CMB Super Metrobuses



The MCW Super Metrobus was one of the first 12m double deckers introduced in Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Until the late 1960s, Hong Kong operated standard length British buses. As the population and bus ridership grew in Hong Kong through the 1970s, British bus makers began to built stretched version of their regular UK buses for the Hong Kong market. To this day, more than 10 years after the UK returned Hong Kong to China, bus operators in Hong Kong still buy custom designed double deckers from British manufacturers.

12m buses like the Super Metrobus were common in cross harbor routes which connect the Kowloon Peninsula with the Hong Kong Island. Since these route charge higher fares and are always crowded during the rush hours, bus operators depend on these routes to generate a profit. Unlike most other countries, Hong Kong bus operators do not receive direct subsidy from the government to purchase vehicles or for daily operation. Each bus operator in Hong Kong has to have some profitable routes so that it can continue as a sustainable business and maintain service on unprofitable, but necessary, routes.

In order to handle the extra passenger load, these buses have areas on the lower level just for standees with no seats installed. This model in particular, for some reason, the seatbacks have no padding.

Because these buses do not have air conditioning, they were retired by 2000. Today, some of these buses continue to run in Sydney and London as local tour buses.