Bus 148 was a Dennis Dart SLF ‘Midi Bus’ which entered service in 1997. It has a Crusader body by Robert Wright & Son (now known as “Wrightbus”) of Northern Ireland, UK.
Bus 148 is notable for a spectacular engine fire it suffered in December 2008. It was operating Route 66 from Woden to Tuggeranong, but made it as far as Bugden Avenue, Gowrie when the fire was detected.
The fire was successfully extinguished by the ACT Fire Brigade, but repairs to the damaged vehicle took resulted in it being removed from service for more than half of the following year. It eventually re-entered service with a fresh coat of paint in August 2009.
As with all of the ACTION Dennis Darts, Bus 148 was originally fitted with an electrically-operated Tieman wheelchair ramp, but due to reliability problems, the ramp was replaced by a Custom Coaches manual flip-out ramp.
For most of its life, Bus 148 was based at Tuggeranong Depot, although it was moved to Belconnen Depot in April 2005 but later returned south.
In July 2016, Bus 148 was wrapped into a special livery and transferred to Belconnen Depot to be used exclusively on the free City Loop service. Bus 148’s final day of service was 15 April 2019, with the City Loop service ending on 26 April 2019.
Further details:
- Bus 148 on ACT Bus Wiki
- Dennis Dart specifications on ACT Bus website
This page was last updated on 12 August 2023
