A Ride and Drive as well as a Handover Event with the first ever Volvo B11RLE low entry double deck coach in Malaysia

 

Volvo Buses showcased the first ever fully built Volvo B11RLE 6x2 double deck coach for the Malaysian market and had inviting customers to experience first-hand a Ride and Drive event earlier today. This comes after introducing the Volvo B11RLE 6x2 chassis here recently. YB Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Transport Minister of Malaysia, and His Excellency Dr. Joachim Bergstrom, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia, graced the event held at the Volvo Group Malaysia Shah Alam office.

This event marked the first time a fully built Volvo B11R Low Entry 6x2 double deck coach is showcased and operated on road in the market since the chassis’ introduction in 2022. The event was jointly organized by Volvo Buses and its partner Truckquip Sdn. Bhd. (TQ), which is Volvo’s fully authorized chassis assembly factory in Malaysia. The buses were also officially handed over to the operators, Sani Express Sdn Bhd (Sani).

The Ride and Drive kicked off at Volvo Buses’ Malaysia office in Shah Alam and saw the participants take a tour around the Shah Alam area and enjoyed mixed road conditions in the newly built Volvo B11RLE double deck coach. A first hand experience of what's it like to ride in the latest bus that Volvo Buses has to offer.

The first ever Volvo B11R low entry bus featuring the ALPHA DD12 TQ body, is designed to be the king of the road, offering maximized safety with a newly integrated Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) enhanced with technologies such as Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), which will provide alerts against falling asleep momentarily or distractions whilst driving. In addition, the Alpha DD12 built as a wider stance resulting lower center of gravity for better stability, especially while driving on the highway, to increase driver confidence, thus ultimately improve passenger comfort and road safety.

The newly-built Volvo B111RLE 6x2 double deck was handed over to Sani Express Sdn Bhd (Sani) and is part of an order for 12 units. Following these two units, the rest will be delivered throughout the year and the plan  is to put them in operations e.g. for service between Kota Bharu and Kuala Lumpur. Sani is one of the biggest bus operators from Kota Bharu, providing transportation services including airport transport, hotel shuttle, intercity and city operations. Wan Mohd Iskandar bin Dato Salleh, Group Managing Director of Sani, is confident that the newly purchased Volvo B11RLE models will elevate his fleet to a new level by providing outstanding comfort to his passengers for long distance travel.  

The Sani operated buses are well equipped for the long haul route to the state of Kelantan from Kuala Lumpur. The extra space offered by the double decker setup makes an efficient passenger setup in terms of volume and the fittings requested by the operator seems to be of premium levels of quality inside. Driver and co-driver amenities are good, with the infotainment system and the driver's instrumentation fully specced and a bunk bed for the driver or co-driver to use during long trips. Space seems good for the required 6 to 7 hour bus journey that these buses will take for their route. There is also a restroom for the passengers or occupants of the bus during travel. All fittings feel on point. 

“As the bridge between states and cross border travels, express coaches play an essential and prominent role in the public transportation system in Malaysia. Intercity coach travel serves areas or cities, which otherwise could be difficult to reach, providing a more flexible and economical alternative for our people. Thus, we are extremely excited to see manufacturers like Volvo working with local body build partners like Truckquip, coming up with products that are customized and specially designed to meet the local operational needs, and bring to our operators a first-hand experience of ride and drive. We believe this will encourage more efforts and investments into the local bus industry and ultimately benefit our passengers by providing a safer, more comfortable and enjoyable journey! “, said YB Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Transport Minister of Malaysia. 

“This is an opportunity not to be missed,” said Mats Nilsson, Vice President of Volvo Buses Asia Pacific. “Malaysia is the only market in Asia offering the Volvo B11RLE, it is assembled and built here in Malaysia, and specially designed for Malaysia to meet our customers’ expectations, passengers’ requirements, and local operational needs. Today is the first time ever that we are showcasing the fully built bus and providing first-hand ride and drive experience. By offering one specific product model specially designed for one market, it shows our full commitment to the development of public transportation in Malaysia and our strong confidence in the growth of express coaches and premium tour buses in the Malaysian bus market.” 

“The partnership between Volvo Buses and TQ started as early as 2015, with bus chassis assembly for the local market, and we are proud to collaborate on this specially designed for Malaysia model Volvo B11RLE 6x2. It is a true glo-cal approach, a state-of-the-art product with global experience from Volvo, coupled with local body design meeting every need of the local requirements. TQ’s technical team has worked day and night over the past year with Volvo’s body building support and instructions to come up with this striking, premium double deck coach and we look forward to more such successful collaborations” shared Tan Keng Meng, Executive Vice President and Group CEO of Warisan TC Holdings Berhad.

Volvo Buses continues to place efforts in the Malaysian bus market by providing the best solutions to address the challenges that operators face in their daily operations and ultimately the best on-road experience to the local passengers.