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Oldest European buses in ordinary service

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alex397

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The latest Buses magazine has an article about one of Europe's oldest buses in ordinary service being withdrawn from service, a 42-year old articulated Setra in Bregenz, Austria.

This has made me wonder where some of the oldest buses in continental Europe may be in service. My guess is that there are probably quite a few elderly vehicles in Central Europe, especially the Balkans.

In my travels, I have seen Mercedes O405 buses (mid 80s/90s) with a private operator in Warsaw 2 years ago, some articulated Mercedes O305 buses (1970s/80s) on tram replacement services in Sofia, Bulgaria. I think there were some Citaros dating from 2003 in service in Aachen, Germany last month too.

I've seen plenty of information of the oldest UK buses in service, and the oldest European trains, but thought this would be an interesting discussion point.
 
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Richard Scott

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Went on some Volvo B10Ms in Tallinn in 2019 although didn't sound anything like B10Ms we had in Britain so assume they were much newer? Definitely very high floor, though. Any info on these would be appreciated.
 
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gingerheid

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The B10Ms (seemed quite old when they came) and B12MAs (seemed quite new) both arrived in Tallinn in 2003 IIRC, second hand from an operator in Sweden. I was interested at the time to know how old they were, but at that time they were dwelling more on how modern and new to Estonia they were - it wasn't until a few years later that they would first boast of buying completely new buses!
 
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gingerheid

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IMG_20200116_221745.jpg

There are very old (c1980) buses still operating in rural parts of the Baltic states. I was told that this bus operating the 2 in Birzai (Lithuania) for Birzu Autobusu Parkas was very old and that they're very proud of it... still being running. Unfortunately it caught me something by surprise so I don't have a better picture of it!

I've seen buses similar to it being operated in Kaunas, and in Jelgava in Latvia (despite there being a bus factory there... it might also have come over the border from Lithuania).
 
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dutchflyer

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As a rule of thumb: the further away from Germany and the poorer the country, the older the buses will be (and most likely also the most heavily used ones!). But IF those funny electric buses using wires with electricity to feed them also count (I mean the trolleybus, once also widespread in the UK) then these are the clear winners. Several UKRainian cites still employ the Skoda Tr9. Sometimes even the usual countries that rely on 2nd hand cast-offs from Germany or Scandinavia (its fairly tipical still in DE to replace buses after 7-8 yrs-often when contracts finish) like PL, the Baltics are able to cast off once theyre used there to other countries which seem still happy to accept hem.
Currently again here in Bangkok/TH, where some of the private nonAC buses have plates from the early 80ies. The main series of govmt.owned citybuses date from the early 90ies and still do everyday normal service. From the special series plates for routebuses its quite easy to roughly estimate the year they got licensed first. But thats digressing, as its not Europe.
 
Planesandtrain

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Budapest and Prauge still have a sizeable fleet of high floor buses delivered anywhere from the mind 90s to appox. the mid 2000's in service. Many Itallien bus garages both city and rural tend to have a couple of 90's vehicles that just seem to keep going.
 
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alex397

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Interesting posts so far, thank you.

Richard Scott said:
Went on some Volvo B10Ms in Tallinn in 2019 although didn't sound anything like B10Ms we had in Britain so assume they were much newer? Definitely very high floor, though. Any info on these would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Elsewhere in the Baltic, I observed some B10Ms operating inter-urban bus routes into Riga, Latvia. The city bus and trolleybus fleet seemed entirely modern though

dutchflyer said:
But IF those funny electric buses using wires with electricity to feed them also count (I mean the trolleybus, once also widespread in the UK) then these are the clear winners. .
Click to expand...

Including trolleybuses, It seems Vilnius (and Kaunas) in Lithuania still has sizeable fleets of
Škoda 14Tr types, which are becoming rare elsewhere. Hopefully they will still be there on my visit to the country next month. I don't believe they are due to be withdrawn just yet.

On my visit to Sofia, Bulgaria a few years ago, there were articulated Ikarus trolleybuses operating. I believe they are still there, if the dates of some Flickr photos are correct. I observed and travelled on the same type of trolley in Budapest, but I don't think they are still there.
 
martinsh

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gingerheid said:
There are very old (c1980) buses still operating in rural parts of the Baltic states. I was told that this bus operating the 2 in Birzai (Lithuania) for Birzu Autobusu Parkas was very old and that they're very proud of it... still being running
Click to expand...
That's a PAZ 672V. No Soviet era buses left in normal service in Latvia. Oldest vehicle I can find still in service is a 1987 Volvo B10M ex Sweden
 
Zamracene749

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PKS Luban used a Setra S215HR on the long express line between Wroclaw and their home city last sunday, 12th Jan. At around 29 years old, it made a great sight cruising west along the A4 among all the Tourismo, Lions Coach, Irizar etc! No idea if it's a regular on this route, but the same company runs a merc 0303 and some other oldtimers.
 
themiller

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A bus from Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and a trolleybus from Murmansk taken in August 2018. Both were a common sight at that time. Unfortunately, I don't know further details regarding makes.upload_2020-1-21_16-28-4.jpeg upload_2020-1-21_16-28-49.jpeg
 
Gostav

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gingerheid said:
View attachment 72794

There are very old (c1980) buses still operating in rural parts of the Baltic states. I was told that this bus operating the 2 in Birzai (Lithuania) for Birzu Autobusu Parkas was very old and that they're very proud of it... still being running. Unfortunately it caught me something by surprise so I don't have a better picture of it!

I've seen buses similar to it being operated in Kaunas, and in Jelgava in Latvia (despite there being a bus factory there... it might also have come over the border from Lithuania).
Click to expand...

They may just have a very old design, not really built in 1980s. For example, if you travel in Czechia you also will find many "old" style full-high-floor buses (i.e. Karosa 900 series) but most were built after 2000.
 
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