Bustech CDi

The Bustech CDi is a double decker bus model used by Hillsbus. They have an unconventional tri-axle design, with two steering axles at the front and a third axle at the rear. There are two variants: buses with plate numbers M/O 6088-6092 have Mobitec flipdot displays (green) while buses with plate numbers M/O 800, 807, 816, 818, 898, 6522-6529 and 6881-6888 have Mobitec LED displays (white). All buses are stationed at the Hillsbus Foundry Road depot.

## Specifications

These buses, being integral buses built on the Bustech CDi chassis by Bustech, have the 9.7 litre Cummins ISL diesel engine rated at 360 horsepower and a ZF EcoLife 6-speed gearbox with a three-stage retarder. AdBlue tanks allow it to meet Euro 5 emission standards.

The engine is quiet from the top deck, however, it is very noisy from the lower deck.

The bus has an integral Bustech ACU mounted vertically at the rear. There is a vent above the rear lower deck seat and underneath the rear top deck seat to circulate air.

The bus has capacity for a total of 102 passengers, 92 seated and 10 standing, with 2 side by side wheelchair spaces on the lower deck. No standing is allowed on the staircase or the upper deck due to safety concerns.

The buses are the only Hillsbus vehicles with Premier Protean bench seats and studded graffiti metal. The seat backs, walls and even the ceiling is covered in studded metal.

The buses are 4.3 metres tall, compared with 3.4 metres for a standard height city bus. This saving in height is due to the ACU being moved and lower deck headroom being reduced from 2.4 metres to 2 metres.

This bus differs from other Hillsbus buses in that the rear double doors are plug doors that slide outwards, similarly to the brand new Custom Denning Element. The plug doors have a much faster closing time than the standard rear doors, therefore reducing the amount of wasted energy on air conditioning and heating.

As the CDi is quite tall, a large metal bar is fitted at the front on the door side to reduce damage sustained when passing trees, which would otherwise scratch the paint.

## Trivia

Besides the colour of the Mobitec display, there is no really big difference between the two variants. The 5 vehicles with flipdot displays were ordered by Transport for NSW as demonstrator vehicles to determine the feasibility of operating double decker buses in Sydney, with two more going to Forest Coach Lines (same specs but with Bustech seat moquette) and one to Busways Western Sydney (different seating arrangement).

All flipdot buses and some of the buses with LED displays have the rear route board below the back window for the top deck, while the rest have the LED display inside the window. The buses with the LED displays outside are M/O 6522-6526 (needs confirmation).

These buses are the only Bustech vehicles and also the only model of double decker bus in service with Hillsbus, as the Volvo B9TL is not in revenue service in Sydney.

Although these buses can carry more passengers than standard buses, they only have standing room for 10 people as standing is not allowed on the top deck and the lower deck is shortened to make space for the engine at the rear.

These buses, like the Volvo B7RLE Volgren Optimus 2nd generation, have bristles on the outside of the wheel humps.

Buses with the plate numbers M/O 8xx are actually part of a growth order for double decker buses. Aside from their plate numbers, they can be differentiated from others as they have a black stripe across the top of the rear, painted behind the top rear lights.