The

Volvo 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 ...

B7L is 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 ...

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

and

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...

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 ...

with a rear engine mounted vertically on the left of the rear overhang. It was built as a replacement for the

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 ...

, and the Volvo Olympian. It was used as both a

and a

largely in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. The B7L was also available as an integrally-constructed

bus - the Volvo 5000 (later replaced by 7500, with aluminium structure) and Volvo 7000 (later renumbered 7700, with stainless steel structure). Whilst similar to the B10L in design, both featuring a side-mounted engine, the B7L's engine was a Volvo D7C unit mounted vertically, as opposed to the horizontally mounted Volvo DH10/GH10 engine of the B10L; the radiator was mounted above the engine instead of the right-hand side, allowing the floor to be lower behind the rear axle. As with the B10L, B7L was also available in its articulated form named the B7LA. Unlike B10L, the B7L was available only with diesel engines. Integrally constructed Volvo 7000 bus was bodied, with CNG engines, on B10L chassis only. CNG engines were reintroduced in B9L chassis. Outside

, the B7L was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2000, as a replacement for the

Volvo B10BLE The Volvo B10BLE was a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1993 and 2004. The first prototypes were built in 1992, but mass production started in 1993, only a year after the high-floor B10B. I ...

, and the

Volvo Olympian The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engined 2-axle and 3-axle double decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo at its Irvine, Scotland factory. The first was built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian. History ...

. It could be fitted with

Wright Eclipse The Wright Eclipse is a low-floor single-deck bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 1999 and 2019. The second-generation Eclipse 2 was launched in 2008, followed by the third-generation Eclipse 3 in 2015. The Eclipse, and its sister desi ...

body (and Eclipse Fusion body for B7LA), but proved unpopular due to the arrangement of engine and radiator limiting seating capacity, with

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.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 ...

and the B7TL for the UK market, fitted with more conventional

Transverse engine A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the direction of travel. Many modern front-wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration. Most rear-wheel drive vehicles ...

s. In Ireland,

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

purchased 25 B7L's between 2001 & 2003. The double-decker version of B7L was also sold in UK, used as

public bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

(

East Lancs Nordic The East Lancs Nordic is a type of low-floor double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is built on tri-axle double-decker Volvo B7L chassis, with a length of 12 metres and a seating capacity of 95 passengers. The Nordic b ...

body) or sightseeing bus ( Ayats Bravo City open-top body). Volvo B7L and B7LA-based buses are used in Greece. In

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Volvo B7LAs constructed by Saracakis have been used since 1999. 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 22 B7LAs in 2004 with more coming in 2005 and 2006, while 54 B7Ls were introduced in 2004 and 2005 together with 15 11m B7Ls also in 2005 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 ...

. Volvo B7L used in Israel as well, but the bodyworks were Mercury by

Merkavim Merkavim Transportation Technologies Ltd., shortened to Merkavim (), is the largest bus manufacturing company in Israel. They produce many different types of buses, including tourism coaches, urban buses, long-distance buses and minibuses. In addit ...

and Hispano Habit. Mercury had

Voith The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...

D864.3E transmission while Hispano had ZF Ecomat 5HP502 transmission.

Metrodan Metrodan Beersheba Ltd. ( he, מטרודן באר שבע בע"מ) was an Israeli bus company. It is owned, among others, by Tour Bus. Metrodan operated the urban bus lines within Beersheba from 2003 to 2016. Metrodan was founded in 2003 in a join ...

, Israeli bus company served in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

had Volvo B7L (Mercury bodywork by Merkavim) and Hispano Habit. Kavim had only Mercury Merkavim B7L (except one Hispano Habit), Metropoline had Volvo B7L with Mercury bodywork and Egged had B7L as well. In 2005,

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman ...

unveiled the

Wright StreetCar The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo for FirstGroup. It was built on the Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in Europe. It ...

which is a tram-like

built with modified B7LA chassis. The chassis has a shorter front overhang, the driver's cab relocated to above the front axle and the radiator relocated to the roof, giving a full-width rear window. The Volvo B7L was superseded by the

Volvo B9L The Volvo B9L (also known as the Volvo 7500, Volvo 7700 or Volvo 7900 for integral models) was a fully low-floor single-decker bus chassis constructed by Volvo Buses from 2005 until 2013, replacing the Volvo B7L and Volvo B10L. An articulated m ...

in 2006.

References

See also