A trip to Tasmania - Part 1

[Irisbus Rider]

Well, what can I say, Tasmania is simply a place you all must visit at some stage, especially Hobart. It is such a beautiful city, with the Derwent River, the Tasman bridge, Mt Wellington, Mt Nelson, Kingston, their long stretching beaches and peninsulas, I could go on, but, nah.

And then there's Metro, a great service (yes, better than ACTION), interesting vehicles, and just a good operator in general. Here are a few (bus) pics to give you a general idea of Hobart.

In order of oldest to newest buses;

MET-714 is a Volvo B10ML with a PMCSA body operating a 189 to Hobart. This photo was taken at Rosny Park Transit Mall, one of 4 major interchanges in Hobart. It still wears the old livery as you can see.




MET-144 is a Scania N113CRB with a Ansair Tas body (VoV 1) and this bus is the newest bus in this body. These buses have an interior that is near identical to the Ansair O305s Canberra had. The photo was taken at Glenorchy Bus Station.




MET-199 is a Scania N113CRB with an Ansair Tas body (VoV 2). This bus is actually the last N113CRB to have the VoV 2 body. It is seen here at a layover just down the street from the main bus interchange in Hobart.




Hobarts version of an AOA, EW-0662 (191) is a Scania N113CRB with an Ansair Tas (VoV 2) body, and is in AOA wrap for the charity, Variety. The reason for the standard Tasmanian number plate is because it is ex Hobart Coaches, a company that got taken over by Metro (to my understanding, don't know too much about it). This bus is seen entering Rosny Park Transit Mall, the opposite end the artic is entering.




MET-521 is a MAN 10-180 HOCL with a Ansair Tas (VoV 2) body, and is the low floor evaluation unit. The remainder of MAN piecarts are high floor. This photo was taken in Elizabeth St Bus Mall, the main bus Interchange in Hobart, and is located more or less in the CBD.




MET-650 and MET-646 are seen here laying over at Franklin Square. These buses are Scania L113CRBs with Ansair Tas "Orana" bodies, and 650 sports the full Orana livery while 646 sports only part of it.




Here, MET-619, which is a Scania N113CRB with a Ansair Tas "Orana" body is seen here on the main highway with the post office in the background.




MET-202 is a 14.5m Scania L94UB with a Volgren "CR224L" body. This is one of 4 14.5m buses operating for Metro, and they are usually seen on this very route, the X1. Here, the bus is photographed at Glenorchy Bus Station, with Mt Wellington and a CB60 EvoII in the background in AOA for the AAMI stakes.




A real AOA, MET-235 is in AOA for UTas to commemorate the 888, a direct City to Uni service. It is a NCBC bodied Scania L94UB and is about to operate a 54 to Sandy Bay and return. It is seen beside Franklin Square. I was very impressed with the quality of build of the NCBC, truly a fabulous city bus body.




MET-228, another NCBC bodied Scania L94UB, passing through Rosny Park Transit Mall bound for Mornington. Note the sticker above the door! Yay!


To finish off Metro;

MET-304, A new CC EvoII bodied Scania K230UB operating a service from Rosny Park to Glenorchy. It is in AOA for the new Smartcard ticketing system to be implemented in Hobart later this year. And take a look at their side destos! It's just a single line of writing, usually the bottom line of the desto.
For a bus that's 3 months, it's very dissapointing. The body was already falling apart, and the suspension was rough, and the bus was gutless. They do not stand up to a NCBC L94 at all!



Lately, a new company has started to cover the runs that Metro don't want to cover, O'Driscolls is one of those companies. Here is a shot of one of their buses;

Mills Tui bodied Mercedes Benz OH1830 (I think) with the new Tasmanian number plates.

I hope you enjoyed those pics as much as I did taking them, there's more to come too!

[Buzz Killington]

Great photos, and nice to see some from a place we don't often see much of. Metro certainly has an interesting and varied fleet.

[Snorzac]

Yes when I went to Hobart I rather liked the busy bee livery, hope you have some pics of that. Great pictures!!