MTR electric bus, 45th anniversary of Citybus - Issue 5 (June 2024)
The Wikimedia Journal of Hong Kong Transport
Issue 5 (June 2024)
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MTR Bus made its first electric bus service for passengers on 8 June 2024, carrying passengers from Siu Hong MTR Station to Wo Tin Estate. This made the bus operator the second customer of Enviro500EV to put into passenger revenue service, after that of KMB one month earlier.
Hong Kong is currently in the transition from using diesel buses to purely new energy buses that will contribute to carbon neutrality. KMB had already set their target date of eliminating diesel buses in passenger service to be 2040, and Citybus had converted their next procurement tender of buses to consist of purely new energy buses. For MTR Bus, the operator had made a huge step with the introduction of their first electric bus into their fleet and had already procured 35 more electric buses to boost the transition.
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Like that of KMB's counterparts, MTR Bus' Enviro500EV bears the same design as that of KMB, including the traction and control systems, glass windows next to the stairs, and roof solar panels, as well as having similar dimensions. The difference between the bus and the bus is the use of a different type of passenger seat, this time the Lazzerini CityLight seats. Handrail poles have appeared in bright yellow, and extra "please hold the handrail" illuminated signs are installed, along with a fire extinguisher rack just above the access stair to the upper deck, the same as the rest of the fleet. Seat moquettes are revised for all passenger seats for this bus, and four extra seats are added to the lower deck just behind the access stair, compared to KMB's provision of a second wheelchair bay in that area. The emergency exit at the rear end of the bus was replaced by a classic swinging door, and tree guards were also added. Same as that of KMB, the bus was equipped with six priority seats. The bus has a slightly lower capacity than the KMB counterparts, with 55 for the upper deck seating, 31 for the lower deck seating, and a single wheelchair bay, plus 29 standing passengers, giving a total of 115 for this variant.
In September 2021, MTR Bus published a tender to procure an electric double-decker bus. On 27 April 2022, the tender was won by Alexander Dennis, the manufacturer of the leading Enviro500 MMC buses for Hong Kong. The vehicle, bearing the bodywork number N501, rolled out of the assembly line at Zhuhai Guangtong Coachworks on 16 September 2023 and was delivered to Hong Kong on 24 November. Registration of the vehicle did not occur until 29 April 2024, with plate number ZF2271 and fleet number Z01. MTR Bus publicly disclosed the look of the bus along with the new fleet number on 7 June 2024 in the Light Rail depot at Tuen Mun and announced the inaugural service date of their first electric bus to be on 8 June, on the special service of bus route K54 between Wo Tin Estate and Siu Hong Station.
MTR Bus would later tender the purchase of an extra 35 double-decker electric buses to supplement their existing fleet, thus allowing the scheduled retirement of older diesel buses. On 4 September 2024, the tender was won by Alexander Dennis for their successful Enviro500EVs, like Z01.
Following the announcement of the first electric bus service run by MTR Bus, bus enthusiasts gathered at both Siu Hong Station and Wo Tin Estate to take a ride on Z01. The first electric service leaves from Siu Hong Station at noon loaded full of passengers. For those who ride on Z01 on that day, a certificate reading Go Green Go E-BUS was presented. Long queues were formed for the ride on Z01 at both termini, mostly bus enthusiasts with smartphones to record the ride.
With Z01 entering passenger service, MTR Bus became the first non-franchised bus operator in Hong Kong to run double-decker electric buses, and the third such operator after Citybus and KMB. Although Z01 was the first electric bus of MTR Bus, as well as the first Enviro500EV to be based in northwest New Territories, it was not the first electric bus to serve such an area. KMB has already served Tuen Mun residents with BYD B12Ds on Tuen Mun Road bus routes since 2023, and they are still in particularly good condition as of June 2024.
Citybus kicked off its year-long 45th-anniversary promotion on 3 June 2024, with numerous events that will wow eyeballs and recreate the glorious history of the bus operator. Their slogans for their vision, which are revealed with the campaign, are to "fuel the city dynamics", "be a game changer", and "lead the tech advancement".
The first two events that kickstarted the promotion happened in the same month, an effort to emphasize the bonds of Citybus as the importance of the local commuters for over 40 years.
On the same day that the 45th-anniversary campaign started, Citybus collaborated with Bandai Namco Entertainment for their famous video game PAC-MAN™. The idea came from the Citybus' logo itself, a leftward-pointed arrow inside a red-colored circle, which in turn looked like the character in that game. The two street arts, designed and painted by local artist and designer Katol Lo, would first appear at Shun Tak Centre bus stop and on the wall opposite the entrance of PMQ. The collaboration will eventually tour around the city in different styles in the coming months.
A bus with the fleet number 51611 (formally numbered 5836) contained a full wrap of that design without the video game characters but with the core destinations that Citybus served, as well as slogans "Pushing Boundaries" and "Fuel the City Dynamics".
Citybus also refurbished and returned a Leyland Olympian air-conditioned double-decker bus (fleet number 178, plate number EV6091) into what it looked like when first delivered, and immediately used it as a prop for the production of a promotional film that highlights the most important history of a successful bus operator during the 1980s and 1990s. Two special scenes were taken at the real sites, at City One Shatin and MacDonald Road, using 178 to recreate the historic scene of people traveling on Citybus, a sign of improved services to the competitors and thus setting a new standard "for others to follow".
On 9 June, 178 was towed by a heavy tow truck to MacDonald Road, the terminus for Citybus' first franchised bus route 12A, operated since 1991. In the 1990s, Citybus operated non-franchised routes to and from Southern District and Admiralty MTR Station with fully air-conditioned buses, which was very popular with the passengers at the time. This paved the way for the bus operator to win 26 Hong Kong Island bus route franchises in 1993 from the incumbent operator, CMB. A bus stop sign of that era was erected, along with the use of a contemporary automobile of the early 1980s.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| Citybus promotional film on YouTube | |
 🚌城巴45年，繼續與你開拓人生每一頁📍 |
On 12 June, the appearance of 178 at City One Shatin attracted the attention of the residents as well as bus enthusiasts. 178 was at the bus terminus of the residential area running route 60R, carrying passengers from their homes directly to their workplaces at Wan Chai and Central. Free newspapers and breakfast meals were given to every single passenger boarding the air-conditioned bus with comfortable cushioned seats. An intended queue with actors dressed in clothes of the 1990s, the on-seat bus driver and the bus terminus manager in old uniforms distributing newspapers and meals, and even a commuter saying goodbye to his husband and child before boarding the bus to work, illusioned people of the current generation who were familiar with the even more modern, low-floor buses with higher capacity. Route 60R depicted during the filming is what is known as route 88R today.
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On 24 June, the Wah Fu (South) bus terminus' staff room went on a full rewrap. The new painting on the walls of the staff room depicts the history of Citybus ties with the Wah Fu residents since 1993 when the bus operator received 26 local bus routes from CMB. On the wall art was a Leyland Atlantean, the fleet that helped Citybus face the challenges of huge passenger flow with insufficient fleet size. Citybus now owns an Atlantean with their legacy corporate color of that era as part of their heritage fleet.
- Numerous transport operators, including MTR, Tramways, and the Star Ferry, announced they will provide fare concessions or free travel on 1 July 2024, celebrating the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
- KMB will offer Child Free Ride Days on nine Sundays plus a public holiday between 1 July and 1 September 2024, on all KMB and Long Win-operated services (except jointly operated services that were operated by Citybus, and routes that start with the prefix K).
- Intercity sleeper trains are back in Hong Kong. Along with the expansion of Zhangjiajie train services, the high-speed sleeper train commenced to and from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station to Shanghai and Beijing on 15 June 2024, departing in the evening, and arriving on the second morning.
- On 16 June 2024, the new bus stop named Kam Chun Court on Ma On Shan Road was put into service, serving the new residential complex of Ma On Shan of the same name.
- The airport is in chaos again. After the runway closure due to a freighter burst tires on 17 June 2024 that caused delays of 450 flights, the passenger information system broke down just six days later, leaving passengers stranded and confused.
- The first cross-boundary electric passenger coach made its inauguration on 24 June 2024 and was put into service the following day. The Ankai A9 electric coach can carry 49 people and the operator will provide a month of free travel on the Sheung Shui and Man Kam To route with that coach.
- Two buses and a heavy goods vehicle were involved in a traffic accident at Lung Cheung Road near Wong Tai Sin MTR Station on 25 June 2024 at about 16:30 (UTC+8) that injured eleven people, as well as caused a four-kilometer traffic jam as far as Tai Po Road.
