Produced: 1989 (Mégabus), 1985 - 1987 (PR80S), 1996 - 1998 (Renault / Obradors PR.B and PR.C)
With so many PR100-series buses having been built, it is inevitable that there will have been a few oddities over the years. The most impressive are the Renault Heuliez Mégabus built for CGFTE, the transport undertaking serving the city of Bordeaux. These are huge, double-articulated machines capable of swallowing huge crowds of over 200 passengers. The Mégabus was conceived as a joint venture between Renault and Heuliez, with Renault producing a demonstration vehicle by splicing an extra section into an existing PR180 mk. I demonstrator. The demonstration bus was tried in various locations (including heavily-loaded Paris suburban route 183). However only one order resulted, that being for ten buses for CGFTE. The buses were required for route 7, which links the city centre with the main railway station, and carries huge loads which CGFTE's existing articulated buses were struggling to cope with.
CGFTE,
Bordeaux no. 8984 (2983 JS 33) - September 1999
The sheer size of Bordeaux' Mégabuses makes it difficult to believe that
they can actually operate effectively within the heart of a bustling city. Yet they do, and
they do so very effectively. Admittedly, Bordeaux route 7 does not possess too
many corners, and the local motorists have learnt to keep well out of the way of
these huge machines. 8984 is here awaiting departure at one end of the route -
Bordeaux St. Jean station.
The ten production buses were built by Heuliez, and were constructed largely from parts drawn from the GX107 and GX187 range, including the square-cornered windows and standard Heuliez rear end. However, CGFTE have no GX107s or GX187s, so to allow some parts interchangeability with their existing fleet of PR100.2s and PR180.2s the Mégabuses have standard PR100.2-style front ends. Officially the Mégabuses are coded as Heuliez GX237s, however they have always been known by their more descriptive title. In order to bolster the fleet, the original demonstration Mégabus has since joined the CGFTE fleet on extended loan from Renault.
The Mégabuses are believed to be the only double-articulated buses in service in Europe, but are due to be replaced by Bordeaux' new tramway in 2004. The buses may then be sold in Eastern Europe.
CGFTE,
Bordeaux no. 8982 (2989 JS 33) - September 1999
Another view of a Mégabus at Bordeaux St. Jean, showing the odd mixture of
standard Renault front end mounted on what is clearly a Heuliez-built body. At
rush hours, these buses (which seat 63 and have room for some 140 standing
passengers) do get fully loaded...
Renault also briefly produced an interurban version of the PR100 called the PR80S. These have coach seating and single-leaf doorways at the front and in the centre. Some also feature a revised front end with a single-curvature wrap-around windscreen. They were produced primarily for the Verney group of bus operators and were actually built in the CBM works in Le Mans. Only 30 were produced. Following a period when some were used to operate services to Orly airport (south of Paris), many have now settled with Verney subsidiary TVRA, operating services in outlying areas of Lyon.
An articulated version of the PR80S, named the PR120S was produced, however only two examples were built. One at least was sold to Transports d'Ille et Villaine in Rennes - information on whether it (or the other one) still exists would be very welcome.
Some years after cessation of production of the PR80S, the Verney group again
specified a much-modified variant of the PR100 range for their own use. PR112
underframes were lengthened to 12 metres and sent to Spanish
bodybuilder Obradors for bodying to a particularly striking style. The Obradors
buses are known as PR.B for the bus version and PR.C for a slightly more luxurious
interurban version. Again the production run was small, 27 PR.Bs and 21 PR.Cs
being produced. The resulting vehicles found their way into a number of Verney
group fleets, however many of the PR.Bs were delivered to Essonne operator STRAV
who operate around Villeneuve-St. Georges, Brunoy and Creteil in the southern
Paris suburbs. The Obradors bodies appear to have a reputation for fragility and
rapid deterioration, and given their rarity will be well worth seeking out in
the near future.
For a time in the late 1980s, Renault attempted to interest UK operators in the
PR100, then in PR100.2 form. In 1989, it went as far as going into partnership
with British bodybuilders Northern Counties and building a right-hand drive
demonstrator for the British market. The bodywork was built to the Renault
design, but in line with British trends had only a single entrance / exit door.
After a visit by the demonstrator to London, a further bus was built for a
longer-term trial with London Buses. Three more dual-door buses followed for
Luton Airport, but after that there were no more. The British new bus market was
at an extremely low ebb at this time and, despite the PR100's proven track
record in France, no major operators were willing to put their faith in a bus
untried in the UK. The five PR100.2 / Northern Counties buses survive, with both
the demonstrator and the London bus now working in Lincolnshire for Hornsby
Travel of Ashby.
Nevertheless, Renault has had some success in selling right-hand drive PR100s on
the Australian market. They have been marketed under the name of Renault's
American truck-building subsidiary, Mack. The later ones had bodywork embodying
some R312 parts and were known as PR100.3s.
Another lucrative export market has been Spain, where locally-bodied PR100s are
to be found in a number of cities. Others are believed to have been shipped to
Africa and the Middle East.
Additionally, from 1976 a version of the PR100 was licence-built in Poland by
Jelcz as the PR110U. The Polish-built buses were rather different from the
standard French-built buses as they were powered by a licence-built Leyland
0.680 engine driving through a manual gearbox. Jelcz also managed to cram a
doorway into the rear overhang – all French-built three-door buses have both
the exit doorways between the axles.