The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian (its 3-axle version was replaced by the Volvo Super Olympian). It was built as the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a long rear overhang (although some have since entered service in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland as 12 m long double deckers). The B7TL chassis was designed by the Leyland Product Developments consultancy based at the Leyland Technical Centre. It was initially built in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2000, production was gradually transferred to Sweden. In mid-2004, production of the MkII version of the B7TL was started. Like the Olympian, the B7TL features a transversely-mounted rear engine and a shorter rear overhang, but the

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

was mounted on the right side of the engine compartment. It was equipped with Volvo D7C engine and ZF or Voith gearbox. The B7TL was initially available with

Alexander ALX400 The Alexander ALX400 (later known as the TransBus ALX400 and the Alexander Dennis ALX400) is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders (later by TransBus International/ Alexander Dennis). It was one of the ALX-s ...

and

Plaxton President The Plaxton President is a Low-floor bus, low floor double-decker bus coachwork, body built by Plaxton at the former Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company, Northern Counties factory in Wigan, England. It was first unveiled in 1997 on t ...

bodywork, later followed by East Lancs Vyking and Myllennium Vyking bodies, and also the

Wright Eclipse Gemini The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus between 2001 and 2021, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, fo ...

Orders

United Kingdom

The Volvo B7TL was highly popular in the United Kingdom, with a large number being purchased by most of the major bus groups such as FirstGroup and

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

. Travel West Midlands, Travel Coventry and Travel Dundee, part of the National Express Group, purchased over 320 B7TLs from 2000 to 2006, a majority of these being built with

bodies, while 112 with

bodies and 102 with

bodies were also delivered. Translink of Northern Ireland also purchased over 150 B7TLs with Alexander ALX400 bodies for its

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...

and Citybus operations between 2001 and 2006, with the first batch of 20 B7TLs delivered in 2001 marking the return of double-decker buses to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

for the first time since 1989. The chassis was especially popular in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, with a total of 2,014 Volvo B7TLs being built for London's bus operators, most being bodied with

, East Lancs Vyking or

bodywork. 790 B7TLs were built for Go-Ahead Group companies

London General London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The ...

and

London Central The London Central Bus Company is a bus operator brand under London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and primarily operates services in South London under contract to Tran ...

, while 378 for

Arriva London Arriva London is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services for London Buses under contract to Transport for London. Oper ...

, 308 for

Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...

, 278 for First London and 148 for London United were also built.

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

noise regulations would put an end to B7TL orders in 2006, and the type was superseded in London by both the

Volvo B9TL The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses, Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version ...

and the later Volvo B5LH. Smaller orders from operators outside London include Lothian Buses, who ordered a total of 132 B7TLs, the first seven being delivered with Plaxton President bodywork in 2000, followed by 125 more being delivered with Wright bodies between 2005 and 2006. Arriva UK Bus also ordered small quantities of B7TLs for its operations outside London, including 20 with Alexander ALX400 bodywork and 20 with Plaxton President bodywork for Arriva Yorkshire delivered between 2000 and 2001, 49 ALX400s for Arriva Medway Towns in 2004 as part of Operation Overdrive, and 30 ALX400s for Arriva Merseyside in 2006. East Yorkshire Motor Services ordered 36 B7TLs with Plaxton President bodywork from 2000 to 2003, six of these being delivered to their

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

subsidiary Finglands Coachways, before later ordering 18 more B7TLs with Wright bodies from 2005 to 2006. Southern Vectis ordered seven Volvo B7TLs with Plaxton President bodywork at the end of 2001. The last Volvo B7TLs entered service with First Glasgow with the Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork in April 2007.

Ireland

Buses built on the B7TL chassis were also popular with Irish operators Dublin Bus purchasing 648 B7TLs built with

bodywork between 2000 and 2007, while Bus Éireann also purchased over twenty B7TLs with East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodies for services in Cork between 2001 and 2004.

South Africa

150 Volvo B7TLs with Marcopolo Viale bodywork were delivered to Metrobus of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa in 2002, alongside an order for 50 Marcopolo bodied Volvo B7R single deck buses. These were the first low-floor buses to enter service in South Africa as part of a major company modernisation scheme.

Gallery

File:Arriva Medway Towns 6424 GN04 UER 2.JPG,

-bodied Volvo B7TL owned by Arriva Medway Towns. File:Southern Vectis 196 HW52 EPV 5.JPG, A Southern Vectis

-bodied Volvo B7TL in Cowes,

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. File:Bluestar 858.JPG, The unique Volvo B7TL/ Alexander Dennis Enviro400 owned by Bluestar. All production Enviro /

Volvo Buses 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 ...

are on the new B9TL chassis. File:NXWM 4485 R13A.jpg, National Express West Midlands

bodied Volvo B7TL at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in March 2025

References