In 1996, Citybus introduced 10 low floor derivatives of B6R (1302-11), named as Volvo B6LE. "LE" is the short form of "Low Entrance". First 2 of these 10 B6LEs, 1302 and 1303, were also the first 2 low-floor buses in Hong Kong. These buses are 10.6 metres long, with single door Plaxton Pointer bodies.
Ten more B6LEs (1312-21) were purchased in 1997. This time Alexander ALX200 bodies were chosen to fit on these buses. Air-condition units were provided by Nippondenso, Japan, which was not popular among single-deckers in Hong Kong.
In early 1998, 10 more B6LEs (1322-31) came. Similar to the first 10 B6LEs, they were bodied with Plaxton Pointers. However, an exit was added for each of them. The appearance of these 10 buses is quite similar to the Dennis Dart SLFs 1422-36, except that the location of the exits are different.
The appearance of the final batch of 30 B6LEs (1332-61) is totally different from the previous ones. Citybus approached to a local bus body manufacturer, Jit Luen, to design and build their bodies. For many years Jit Luen was experiencing in designing and building single-deck non-franchised buses, such as tour buses and school buses. This is the first time that the company to design a low-floor body. The 30 buses were allocated to different routes, including the shuttle bus routes between the Airport and Tung Chung.
Photographs are available for the aforesaid buses. They can be accessed through the hyperlinks below.
Fleet Number | Type | Number of Buses | Body |
1301 | B6R | 1 | Alexander Dash |
1302-1311 | B6LE | 10 | Plaxton Pointer (Single Door) |
1312-1321 | B6LE | 10 | Alexander ALX200 |
1322-1331 | B6LE | 10 | Plaxton Pointer (Dual Door) |
1332-1361 | B6LE | 30 | Jit Luen |