YM6115Z - I Love Children Bus

The Volvo Olympian 2 axle convertd to YK6115Z parked at Peck Seah Street.

This bus is the former SBS7297R (Volvo Olympian 2 axles) which was based at Ayer Rajah Bus Park. It was converted to MILK (Mainly I Love Kids) bus and registered as YM6115Z. It is currently with I Love Children organisation, a voluntary welfare organization. The theme for the bus is Parenthood planning.

EXTERIOR

A Volvo Olympian 2 axle with SBS Transit on revenue service.

The bumper was repainted.

The right side of the bus.

The non-airconditioned sliding windows are all replaced with wall blocks and vents and fitted with its own power converter to power the utilities inside the bus. The bus is airconditioned for comfort of the visitors, though it is not the regular bus air conditioner fitted on double deckers.

The rear of the bus.

The rear of the bus sees the lower deck's rear window replaced with a grille, presumably for the power converter's heat exchanger.

The features in the bus is powered by an external generator instead of the bus engine for power source.

Interior/ Lower Deck

Stepping on board the MILK/I Love Children Bus's lower deck brings a familiar sense of familiarity.

The empty spaces where the revenue collection equipment used to be.

For your safety, please stand clear of doors - the old SBS sticker.

A mat to welcome visitors on board. The original door system is also retained.

The driver's compartment.

The vehicle identification number plate of the bus.

The lower deck's interior is refurbished to blue, with home-type wooden flooring that replaced the original VO2X's flooring.

The lower deck's interior.

This was where the TransitLink farecard/ticket dispenser machine was located.

There is a speaker above the space.

The bench seats, validator space, signage box and windows have all been replaced by a table and a wall.

The Volvo Olympian's exit door system is retained. There is no difference in the external appearance of the door.

Though there are locking mechanisms to prevent the door from being opened from the outside.

Two manual locks ensure the doors stay locked and cannot be opened from the outside. The SBS & SBS Transit stickers are retained on the doors together with the door closing sign and door cock.

Towards the rear half however, the familiarity of a Volvo Olympian 2 axle's interior is gone.

An extra ladder installed behind the primary staircase that leads to the upper deck.

There used to be bench seats at this area, now replaced by wall.

Used to have bench seats too. Note the power outlet on the bottom right.

Towards the rear, the wheel arch floor space is reconfigured to be behind the steps and the two blocks on the left and the right.

Let's head upstairs!

The foot of the staircase on the lower deck.

Interior/Upper Deck

A view of the staircase. The walls are all pasted with information stickers, and the original staircase handrail is also changed.

Up the staircase. The fire extinguisher glass was cleaned up.

Following the footsteps.

The front windscreen and all of the windows are blocked off by the wall, and the original lighting positions seems to be retained.

A single bench seat installed. There used to be two front-facing seats here.

Front to rear after the staircase.

The ladder as seen on the upper deck to return to the lower deck.

Even though old buses are retired when reaching the statutory age of 17 years in Singapore, they have a new lease of life if sold off/donated to other organisations, serving a new purpose for the public.

Many thanks to I Love Children for allowing the photography of the ex-SBS Transit Volvo Olympian 2 axle YM6115Z on their event "I Love Children Bus Roving @ Peck Seah Street."

Singapore Polytechnic Escapade - Hippotour charters.

One of the Scania L94UB Hippotour bus, PA5418B chartered for the red team exiting Singapore Polytechnic.

 The author was recently invited by Afiq (a fellow transport enthusiast) to back to Singapore Polytechnic, which is his alma mater.


Singapore Polytechnic chartered a few Hippotour buses for their annual SP Escapade. Escapade is Singapore Polytechnic (SP)'s first dusk till dawn adventure for 'O' level students to celebrate YOU, de-stress and have fun!

The teams were brought ferried in these Hippotour buses between each stop of the adventure route around the Singapore Polytechnic campus. The Hippotour buses did not exactly drive within the campus, but around it for the stops.

The Hippotour buses also carried a new livery "The Original Tour. Singapore Sightseeing." The original livery can be seen @ Bill Wong's fotopic.

 On a side note, Singapore Polytechnic has changed a lot after the author graduated in 2009 =)