The Volvo B10BLE is a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by

Volvo The Volvo Group (; 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, distribution and sale of truck ...

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 High-floor describes the interior flooring of commuter vehicles primarily used in public transport such as trains, light rail cars and other rail transport, rail vehicles, along with buses and trolleybuses. Interior floor height is generally mea ...

B10B. It was popular in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It had the engine mounted on the rear overhang of the bus. It became the successor of the

city bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-fl ...

version of the B10B and was used as a base for single-decker buses worldwide. The B10BLE was available in diesel powered format, and later in a

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...

powered format with the fuel tanks on the roof of the bus. Its low-floor design was widely promoted by Volvo when it was first launched, on the basis of added convenience to the passengers, and the increase in transport efficiency due to the low-floor design. The production of the diesel powered variants ended in 2001 to give way for B7RLE and B12BLE, while the CNG variants were produced until 2004. In the

market,

unsuccessfully tried to replace the B10BLE with the B7L in 2001, but realised that it was not as popular among the customers and offered the B7RLE from 2003. This situation was similar to B10L one, which was replaced by B10BLE in 1997, three years after B10L was introduced here and also due to limited success.

Specifications

The Volvo B10BLE features a Volvo DH10A engine with a displacement of . It is an inline six-cylinder

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

with a

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

and

intercooler An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Mo ...

. This engine used a

dry sump A dry sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in Four-stroke engine, four-stroke and large Two-stroke engine, two-stroke Reciprocating engine, reciprocating internal combustion engines. The dry sump system uses two or more o ...

system due to being horizontally mounted. The engine has a power output of either . The engine is able to meet Euro II emissions limits. The name of the chassis stands for: *B - Bus *10 - 10 (9.6) litre engine *B - Back/Rear mounted engine *LE - Low-entry Optionally available is a Volvo GH10-series (GH10A, GH10B, GH10C)

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

engine. All generations of this engine are inline four-stroke six-cylinder spark-ignition engines with a turbocharger and intercooler. The GH10A and GH10B engines were lean-burn engines and the GH10C is a "mixed-lean" engine, operating on an optimised balance between stoichiometric and lean-burn combustion strategies. Power ratings vary from in the GH10A to in the uprated version of the GH10C. The GH10C is able to meet Euro IV emissions limits.

Operators

Australia

In Australia, Sydney Buses purchased 125, Westbus 41 and Grenda Corporation 16.

Europe

In mainland Europe, B10BLEs were bodied by Säffle/Aabenraa, Carrus and other local manufacturers.

Singapore

In Singapore, all SBS Transit B10BLEs were bodied by

Volgren Volgren is an Australian bus and coach body manufacturer. History Volvo Buses, VolGrenda Corporation, gren was formed in 1977 by Melbourne bus operator Grenda Corporation in Dandenong, Victoria. Because Grenda held the Volvo Buses dealership i ...

. One diesel-powered demonstrator (SBS1688K) was introduced in 1997 and scrapped in 2015 after reaching its 17-year lifespan. It was also SBS's first low entry bus. The other 12 were CNG powered. 2 units entered service in April and July 2002, initially serving Jurong Island routes. When the contract ended, these buses were redeployed to serve bus routes serving the far west of Singapore. The remaining 10 buses, which were kept in storage, entered revenue service in early 2006. Due to the scarcity of Compressed natural gas refueling points in Singapore and various factors, all units were withdrawn by July 2019. Only the first two CNG B10BLEs (SBS2988M & SBS2989K) were kept at St Andrew's Autism School and

Tan Tock Seng Hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital (abbreviation: TTSH) is a tertiary referral hospital in Singapore, located in Novena. Named after Tan Tock Seng, the hospital has 45 clinical and allied health departments, 16 specialist centres and is powered by more ...

respectively for static preservation while the later units were all scrapped. The CNG B10BLEs are the last public buses to use plastic destination signages and are also the last non-wheelchair accessible single deck rigid buses in Singapore. the diesel version bus was powered by Volvo DH A-245 engine and fitted with 4-speed ZF Ecomat 4HP 500 automatic transmission that is compliant to meet european emission standard Euro 2. however, the CNG batch of these vehicles are equipped with a Volvo GH B-245 engine and 5-speed ZF Ecomat 5HP 500 automatic transmission.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, many of the B10BLEs had Wright Renown bodywork, and a small number received Alexander ALX300 bodywork. The original Plaxton Prestige also featured the Volvo chassis as an option, but very few of these were built.Volvo B10B / B10BLE
Bus Lists on the Web

References

External links

{{Volvo Buses, state=collapsed Vehicles introduced in 1992 B10BLE Bus chassis Low-entry buses Tri-axle buses