New MAN Lion’s City Facelift DD Buses

The first MAN Lion’s City Face-lifted Double-Decker Buses made their revenue service debut on 14 February 2017. Purchased by LTA in September 2016, 122 such buses feature a face-lifted design with aesthetic modifications to the front and rear, as well as USB Charging Ports.

These buses are the third batch of MAN A95 buses to enter revenue service in Singapore, with 77 existing units delivered in two batches and already operating on the roads. This face-lifted bodywork design made its first appearance on the MAN Lion’s City DD L Mock-up Bus in 2016, which was displayed at LTA’s “Our Bus Journey” Carnivals as a prototype of buses in the future.

First sighted at Woodlands Bus Park in early February 2017, the buses were registered with the SG prefix with registration numbers starting with 58xx. Two buses, SG5800M & SG5801K, made their maiden journeys on SMRT Bus Service 190 and SMRT Bus Service 972 during the evening peak hours of 14 February 2017.

Bus Assembly

Facelifted MAN A95 buses are manufactured by Gemilang Coachworks in Johor, Malaysia. Similar in appearance to MAN’s integral ‘Lion’s City Hybrid DD‘ in the European market, the design is built under license by Gemilang. The bus chassis is manufactured in Germany, before being shipped to Malaysia for body assembly. After complete assembly and inspection, buses are driven from Gemilang’s plant to Singapore.

For a detailed write-up with more pictures, check out The making of a bus – MAN Lion’s City DD.

Exterior:

The exterior styling of the bus bears new styling elements, most notably the large grey stripe on both sides of the bus. The larger headlamp design was likely inspired from MAN Trucks. The livery curves on the upper deck and angled livery overlaying the rear windows makes for a more sleek design with minimal structural modifications. The side-facing Electronic Display Sign (EDS) was also relocated to the second glass panel (near the exit door) as the styling element blocked off a portion of the front glass.

The rear design features a dark area that extends from the upper deck window, subtly reducing the visual presence of large cut-out sections used for the ventilation of rear-mounted components. The placements of the upper brake lights have also been changed; they are now located in-between the upper and lower decks in addition to their placement near the rear bumper. The upper indicator lamps are located on both sides of the upper deck rear window.

Interior:

As compared to the second batch of MAN A95 buses registered in Year 2016, the facelifted buses are almost identical on the interior. Minor differences include:

• Darkened portions of windows corresponding to the large grey stripe on the exterior
• Electronic Display Signage (EDS) mounted above priority seats (nearer to Exit door than to Entrance door)
• Turquoise thermal ticket printer (previously in red)
• Plastic cover over USB Charging Ports, preventing the accumulation of dust and minimizing risk of accidental damage
• Extra button(s) on the driver’s dashboard

With 122 units expected to be delivered by this year, members of the public will not be short of opportunities to catch a ride onboard these new buses.

See also:

• MAN A95
• New MAN A95 Buses for SMRT!
• Buses with USB Charging Ports hit the roads!