Kowloon Motor Bus fleet numbering

Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) of Hong Kong maintains a system to code their fleet.

Classic age

Initially, KMB used a system which usually used the first letter of the bus manufacturer to code their fleet.

Example

Second-hand classic age

In the 1970s, the British makers were unable to cope with the vast demand of clients around the British world, so operators like KMB resorted to purchasing second-hand buses and these were numbered with 2 before the alpha code to differentiate them.

Example

Age of 3-axle buses

KMB's 3 doors Olympian 12m

With the introduction of the longer 3-axled buses, KMB added 3 to the numbering and S was further added at the front for 11m buses to emphasize that is a short variant (under 12 metres).

Example

List of the fleet codes of the non-A/C buses in service recently

Leyland Olympian (A/C).

Age of air-conditioned buses

Things became more complicated and chaotic when there air-conditioned buses began appearing in the KMB fleet. Since the first production air-conditioned bus for KMB is 11 metres long, it was adopted as the standard length. An A was added in front of that code. For the 12m variety, a 3 was added in front (but the standard one was 3-axle). However, for the shorter ones, though it is marked by an S, it is placed after the manufacturer code. There is also a drift from the purely manufacturer based to make based for the "manufacturer" code for the common manufacturers.

Dennis Falcon 11M (A/C)

List of the fleet codes of the A/C buses (but not SLF)

Age of Super Low Floor buses

From the advent of the first Super Low Floor double decker in Hong Kong, the Dennis Trident, the rules are even more ambiguous. It is commonly perceived that there is no real rule for the fleet code for new buses, excepted for the initial A since KMB has been buying only air-conditioned buses since 1995.

Dennis Dart (AA)

List of the fleet codes of the SLF buses in service recently

Dennis / TransBus / Alexander Dennis family
Volvo Super Olympian 10.6m (ASV)
Volvo family
Neoplan / NeoMan/ MAN family
Scania K310UD 12m (ASU)
Scania family

The code was followed by a number of unspecified digits without initial zeros, to serve as a serial number. Nevertheless, the serial number is just to differentiate individual buses and might not match the actual sequence of either production, arrival or licensing. For example, ATR101 is one of the first Tridents, and not anywhere near the 101st Dennis Trident.

Long Win Bus

Long Win Bus uses codes in the ABB format, both A and BB being digits. The class is given by A and the serial is given by BB. Since those new Enviro500 buses are Euro4 and Euro5, they were given fleet numbers in the format of ABCC, The class is given by A ( A is being draw up by the original version of that bus type), the standard of engine is given by B and the serial is given by CC.

301 is a unique case in Long Win Bus fleet. It is special because it is the only Dennis Trident 12m with Duple Metsec bodywork in the fleet. When Dennis Trident 197 was caught fire and damaged in 1999, and investigated the problem was due to the design fault, Dennis decided to deliver another new Trident to KMB as compensation, and thus 301 was given to Long Win Bus.

See also

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