We now have a picture of an Ikarus E 94 bogie in the new livery of Concordia Bus. Click on the picture for bigger image
Old news and updates.
Current news and updates
We now have a picture of an Ikarus E 94 bogie in the new livery of Concordia Bus. Click on the picture for bigger image
Niksu, 11.4.2000
I added the Westendin Linja -company to the "Buses by operator" -page.
Niksu, 5.4.2000
I separated the picture pages by manufacturer. No new pictures were added, though. I'll try to get a picture of the Concordia Bus livery as soon as I can. Mentions of Stagecoach will gradually change to Concordia Bus over time.
Late, 29.3.2000
I changed at least most of the outgoing link to open in the same window. At least three buses (2xCity L, 1xIkarus) have appeared into traffic in the Concordia Buses livery. More will probably follow shortly and Concordia has promised to update its home pages soon.
Late, 23.3.2000
I fixed the feedback form, added the pages to Yahoo and added a counter that can be seen on the front page. The Finnish and English versions have separate counters. Nixu has added some buses to the operators list in the Finnish version and I'll bring those additions over as soon as I have time.
As a personal sidenote I'm taking my matriculation exam/A-levels/whatever you call them in a few weeks, so I probably won't do much updating for a while.
Late, 3.2.2000
Lahden Autokori strikes back
25.1.2000
Lahden Autokori is now also represented on the net. Both of the large Finnish body manufacturers now have home pages.
Late
Changes
19.1.2000
The section on operators has now been removed and replaced by a list of buses sorted according to the operator. The operator pages were not very informative and they were also rarely updated, so we decided that this would be the best solution, as we can now better concentrate on the main thing: buses. Some facts on the different operators will probably added to the list by operators in the near future.
Late
Links
18.1.2000
I added links to the home pages of Carrus and Suomen raitiotieseura (The Finnish Tram Association). A bunch of changes to these pages that have already been finished for the Finnish version should be complete in the next few days. The visible changes will include removal of the operator introductions and the addition of a bus list sorted according to the operator.
Late
Writings
4.1.2000
I finally added the text section, although it doesn't contain anything new. Instead i moved a few other documents there.
Late
This and that
20.12.1999
I changed a pile of transmissions and even a couple of chassis based on the pages by Tuomas Lehti and Juhana Nordlund. The text section is also coming along and should be available in January.
Late
Pictures
22.11.1999
I added some pictures (K202 low entry, Alizée, Omnicity), changed others (K202, Omnicity) and removed a few (K202, Omnicity). All the pictures I have at the moment are now on these pages, but pictures will continue to be taken, as some buses have no picture at all and some pictures are rather poor. I also added a page for the Van Hool Alizée, although we don't have much information on it.
Late
A picture of the Volvo 7000
20.11.1999
I added a picture of the Volvo 7000 to the pages. It is also the first picture to be scanned
at twice its real size. I also changed the names for the different picture sizes on the pictures-page.
Medium-sized picutres are now small ones, big pictures are now medium-sized ones and the
new Volvo-picture is the first new large picture.
Late
New pictures
15.11.1999
I added some pictures of the City U and City L bogie.
I also lightened the pictures-page slightly by downgrading some over-sized thumbnails.
Now would be a good idea to express your opinions about dividing the pictures-page by manufacturers.
Late
Changes on the bus front
2.11.1999
Concordia Bus, a Norwegian company, has bought Stagecoach's Nordic operations, Swebus and Stagoach Finland, from Stagecoach Holdings Plc. This makes Concordia Bus the largest operator in the Nordic countries with over four thousand buses. After the sale of these operations the Stagoach Group plans to expand rapidly in North America. Concordia intends to operate in all the Nordic countries as well as the Baltic countries and Germany.
In Finland Stagoach has been expandin rapidly. It has won a lot of tenders for new routes and will be taking over all Vantaa internal routes from the beginning of next year. Stagoach also recently won ten Helsinki internal routes, while HKL lost eight. These routes will be handed over next June.
This also means that Stagoach needs to expand its fleet. 39 Volvo-Ikarus buses, of which 14 are bogie versions, have been ordered for the Vantaa routes. New buses will probably be needed for the Helsinki routes as well. Hopefully they will also include buses built in Finland.
The Stagoach introduction will be updated shortly
27.10.1999
Two new pictures of the Säffle System 2000.
Late
21.10.1999
The Volvo 7000 has arrived (at least on Helsinki routes 84,85 and 86, as well as S-routes from Kasarmintori). I have written a review.
Late
6.10.1999
More new pictures (O 405 N CNG, a new O 405, a new N 202 and two new City L's). I sorted the pictures page by manufacturers and put the manufacturers in alphabetical order on both the pictures and buses pages. Individual models are still in a rather random order. I have attempted to choose the best picture available for bus introductions.
HKL should be receiving Volvo B7L / Volvo-Carrus 7000 buses this year. The specs should include a fully low floor and 7 litre engine. HKL has also placed its first new ADtranz Variotram Helsinki low floored trams into regular use. 20 trams should arrive by the end of 2000 and an order is to be placed for another 20. Go to the HKL home page to see a picture.
3.10.1999
The first new pictures have arrived (Mercedes-Benz Citaro, Lahti 402, its bogie version and Carrus City). More pictures will arrive as I have time to edit the scanned tif-originals, that can be found here.
Some new gearboxes and other details have been added over the last few weeks. The text section is still in my plans, but it'll take quite some time to arrive.
Late
12.9.1999
I replaced the logos for these pages with the help of my little brother. I hope you like the new look.
Late
2.9.1999
In an attempt to clarify these pages and make updating them simpler, I decided to merge the pages
for news and updates. This is the resulting page. Now you only have to check one page and I only
have to update one page. I've also been thinking about a new section for these pages, which would
contain text written by me, Nixu and anyone else who feels like contributing, but I'm not making any
promises quite yet.
Late
28.7.1999
Finished translating everything. Both versions of these pages are now identical in content. I have several ideas for updates and expansions, but I want to get more pictures scanned first and even that will take at least three more weeks.
Late
27.7.1999
Added several minor updates and brought this translation up to speed with the Finnish version.
Fnished translating the text down to the end of the Scania buses and created a new feedback form. We now have a pile of pictures waiting to be skanned, but I probably won't be able to get my hands on a scanner before mid-August. I'm on holiday 1.8-15.8, so don't expect any updates during that time.
Late
2.7.1999
All the english bus descriptions seem to have disappeared, so I'll have to translate
theam again, which could take some time.
Late
27.5.1999
HKL has received new Carrus City U CNG buses, which have more larger gas tanks than the previous ones. There are also a few Mercedes-Benz Citaros and several Scania Omnicitys in regular use.
Nixu
27.12.1998
One of the new HKL Scania Omnicity buses was sighted this evening at the HKL Ruskeasuo depot. It was rather dark, the bus was at a distance and another bus got in the way, so no real detail could be made out. However, the bus did have a rather interesting look to it.
Late
3.12.1998
According to Linja-autoliitto (the Finnish Bus Association) the biggest operators in Finland are the Koiviston Auto group (642 buses), Savnolinja-yhtiöt (454 buses) and the HKL (365 buses).
Nixu
3.12.1998
The natural gas fuelling station for buses at the Ruskeasuo depot has been compeleted and taken into use today. The new station brings this service considerably closer to the Helsinki City center. The stations capacity is 50 buses a day and it can easily be expanded to 100 buses. There are currently 18 natural gas powered buses in use in Helsinki, with an additional 11 arriving next year and the target being around 120 in the near future.
Nixu
2.12.1998
Volvo announced today that it is closing the Carrus Oy Wiima factory in Vantaa. The Tampere and Lieto factories will continue to operate. The Vantaa site is being closed as part of the Volvo saving programme, even though it is profitable. The exact time is still unknown, but is reported to be "within a few years" as Volvo believes there is surplus capacity in the business. There are currently 180 workers at the Vantaa site and some of them will be relocated to the other plants in Finland and possibly Poland.
Carrus was bought by Volvo in the beginning of 1998, before that it wa a family company owned by Ilmari Mustonen.
Nixu
27.11.1998
Yesterday morning (26.11) a HKL bus collided with a lorry in Myllypuro. One person was killed and 12 were injured. The bus had come from behind a give way sign and was crossing the innermost ring road of Helsinki (Ring I). The lorry was speeding considerably (80-90km/h vs. 60km/h) and could not avoid hitting the bus.
Nixu
26.11.1998
UPDATE! At least two MB Citaros were seen in HKL livery in the garden of Veho-hyötyajoneuvot (a bus import company) at the intersection of Turunväylä and Ring III. This means they should be in operation soon.
Nixu
26.11.1998
HKL has ordered 10-20 new buses to be built on the Volvo B7L-chassis. The buses will have a fully low floor and will have either Volvo 5000 or 7000 bodywork. They should be operational next year.
Nixu
Old news
6.11.1998 the Finnish pages were finally opened
We now have some pictures to accompany part of the bus introductions and a couple more on the pictures-page.
According to the Finnish magazine Auto, tekniikka ja kuljetus (Vehicle, technology and transport) Both MB Citaro and Scania Omnicity buses are supposed to appear in HKL use soon. We'll keep you updated on any sightings.
HKL will be aquiring an additional 11 natural gas powered Carrus City U -buses. They will have five gas tanks in stead of the current 4. This will give them a longer operational time.