STA Bus Tour - ex-Newcastle Buses Volvo B10BLE APG Orana m/o 3880 (Sydney Bus Museum)

[@evanhuang1418]

This bus sounds like the good old ansair/phoenix orana which operates till this day, its rare to see this bus being preserved btw, FYI why is the thing on top of the wheels is like a curvy shape? Never seen this before...

[@microwavedpopcorn3209]

Are you talking about the exterior wheel arches cut into the body panels? I've not paid much attention to those on the Oranas but on Custom Coaches vehicles they are a bit less round than on Volgrens and Bustechs. As these buses near retirement age we will hopefully see some of the better examples of these buses preserved, however the Volvo B10BLEs may be overshadowed by the Scania L113CRLs which were the first wheelchair accessible buses, and looking back a few years, not that many Custom Citaros were preserved either. I think there'll be quite a few charter operators hoping to snap up some of these though, seeing as many L113CRLs have already received a second home.

[@EpicGamer-yk2tc]

The pride of Sydney Buses. I'm sure these are great buses to enjoy a ride on if your in Sydney's North, East or South, but if you live in an area serviced by Burwood Depot like I do, these buses are an absolute nightmare. Poor AC, engine sputtering, desto board malfunctioning, and extremely loud wheel screeches and engine fans. I despise these buses and I probably wouldn't if Burwood didn't have as many as they do. Its quite sad, really. Even the drivers at Burwood despise them. I hope they are replaced. Do you know of any plans of replacement, particularly for the ones at Burwood?

[@microwavedpopcorn3209]

Agreed - my first ride on a Volvo B10BLE Orana was onboard 3898 from Burwood Depot and it was enough to keep me off them for quite a long time. It's a shame, because I've had the fortune to experience some Volvo B10BLEs that Busways Western Sydney brought out of retirement from a grave yard and those Oranas are still in better condition than the ones in Burwood which don't seem to have been maintained very well at all. There doesn't seem to be any imminent plans to replace the ageing Oranas at Burwood unfortunately - but with an influx of electrics to TSA's other depots it's expected that newer diesels will be cascaded to Burwood to displace the B10BLEs. Burwood has already received some Volvo B8RLE Volgren Optimus vehicles from Tempe, but I think further cascading is unlikely to occur until the older Scania L113CRLs at TSA's other depots are retired. In the meantime, though, TSA haven't been using their B10BLEs as much on weekends - although the Euro III B12BLEs aren't much quieter they are significantly more comfortable.

[@Newcastle_Buses]

@@microwavedpopcorn3209The Burwood B10’s used to be well maintained about 15 years ago. It’s a shame to see them deteriorate with lack of maintenance, along with the earliest models also being well past expiry date. Funnily enough, the quietest B10BLE at Burwood up until recently was 3960. It had some work done and now it’s the loudest in the fleet. Rumour has it that the 14xx series B12’s from Newcastle were supposed to replace the B10’s at Burwood until electric eventually gets set up there. A complaint got received to a local MP about this from a member of the public so that idea isn’t happening anymore.

[@microwavedpopcorn3209]

​@@Newcastle_Buses That's a shame to hear - but also somewhat understandable considering how noisy the Euro III B12BLEs can become. It would've been nice to see some Newcastle vehicles running around Sydney though I wonder what justification said member of the public must have given for this idea to have been dumped.

[@Newcastle_Buses]

@@microwavedpopcorn3209 Something to do with a conflict of interest from KD Newcastle and TSA Region 6 I’m pretty sure. I personally would’ve loved seeing the Newy B12’s in Sydney, purely because I grew up in Region 6 and I’ve spent a bit of time living in Newcastle so it’s the best of both worlds for me lol