猛獅 A51 / A91 MAN A51 / A91
編號 Class：MN
從八十年代到九十年代，嶼巴車隊主要是由日本五十鈴作為主力，甚至出現一段時間，全線巴士均是五十鈴產品，成為了嶼巴的特色。隨後時間，因應政府發展東涌成為新巿鎮，以及於赤鱲角興建新機場關係，嶼巴開始引進其他巴士款式，計有平治客車， 以及來自母公司的三菱Rosa。一九九八年，嶼巴更從英國丹尼士引進了飛鏢低地台巴士，成為車隊史上首款低地台巴士，只是在往後時間，嶼巴車隊仍舊是以五十鈴產品作主力。
二零零三年是嶼巴成立三十周年的日子，同年首次引進了九架德國猛獅製作的NL263低地台巴士，用作提升東涌新市鎮路線的服務水平，嶼巴安排新巴士主力行走，接駁當年新落成的逸東邨與東涌地鐵站的38路線，其後再於二零零四年從城巴購入五架猛獅NL262，以應付不斷上升的客量。兩款猛獅巴士都採用雙門車身，配合低地台設計，以及相對較高的載客量，對疏導這條路線龐大客量起了重要的作用。雖然這十四架猛獅巴士表現稱職，但嶼巴未有立即再引進更多猛獅巴士。隨後時間當遇上有五十鈴巴士退役，在尋找巴士填補這些空缺時，仍然主要透過接收來自冠忠的二手五十鈴巴士，以滿足需求。
二零零七年因應西部通道通車及深圳灣口岸啟用，嶼巴引入為數不少的全新及二手巴士，以配合開辦首條完全服務大嶼山區域以外路線，往返元朗西鐵站及深圳灣口岸的B2線，其中，最惹人注意相信是五架配歐四引擎的猛獅A91(18.350)新車。全數A91新車裝配由亞洲設計的雙門車身，由於嶼巴打算以此批新車行走B2，車廂裝設行李架以方便往返邊境口岸旅客。對比嶼巴之前的猛獅巴士，A91仍然屬於傳統設計，乘客需要攀爬兩級梯級才能進入車廂。 全數猛獅A91巴士於二零零七年七月初開始投入服務，初期同樣派往38路線服務乘客，協助從城巴購入的富豪B6LE，補充被調往B2的猛獅低地台巴士空缺。除此之外，嶼巴亦曾嘗試把A91駛到嶼南地區，但在新東涌道開通前，鮮有被派往行走東涌道路線。直到同年八月尾，全數A91被調往行走B2，以應付該線不斷上升的客量，直到全新的猛獅NL273投入服務一段時間後，才被調返大嶼山地區。隨著這五架猛獅A91不用專注於B2路線上的工作，原先的行李架亦最終於二零一三年七月被拆除，改成座位以增加載客量，目前這批歐四版本的A91主要服務連接東涌及嶼南的路線。
除了全新猛獅巴士外，為了應付B2線及其他路線的需要，以及替換車隊中原有的五十鈴巴士，一如早年做法，嶼巴於二零零七年從冠忠集團另一子公司，環島旅運引進十架同配亞洲車身的A51(18.310)，這批猛獅配用單門版Spacestar車身，其中四架(MN24-27)更裝配有行李架，以迎合行走B2路線需要，這批猛獅巴士自同年九月中開始投入服務，同樣先獲安排行走37及38兩條東涌區區內路線，其後部份再於往後時行走B2，直到新購入的猛獅NL273巴加入為止。適逄東涌道改善工程逐步完工，嶼巴亦開始安排猛獅巴士行走途經東涌道的路線，而猛獅巴士配備全自動波箱，能夠進一步增加行車安全，以及縮短行車時間。隨著車隊中的五十鈴陸續退役，嶼巴先後於二零零九年到一零年年間，再從冠忠集團旗下不同子公司手上接收更多猛獅巴士，雖然同樣配用亞洲單門版車身，但有若干成員是採用同廠Aero車身。
在往後時間，未有更多猛獅巴士加入嶼巴車隊，反之中國製的青年大型低地台巴士成為了替換隊中老舊巴士的首選。直到二零一三年六月下旬，再有猛獅巴士加入嶼巴車隊，這當然同樣是來自冠忠集團的二手巴士，為數七架配上亞洲Sapcestar車身的A91(18.360)加入嶼巴，並於同年八月開始投入服務，而跟二零零七年購買的A91新車不同的是，是次引進的全是單門版本，機械配搭方面是配用原廠歐五排放標準引擎，馬力輸出亦稍勝歐四版本。
冠忠一直維持著嶼巴車隊更新的工作，早年加入嶼巴的單門猛獅A51巴士，在二零一五年開始陸續退役，原有位置由來自冠忠的後輩A91取代，而經過多番整合之後，猛獅已經成為嶼巴車隊中的主力，前後已經有逾百部不同型號及配置的猛獅先後服役於嶼巴車隊，並完全取代了昔日五十鈴在嶼巴車隊的角色，在大嶼山每一角落都十分容易找到其蹤影。
Isuzu played a very important role in NLB fleet between 1980s and 1990s, to such an extent that the NLB fleet was solely composed of Isuzu products for a period of time. In the 1990s, the government planned to develop Tung Chung as a new town while Chek Lap Kok as the new international airport. NLB took this as a chance to diversify its fleet by introduced Mercedes Benz coach and Mitsubishi Rosa from the parent company Kwoon Chung. To cope with the fleet development, NLB introduced it first super low floor bus model, the Plaxton bodied Dennis Dart SLF in 1998. The role of the Isuzu was not affected after the introduction of Dennis Dart and still was the mainstream of NLB before the millennium.
A batch of 9 MAN NL263 full-sized super low floor single-deckers was introduced in 2003, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of NLB, and deploy on route 38 linking Yat Tung Estate and Tung Chung MTR Station. More MAN super low floor bus was acquired in 2004 with total 5 second hand MAN NL262 new to City Bus in 2000. Both MAN NL262 and NL263 soon took an important role in alleviating the heavy demand of this route and the service standard was improved. Though MAN single deckers had a satisfactory performance, no more MAN was introduced when the old Isuzus retired from the fleet and NLB continued to acquire Isuzu from Kwoon Chung as replacement.
1 Jul. , 2007, the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China, the HK-Shenzhen Western Corridor and the Shenzhen Bay Port started operation. The first NLB route serving outside Lantau Island, B2 operating between Yuen Long WR Station and Shenzhen Bay Port, commissioned on the same day and to cope with the need for the opening of B2, more buses were introduced. The introduction of a batch of 5 MAN A91(18.350) with Asia Auto dual-door step-entranced bodyworks was the most eye-catching and all of them featured with Euro 4 emission standards engine and luggage racks were fitted for the convenience to the cross border passengers. The first MAN A91 entered service on 7 Jul., 2007 and all of them were working on route 37 and 38 before deployed on B2 at the end of Aug. 2007. In addition, A trial at South Lantau Road for a MAN A91 was conducted in Jul. 2007 but they were seldom seen serving on Southern Lantau routes prior to the opening of the new section of Tung Chung Road. After their withdrawal from route B2, the luggage racks on this batch of dual-door MAN A91 were replaced with seats and now mainly serving routes linking Tung Chung and the Southern Lantau.
To cater the demand and substituted the aging Isuzu, a batch of 10 MAN A51(18.310) was transferred from Hotelink, a subsidiary company of Kwoon Chung Group, to NLB in Aug. 2007 and started to serve passengers since Sep., 2007. Unliked the A91 mentioned above, all A51 were bodied by Asia Auto with it Spacestar single door bodywork and 4 of them (MN24 - 27) with luggage rack for serving route B2. Besides serving Tung Chung internal routes and B2 before the delivery of MAN NL273, NLB deployed the A51 on routes serving the Souther Island as the improvement works of Tung Chung Road was gradually completed. To go one step further, fully automatic transmission was fitted on the MAN, as a result safety was enhanced and shortened the journey time. As NLB withdrawn it Isuzu, more and more MAN with Asia Auto single door bodyworks were transferred from different Kwoon Chung subsidiaries between 2009 and 2010 and some of them were fitted with the Aero bodywork.
The fleet renewal scheme of NLB between 2010 and 2013 was mainly relied on the YoungMan full-sized super low floor single-deckers from China was chosen and until Jul., 2013, NLB took delivery of a batch of 7 MAN A91 (18.360) with Asia Auto Spacestar bodyworks from Kwoon Chung and this batch of MAN started service in Aug., 2013. The A91 commissioned in 2013 was fitted with Asia Auto Spacestar single door bodywork and driven by a much powerful Euro 5 standard MAN engine.
Fleet renewal programme still under process and those MAN A51 commissioned in 2007 was started to retire since 2015 and their place was taken over by the A91 from Kwoon Chung. It is a common sight for observing a MAN everywhere within the Lantau Island and completely substituted the role used to play by the Isuzu.
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