , 270A and 277X , with a small number of buses serving Routes 52X, 57M, 60X, 62X, 63X, 69X, 72X, 85X, 90, 96, 97, 98D, 102, 213M, 263, 265B, 268C, 278X, 290E, 296D, 298X, 104, 680 and 681.

All new vehicles have been officially licensed and put into service between May and July, October and November 2020; February, April and May 2021 and July.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/V6B

Appearance

These buses changed to use Hanover White LED EDS (Shown in picture was V6B144/WT5092)

The silver "KMB" logo no longer existed (Shown in picture was V6B161/XB5002)

Some buses were fitted with ventillation windows (Shown in picture was V6B168/XE956)

2nd batch of former luxury buses (Shown in picture was V6B196/XL3239)

V6B198/XL6027 changed to use the simplified "Heartbeat of The City" livery similar to luxury version (V6P)

The top of V6B198/XL6027 uses white background with red letters

The rear of this batch of buses, except 198 (Shown in picture was V6B185/XG591)

Interior layout

The upper deck layout (Shown in picture was V6B154/WU5717)

V6B201-248

KMB announced orders for another 48 Volvo B8L 12-metre buses.

V6P1-10

At the same time as KMB ordered 150 12-metre Volvo B8Ls, Long Win Bus (LWB) also ordered 10 luxury versions of the same buses, which were originally planned to be used on Airbus Routes (A/NA Routes).

However, due to the significant reduction in the number of flights to and from the airport as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the number of passengers to and from the Airport dropped drastically and was not expected to recover within a short period of time, coupled with the fact that the space for fleet expansion had already been saturated, these new buses were once kept in the KMB depot for about a year without being registered.

In June 2020, according to rumours circulating on the internet, LWB had decided to transfer the batch of buses to KMB for use on the planned luxury bus routes P960 and P968, replacing the 86-seat luxury versions in the original plan . Eventually, LWB formally announced on 19 January 2021 that it had awarded a contract to Volvo Bus Hong Kong to carry out the body modification works for 10 of its buses. One of the buses was repainted in red at the Tuen Mun Maintenance Centre in March 2021, with the "KMB" logo and a simplified version of the "Heartbeat of The City" decal and the black glass panels on the body that hid the staircase were replaced with three pieces of light-transmitting glass. The original luggage racks on the left and right sides of the buses were removed and the side panels hiding them were removed, and the original space for the luggage racks was replaced by 6 luxury seats, with the priority seats located in the first row behind the staircase. The buses are also no longer permitted to carry standees, resulting in a passenger capacity of only 81 persons including the wheelchair parking area. However, as there are no folding seats available in the wheelchair parking area, so even if there is no wheelchair user on board, this type can only accommodate 80 passengers (as people cannot stand in the wheelchair bay), otherwise the bus will be overloaded.

These Volvo B8Ls have the following features:

• The Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to keep the bus levelled and stable[72].
• Openmatics driving prompts are installed.
• Has the same Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 body as the KMB's V6B, with glass side panels next to the staircase.
• The air-conditioning vents on both sides of the rear are designed with horizontal aluminium sheets for better heat dissipation and are painted red.
• The right rear engine radiator is designed with a dense horizontal aluminium sheet, the same as the Wright Explorer body, with a square engine radiator under the left rear and a rectangular engine radiator under the air-conditioning radiator, which is designed with a dense horizontal aluminium sheet and painted red.
• The lower part of the dense horizontal aluminium sheet outside the air-conditioning radiator on both sides and the horizontal aluminium strip outside the air-conditioning radiator at the rear are more sparsely spaced, and are painted in black for better heat dissipation.
• The upper part of the horizontal aluminium strip outside the engine radiator at the rear is painted black.
• The lower right rear door is made of black, one-piece, reinforced glass, with a breakable glass hammer (located to the right of the door, above the tailgate).
• In the middle of the two axles, a small lamp was reduced and mounted higher up and painted red.
• The headlamps are black.
• The upper part of the driver's window is a sliding window, the lower part is sealed with glass.
• Instead of half-moon windows on both sides of the lower front end, the front windscreen was replaced by one-piece windows.
• The upper front end has a three-panel windscreen with trapezoidal glass at the left and right A-pillar positions and an emergency escape hammer nearby, unlike the previous bus front windscreen design, and the upper front windscreen has a blue blackout coating at the upper edge.
• The larger, thicker window frames continue to be used on both sides of the upper deck rear.
• The upper deck windows are smaller due to the roof design.
• The body is painted in red City Red, the KMB logo in white is smaller at the front, the KMB lettering in white is sprayed on the front of the bus on both sides of the bus, the body decals have been slightly modified and a white Heartbeat of The City logo has been added, the underside of the drop door is painted in black, and the bus is now affixed with the information of the two luxury bus routes.
• The roof is now covered with a white GPS cover.
• The front and rear ends of the roof were changed to black and KMB was sprayed in white on the rear bonnet and in the middle of the bodywork on the right hand side, but the roof was painted in white with KMB in red, and the rear route boards were framed in red.
• The buses finally adopted the old Hanover orange LED electronic destination sign and the old Hanover Eric+ electric licence plate controller in the cab.
• The buses were completely converted to Arcol electric rear mirrors with dovetailed metal frames.
• The fire extinguishers are now positioned above the front axle and behind the upper doors, instead of in the wheelchair backrests.
• The door frames were changed to almond colour.
• A thicker guard rail was installed on the drop door when the bus left the factory, and the position of the drop door glass behind the guard rail was also blackened.
• The main tone of the bus compartment was changed to apricot, with dark imitation wood walls, dark imitation wood fire-rated flooring, apricot colour for the upper deck front end position, staircase and part of the lower deck fibre optic components, orange fire-rated flooring for the staircase and the lower deck non-low floor area, and orange texture-less handrail posts and handrail rings for the upper deck rear end, the lower deck opposing seats, and the staircase. The walls between the upper rear, lower opposite seats and staircases are made of orange fibre components, and the window frames are mainly in white and apricot colours.
• Straight handrail posts are being added to the handrail posts along the side of the lower deck near the staircase.
• All upright handrail posts on the lower deck are equipped with a car landing bell.
• Lower level opposite seats are retrofitted with handrail posts and handrail rings.
• All upright handrail posts on the upper deck near the staircase are fitted with a stop request bell.
• Handrails are not installed on upper deck except staircase, front end and lower deck, so as to enhance the sense of space, the stop request bell buttons are located next to some air-conditioning vents.
• There are no decorative panels next to the light pipes on the upper and lower decks.
• Compared to the previous generation, the thickness of the route plate box in the upper front end has not been reduced, but there is a slight slope in the middle of the fibre assembly.
• There is no air-conditioning outlet in the upper front end to supply air to the front of the vehicle.
• The bottom of the lower air-conditioning duct is designed with honeycomb holes and the sides of the upper air-conditioning duct are designed with rows of holes, with ball vents at the very front and very end of the lower deck.
• The width of the upper front-end fibre components has been slightly increased.
• The upper deck handrail posts are 'm' shaped, similar in design to the Greyfriars Trident 12m without the additional guardrails.
• The upper and lower halves of both sides of the drop doors are made up of handrail arrays and the lower half is fitted with fire-resistant plastic panels and handrail posts, with only the right-hand side near the drop door being fitted with a straight handrail post.
• Almond-coloured fireproofing panels on both sides of the doors, fireproofing panels in front of the fourth row of seats from the right, and horizontal handrail posts in the middle of the armrest array in the upper half of the right-hand side of the doors only.
• The interior is fitted with Vogelsitze Magnio cream and coffee-coloured imitation leather passenger seats with armrests, but the backrest angle is not adjustable;
• Vogel Revo cream and coffee-coloured leather seats were installed for the last rows of the upper and lower decks and coffee-coloured middle seats for the last row of the lower deck, with non-adjustable hand pillows for the last row of the upper deck.
• The rear seats in the lower deck are no longer fitted with hand pillows, but the armrest posts and hand pillows are retained in the middle rear seats.
• Upper deck seats are equipped with magazine mesh pockets in the seat backs, and one row of seats has been reduced.
• All double back seats in the lower rear have been changed to a connecting design with a handle to separate them into two individual seats.
• All seats are equipped with seat belts.
• Due to the lack of space in the front right row of the upper deck staircase and the continuation of the original factory armrest post, only two seats are installed in the right side of the upper deck front position, which is the fifth bus to adopt the same design, following the CMB's MC, LWB's 501-525, Citybus' 2101-2111, and the Enviro400 demonstrator bus.
• The lower deck rear seat is limited by the location of the cooling water tank, so narrow seats are used and mounted on the left side, and hand pillows are added to the seats near the cooling water tank.
• The interior lighting system has been completely changed to beige LED lighting.
• There are no spotlights above the stairwell, only reserved positions.
• Cream-coloured wheelchair cushions and brown-coloured staircase crash cushions are installed.
• Curtains are provided in all vehicles, except for the upper stairwell window and the rest of the stairwell window.
• Two USB charging sockets are provided in the wheelchair parking area, the last row of seats on the upper deck and the wall of the opposite seats on the lower deck.
• One USB charging socket is provided on the wall of the seat next to the upper deck and lower deck.
• The stop reporter screen has been changed to the same long LCD screen as the E6M, E6X, V6B and V6B.
• A Dynamic Passenger Information System (DPIS) LCD display is provided behind the staircase on the upper deck.
• The Dynamic Passenger Information System LCD display is provided on the lower level above the fire-resistant plastic panel in front of the nearside car park seat, but with impact protection pads around the edges of the display.
• The display of dynamic passenger information system is used above the alighting door, and the dynamic passenger information system is installed at the factory in the reserved position above the drop door.
• Clock lights on the upper and lower decks are located on the right side of the annunciator display.
• Fibre-optic components behind the lower staircase are fitted with a drop-down clock light and a straight armrest post.
• KMB Free WiFi service is available.
• Flat panel display in the driving cab is installed for keeping track of the number of passengers on board.
• As there are CCTV cameras on the left and right side of the bus, the original display cannot show all the cameras on the bus clearly, so it is necessary to install a slightly larger CCTV display.
• The driving cab door has been pre-installed with an anti-attack panel when the licence is issued.
• Ultrasonic detection points have been installed at the rear end of the bus and at the back of the bus at the time of licence issuance.
• The "VOLVO B8L Euro 6" water plate is fixed on the lower right hand side of the rear.
• The Driver Assistance System, Driver Sleep Alert System and GreenRoad Quality Driver Monitoring System are installed.
• All buses have XL prefixes on the licence plate number, which is the same as the previous batch of luxury buses.

The first three KMB Volvo B8Ls were licensed on 7 July 2021, all of which were assigned to Tuen Mun Depot (U), with fleet numbering starting with V6P, where "P" stands for "Premium" to reflect that the buses were luxury buses, and with a red frame on the route signs. Three days later, V6P3/XL1516 were advertised in the depot with their own "First Class Service" banners.

All the new buses were officially licensed and put into service between 7 July 2021 and 9 July 2021.

These buses are now mainly serving routes P960 and P968.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/V6P

Appearance

This batch of new buses is the original Long Win Bus' luxury version of B8L, which operated on "First Class Service" Routes P960 and P968 after the transfer to KMB (Shown in picture was V6P1/XL2135)

In addition to retaining the original in-vehicle facilities, this batch of luxury B8Ls transferred to KMB will be distinguished by a special red box on their route signs (Shown in picture was V6P4/XL506)

Red lettering on a white background on the roof (Shown in picture was V6P2/XL1339)

Rear end of this batch of buses (Shown in picture was V6P3/XL1516)

Interior layout

Upper deck layout

Upper deck layout

Upper deck stop reporter

Upper deck Motion Bus Stop Display Panel

Lower deck layout

Lower-deck layout

deck Motion Bus Stop Display Panel

Production buses (12.8-metre version)

V6X1-110

KMB ordered 110 Volvo B8L 12.8m on 17 October 2019 for £29.32 million.

These Volvo B8Ls differ from the AVBML as follows:

• Addition of Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to keep the bus levelled.
• Installation of Openmatics driving prompts.
• The first bus arrived in Hong Kong without seats on the upper deck rear end, as was the case with the two-axle Volvo B9TL after the inspection;
• The same MCV EvoSeti body as AVBML1-2 was used, with a glass curtain wall next to the staircase, aluminium sash brackets between the staircase near the upper deck, and thickened window frames near the front of the staircase;
• The lower front end is fitted with half-moon windows on both sides, and the front end assembly with windscreen has a curved half-moon shape.
• Rough body window frames are not provided on both sides of the rear of the upper deck.
• The rear window, electric sign and warning lights are mostly painted in black with a trapezoidal shape, same as AVBML2.
• The edge of the front end around the upper windscreen is painted black.
• The air-conditioning radiator grilles at the rear are painted red with straight aluminium sheets on the outside.
• The right-side engine radiator, left-side rectangular radiator and square radiator are painted red.
• The top of the horizontal aluminium strips outside the air conditioning and engine radiators at the rear are painted red.
• The lower right-hand rear panel door has black, one-piece, reinforced glass and a breakable glass hammer (located under the door).
• The driving cab has ventilated windows in the upper deck, but sealed windows in the lower deck.
• The dashboard in the captain's cab is positioned differently, with the CanRun GPS annunciator placed above the captain's head and a separate CCTV display placed to the right of the dashboard.
• The driver's compartment door has been pre-fitted with an anti-attack panel.
• The upper deck no longer has a TV reserve unit, only the fibre unit of the annunciator remains.
• The thickness of the licence plate box on the upper front end was not reduced.
• The width of the fibre optic components on the upper deck has been slightly increased.
• The interior equipment is close to the "Red Bus 2.0" specification.
• The handrail posts along the staircase at the factory were retrofitted with a horizontal handrail post on the right side and a straight handrail post on the left side, and a handrail post on the lower deck near the staircase.
• All straight handrail posts on the lower floor are fitted with a car landing bell, except for the handrail post in front of the upper staircase, which is not fitted with a car landing bell.
• On the handrail array of the fibre assembly between the upper near staircases, a horizontal handrail post is added in the middle of two of the straight handrail posts.
• On the handrail array above the front axle on the lower level, a horizontal handrail post is added in the middle of two of the straight handrail posts.
• Armrest posts and armrest rings are fitted to the opposite seats on the lower deck.
• Light grey armrest posts and grey armrest rings are used throughout the vehicle.
• Same as E6M and some E6X, the front end of the car is smaller with white KMB logo, red diagonal line is added on the lower right side of the car near the glass curtain wall, black colour is painted under the drop door, white KMB lettering is sprayed on both sides of the front end of the car, the bodywork is also slightly modified and white "Heartbeat of The City" logo is added.
• The front and rear ends of the roof were changed to black with KMB in white on the roof, rear bonnet and centre right hand side of the car.
• The headlamps and rear warning lamps were repainted in black, the same as AVBML1.

The buses finally adopted the Hanover white LED display and the old Hanover Eric+ display controller in the cab.

• The upper and lower deck stop bell lights are positioned next to the bus stop announcement screen.
• The lower deck is fitted with a drop-down clock light and a straight armrest post next to the fibre element behind the staircase.
• White LED lighting is used throughout the lighting system.
• The announcement system screen is now the same long LCD as the E6M, E6X and V6B.
• The LCD screen of the Dynamic Passenger Information Panel is added behind the upper and lower staircases. However, the LCD screen of the dynamic passenger information system is placed in the reserved position behind the lower staircase when it is delivered from the factory, but it is not installed above the wheelchair seat, and there is only a reserved position for it.
• The Dynamic Passenger Information Panel display screen is used above the alighting door, which is the same as AVBML1.
• The door frames were changed to brown colour, together with the horizontal sliding centre door and the reprogrammable alarm sound from the Roshni Low Profile alarm.
• Buses leave the factory with thicker door guards and the back of the door glass to the guards is blackened.
• Wheelchair back cushions and staircase crash cushions were changed to brown colour.
• Black crash cushions are provided on each side of the upper deck T-shaped armrest post near the seat, same as AVBML2.
• The crash cushions in the wheelchair parking area near the drop-down door are in brown colour.
• The cylinder unit on the lower deck has been moved to the lower deck under the second row of seats on the left-hand side.
• The rear seats of the upper deck are fitted with headrests near the window seats and the glass hammers are near the sides of the windows.
• The thicker window frames on both sides of the front end of the upper deck are now dark grey; dark grey rubber trim is added to the lower ceiling, upper air conditioning ducts and light tubes; the fibre components on the upper and lower front ends, lower rear end and above the upper and lower doors, and the steel mesh of the rear air conditioning return vents have been changed to beige; and the window frames of the whole car have been changed to white.
• The bottom of the lower air-conditioning ducts follow the design of exhaust air supply, with spherical vents at the front and end, and beige-coloured plastic edges for the lower air-conditioning ducts.
• The upper air-conditioning ducts do not have the exhaust air supply design but use the no-segment air outlet next to the light pipe, but the staircase is equipped with the exhaust air supply design.
• The air-conditioning ducts in the upper stairwells have sufficient overhead space for the installation of CCTV lenses.
• Arcol electric mirrors with dovetailed metal frames were used before leaving the factory.
• All seats on the bus are fitted with seat belts, same as AVBML2.
• The handrail beside the staircase is a pitted handrail, which is common on older buses.
• The new Volvo factory logo and the optional body plate in the centre under the windscreen at the front of the bus is more similar to the factory logo on the mouth of the non-converted Volvo Olympian demonstrator bus.
• The "VOLVO B8L" water plate at the rear has been moved from the lower right to the lower left and there is no "MCV" water plate.
• Most of the buses are not equipped with KMB Free WiFi service.
• V6X1-30, 32-37, 39-45, 86-87, 94, 100, 103, 105-107, 110 are equipped with ventilation windows at the left front and right rear of the upper and lower decks.
• Lazzerini Ethos seats are used in the cabin, and all seats are equipped with seat belts.
• The lower rear seats are no longer fitted with armrests, but the centre rear seat retains its armrest post and armrests.
• The lower rear seats are fitted with cooling tanks, so the seats are fitted to the left and an inverted 'U' shaped armrest post is fitted to prevent passengers from locating the cooling tanks.
• Two USB charging sockets are provided in the wheelchair parking space, in the last row of seats on the upper deck and on the wall of the opposite seat on the lower deck.
• One USB charging socket is provided on the wall of the upper and lower deck side seats.
• Glass panels are no longer installed on both sides of the drop-down doors, which are replaced by handrail arrays consisting of a horizontal handrail post on the upper half and a wood-like fire-resistant vinyl panel on the lower half, handrail posts on both sides of the near drop-down doors, and wood-like fire-resistant vinyl panels behind the upper deck staircase.
• V6X1-16, 26, 32-37, 43, 86-87, 94, 100, 107, 110 with imitation wood walls, red lower ceiling and upper air-conditioning ducts; all fire-resistant vinyl panels in the compartments are decorated with imitation wood, and the caring seats are also decorated with milky white and red, while the fire-resistant floors are mainly decorated with dark grey and apricot colours. V6X17-25, 27-31, 38-42, 44-85, 88-93, 95-99, 101-106, 108-109 used wood-like grey walls, beige lower ceiling and upper air-conditioning ducts for the first time; all fire-resistant vinyl panels in the interior were changed to wood-like grey and the fire-resistant flooring to dark grey, and the Priority Seat was also changed to coffee colour.

The first bus (chassis number 199769, i.e. V6X2) was in transit on 9 April 2020 and arrived in Hong Kong in the evening of the 14th of the same month for delivery to Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) the following day .

The first two new vehicles (V6X1/WZ2690 and V6X2/WZ2778) were registered on 9 October 2020 with fleet number prefixed with V6X (generally assumed to be the initials of Volvo Euro6 Extended) and were assigned to Tuen Mun Depot (U) and Kowloon Bay Depot (K) respectively, with V6X2 making its maiden trip on routes 290A and 290 the day after the licence plate was issued, while V6X1 made its maiden trip on Route 260X on the 12th of the same month.

All the new buses were officially registered and put into service between October and November 2020, and February and April and May 2021 respectively.

At present, these buses mainly serve routes 68M, 74X , 271, 277X , 960 and 961, with a small number of buses serving routes 52X, 60X, 61X, 67M, 67X, 259D, 261, 269D, 270A, 276P and 278X.

In August 2021, V6X42/XE2353 was the first bus of this batch to be installed with Driver Assistance System, Drowsiness Alert System and GreenRoad Premium Driver Monitoring System for testing. The remaining buses were installed from September 2021 onwards.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/V6X

Appearance

These buses have the same MCV EvoSeti body as AVBML1 and 2, with a glass curtain wall next to the staircase (V6X57/XE2082 shown above)

This batch of buses adopts the simpler "Heartbeat of The City" body livery, which is slightly different from that of V6B, and some of the buses are equipped with ventilated windows (V6X8/WZ5724 shown above)

The KMB logo was added on the top (V6X5/WZ5159 shown above)

The rear of this batch of buses (V6X5/WZ5159 shown above)

Buses which were newly advertised were sticked with another form of stairside banner specially designed for that type of buses (V6X7/WZ5535 shown above)

Interior

Seats are the same Lazzerini Ethos seats as AVBML1 and 2

The stop announcement system screen has been changed to the same long LCD as that of V6B.

Upper deck compartment layout of V6X with full beige interior cage version

Lower deck compartment layout of V6X with full beige interior cage version

V6X112-145, 147-148, 153-161, 183

According to Volvo's announcement on 1 October 2021, KMB has placed an additional order for 46 12.8-metre buses of the same model, carrying up to 141 passengers, for delivery in the second quarter of 2022. With this order, the number of Volvo B8Ls in Hong Kong will exceed 500 and will continue to use the MCV EvoSeti bodywork which was assembled by the original British and Egyptian manufacturers respectively.

The difference between this batch and the previous batch of buses are as follows:

• The small lights in the middle of both axles are mounted higher up, and an additional small light is mounted at the rear of the car on both sides and painted red.
• The VOLVO logo was added to the mudguard near the rear of the axle.
• A third-generation solar power system and exhaust fan unit were installed on the roof at the factory, and the roof is white .
• The lower half of the driver's window is fitted with a sliding window.
• The upper compartment is also equipped with ventilation fans at the front and rear of the ceiling.
• The interior was fitted with the new Vogel Revo S440 440mm wide-body seats with brown and cream seat surfaces, the priority seats with cream and red seat surfaces, the armrest rings next to the headrests on the upper deck in cream, and the armrest rings next to the headrests on the lower deck in grey, and the hand pillows of the seats in the lower near-aisle, the seats on the left side near the staircase, and the hand pillows of the seats in the lower rear doors in grey. The seats were equipped with seat belts on all sides, and there are two additional rows of priority seats on the lower right-hand side, bus components under some of the lower seats and a slightly reclined seat cushion on the rear-most upper seat.
• There were backward-facing seats behind the upper deck staircase and thicker straight armrest columns were installed near the window. At the beginning of the service, there was no armrest ring beside the headrests of the seats near the corridor and the headrests of the seats near the corridor were often used as armrests by the passengers on the upper deck, the headrests of the seats near the corridor had been slightly changed starting from the issue of the licence of V6X125/YE2237, and the headrests of the seats near the corridor had been changed into thinner headrests to facilitate the installation of armrest rings, and the rest of the buses which had been issued earlier had been carried out one after the other. Improvement works were completed in August of the same year with the installation of all relevant equipment , the provision of wheel arches underneath the inverted seats and the installation of crash cushions behind the inverted seats between staircases.
• The wheelchair back cushion and staircase crash cushion were changed to red colour.
• Anti-bump pads in the wheelchair parking area near the alighting door were changed to red colour.
• Instead of black crash cushions on each side of the T-shaped handrail post on the upper deck near the seat, the black colour is applied at the head and tail ends of the cross-body handrail post.
• No horizontal handrail post in the middle of two straight handrail posts on the handrail array of fibre components between staircases on the upper deck.
• A multi-stage fire-rated floor is provided at the rear of the upper floor, and the position of the fire-rated floor is marked with a yellow line.
• The fire protection floor is now mainly in dark grey and apricot.
• Replaced the wood-like grey walls, beige lower ceiling and upper air-conditioning ducts with the same as the M6EX, M6FX and some E6M, E6X, and the previous batch of buses.
• All fire-resistant plastic panels inside the buses were changed to wood-like grey.
• The fire-resistant plastic panels on both sides of the alighting doors are replaced with wood grey steel panels.
• Beige LED lighting system is adopted in the compartment.
• Orange LED lighting is installed under the seats in the near corridor, but not under the reverse seats behind the upper stairwell.
• Orange LED lighting in the stairwell, slightly different from the "Red Bus 2.0".
• The right handrail post in the stairwell is connected to the horizontal handrail post, which is different from the previous design of handrail post on straight staircase buses.
• The handrail post at the rear of the driver's cab on the lower deck is fitted with a alighting bell.
• All straight handrail posts on the lower deck near the staircase are fitted with an alighting bell.
• Only the last row of seats on the upper deck and the wall of opposite seats on the lower deck are equipped with two USB charging sockets.
• The thicker window frames on both sides of the upper deck front end are now white in colour.
• Fibre-optic components in the upper deck front and rear have been slightly changed. The width of the fibre-optic components in the upper deck front has been slightly increased, and the ceiling position in the upper deck rear has been changed to a curved design.
• The front part of the bottom of the lower air-conditioning duct adopts the honeycomb hole design and the rear part follows the vent design, with the front and rear parts adopting the spherical vents, and the lower air-conditioning duct adopts the dark grey rubber edges.
• Ventilation windows at the left front and right rear of the upper and lower decks (different from V6B59, 147, 150-154, 158-172, 174, 180, 182) were pre-installed at the factory.
• In the driving cab, the new Hanover EG3 electronic destination sign control is used, which is the last generation of panels with physical keys and the new Hanover white LED destination sign.
• The position of the long white side EDS was changed from underneath the neighbouring upper door to above it, the first time a sideboard has been located there on a bus with long side EDS .
• The LCD screen of the dynamic passenger information system is installed at a higher position after the upper deck staircase, and an alighting bell is installed next to the alighting bell light above the opposite seat.
• The installation of movable armrest handrail poles behind the wheelchair back cushion, including V6X116, 139-140, 143, 145, which have already been fitted with movable armrest post at the time of delivery , and the remaining batches will be fitted with the relevant equipment from January 2023 onwards, and will become the standard equipment for new buses to be purchased by KMB in the future.
• Two wheelchair parking spaces and horizontal handrail columns have been provided at the time of shipment. The wheelchair parking area on the right side of the lower deck occupies only two rows of seats, and there is one less row of seats on the left side of the upper deck, resulting in a total of six fewer seats on the bus than on the previous batch.
• The horizontal armrest handrail pole in the second wheelchair parking area is connected to the front armrest array of the right side of the car care seat, and the horizontal armrest post in the upper half and the imitation wood grey steel plate in the lower half of the car are added. The above design of the horizontal armrest post is similar to that of the Volvo Super Olympian 10.6m (ASV1-100).
• The lower rear end has been left empty of the decorative panels above the pax doors.
• Ultrasonic detection points were installed at the rear end and rear of the vehicle at the factory.
• Pre-installed with Driver Assistance System, Sleep Alert System and GreenRoad Premium Driver Monitoring System.
• Starting from this batch, the fleet number is no longer affixed on the buses and only the logo is affixed. At the same time, the logo has been changed from being affixed on the windscreen to being affixed on the front of the driver's panel assembly, so that all the newly registered buses only have the logo on them.

Besides, the last bus of this batch also has the following features:

• The body is the same as that of the Volvo BZL double-decker version in the UK, with a more rounded head and tail section, but with the aluminium sash brackets of the previous generation in the upper deck between the glass-walled staircases, and the window frames in front of the staircases thickened, instead of the large-area aluminium sash brackets of the UK version;
• The lower windows are thinner than on the previous MCV EvoSeti.
• The lower front windscreen has a green tinted glass window and the upper edges of the upper and lower front windscreens are coated with blue blackout paint.
• The water flap on the front windscreen is built-in.
• Instead of the half-moon windows on both sides of the lower front end, the front windscreen is replaced by a single window.
• Silver background with white KMB lettering on the mouthpiece.
• The front end of the car is painted silver and the front and rear ends are painted black.
• The headlamp combination is similar to that of the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 with the addition of silver lines.
• The upper part of the rear warning light adopts L-shape and inverted L-shape design, while the lower part of the warning light adopts L-shape and inverted L-shape design. The rear command light adopts the horse-racing type lamp set, which is the first time for all the buses in Hong Kong to use this type of lamps; the diamond shaped combination design is adopted, and the reflector placed under the rear of the bus is changed to diamond shaped design.
• A single glass window is used at the rear, while the air-conditioning net is sprayed in black and extends beyond the engine radiator.
• The rear number plate was originally placed in two positions, one at the bottom centre of the upper window, and the other at the rear pump handle when the bus was licensed, similar to the position of the Wright Explorer, which was cancelled on the following day of the maiden trip.
• The rear air vents were painted black above the horizontal aluminium strip.
• The mesh design outside the engine radiator is sprayed in black.
• The upper handrail is a double T-shape with the ends of the horizontal handrail posts painted black.
• On the handrail array of the fibre components between the upper staircases, a horizontal handrail post has been added in the middle of two of the straight handrail posts.
• In the upper half of the upper deck the width of the front end fibre modules has been changed to a shorter semi-circular design and is coloured beige, in the lower half of the front end the fibre modules in the location of the route destination sign have been engraved with various lines and have an up-and-down appearance.
• The width of the fibre components in the lower front end is slightly increased from the upper passenger door position.
• The window frames on both sides of the upper front end are slightly narrower than on the previous car and are now available in beige and dark grey.
• The rear ceiling of the upper deck is curved and shorter than that of the MCV EvoSeti of the same batch.
• The wheelchair backrests are fitted with movable armrest posts from the factory.
• Dark grey through-hole steel panels are used for the fireproofing panels on both sides of the doors and in front of the right hand side of the car care seat.
• Dark wood-like fire-rated flooring is used throughout the vehicle.
• The upper compartment bell in the air-conditioning duct was replaced by a circular design.
• The light pipes are smaller, similar to the V6X of the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3.
• Orange LED lighting is added under the inverted seat behind the upper stairwell.
• The stairwell is now illuminated with beige LEDs, similar to the Redbus 2.0.
• Beige non-segmental LED lighting from the front of the vehicle under the lower staircase assembly and extending to the staircase opening.
• The dark grey rubber edge next to the upper air-conditioning ducts and light pipes has been replaced with exhaust air supply.
• Maintenance cover at the rear of the upper stairwell.
• In-car speakers are concealed in the lower near-ceiling panels and in the upper air-conditioning ducts.
• Wheel arches are used underneath all seats in the lower non-low-floor position, resulting in more legroom than in the MCV EvoSeti.
• The new body has two more ports of entry than the MCV EvoSeti body of the same batch.
• The rest of the specification is the same as the MCV EvoSeti.

The first bus of the batch arrived at Hong Kong via Tsing Yi Container Terminal on 9 April 2022. The nozzle and rear pump handle were damaged during delivery and went to the Tuen Mun Maintenance Centre.

The last bus of the batch arrived at Hong Kong via Tsing Yi Container Terminal on 28 May 2023 and was converted to a brand new exterior design with the nozzles removed after disembarkation and picked up from the agent at the container terminals on the following day and arrived at the Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) for refuelling before going to the Tuen Mun Maintenance Centre . This is the fourth MCV-bodied bus introduced by KMB after the Volvo B7RLE (AVC), VDL DB300 (AMC) and buses of the same model.

The first four buses were registered on 15 July 2022, with V6X112/YC2353 and V6X113/YC752 assigned to Sha Tin Depot (S), V6X114/YC516 and V6X115/YC790 to Kowloon Bay Depot (K), and V6X116/YC2784 to Tuen Mun Depot (U) (of which Lai Chi Kok Depot (L) was allocated two buses, V6X117/YC2753 and V6X119/YC4270, in March 2023 due to service deployment), with V6X112, V6X113 and V6X115 taking the lead in the maiden trips of Routes 290, 290A and 900 on 18 July of the same year, which was the another model with two different bodies assigned with the same fleet number following MAN 24.310, Volvo Super Olympian 12m and Dennis Trident 10.6m/12m.

The last bus was registered on 26 September 2023, with V6X183/YW3407 being assigned to Tuen Mun Depot (U) and making its maiden trip on Route 59X the following day.

At present, these buses are mainly serving Routes 49M, 68X[Note 33] and 69, with a few serving Routes 40X, 52X, 63X, 268C, 619, 948, 960 and 961.

All the new buses have been registered and commissioned between July and December 2022 and September 2023 respectively.

This gallery saves only part of the images related to Volvo B8L Only a limited number of representative images will be included in this gallery. To see more related images, please go to the Gallery:Volvo B8L/KMB/V6X

Appearance

These buses are equipped with a reversing seat at the rear of the upper staircase, a second wheelchair seat at the rear of the lower staircase, and ventilation windows; the roofs are equipped with third-generation solar power generators and exhaust fan modules. (V6X122/YD1544 shown above)

The long white side EDS of these buses is mounted on top of the side of the upper door (Pictured is V6X129/YE1070)

The rear end of tehese batch of buses (Picturedis V6X160／YJ3550)

New MCV-bodied bus, parked at Tuen Mun Chek Lap Kok Tunnel Depot Zone C

Door side of the new MCV-bodied bus, parked at Tuen Mun Chek Lap Kok Tunnel Depot Zone C

183}}/YW3407 with the new bodywork made its debut trip on Route 59X, with KMB 3rd generation solar panels mounted on the roof

Doorside (Pictured is V6X183/YW3407)

Rear end of V6X183/YW3407 with new bodywork, with the vehicle plate installed at the lower part of the rear end

Rear end of V6X183/YW3407 with new bodywork, with the vehicle plate now installed at the upper part of the rear end

MCV EvoSeti compartment layout

Upper deck compartment layout (Pictured is V6X123/YD711)

Upper deck compartment layout (Pictured is V6X128/YE893)

Upper deck backward facing seats, with a beige railing installed on the backward-facing seat near the corridor afterwards (Pictured is V6X129/YE1070)

Upper deck compartment layout (Pictured is V6X128/YE893)

Upper deck compartment layout (Pictured is V6X123/YD711)

Lower deck compartment layout (Pictured is V6X123/YD711)

Upper deck staircase view (Pictured is V6X120/YC9829)

Lower deck staircase view (Pictured is V6X120/YC9829)

The movable armrest handrail poles are installed in this batch of buses (Pictured is V6X120/YC9829)

NEW MCV Body interior layout

The beige LED lighting below will light up when front door opens

Lower deck compartment layout

Lower deck compartment layout

Upper deck compartment layout

Upper deck compartment layout

Upper deck backward facing seats, with a beige railing installed on the backward-facing seat near the corridor afterwards

Upper deck stop annunciator

Lower deck stop annunciator

Upper deck staircase view

Lower deck staircase view

The wheelchair parking space of this batch of bus

Related Articles

• Volvo B9TL
• Volvo B8R
• Volvo B8RLE
• Volvo BZL
• Wrightbus
• Wrightbus StreetDeck

External Links

• Volvo B8L Datasheet
• Volvo B8L – a new double decker bus chassis | Volvo Buses (YouTube video_
• Volvo B8L Overview, Volvo Bus Hong Kong

To facilitate quoting and enquiries, the following redirect page(s) will direct to this page:

Volvo B8L, B8L, B8, AVBWL, V6B, V6P, V6X and UV6X