State Transit / Transit Systems Ansair Orana Retirement

[Gusbus]

AnyTrip for NSW has very interestingly sometime recently added a filter for "14.5m rigid buses" - maybe a handy tool for people to find the last remaining 14.5m Scania Ansair buses at M. I hardly see them anymore off-peak these days so I'm sure the end is near

Since the July 28th changes in Region 7, the 14.5's have been scheduled as such so they are only out during the peaks!

[J_Busworth]

AnyTrip for NSW has very interestingly sometime recently added a filter for "14.5m rigid buses" - maybe a handy tool for people to find the last remaining 14.5m Scania Ansair buses at M. I hardly see them anymore off-peak these days so I'm sure the end is near

That is a request a made a few months back to track the fleet more easily before they are retired, and it is nice to see it finally integrated.

[Jurassic_Joke]

Another 3 at M have bitten the dust - just 11 left.

[J_Busworth]

Less and less of the out on the road too. I only saw 7 out on the radar this morning, including none on 288s from Epping.

[Transport Buff]

Interesting though, the only 14.5m bus left for STAs Region 9 is the one off ex Metrobus 2108ST Scania K310UB Volgren CR228L.
I really do like this rare STA bus, as it is rather modern and is a decent option for a high capacity bus as well as regular 18m articulated buses and double deckers. This also applies to the Scania L113TRBL Ansair Oranas as well.
Although, I do wish STA or the new operator/s in a few years would purchase new 14.5m buses such as the Volgren Optimus which comes in that variant or purchase some 14.5m Volgrens from Hillsbus.

Hope this is of use to fellow readers and viewers.

[Richard290]

Caught Y's 3484 on route 550 from Carlingford Station to Macquarie University this morning around 07:45 - apparently this service is one of a rare number of non-accessible services timetabled to run the route. This vehicle bore the brunt of heavily-loaded patronage along the southernmost portion of Pennant Hills Road before running standing-room only between Carlingford Court and Epping Station, causing all stops along Willoughby Street, Boronia Avenue and Carlingford Road to be skipped, leaving behind bewildered passengers waiting at the stops.
Although it could be argued that walking from Ryde Street in the western part of Epping to Epping Station (1.6km, 20 minutes) via Boronia Avenue and Boronia Park would be much quicker than being forced to wait for a heavily loaded 550 service for at least 15-20 minutes, given the inconsistent chronic delays along the route.

[Jurassic_Joke]

Another 4 14.5's have been retired, just 7 buses remaining at Willoughby. Probably down to their last few weeks now I reckon

[J_Busworth]

At least 15 CRBs across Ryde and Waverley have also been disposed of and I imagine that they will all be on the way out over the next year.

All 7 remaining TRBs went out this morning, on 272s, 288s, 290s and 293s. They obviously still have a use for them for the time being, given these have been the same 7 runs that they have been on for the past few weeks now. I wonder if it is likely these 7 will stick around for much longer? I would expect the last ones to be gone once school holidays starts and they need less buses.

[Jurassic_Joke]

At least 15 CRBs across Ryde and Waverley have also been disposed of and I imagine that they will all be on the way out over the next year.

All 7 remaining TRBs went out this morning, on 272s, 288s, 290s and 293s. They obviously still have a use for them for the time being, given these have been the same 7 runs that they have been on for the past few weeks now. I wonder if it is likely these 7 will stick around for much longer? I would expect the last ones to be gone once school holidays starts and they need less buses.

Ryde has received so many new buses, all B8RLE's, over the last couple of years with more still to come, I'm sure they'd feel start to soon comfortable retiring the CRBs at no big loss. I really feel that the final TRB's at Willoughby really don't have long to go from now - I myself plan to try and catch a final ride soon on one for nostalgia.

[Cowra]

At least 15 CRBs across Ryde and Waverley have also been disposed of and I imagine that they will all be on the way out over the next year.

All 7 remaining TRBs went out this morning, on 272s, 288s, 290s and 293s. They obviously still have a use for them for the time being, given these have been the same 7 runs that they have been on for the past few weeks now. I wonder if it is likely these 7 will stick around for much longer? I would expect the last ones to be gone once school holidays starts and they need less buses.

They will all be withdrawn when the last of this batch of Bustech / B8RLEs enters service.

[joshurandazzo]

KIngsgrove depot nostalgia time:


before January 2013 all 100 Scania L113CRB CNGs were in Kingsgrove depot. At this time Kingsgrove was a Orana only depot with the only buses being L113CRB's,CRLs and TRBs. I always use to love getting the Gas Scania's on the 413 and the 412 . i use to always call them " buses with steps" back in 2009-2012. i use to get so excited when i saw one come around the corner at the 413 bus stop in Campsie. The drivers all knew me and the old nan. I use to love the sound the gearbox made (back then i never knew that the high pitched sound was the gearbox). 3517 (?) was the one I can remember being the loudest. i was always annoyed when i got a low floor CRL because the gearbox did not make as loud of a sound. Me and my grandmother always use to sit in the front seat i liked watching the way the driver turned the wheel and went around tight corners. The gas scanias were used very commonly on almost all kingsgrove routes except the 477. i remember one time i was in Marrickville back in 2012 and the only buses i saw for over 30 min was high floor gas scanias.

Well that's my story. Sorry about the lack of Punctuation i'm not the smartest of people.

[Swift]

KIngsgrove depot nostalgia time:


before January 2013 all 100 Scania L113CRB CNGs were in Kingsgrove depot. At this time Kingsgrove was a Orana only depot with the only buses being L113CRB's,CRLs and TRBs. I always use to love getting the Gas Scania's on the 413 and the 412 . i use to always call them " buses with steps" back in 2009-2012. i use to get so excited when i saw one come around the corner at the 413 bus stop in Campsie. The drivers all knew me and the old nan. I use to love the sound the gearbox made (back then i never knew that the high pitched sound was the gearbox). 3517 (?) was the one I can remember being the loudest. i was always annoyed when i got a low floor CRL because the gearbox did not make as loud of a sound. Me and my grandmother always use to sit in the front seat i liked watching the way the driver turned the wheel and went around tight corners. The gas scanias were used very commonly on almost all kingsgrove routes except the 477. i remember one time i was in Marrickville back in 2012 and the only buses i saw for over 30 min was high floor gas scanias.

Well that's my story. Sorry about the lack of Punctuation i'm not the smartest of people.

That was a great read and I appreciate your attachment to these buses. I personally was thrilled to see then finally turn up in other regions, particularly Eastwood and Maroubra!! They would turn up as a ray of sunshine when you are mentally resigned to the same old same old. You're certainly right about their gearbox sounds. Fabulous in a world of increasingly insipid sounding equipment.
Finally, never put yourself down. There are plenty of others who will do that for you!

[J_Busworth]

Such an uplifting and positive story, its really nice to see people connecting with the buses they love in such a personal way.

Personally, I was really excited when the CRBs came to the Eastern Suburbs. I spent much of my childhood catching the TRBs on the 400 and had quite an attachment to them, I considered the CRBs to be the "short long buses" (10 year old logic isn't very good) so it was exciting to have them around on a regular basis. The Oranas are genuinely the most meaningful buses in the fleet for me. They are the buses I grew up with, made memories on and will miss the most once they are all gone. The bus rides I remember as a kid were either on the long buses or the CRLs, and once they are all gone in a few years, it will almost feel like the last of my childhood has gone.

[Jurassic_Joke]

At least 15 CRBs across Ryde and Waverley have also been disposed of and I imagine that they will all be on the way out over the next year.

All 7 remaining TRBs went out this morning, on 272s, 288s, 290s and 293s. They obviously still have a use for them for the time being, given these have been the same 7 runs that they have been on for the past few weeks now. I wonder if it is likely these 7 will stick around for much longer? I would expect the last ones to be gone once school holidays starts and they need less buses.

They will all be withdrawn when the last of this batch of Bustech / B8RLEs enters service.

I felt very sentimental knowing that we're most probably likely down to the last few weeks or possibly even days of these nostalgic buses. If anyone, to me, brings up the 400 bus, what comes to mind is a L113TRB Ansair Orana and me struggling to lift my heavy luggage up the steps but then being able to find a seat.

In that case, I went out of my way to take one final short trip on a L113TRB Ansair Orana earlier this week. I'm surprised they even bothered to put all the stickers inside and outside promoting contactless payments on it. And you know what otherwise? The aircon worked absolutely perfect. And the number of seats. Look at all these seats - this luxury of having so many seats to choose from and this feeling of spaciousness you get from a long rigid bus - a luxury to soon be taken away.

I'm sad they aren't even holding a farewell tour for these buses (or as of yet unannounced).

[Ben_Daui]

I remember when the 14.5’s where 1st introduced into service at P, the ride quality was certainly more stiffer then a MK 5 merc but the speed on the 14.5 was amazing the Mercs just didn’t have the take off power and riding the 14.5 on Anzac Pde between Kingsford and Maroubra Junction with the camber of the left lane the bus would just handle it smoothly, after a while though then going over pot holes and bumps they started to squeak and the vibrations from idling would get annoying but over all the 14.5’s were the best of the Orana’s as they had good heating and cooling, the low floors I would rate better over the Gas Orana’s due to the sluggish acceleration.

[Daniel]

I'm sad they aren't even holding a farewell tour for these buses (or as of yet unannounced).

Organised by Sydney Bus Museum and is on today, don’t miss it - 10am Wynyard York St.

[BAMBAM]

I'm sad they aren't even holding a farewell tour for these buses (or as of yet unannounced).

There was a tour for the 14.5 TRB and CRB Scanias a while back, involving both STA and TSA buses.

[Stu]

KIngsgrove depot nostalgia time:


before January 2013 all 100 Scania L113CRB CNGs were in Kingsgrove depot. At this time Kingsgrove was a Orana only depot with the only buses being L113CRB's,CRLs and TRBs. I always use to love getting the Gas Scania's on the 413 and the 412 . i use to always call them " buses with steps" back in 2009-2012. i use to get so excited when i saw one come around the corner at the 413 bus stop in Campsie. The drivers all knew me and the old nan. I use to love the sound the gearbox made (back then i never knew that the high pitched sound was the gearbox). 3517 (?) was the one I can remember being the loudest. i was always annoyed when i got a low floor CRL because the gearbox did not make as loud of a sound. Me and my grandmother always use to sit in the front seat i liked watching the way the driver turned the wheel and went around tight corners. The gas scanias were used very commonly on almost all kingsgrove routes except the 477. i remember one time i was in Marrickville back in 2012 and the only buses i saw for over 30 min was high floor gas scanias.

Well that's my story. Sorry about the lack of Punctuation i'm not the smartest of people.

Scania K280UB CB80 units were at Kingsgrove at this stage as the Volvo B12 Euro 5's were transferred out by then end of 2012. Kingsgrove has never been 100% Orana especially when the depot used to stable more than 200 buses or when that number was heavily reduced when 'route optimisation' occurred and Tempe acquired many buses from Kingsgrove.

The Scania CNG units were regularly rostered to route 426 due to following the same path as 423 as to/from Marrickville and terminating at Dulwich Hill where the 428 would pass through, this would allow accessible buses to be used on longer routes. Route 418 was another route that was a common sight for this type of bus until route optimisation in May 2013 saw this route transferred to Tempe until October 2013 when routes 418 & 357 were merged (for 5 x years) which meant Randwick would operate about 50% of the trips.

[BAMBAM]

Weren’t 487 was a regular with the Scania CNG too?

[Campbelltown busboy]

Weren’t 487 was a regular with the Scania CNG too?

I can remember seeing these Scania CNGs at Bankstown a lot in 2011/12 doing 487s and at Rockdale doing 492s they were a common site on Railway Street Rockdale at the time along with the the mix of TRBs CRLs Waverley based Mercedes CNGs and whatever Veolia had running on the 452 and 453 on that day

[Swift]

Much like the Bustechs, the Orana's shortcomings become abundantly evident with Scania underpinnings and become decent buses with Volvo equipment under them.
The 14.5s were loose, vibratory (due to the engine idle which sounded like they had something wrong with them -they didn't) and the ill conceived body could be seen bending in the middle as you travelled inside them.
Quality was a disgrace. Australian mediocre engineering for you.

[Cowra]

3457 withdrawn today.

Four to go: 3450, 3454, 3456, 3458. All but 3456 were in service this afternoon.

[1whoknows]

Not surprising as it was sounding rather rough on Sunday's farewell tour.

[J_Busworth]

3454, 3456 and 3458 all went out this morning. Surely on their last legs now.

The 7:17 293 to Wynyard ex Marsfield and the 8:14 272 to Wynyard ex Laurel Bank Cottage, Willoughby have been operated by a 14.5 every day for the past few weeks. Otherwise the other two buses seem to operate a mix of 288s and 293s (one each, a different one each morning), usually around 7:30am-8am.

[Leyland B21]

3454, 3456 and 3458 all went out this morning. Surely on their last legs now.

The 7:17 293 to Wynyard ex Marsfield and the 8:14 272 to Wynyard ex Laurel Bank Cottage, Willoughby have been operated by a 14.5 every day for the past few weeks. Otherwise the other two buses seem to operate a mix of 288s and 293s (one each, a different one each morning), usually around 7:30am-8am.

Glad I got a photo of 3454 when I was in Sydney last Monday 25th November. Taken at Wynyard Park.

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