Farewell, Volvo B9TL CDGE Buses.
A total of 200 buses were bought in 2006 by SBS Transit (SBST), making them the first wheelchair-accessible public buses in Singapore, having been fitted with manual wheelchair ramps.
The last of these buses would reach their statutory lifespan of 17 years on 27 September 2023. Thereafter, this public bus model and the bodywork would be fully retired.
Volvo B9TL (CDGE) buses originally used plastic destination signs on the front, side and rear. Between 2011 and 2012, SBS Transit would refit these buses with Electronic Display Signs (EDS) supplied by LECIP.
Refurbishment and repainting to LTA’s Lush Green livery took place between 2018 and 2019. While initial units were refurbished with yellow seat covers, subsequent buses were refurbished with red seat covers commonly found on other SBS Transit bus models.
Full interior coverage & Specifications: Volvo B9TL (CDGE)
Retirement Background
2010 Bus Depot Fire
The first Volvo B9TL (CDGE) bus to be retired was SBS7440T, which was one of six double-deck buses that were burnt in a fire at Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot on 7 March 2010.
2021 Early Retirement
In March 2021, 34 Volvo B9TL (CDGE) buses were taken out of revenue service, having been on the roads for about 15 years (out of their 17-year statutory lifespan). These buses were also in fairly good interior condition, having undergone refurbishment work less than 3 years prior.
2 of these buses were redeployed permanently to training buses with revenue service equipment removed. All 34 buses were replaced with MAN A95 (Euro 6) – Batch 2 buses.
Scrapping of retired buses commenced in end-April 2021, with buses scrapped at Kiat Lee Machinery Pte Ltd.
2022 Early Retirement
Main article: Early Retirement of Volvo B9TL (CDGE) and Scania K230UB buses (2022) – Land Transport Guru
On 1 January 2022, SBST retired the bulk of its Volvo B9TL (CDGE) fleet. As part of a deal with LTA involving the transition of the Downtown Line to the New Rail Financing Framework (Version 2), SBST had agreed to replace 241 of its own buses (comprising 144 double-decker buses and 97-single-deck buses) with newer government-owned buses, which are more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient to maintain. All 144 double-deck buses were Volvo B9TL (CDGE) buses.
Following this mass retirement, as of early 2022, there are only 20 buses left on revenue service. A further two units remained allocated to Hougang Bus Depot for training duties (SBS7383A & SBS7385U).
Remaining Buses
The remaining buses would be fully retired as the last of the buses reach their statutory lifespan of 17 years on 27 September 2023.
Second Life
Main Article: SBS7376X – Volvo B9TL (CDGE) preserved at ITE College West
In 2023, SBS7376X was donated to ITE College West for student training as part of the Bus Engineering Lab. The bus was repainted back from the Lush Green livery to the SBS Transit Corporate livery.