Rear-engined rurals for CIE's bus fleet
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A NEW GENERATION of rear-engined rural buses is being developed for Cores lam pair Eireann, Ireland's semi-state transport company, reports ALAN MILLAR.
FFG, the Hamburg City Transport consultancy, is building two prototypes based around the FFG-designed buses and coaches already being built by Bombardier Ireland. They share many body features of the existing range, but are lighter.
Both are fitted with Kirkstall axles and longitudinally mounted vertical engines. One has a six-litre 115bhp DAF DF615 engine, hydraulic fan-drive cooling and an Allison AT545 automatic gearbox. The other has a Mercedes-Benz 5.68-litre 0M352 engine, belt-drive cooling and Mercedes automatic gearbox. The DAF-powered bus seats 47, the other 46.
They will undergo extensive proving trials on rural service and school bus duties, starting early next year, with a view to buying production examples from Bombardier from around the end of 1984. They will replace Bedford and Leyland buses.
In the meantime, Bombardier is fulfilling the remaining commitment to supply, at a rate of 10 per month, 365 double-deckers, all but two with Detroit Diesel engines, Allison gearboxes, and Rockwell axles. From mid-1983, work will start on a planned. order for 230 single-deck city buses with Cummins L10 diesels, Voith D851 gearboxes and Kirkstall axles.
A Cummins-engined singledeck prototype is undergoing tests at present at the engine builder's Darlington plant, and a similarly-powered doubledecker has been in service in Dublin for around two months. An L10-engined Leyland Atlantean has been in CIE service since April last year.
CIE also has Bombardier's "UK prototype" double-decker with Rolls-Royce 180bhp engine, ZF gearbox, and Kirkstall axles. It is being operated between Limerick and Shannon, close to the manufacturer's premises.
Bombardier, meantime, be. lieves it still has a "better than 75 per cent" chance of securing an order to supply 50 single-deckers to an export customer, believed to be in the US. The pros--pect of this order persuaded therecently defeated Irish Government to resume funding CIE's purchase of Bombardier vehicles, after the factory was compelled to suspend production. It was only back to normal production this week.