| New World First Bus | Volvo Olympian VA63 |
| [ Back ] |
The rear view of VA63. Note the special design
of the upper deck emergency exit. (1999/01/01)
| New World First Bus | Volvo Olympian VA63 |
| [ Back ] |
The rear view of VA63. Note the special design
of the upper deck emergency exit. (1999/01/01)
On 3 July 1998, the bus was involved in a serious accident at the old Kai Tak Hong Kong International Airport. The driver of the bus, when serving CMB Route A20, did not realize that the headroom of the road was not enough for a double decker. As a result, the upper deck of the bus was cut. Fortunately there was no passenger on the upper deck thus no one was injured.
The upper deck of the bus was then rebuilt by Guangzhou Cityview Bus Installation Co., Ltd. This made VA63 the first and only CMB bus with body built by this company. The new upper deck was a bit different from the original one. The most significant change was the emergency exit at the rear. The new emergency exit was not mounted with rubber-gasket. Also, the corners were squared.
VA63 returned to service shortly before the end of the CMB franchise. The bus was still in CMB silvery livery when serving NWFB for the first few months. In early 1999, NWFB repainted the bus to standard NWFB livery. At the same time, the rear emergency exit was retro-fitted with an original designed one.
VA63 before (Above - 1999/01/01) and after (Below - 1999/02/16) body repainted by NWFB.
