The
MAN 24.3x0 HOCLNR-NL was a series of
low-floor
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...
3-axle double-decker bus chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
built for
right-hand drive markets, as indicated by the R in the designation. It was designed by
MAN Truck & Bus
MAN Truck & Bus SE (formerly MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, ) is a subsidiary of Traton, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck & Bus produces vans in the range from 3.0 to 5.5 t ...
, a subsidiary of Triton based on Munich. Unlike other
low-entry double-decker buses in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, there are
steps in the lower deck aisle after the rear exit.
The 24.3x0 was available as both the 24.310 and 24.350, with internal codes ''MAN A59'' and ''MAN A57'' respectively. For the type designation 24.310, 24 means that the bus has the maximum gross weight of , whilst 310 means that the maximum power of the engine is ; for 24.350, the 350 means that the maximum power of the engine is .
Hong Kong
Citybus
In December 1997,
Citybus introduced a solitary
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n-built MAN 24.350 bus with
Volgren CR221LD bodywork. This bus remained unique in Citybus fleet and was withdrawn in 2015 due to engine failure and lack of spare parts.
Cancelled order
In 1998, Citybus ordered a number of MAN 24.310 buses with
Berkhof/
Volgren CR223LD bodywork after the trial of its MAN 24.350.
However, in early 1999,
Transport Department of Hong Kong set quota on the number of buses owned by Citybus, and therefore the order was cancelled involuntarily.
At that time, construction of 32 Berkhof-bodied buses and 2
Volgren CR223LD-bodied
buses had been completed, so MAN had to find buyers for these buses. Finally, one Berkhof-bodied bus was retained by MAN for testing, and the others were sold for operations in Hong Kong.
Kwoon Chung Motors
In 1999, Kwoon Chung Motors, a
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
and rental bus operator in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, took one of the Berkhof-bodied MAN 24.310 that had been built for Citybus and the bus entered service in 2000.
The bus was primarily used on worker services (for staff working at some of the companies at the
Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
). But during rush hours, it could be seen allocated to
New Lantao Bus, (a subsidiary of Kwoon Chung), routes in
Tung Chung.
This bus was retired and stored in July 2015.
Kowloon Motor Bus
Kowloon Motor Bus
The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International.
...
took delivery of the other 32 MAN 24.310 buses from the Citybus order. The 30 buses with Berkhof bodywork entered service in 2000. The 2 buses with
Volgren CR223LD bodywork, which had been stored in Volgren's facility at
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, entered service in 2002.
Later, KMB ordered 15 MAN 24.310 buses with
Volgren CR223LD bodywork. They had the staircase moved forward, had yellow instead of red handrails and no seats were fitted above the front wheels. They entered service in 2002.
All of these 47 buses were allocated to
Tuen Mun Depot and mainly ran on express routes serving
Tuen Mun,
Tsuen Wan
Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a town built on a bay in the western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite of Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged from the surrounding villages and flee ...
,
Kwai Tsing
Kwai Tsing is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It consists of two parts - Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island. Kwai Tsing is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 520,572 in 2016. The district has the third least educated resid ...
Districts and
Kowloon
Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...
.
The buses have reached 16 to 18 years of age in 2018, KMB has withdrawn all of the buses from service.
United Kingdom
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom.
History
Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...
introduced 28 MAN 24.350
intercity coaches with
Jonckheere Monaco bodywork in 1999/2000 for its
Oxford Tube
The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway. Operated by Stagecoach West under the brand name ''Oxford Tube'', there are up to five coaches an hour via Lewknor, Hillingdon, and She ...
service. They were superseded by new
Neoplan Skyliner
The Neoplan Skyliner is a double-decker bus, double-deck multi-axle bus, multi-axle luxury touring coach (vehicle), coach built by Germany, German bus manufacturing, coach manufacturer Neoplan. It was introduced in 1964.
History
In 1964, the ...
intercity coaches in 2004.
References
See also
List of buses
:Competitors:
:*
Dennis Trident 3
Dennis Trident 3 (marketed as 3-axle Dennis Trident), is the first low floor tri-axle double-decker bus chassis built by Dennis in the United Kingdom, with a large number purchased by bus companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United State ...
:*
Neoplan Centroliner
The Neoplan Centroliner is a series of low-floor transit buses which was first unveiled in 1997, and mainly built by Neoplan Bus GmbH for the European market. At the time when it was first released, it adopted contemporary technologies like Co ...
:*
Scania K94UB
:*
Volvo Super Olympian
{{MAN Truck & Bus, state=autocollapse
24.3x0HOCLNR-NL
Low-entry buses
Double-decker buses
Tri-axle buses
Intercity buses