Volvo Olympian

United Kingdom

The buses were very popular in the United Kingdom; most of the UK versions had two rather than three axles.

London United, Metroline, Stagecoach London, London Central, London General, Capital Citybus, MTL London, Harris Bus and First CentreWest had received 687 Volvo Olympians between 1994 and 1999. Because of a low-floor rule that had to be complied with by 2006, these buses were not in service for long.

Only two buses from London United survived for rail replacement services.

In 2008, the Low Emission Zone is expected to put a final class of the Volvo Olympians in London. Metroline quit Volvo Olympians service in June 2008, displaced by Alexander Dennis Enviro200Darts. Some of them went to Ensignbus for rail replacement work.

In April 2000, Singapore Bus Services had sent two Volvo Olympians, one to Nottingham and one to Metroline. Metroline replaced the tropical windows and the doors with British standard products and reregistered it. It was the first to be sent to Ensignbus in September 2005.

Many other operators outside London did receive Volvo Olympians, the main operator being FirstGroup.

Ireland

Dublin Bus RA-class Alexander bodied Volvo Olympian in Dún Laoghaire in May 2005

Northern Counties Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympian in Yellow Buses livery in May 2009

Dublin Bus had continued their orders with the RA batch being ordered first (RA176 - RA325), 150 buses in 1994. In January 1997, Dublin Bus ordered further 315 Volvo Olympians, which is RV. During the period, new liveries had been introduced, of which it is CitySwift and the changing of the livery from two-tone green/orange to white/blue/orange. All buses were withdrawn in 2011.

Hong Kong

Citybus Volvo Olympian in Hong Kong in May 2009

Kowloon Motor Bus had ordered 531 Volvo Olympian 11m, 338 Volvo Olympian 12m and 30 Volvo Olympian non-aircon buses between 1994 and 1999. Long Win sold 10 12-metre Volvo Olympians to KMB in 1999. Due to the modernisation of the fleet, all Volvo Olympians have been withdrawn or converted to training buses.

Citybus had ordered 10 Volvo Olympian 10.4m, 2 Volvo Olympian 12m (second hand from China Light & Power), 310 Volvo Olympian 12m and 142 Volvo Olympian 11m (two second-hand from China Motor Bus) between 1994 and 1998. Due to the modernisation of the fleet, most of the buses were either withdrawn, sold or converted to training buses.

China Motor Bus ordered 64 Volvo Olympians between 1996 and 1998. 62 were sold to New World First Bus in 1998 and 5 of them were converted to open-top for Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus. New World First Bus received 2 12-metre Volvo Olympians from HACTL in 1999 and 10 from Citybus in 2014. All buses were withdrawn as they aged 16 – 17 years, and the last batch of buses were withdrawn in October 2015.

Singapore

SBS Transit Alexander bodied Volvo Olympian in Singapore in April 2006

Singapore Bus Services had ordered 100 Volvo Olympian 2-Axle and 201 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle in 1993 to replace almost all the older Leyland Atlanteans between 1977 and 1984. The Volvo Olympian 3-Axle (Batch 1) were delivered between June 1994 and June 1995. Most buses were extended by 2 years in 2011, and some to a further 6 months or 1 year extension in 2013 - 2014 due to insufficient deliveries of new buses. All buses of this batch retired in June 2015.

The Volvo Olympian 2-Axle are the last ever non-air conditioned buses to be brought in by Singapore Bus Services and also the last non air-conditioned double decks in Singapore. They were unable to convert to air-conditioned because of the heavy weight and follows their partners but charges lower fares. In late 2003, most of these buses were redeployed to Jurong and Tuas industrial routes to replace the then outgoing Leyland Olympian 2-Axles. Some buses of this batch had their lifespan extended by 2 years due to insufficient deliveries of new buses. All units were retired between June 2011 and September 2013.

In 1996, SBS ordered a second batch of 200 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle to replace some of the then-retiring Mercedes-Benz O305 and Leyland Atlantean. 148 of these 200 Volvo Olympian were given a lifespan extension of 2 years due to insufficient deliveries of new buses. All units of this batch were retired between August 2013 and October 2016. These buses were the last double decks in Singapore to use plastic destination signages.

In 1998, SBS ordered the last batch of 70 Volvo Olympian 3-Axle. These buses were retrofitted with LECIP Electronic Destination Signage (EDS) between 2009 and 2011. Despite being refurbished, these buses did not receive a lifespan extension of 2 years owing to a large influx of new Volvo B9TLs. Retirement began in March 2016 and all buses of this batch retired in December 2017.