Trailer bus

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A trailer bus (Karosa NO 80) exhibited in Prague Praha, Holesovice, Vystaviste, Naves NO 80 II.JPG
A trailer bus (Karosa NO 80) exhibited in Prague

A trailer bus is a trailer vehicle designed specifically for the transportation of passengers (a bus). Trailer buses typically comprise one of two forms:

Contents

Although semi-trailer buses are now typically obsolete and have been retired, full trailer buses attached to conventional buses remain in use in limited applications around the world, including as tourist vehicles.

History

An early trailer bus was designed in Amsterdam in the 1920s as bus designs got longer. As a solution to possible grounding hazards on humped bridges, three prototypes were built in 1924, but proved to be problematic, and later converted to rigid bodies in 1927. [1]

During World War II and in the immediate post-war years, trailer buses were turned to as a simple and economical way of providing bus transport to replace worn out conventional bus fleets. The semi-trailers were basic and uncomfortable, but each could carry more passengers than an ordinary single-decker bus, and nearly as many as a double-decker bus. In India BEST of Mumbai and BMTC of Bangalore had double-decker trailer buses in its fleet during the 1970s and 1980s. [2]

In Australia, 123 semi-trailer type buses were built from 1939. Large purchasers included Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service and Rover Coaches. [3] A 1947 semi-trailer coupled with an American-built 1943 White M3A1 tractor is preserved at the Sydney Bus Museum in Sydney. The Sydney exhibit was the last trailer bus used in NSW, withdrawn in 1977. [4]

Trailer buses were also used in Perth, Western Australia by several private bus companies from 1943 onwards, including Metro Buses (formerly Metropolitan Omnibus), Pioneer Omnibus and Scarborough Bus Services. The units were bodied by various different companies, including Boltons, Campbell & Mannix and Motor Body Builders, a subsidiary of Scarborough Bus Services. From 1958 onwards, many trailer buses passed to the state-owned Metropolitan Transport Trust as the private operators were bought by the Western Australian Government. A number were also purchased by the Western Australian Government Railways from 1945 to 1948, with the trailer bodies built by Fowler Constructions and Campbell & Mannix. [3]

In 1948, ten British-built [5] trailer buses saw service as a staff canteens for London Transport (in country green livery) [6] with one passing to the Cobham Bus Museum in 1972.

A large order for 1,175 buses from the Dutch Railways for buses from Crossley included an order for 250 trailer buses, each to carry 52 seated and 28 standing passengers. [7] The tractor units were delivered as short Crossley DD42s, and these were matched in the Netherlands with DAF built trailer chassis fitted with bus bodies.

From 1967 to 1968 the Indian city of Mumbai had double decker trailer buses with seating capacity of 100 passengers, run by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport company. The city of Kolkata and Bengaluru also had such buses. [8]

In the late 1980s, a Mexican-built trailer bus was in test service in the Los Angeles / Orange County area of California. In the 1990s, Orange County Transportation Authority used it on two express routes. The trailer buses were known as Superbuses. [9]

Custom motor/trailer units manufactured by Orion Bus Industries were used from 1985 to 2012 on the Niagara Parks Commission People Mover route in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In Greece trailer buses are still, often used for tours, usually in small villages. Trailer Buses are also used in some kids' attractions. [10]

Obsolescence

As early as the mid-1940s, trailer buses began to quickly fall out of favour for a variety of factors: [11]

Trailer buses saw service until at least 1984 in South Africa, [12] possibly due to the rugged terrain in its remote areas, and the availability of specialist bus builders as opposed to truck dealers and basic body builders.

Trailer buses are still in service in Cuba, where they were introduced under the nickname of "camellos" ("camels", from the twin-humped shape of the trailers) during the Special Period after the fall of the Soviet Union. As of 2008, the trailer buses were being gradually retired from service in Havana, replaced by Chinese-made buses. [13] [14]

Nonetheless, the Munich transit authority ordered a batch of trailer buses from Solaris with deliveries starting in 2013. The buses were intended for service on the city's busiest routes. The advantages of such buses were the ability to attach or detach the trailer depending on demand, spaciousness and flexibility. [15]

Munich is experimenting with “bus trains” on heavily used routes as it electrifies its bus fleet. One design by MVG has solar panels on the roof and the trailer is made by Göppel. The interest is how much of the demand for electricity for interior systems can be supplied by the solar panels. Some are conversions of buses in their fleet. [16] [17]

Semi-trailer buses

Full trailer buses

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossley Motors</span> British motor vehicle manufacturer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trailer (vehicle)</span> Towed cargo vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Articulated bus</span> Articulated vehicle used in public transportation

An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a single-decker, and comprises two or more rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint (articulation) enclosed by protective bellows inside and outside and a cover plate on the floor. This allows a longer legal length than rigid-bodied buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity (94–120), while still allowing the bus to maneuver adequately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz O305</span> Single deck, double deck and articulated bus type

The Mercedes-Benz O305 was a single deck and articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in Mannheim, West Germany from 1969 until 1988. It was built as either a complete bus or a bus chassis and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptation of the unified German VöV-Standard-Bus design, that was produced by some different bus manufacturers including Büssing, Magirus-Deutz, MAN, Ikarus, Gräf/Steyr, Heuliez, Renault, and Pegaso. The O305 was designed for use as a single-decker bus, however it was later redesigned to accommodate double-decker bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Cammell Weymann</span> Former British bus manufacturer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fageol</span> American vehicle manufacturer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volvo Ailsa B55</span> Scottish double-decker bus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-axle bus</span> Bus or coach that has more than the conventional two axles

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A rigid bus 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 sections linked by a pivoting joint, also with a trailer bus, which is formed out of a bus bodied semi-trailer pulled by a conventional tractor unit.

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References

  1. An early articulated bus from Amsterdam Archived 2008-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Vintage Photos: Time-Travelling With Mumbai's Iconic BEST Buses Archived 2018-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 Travers, Greg (1987). The Australian Articulated Bus. Sydney: Transit Australia Publishing. ISBN   090945910X.
  4. 016 Sydney Bus Museum
  5. Cobham Bus Museum Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine Trailer Bus exhibit details
  6. CCMV - Classic Commercial Motor Vehicles [ permanent dead link ] A fotopic image of the London transport staff canteen trailer bus
  7. www.crossley-motors.org.uk The Crossley Dutch buses
  8. "West Bengal govt plans to switch to electric mode in public transportation in Kolkata by 2030". The Economic Times .
  9. PHOTOS - OCTD SuperBuses
  10. Λαμία: Παιδιά το τρενάκι σας πάει βόλτα στην πόλη! (βίντεο), Λαμία: Παιδιά το τρενάκι σας πάει βόλτα στην πόλη! (βίντεο) (21 December 2019). "Λαμία: Παιδιά το τρενάκι σας πάει βόλτα στην πόλη! (βίντεο)". larissanet.gr. larissanet.gr. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  11. Spennemann, Dirk HR (2006). Buses Up & Down the Murray: The Murray Valley Coach Company of Albury retrospect. Albury. pp. 78–9. ISBN   978-1-921220-03-6.
  12. www.sa-transport.co.za Image of trailer buses at a terminus in Umtata in 1984
  13. Weissert, Will (19 April 2008). "Changing Cuba: Monster buses vanish from Havana streets". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 May 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. Weissert, Will (19 April 2008). "Changing Cuba: Monster Buses Vanish From Havana Streets". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. Retrieved 25 March 2024 via Associated Press. The last "camello" is expected to go out of service in Havana on Sunday night.
  15. "Munich orders buses with trailers for passenger transport (Germany)". Archived from the original on 2017-09-24.
  16. "A bus trailer using solar technology in Munich". Urban Transport Magazine. April 1, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  17. Munich, Germany [DE] MVG bus Solaris Urbino + trailer Goppel in operation (video). Megabus. April 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2024.