[National Road Safety Week] Busways - Volvo B12BLE Euro III (Custom CB60) Review | m/o 1519

For the first day of National Road Safety Week 2025, I've fast-tracked a review I was originally planning to edit and release much later in the year. You may notice the video quality is a significant improvement on my previous videos, which I recorded with my old phone - though I still have plenty of old footage I need to go through over the next year or so.

Our journey today is onboard Busways North West Willoughby Depot's m/o 1519, on Route 120 from Chatswood to the City QVB. This bus was originally ordered by the State Transit Authority and passed to Busways following privatisation.

In 2003, the State Transit Authority received the first of 30 new Volvo B12BLE Euro III vehicles with Custom Coaches CB60 bodywork. Numbered 1406-1435, these Newcastle-based vehicles were followed by a similar batch of 60 more B12BLEs numbered 1500-1560 (skipping 1557) to replace ageing Mercedes O305 high-floors in Sydney. These vehicles were mechanically identical to the Newcastle batch, except for their livery.

Following the second batch, 50 more B12BLEs were ordered, numbered 1561-1610, followed by another 30 numbered 4800-4817, 4819 and 4821-4831. A total of 170 of these vehicles were ordered, as well as 50 more with the Volgren CR228L bodywork (and 80 Custom CB60 artics), making these one of the most common buses around Sydney. Post-privatisation, they can be seen just about anywhere, with several vehicles since transferred to U-Go Mobility and Busways Western Sydney!

These vehicles have Volvo's DH12D engine, capable of producing up to 340 horsepower and meeting Euro III emission standards. 1519 is from the second batch of B12BLEs - the first and second batch vehicles have a 5-speed ZF 5HP522 automatic transmission, while third and fourth batch vehicles have a 6-speed ZF 6HP522 transmission. Nonetheless, the third gear shifts on these vehicles aren't as musical as the Euro V B12BLEs - in fact, they're barely audible over the loud roaring of the engine!

Some other trivial differences between the different batches of B12BLEs:
1st and 2nd batch vehicles have a Coachair ACU, while 3rd and 4th batch vehicles have Thermo King units
The 4th batch vehicles have an updated dashboard and electronics system (?) compared to the first three
The 3rd batch B12BLEs were delivered new in variations of the Corporate V1 livery, but none of them had the red stripe
4th batch B12BLEs were delivered new in Corporate V2 livery

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Although the buses have been de-rated, they still possess plenty of power, which is a double-edged sword. Though it allows the bus to climb hills more easily, it also allows certain drivers to throw the bus around like a Formula 1 racecar - not only is this uncomfortable for passengers, but it is extremely unsafe, especially for standees but also for other road users. While I'm no stranger to reckless bus drivers (having experienced them countless times across Sydney), this trip and recent events (especially the Hunter Valley bus crash) have highlighted the dangerous nature of such behaviour.

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(In case you haven't noticed, I've given my reviews a minor cosmetic facelift)

I decided to time how long it took me to edit this review from start to finish - it took 7 hours and 21 minutes in total. I'll do my best to keep editing reviews to keep this channel going for the next year or two (and hopefully further beyond!) but it is coming at the expense of some of my other personal projects. (Sorry about the mess that is my upload schedule)

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:38 Wheelchair Bay
1:34 Back Row
2:12 Rear Section
9:40 Warringah Freeway and Sydney Harbour Bridge
3:46 Rear Section
6:26 Back Row
15:16 Front Section
17:30 Outro

References:
https://fleetlists.busaustralia.com/s...
https://www.busaustralia.com/forum/vi...
https://sydneybuses.fandom.com/wiki/V...)

All footage and images are from my personal collection.

Music:
In the Sky (Stock Audio)
Ice Tea (Stock Audio)

For some reason there seems to be a copyright claim on the intro music - which is unusual because it is stock audio and I've been using it for quite some time now without any prior issues.

Edited with Microsoft Clipchamp