猛獅 NL323 MAN NL323

猛獅 NL323 MAN NL323

編號 Class：1 - 10，26 - 30

位於上水猛獅代理廠房門外，於二零一三年二月底出現了一架配上一款前所未見的車身，披上落馬洲過境穿梭巴士色彩的單層巴士，這正是本章主角猛獅NL323，隨著數次車隊更新工作後，成為了車隊中的主力。

新香港巴士鑑於二零零一年投入服務的首批猛獅NL263已經有接近十二年車齡，需要進行大驗才能繼續在路面上行走，但由於有關程度及工作都需要花一定金錢及時間，加上這批NL263日夜操勞，表現已經接近極限，於是乎決定購買全新巴士以作取代。結果，同廠的NL323得到青睞，合共獲得共五架新車之訂單，而新香港巴士亦成為愉景灣交通服務有限公司及香港消防處後，第三間購入猛獅NL323的營運商。

對比二零一一年投入服務的猛獅18.230，NL323底盤是全低地台設計，低地台區域一直由車頭延伸到車尾，為乘客提供最大方便之餘，亦更能吸引企位乘客移步至車廂尾部。這批新車一如18.230一樣由馬來西亞的順豐裝配車身，不過應用在NL323上是香港首次出現的Lion's City Hybrid，新加坡SMRT巴士公司早於二零一一年大批訂購同款巴士時，已經選用同款車身。Lion's City Hybrid車身源自猛獅自家設計，以裝配於混能巴士上的，當SMRT向猛獅發出NL323購車合約後，順豐便獲授權製作及裝配此款車身。而於稍後時間，香港耀能協會引進的兩架猛獅A69低地台巴士，以及珀麗灣購買的NL323時候，都同樣採用了Lion's City Hybrid車身。

全數猛獅NL323均配置原廠歐五排放標準引擎，福伊特全自動波箱，以及日本電裝的空調系統，載客人數方面跟前輩NL263一樣維持八十一人。全數新車於二零一三年四月初領牌後，未有投入服務，直到六月下旬才分批安排投入服務，正式接替原有NL263在過境穿梭巴士所扮演的角色。由於表現理想，新香港巴士隨後再向猛獅訂購五部NL323，以替代餘下五架配Caetano車身的NL263，次批新車於二零一四年十一月開始運抵香港，並於二零一五年一月開始陸續出牌投入服務。次批新車與首批新車在外觀上最大的分別，是車頭設置有日行燈。

踏入二零一六年，新香港巴士為取代車隊中配用本地捷聯車身的富豪B7RLE，再次向猛獅招手購入五架NL323，並隨於二零一六年九月陸續領牌及投入服務。這批新車在車身設計上又再有改變，包括車頭貼有電鍍猛獅標誌，以及採用另一款日行燈設計。

猛獅NL323巴士在落馬洲過境穿梭巴士的故事並未就此完結，新香港巴士於二零一九年再訂購五架NL323，這批新車符合歐盟六型排放標準，車身方面採用了順豐的Lion's City Hybrid Facelift車身，目前全數新車已經抵港，在完成所需登記程序後便會投入服務，預計屆時車隊中餘下的NL263及Scania L94UB，亦會正式退下火線。另外，車隊編號9 (TP3760)及10 (TK6880)於二零一九年十二月被轉售到陽光巴士，用作行走往返馬灣及荃灣的NR331及NR331S居民巴士服務路線。

In the end of Feb., 2013, there was a brand new single decker that never seen before, parking outside the dealer of MAN at Sheung Shui. The bus was decorated with the NHKB livery and this is the MAN NL323 full-sized super low floor decker acquired for NHKB as replacement of the aging NL263.

The MAN NL263 in the fleet need to undergo COF (Certificate of Fitness) after their 12 years service, both time consuming and not cost effective, NHKB decided to introduced new buses as replacement and MAN was successfully won the tender for supplying 5 MAN NL323 full-sized super low floor single decker. NHKB was the third operator of MAN NL323 in Hong Kong and compared with those 18.320 acquired in 2011, the low floor area of NL323 is started from the front until the rear part of the cabin. All NL323 bodied by Gemilang of Malaysia with it Lion's City Hybrid bodywork which originated and authorized from MAN. The Lion's City Hybrid bodywork fitted on MAN NL323 was first seen in SMRT fleet in Singapore.

The mechanical specification of the NL323 is a Euro 5 standard MAN engine with Voith fully automatic gearbox, and powerful enough to drive the roof-mounted Nippon Denso air conditioning unit. As their predecessor NL263, NL323 can carry 81 passengers with 32 seats offered. Though they were received their registration in early Apr., 2013, they stayed at the dealer until late Jun., 2013 and put on the road serving the commuters. A further order of 5 NL323 was made as to replace the remaining NL263 with Caetano bodywork in the fleet. All of them was delivered in Nov., 2014 and registered since Jan., 2015. The second batch of MAN NL323 was featured with daytime running lamp.

The Volvo B7RLE bodied by local builder Jit Luen reached the end of their useful service life and eventually replaced by MAN NL323 since Sep., 2016. The third batch of MAN NL323 can be distinguished from the previous batch by the new frontal design with different style of the daytime running lamp and an electroplated MAN badge.

More MAN NL323 is expected to join NHKB fleet, total of 5 Eur0 6 version NL323, fitted with Lion's City Hybrid Fcaelift bodywork from Gemilang, was delivered since Apr., 2019 and used as the replacement of the Gemilang bodied MAN NL323 and Scania L94UB with China Kong bodywork. Moreover, fleet no. 9 (TP3760) and 10 (TK6880) were sold to Sun Bus in Dec., 2019 for the use on residents' service NR331 and NR331S.

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