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General Motors- (Fishbowl) 2000-2110,2150-2155,2240-2485,2600-2619,2700-2858,8010-8117,8740-8985, (Classic) 6210-6293 Flyer/New Flyer- D901,D40-88,D40-89,D40-90,D40LF Orion Bus Industries- 03.501,(05.501) 6640-6745,7000-7134,9370-9394,9400-9449, 06.501, 07.501 |
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Orion Bus Industries 03.501 (Articulated) Concluding the demonstration of the 12 GM TA60102Ns given to the TTC by the MTO, the TTC decided to order 90 articulated buses from Ontario Bus Industries (Now known as Orion Bus Industries). The buses were sold at a cheap price. In a joint venture between the Hungarian bus manufacturer and the bus manufacturer Ontario Bus Industries they produced the 03.501 articulated bus model. The body of these buses were assembled Hungary in the Ikarus plants then shipped over to the Mississauga plant of the Ontario Bus Industries where the rest of the bus was assembled (doors, engine, articulation joint,etc). OC Transpo (Ottawa) also ran this model of articulated bus. The articulated buses were ran on heavy/busy routes such as 29 Dufferin, 39 Finch East, 60 Steeles West, 81 Thorncliffe Park and 106E York University Express. These buses ran with no problems for years. Around 1994 the TTC had discovered that there was problems with the joints of these buses, they corroded and were not made for the Canadian climate. Automatically buses were pulled off the road and 10 were retired right away prematurely. The rest of the fleet was checked and buses were retired slowly. In 1999 44 buses were operating in the Malvern Division on routes 39E Finch East and 129 McCowan North in rush periods. On September 1, 2000 the artics were operated as their last day of service with the TTC. At the end of the PM rush period all Orion artics were pulled out of service and decommissioned within the week. There only less than 20 artics in service that week. With the absence of the articulated buses on routes they usually ran, service worsened, buses fell behind service and were packed more than usual. In November 2000 the TTC put a artic back in service to help out the problem of overcrowding on the rte 39E branch. The following month another artic was put back into service. Engineers at the TTC decided to check out other Orion artics to see if they were suitable to re-enter service, they tested every model parked on the property to evaluate them. The result of that was the rebuilding of 18 articulated buses. The TTC would bring these buses down to Hillcrest and were repaired where they needed to be whether mechanical, electrical or structural. Slowly the TTC is rebuilt these buses to put them back in service. As of this day the artics have returned to service and are running a variety of routes during the rush period, there are still a few left to return. Bringing back these buses will be a temporary solution until the TTC orders more buses in 2003 or 2004. |
SPECS Model- Orion Bus Industries 03.501 Year- 1987-1989 Fleet #s- 6360-6419/6530-6559 Length- 60ft Width-102 inches Tare Weight- 37,918 lbs Engine- Detroit Diesel 6L71TA Transmission- ZF- Ecomat HP-590 Garages allocated to- Malvern |
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