30 Years On - Leyland Olympian in HK

A few months ago, I have put up a post celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Leyland Olympian. As the curtain is rapidly drawing to a close to the Leylands in HK, it seems a good time to pay tribute to the 30 years of service of the type in the former colony.



As the history of the HK Olympians are pretty well known, so I will not dwell on too much here. However, it all started with 5 ECW-bodied demonstrators in 1981, 2 of which went to CMB and the rest to KMB. Numerically the first in the latter's fleet, BL1 was actually the newest of the trio, but still only the thrid production chassis build (chassis number ON3):



The other two examples that went to KMB were actually the prototype chassis - The last two B45 prototypes, B45-08 and B45-09, would end up with KMB as BL3 and BL2. KMB is the only operator anywhere in the world to receive more than one B45 prototype, and it kind of reflect its importance in Leyland's mind.



The coup pays off though - KMB would take another 903 of the type, in both 2 and 3-axle form, over the next 12 years, more than twice the number mastered by the runner-up: Singapore Bus Service. Alexander-bodied Olympians would become a key fixture on the streets of HK all through the 80s, 90s and 2000s.









The type also spearheaded the air-cond revolution of the HK bus scene, started with the famed AL1:



...and followed up by another 149 production examples:





The air-cond Leylands also proved attractive to a number of HK operators. None the more so for a newcomer of the scene - Citybus. After an initial 5 Olympian coaches in the 80s, From 1989 onwards, the company took a further 99 11m examples. These Olympians would be the platform for Citybus' expansion, both operational and reputational wise, that leads to its success for the following two decades:





Further examples would be taken by Citybus for non-franchised operations. One of the 12m example was borrowed by Leyland for demonstrations in London. It saw service with Selkent and Capital Citybus before departing HK, and becoming 331 in the fleet.



More Olympians were bought in when Citybus begins franchised operation in HK Island in 1993. Most of them are 12m examples, but a number of 10.3m examples were acquired for use for services that need smaller vehicles:



Not all the Citybus Olympians are air-cond of course, but 19 should be the last surviving example. New as Lothian's 770, it was taken by Leyland for use as a demonstrator, before finally ended up with Citybus. Still in the fleet as a non-passenger serving vehicle, it is also the sole surviving ECW-bodied Olympian in HK.



Another new customer is KCRC, which took 24 examples for feeder services:



And China Light and Power of course, which I have no luck for a picture of any of its Olympians

One "new" customer is not new as such - China Motor Bus received two early production examples, but decided to acquire the Metrobus and, later, the Condor. However, 5 air-cond Olympians joined the fleet in 1991, followed by another 20 air-cond and 10 conventional examples. Sadly, the Olympian ceased to become a Leyland product before CMB manage to build a fleet of any meaningful number:



All CMB would be transferred to New World First Bus when it took over the operation in Sep 1998. The air-cond LAs would live an uneventful life:





But the same could not be said for the conventional LM-class. A victim of the quest of converting the fleet to air-cond operations, they would be sold to First when the latter sold its shares of NWFB. The LMs ended up quite well travelled, finding themselves initially in Manchester, then headed north to Glasgow, before ending their final years in Norfolk.



Oddly, the LMs were only the first of the HK Olympians to find themselves back to Britain. 3BL162, seens here still in HK, would also end up in Manchester, but with Stagecoach as 13518. It would live a fairly long life, ending its life as a school bus with Stagecoach Bluebird.



Not all HK Olympians would return to their birthplace as service buses - Citybus 102 would fortunately be bought back, along with its sister 105, for preservation.



HK operators would buy the Olympians right up to the demise of Leyland in 1993. With the LMs gone, the last Olympian in NWFB inventory was LA25:



The last Olympian to go into service would be KMB's S3BL470, the only G-plate Leyland (as new) ever to exist.



However, Citybus would take the honour to become the owner of the last Leyland built for HK. Chassis ON21035 became number 395 - marking the end of a long line of Leyland (and its predecessors such as Guy, Daimler) buses in the city.



With Leyland Olympians fast disappearing from the franchised operations, a few would still live on as trainers, like KMB's AL38:



Citybus also maintains a significant number of Leylands for its commercial fleet, with a few converted as open-toppers:



As the Leyland chapter drew to a close, the HK Olympian story would continue, pretty much immediately, with Volvo. By then, 1,193 (inc. 9 used examples) out of the 5,581 Olympians built by Leyland - just over 1 in 5 - would be sold in HK. The Olympian would continue its success in HK under Volvo stewardship, but that is another story....

There are some Leyland Old photos...

And lives on in Australia.

小弟經驗尚淺,只可跟幾幅劣作,請勿見怪I can only post some of the kmb''s leyland , please don't mind


























[ 本帖最後由 FA3436 於 2012-4-29 20:04 編輯 ]