The Volvo B9L (also known as the Volvo 7500,

Volvo 7700 The Volvo 7000, later Volvo 7700, was an integrally-constructed fully low-floor single-decker rigid bus and single-decker articulated bus built by Volvo between 1999 and 2012. It was generally available as 12-metre and 18-metre on both d ...

Volvo 7900 The Volvo 7900 is an integrally-constructed single-decker rigid bus and single-decker articulated bus, most commonly available as a hybrid electric bus named Volvo 7900 Hybrid or just Volvo 7900H, but is also available with both diesel and ...

for

integral In mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented i ...

models) was a fully low-floor

single-decker bus A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two- axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which ...

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 ...

constructed by

Volvo Buses Volvo Buses (Volvo Bus Corporation / formal name: ''Volvo Bussar AB'') (stylized as VOLVO) is a subsidiary and a business area of the Swedish vehicle maker Volvo, which became an independent division in 1968. It is based in Gothenburg. It is on ...

from 2005 until 2013, replacing the

Volvo B7L The Volvo B7L is a fully low floor single-decker bus, double-decker bus and articulated bus chassis with a rear engine mounted vertically on the left of the rear overhang. It was built as a replacement for the Volvo B10L, and the Volvo Olympi ...

and

Volvo B10L The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

. An

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...

model, known as the Volvo B9LA, is also available. It was superseded by the

Volvo B5LH The Volvo B5LH (initially known as the Volvo B5L Hybrid, also known as the Volvo BRLH) is a low-floor hybrid electric bus chassis for both single-decker buses and double-decker buses manufactured by Volvo Buses, Volvo since 2008. It is the basis ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The engine is mounted vertically on the rear left overhang of the chassis similarly to with the B7L, allowing B9Ls to be low-floor throughout the whole length of the bus due to a lack of underfloor equipment. The Volvo B9L is available as an integral bus bodied by Volvo (7500/7700/7900) or as a chassis only, with bodies by other manufacturers. Additionally, the B9L reintroduced CNG engines, an option unavailable in its predecessor, the B7L. These versions replaced much older predecessor, the B10L. It was the last low-floor bus chassis from Volvo to be available with such option. Large orders for B9Ls were placed in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, where they form the majority of the fleet, as well as in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish language, Danish ''Christianstad'') is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has ...

, and

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers in ...

. Despite this overall sales of the B9L were poor, especially outside of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, with many operators instead preferring the existing

B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...

or new B9S. Outside of Europe, ComfortDelGro Bus of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

had also purchased a fleet of SC Auto-bodied Volvo B9L buses in 2015 for its

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

internal shuttle service. In Mainland China, Volvo B9L chassis is bodied with Volvo 7900 three-door bodywork manufactured by Shanghai SUNWIN Bus, a joint venture of SAIC Group and Volvo Bus, assembly named SWB6128V8LF. The D9B engine is replaced by Weichai WP7.270E50 or Shanghai Diesel Engine SC9DF260Q5 designed and manufactured domestically. In Greece, specifically in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, the local operator

OASTH The Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation ( el, Οργανισμός Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Θεσσαλονίκης), abbreviated OASTH ( el, ΟΑΣΘ), is a mass transport company operating in Thessaloniki, Greece. It w ...

introduced 44 B9LAs in 2007 with 20 more coming in 2010, while 20 B9Ls were also introduced in 2010, all constructed by

ELVO The Elvo (Piedmontese: ''Elv'') is a torrent (an intermittent stream) in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy and is the principal tributary of the Cervo. It runs through the communes of Sordevolo, Occhieppo Superiore, Occhieppo Inferiore, Ce ...

References

{{Volvo Buses B09L Low-floor buses Single-deck buses Articulated buses Bus chassis Vehicles introduced in 2005