The Renault PR180 and PR180.2 was a step-entrance

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 produced by

Renault Véhicules Industriels Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001. From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France. The PR180 was based on Renault's popular PR100

rigid bus A rigid bus (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is a vehicle used in public transportation services with a single, rigid chassis. A bus of this type is to be contrasted with an articulated or bi-articulated bus, which will have two or more rigid ...

, and shares many common components. Once a common sight in many French cities, most PR180.2s are now at the end of their useful lives and reside with small private operators. The Renault PR180 was designed around an interesting and unusual concept. Most articulated buses only have one driving axle - either the centre axle or the rear axle, however, the PR180 featured two driving axles - centre and rear.

Australia

ACTION

ACTION Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

purchased 34 PR180.2 buses between 1987 and 1993. These buses were badged as Macks and bodied by

Ansair Ansair was an Australian bus bodybuilder owned by Ansett Transport Industries and later the Clifford Corporation. History Ansair was founded by Reg Ansett in 1945 at Tullamarine, to make bodies for his Ansett Pioneer coaches, as well as manufa ...

Tullamarine Tullamarine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank, Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Tullamarine recorded a population of 6,733 at t ...

. The first batch of 27 buses was delivered to ACTION from 1988 to 1989 with some equipped with a centre door which was later removed. A second batch of 7 buses was delivered in 1993.

Transperth

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

purchased 65 PR180.2 buses from 1988 until 1989. These were badged as Renaults and bodied by

JW Bolton JW Bolton was an Australian bus bodybuilder in Perth. History In 1972, John Bolton, the son of Boltons (bus manufacturer), Boltons owner Keith, formed JW Bolton. It initially manufactured fire engines, before moving into bus bodying completing ...

. All retained the PR100 front-end.

Heuliez GX 237

A bi-articulated version of the PR180.2 known as the "Mégabus" was developed by

Heuliez Bus Heuliez Bus is a French limited company, former part of the Henri Heuliez Group. It was formed in 1980. It is an Iveco Group brand and is specialized in manufacturing buses and coaches. History Heuliez Bus has developed many types of public ...

and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

in the 1980s. Ten were purchased by CGFTE in 1989 which was used in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

until the

tram network A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

was opened in 2004.

References

External links

* * {{Renault Trucks, state=collapsed Renault buses, PR180.2 Articulated buses Step-entrance buses Tri-axle buses