富豪超級奧林比安 Volvo Super Olympian
編號 Class：ASV
當丹尼士成功推出三叉戟低地台巴士後，富豪車廠隨即也開發一款全新低地台巴士底盤，以便迎合市場需要同時，一併取代當時仍然暢銷全球的奧林比安，以延續車廠在市場上之領導地位。終於在一九九八年，富豪正式宣佈推出一款全新低地台巴士底盤B10TL，儘管設計上跟原先之奧林比安有著很大差異，但它卻被冠上超級奧林比安之名，這也許是富豪車廠希望繼續利用奧林比安這個名字，協助取得一向使用奧林比安之用家的訂單。作為奧林比安車系最大用家之一的九巴，亦在富豪車廠推出超級奧林比安之後向其發出購車訂單，首張訂單包括樣板車在內合共有六十一輛新車，全數皆屬十二米長版本並配上亞歷山大ALX500改良型車身，全數新車自一九九九年九月下旬開始投入服務。九巴在隨後時間進行車隊替換時，富豪均能取得訂單，替其供應十二米版本的超級奧林比安新車，直到二零零零年九巴需要開始替換隊中老舊的兩軸雙層巴士，終於向富豪訂購首批四十九架十點六米版超級奧林比安，成為繼丹尼士三叉戟外，另一款短陣低地台雙層巴士車款。
九巴訂購的短超豪除了長度上與十二米大哥有所分別外，底盤設計及來源地，以至車廂佈局也有所差異。為了確保在縮短後的底盤上，可以提供足夠的輪椅停泊空間，以及提供上落兩道車門，工程師首先將散熱水箱由前軸之後重新編配到中軸之前，而油缸及一眾風缸位置亦被重新安排。雖然九巴仍然選取了亞歷山大提供的ALX500車身，裝配在這批短超豪底盤上，但車廂佈局採用了十分獨特的設計。受制於底盤先天設計所限，除了低地台區域未能安放座椅，中軸到落車門間的座椅採用面對面設計，亦是目前為止唯一採用此設計的低地台九巴車款。打從這批超級奧林比安開始，底盤生產地由原先的蘇格蘭的Irvine，改為位於歐洲波蘭Wroclaw的廠房製造，前軸並改用美國鋁業合金車鈴。機械配搭方面短超豪跟大哥沒有兩樣，同是採用符合歐二排放標準的富豪D10A引擎搭配ZF五前速全自動波箱，空調系統採用標準的日本裝出品，同時亦配備當時的新標準設備，Hanover提供的電子路線牌箱。
全數四十九輛新車底盤自二零零零年十一月開始陸續運抵本港，並隨後於九巴位於屯門的車身裝嵌廠組裝來自英國的車身散件。首批短超豪自二零零一年二月陸續作首次登記，成為當時新開辦往返天恆邨及麗瑤的265M線主力，以及偶爾支援客量龐大的64K線。其後出牌新車除了屯門廠外，亦有加入九龍灣及沙田廠，行走5C，10，81K及606，而前述的64K線亦於稍後時間，屯門廠接收更多短超豪新車時正式加入低地台巴士行走，只可惜它們不太適應沿途上高落低的路面環境，當隨後新一批丹尼士三叉戟十點六米巴士投入服務後，便隨即從64K線上退下來。同一時間由於應付不斷上升的客量，265M的短超豪亦被更大型的低地台巴士所取代，聯同部份曾行走64K線的兄弟，被安排調派到九龍灣及荔枝角車廠，行走2D，29M，203E及234X服務乘客。
一架全白色車身的十點六米超級奧林比安於二零零二年中運抵本港，旋即惹起車主是誰以至巴士本身來歷的猜測。此車是廠方當年開發B10TL車系時製作的樣板車之一，而且從底盤號碼推測，此車製造時間甚至比九巴的十二米超豪樣板車為早。這架樣板車底盤是於Irvine廠房裝嵌完成後，被送往同位於蘇格蘭的Falkirk市的亞歷山大廠房完成車身裝嵌，機械配搭方面沿用歐二版本D10A引擎，唯全自動波箱則改配ZF的四前速波箱。富豪本意是利用此車向本港其他巴士公司作推廣之用，以期取得進一步訂單，但最終未能如願，而這架樣板車最後亦被九巴購入，於同年十月領取行車登記(ASV50/KU5862)，隨即加入荔枝角車廠成為234X線一員，而原先配用的引擎亦已經被換成歐三排放標準，以符合當時出牌要求。
九巴於二零零二年向富豪所落的新車訂單中，包括了五十架採用歐三版本D10A引擎的十點六米超級奧林比安，全數新車底盤自二零零二年十一月陸續運抵本港之後，隨即於屯門車身裝嵌廠裝配亞歷山大的車身散件，外觀上與首批新車無異，只是車頭泵把如同期ALX500車身一樣，預留了安裝霧燈的位置。值得一提的地方是，本批新車採用的儀錶版，與應用在歐二版本以至同配亞歷山大車身的十二米大哥有所分別。首批歐三新車自二零零三年一月下旬開始領牌投入服務，並迅即替15A線提供低地台巴士服務，隨後新車除了ASV59(KX4760)及ASV70(KZ6846)加入荔枝角廠外，其餘新車都是歸九龍灣廠管理，並悉數加入2F，3M，7B，10及203E線服務乘客。
受制當年非典型肺炎疫情致對新車需求下跌，加上運輸處訂下的車隊配額制度，即使需要替新車出牌，九巴傾向寧可將配額給予十二米新車先行出牌投入服務，致使當ASV74(KZ8212)於二零零三年五月投入服務後，未有短超豪再出牌投入服務。直到翌年九月，九巴再次將存放車廠一年多的短超豪領牌行走，打從ASV75(LR1178)開始的新車被安排加入不同路線行走，計有8A，21，99，234X，277及283。自最後一架短超豪ASV100(LV8402)自二零零五年三月投入服務之後，十一米以下的三軸低地台雙層巴士再沒有出現於九巴的購車名單之上。
除了因為在二零零八年大約第二季時，因應若干地區實施排放限制，致使九龍灣廠及荔枝角廠的短超豪作出調動，以滿足派車需要，短超豪在九巴車隊所扮演的角色一直未有太大轉變，主要都是行走一些受制於路面環境，而又未能使用更大型巴士的路線。隨著丹尼士巨龍九點九米逐漸退出載客行列，加上之後隊中短陣低地台空調巴士亦開始退役，使到相關短陣巴士數目愈見緊張，一些過往短超豪服役的路線如2F，3M，21，81K，203E及234X等亦換上更大型巴士行走，只餘下一些十二米雙層巴士未能行走的路線如10，30，45，46，64K及77K等線仍能夠找到短超豪的蹤影。
ASV2(JX6859)及5(JX9924)因機件問題而分別於二零一八年八月及六月率先退役，而ASV9(JY2958)則因牽涉交通意外而於同年七月退役。自二零一九年第一季開始，九巴陸續淘汰歐二版本的短超豪，原先位置由歐三版本的同門兄弟及三叉戟取代外，還有十數架因舒緩短車不足而延長服役年期的歐二版本三叉戟，最後一架歐二版本短超豪(ASV49/KB2508)亦於二零一九年年中離隊。而樣板車ASV50則於二零二零年十月二十七日行走77K線後，與最後三架短陣版本丹尼士三叉戟一併退役。最後五十架歐三版本短超豪亦自二零二一年開始退役，並陸續由亞歷山大丹尼士Enviro500MMC十一米新車取代。當ASV100於二零二三年三月八日完成最後一個由樂富開往觀塘碼頭的車程後，除了標誌著最後一款十點六三軸雙層低地台巴士退出九巴車隊外，同時代表潛望鏡這個設備告別九巴車隊，以及自一九九七年面世的亞歷山大ALX500車身絕跡於本港路面。大部份退役後的短超豪都是送往廢車場拆毀，但九巴將其中兩架短超豪透過「巴士再生夢」計劃捐贈予教育機構，另外若干成員包括ASV50則有幸獲得私人保留，而作為最後一架短超豪，ASV100亦於退役後得到九巴保留，成為古典車隊一員。
After Dennis successfully launched it's first super low floor double deckers the Dennis Trident, to keep it leading role in the market and as a replacement of the best selling Olympian, Volvo unveiled a super low floor bus chassis Super Olympian in 1998 with B10TL as the designated manufacturer code. KMB took a delivery of 61 Super Olympian 12m (including a prototype) with modified Walter Alexander ALX500 bodywoks and the first batch were entering service in the end of Sep., 1999. Repeated orders for Super Olympian were made during fleet renewal and all of them was 12m in length until 2000, when KMB was looking for short wheel-based super low floor double deckers to tie with the withdrawal timetable of the 2-axle convention buses in the fleet, a batch of Super Olympian 10.6m were ordered.
Besides the length, the Baby Super Olympian showing several differences when compared with the 12m variant, as to provide a wheelchair parking bay and both entrance and exit doors on the limit space of the chassis, the radiator together with the oil tank and reservoir were relocated to different parts of the chassis. It can be easily to find that the radiator was placed ahead of the middle axle in contrast to the 12m version, located just behind the front axle and beneath the staircase. In addition, with the constraints of the chassis designs, no seats can be offered within the low floor section of the compartment and unusual inward facing seats were fitted at the lower compartment. The Baby Super Olympian was the first batch of the family to be built at Wroclaw, Poland and featured with America made Alcoa wheels as the front axle. For the mechanical specification, they shared the same driveline with 12m variant, a Volvo D10A engine complied with Euro 2 emission standard with a ZF 5-speed fully automatic transmission. Volvo Super Olympian 10.6m was air-conditioned by Nippon Denso and a standard Hanover electronic display was fitted.
The chassis was gradually delivered to Hong Kong since Nov., 2000 and then sent to KMB Tuen Mun assembly plant for the completion of the ALX500 body kits from Walter Alexander of UK. First of the batch was first registered in Feb., 2001 and serving route 265M linking Tin Hang Estate, Tin shui Wai and Lai Yiu Estate, Kwai Tsing. Route 64K with hight patronage was sometimes supported by the Baby Super Olympian when they first entered service and finally to be scheduled bus when more of the type to be commenced service, however, they were soon be replaced by the Dennis Trident as a result of their poor performance on the route. Instead of the North-west New Territories, KMB also deployed the Baby Super Olympian on route 5C, 10, 81K and 606. Some of the batch used to serve at Tuen Mun Depot were then transferred to Kowloon for serving route 2D, 29M, 203E and 234X.
A Baby Super Olympian demonstrators with plain white livery was delivered to Hong Kong in mid. of 2002 in the hope of further purchasing order made from other bus operator. KMB finally purchased this prototype and registered as KU5862 (ASV50) in Oct., 2003 and as one of the schedule bus of route 234X with it original Euro 2 standard engine to be replaced with a Euro 3 prior to registration. It should be pointed out that ASV50 was one of the prototype chassis to be built at Irvine, Scotland for the development of Super Olympian and it bodywork was completed at Alexander Falkirk plant. Though it was powered by the D10A engine, transmission was slightly different with other members as a ZF 4-speed fully automatic gearbox was fitted.
A further order of 50 Volvo Super Olympian 10.6m was made in 2002 and this time, a Euro 3 Volvo D10A engine was fitted and received their Alexander ALX500 bodyworks at Tuen Mun assembly plant and they were featured with space reserved for the fog lights at the front bumper and a modified dashboard. The chassis was delivered ton Hong Kong since Nov., 2002 and sent to KMB Tuen Mun assembly plant for bodywork assembly. Due to the SARS epidemic, only the first 24 were registered in 2003 an all but two were allocated to Kowloon Bay Depot for route 2F, 3M, 7B, 10 and 203E. The remaining of the batch was first registered since Sep., 2004 and deployed on different routes such as 8A, 21, 99, 234X, 277 and 283. KMB then focused on purchasing 12m double deckers after the last Baby Super Olympian (ASV100/LV8402) entered service in Mar., 2005.
KMB deployed Baby Super Olympian on routes with narrow road conditions until their fully withdrawal and to cope with the emission requirement for CBD, Kowloon Bay Depot and Lai Chi Kok Depot swapped their Baby Super Olympian in second quarter of 2008. Following the decommission of the Baby Dragon, there was a shortage of short wheel-based double deckers in the fleet and resulted in some of the routes used to serve by Baby Super Olympian like 2F, 3M, 21, 81K, 203E and 234X, were converted to served by other 12m super low floor double deckers to release as much as Baby Super Olympian possible for serving routes that 12m buses was prohibited from the constraint road conditions.
Due to mechanical failure, ASV2 (JX6859) and ASV5 (JX9924) become first two of the type to be retired in Aug., and Jun., 2018 respectively, while ASV9 (JY2958) was written off in Jul., 2018 after involved in a traffic accident. The Euro 2 Baby Super Olympian was gradually reached the end of their useful service life since first quarter of 2019 and the last of the batch, ASV49 (KB2508) left KMB in the mid. of 2019. The demonstrator ASV50 was retired from revenue service along with the last 3 Dennis Trident 10.6m after it last trip on route 77K on 27 Oct., 2020. The last 50 Baby Super Olympian was replaced by the brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC 11.3m in 2021 and the last of the type, ASV100 was withdrawn on 8 Mar., 2023 after working on route 11D from Lok Fu to Kwun Tong Ferry and indicated the era of 10.6m super low floor double deckers along with the periscope and ALX500 bodywork was came to an end. Before their withdrawal, they can be easily seen on route 10, 30, 45, 46, 64K and 77K.
Most of the retired members was scrapped at the scrapyard with few of them including ASV50 were under private preservation, while ASV100 was preserved by KMB as one of the classics fleet member. In addition, with the "Bus regeneration Programme", two of the retired Super Olympian 10.6m were donated to education institution for research centre or multiple-learning classroom purpose.
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