三菱Fuso BK Mitsubishi FusoBK

三菱Fuso BK Mitsubishi Fuso BK

編號 Class：F

當新福利於一九八八年成立初期，著手購買新巴士以取代車隊中老舊的巴士，除了向三菱購入Rosa小型巴士，亦於翌年購入三十架Fuso BK大型巴士。三菱Fuso MK都是一台前置引擎巴士，設計上適合一人控制，引擎及手動傳動裝置在新車時全數是三菱自家產品，當中F18及F23於大約一九九四年被換上Allison AT545全自動波箱，一台常見於丹尼士鏢以及香港同產MK系中型巴士的波箱。至於車身方面，全數三菱Fuso BK巴士底盤先運往香港，由捷聯裝配車身後，再轉運往澳門。捷聯車身常見於香港及部份澳門的旅遊巴士上，但裝配於BK大型巴士上的車身卻是確確實實的城巿巴士款式，車頭設有一個路線牌箱，路線及中葡對照的目的地均一目了然，而為了適合作專利巴士之用，共設有兩道車門，前門上車中門則作落車之用，同樣車側及車尾亦設有牌箱，分別供展示途經地點及路線號之用。

三菱Fuso BK跟同廠的Rosa小型巴士一樣，是一款空調巴士，空調系統由獨立引擎驅動，亦因而此，於冬天時巴士可以關上空調系統，變成非空調巴士。這三十架巴士投入服務後，成為繼福利年代引進五十鈴後另一款大型日本單層巴士，每架三菱Fuso BK巴士設有四十三個座位及三十個企位，成為早年澳門街上最高載客量的公共交通工具。由於擁有高載客量，三菱Fuso BK巴士一直肩負著行走主幹線1A，3及5的責任，直到一九九五年及二零零四年，丹尼士飛鏢及低地台版飛鏢加入為止。

縱使三菱Fuso BK在飛鏢加入新福利後，不用再全情投入上述主幹線運作，但仍然繼續活躍於新福利車隊中，除了支援丹尼士飛鏢外，後期亦見於行走氹仔路線33及34。隨著車齡日高，加上更多海格巴士加入，三菱Fuso BK巴士亦逐漸從載客服務中退下來，新福利二零零九年開始分批淘汰三菱Fuso BK巴士，當中部份Fuso BK巴士獲得保留作租賃用途，但最終到了二零一一年中，再沒有三菱Fuso BK巴士在路上服務澳門巿民。

After the introduction of Mitsubishi Rosa minibuses, Transmac further ordered a batch of full-sized single decker from Mitsubishi to replace those aging British models. The model of Transmac placed was Fuso BK, a front-engined chassis that suitable for One-Man-Operation. The Mitsubishi Fuso BK is powered by Mitsubishi engine with a Mitsubishi manual gearbox. Around 1995, F18 and F23 were replaced with an Allison AT545 gearbox, a common unit found on Dennis Dart and Mitsubishi MK midibus in Hong Kong.

All Mitsubishi Fuso BK received their Jit Luen bodyworks in Hong Kong before delivered to Macau. Though it was very common for coach both in Hong Kong and Macau bodied by Jit Luen, the bodywork on Fuso BK was featured with a large destination board with route number and destination presented in Chinese and Portugese displayed clearly. To go one step further, dual doorways designed, front door as entrance while centre door as exit, was adapted for city bus used. Two addition indicator box fitted on the nearside and rear to show places passing through and the route number respectively.

The Mitsubishi Fuso BK was air-conditioned as the Rosa with the air-conditioning unit driven by an independent engine. The Fuso BK bus can also as a conventional bus during winter when the air-conditioned unit was closed. Transmac put all Fuso BKs on trunk routes 1A, 3 and 5 to cater the high demand until the Dennis Dart and Dart SLF joined the fleet during 1995 and 2004 respectively. Though the role was less important after the arrival of Dart, Mitsubishi Fuso BK still active in Transmac and later served Taipa route 33 and 34 until 2009. Afterwards, they were gradually replaced by Higer and only used on private hired duties. The last Mitsubishi Fuso BK finally withdrawn in 2011.

請按圖放大圖片 Please click the photo for an enlarge version