WMATA Pulls 100 Buses From Service After Two Fires

[mtattrain]

In other words, they're NOT coming back to life...

Metro is sidelining nearly 100 buses following recent vehicle fires.

Two Orion VI-type buses caught fire in the past week. (Orion VI is just one of the models that make up Metro's fleet.) Yesterday's fire happened on Route 50 in Maryland. Last week, an identical bus caught fire on Interstate 66 in Virginia. No one was hurt in either incident.

The transit agency is pulling all Orion VI buses from service until further notice, says Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles.

 

Full story: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Metro_Pulls_100_Buses_From_Service_After_Two_Fires-147894825.html

 

RIP WMATA Orion 6s...

[Orion VII 4 Life]

The Orion VIs need to be retired by every agency that owns them, they were complete failures and if you ask me a danger to still have running on the road.

[GojiMet86]

I didn't know there was an Orion VI. I thought it just skipped over. Did the MTA ever use them?

[w8Hou]

I didn't know there was an Orion VI. I thought it just skipped over. Did the MTA ever use them?

 

NY MTA did have them... 10 Orion VI hybrids buses back in 1998 and retired in mid 2000s.

[CDTA]

When I first read the title I said "Lemme Guess, LFS?" and then I read it. I really hope CDTA doesn't retire the O6's. They run fine, and can last until the next order of GIllig's come. (Because you just KNOW it's going to be a Gillig.)

[DJ MC]

The Orion VIs need to be retired by every agency that owns them, they were complete failures and if you ask me a danger to still have running on the road.

 

 

I heard the Orion VI was basically an expiremetal fleet of buses of some sort. Allowing Orion to iron out the bugs in them and built a better bus. That is where the Orion VII comes in.

[WMATA]

Again?!!

 

I always hated the Orion VI's. Their ugly design and poor quality were a major turnoff. Back in 2010, WMATA had to remove a similar amount due to faulty hydraulic pumps, which caused a fire on one of the buses back then. They've received all of the XDE40s and they've ordered 51 new Orion VII's (26 clean diesel models and 25 diesel-electric models) to replace these pieces of junk and some older V's.

[theaveragejoe]

I heard the Orion VI was basically an expiremetal fleet of buses of some sort. Allowing Orion to iron out the bugs in them and built a better bus. That is where the Orion VII comes in.

 

 

The VI was more popular in Canada.

 

The Orion Bus Industries Orion VI (06.501) is a fully low floor 40 foot (12,192 mm), 102 inches (2,591 mm) wide bus. It was in development since 1991 and a prototype was first produced in 1993. The Orion VI was one of the first fully low floor buses built for the North American bus market. Unlike the later Orion VII, the Orion VI was intended to have no step in the back. The full low floor allowed for easier access and an exit door to be placed at the very rear. The downside to the full low floor design was the rear wheel space became unused. Later models were built with a step up to the rear and centre exit door. The earliest versions of these buses had many difficulties. Some blamed this on what they felt was rushed production by the government of Ontario, which desired a low-floor bus to be made within the province and sold within the province. In 2004, Orion ended production of the Orion VI.

 

Operators

Canada

 

• Ajax Pickering Transit Authority (APTA) - Ajax/Pickering, ON

• Barrie Transit - Barrie, ON

• Belleville Transit - Belleville, ON

• Brampton Transit - Brampton, ON

• Cambridge Transit - Cambridge, ON

• Durham Region Transit (DRT) - Durham Region, ON

• Grand River Transit (GRT) - Waterloo Region, ON

• Guelph Transit - Guelph, ON

• Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) - Hamilton, ON

• Kingston Transit - Kingston, ON

• London Transit Commission (LTC) - London, ON

• Markham Transit - Markham, ON

• Mississauga Transit - Mississauga, ON

• Newmarket Transit - Newmarket, ON

• Oakville Transit - Oakville, ON

• OC Transpo - Ottawa, ON

• Peterborough Transit Peterborough, ON

• Pickering Transit - Pickering, ON

• Richmond Hill Transit - Richmond Hill, ON

• St. Catharines Transit - St.Catharines, ON

• Saint John Transit - Saint John, NB

• Sault Ste. Marie Transit - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

• Sudbury Transit - Sudbury, ON

• Thunder Bay Transit - Thunder Bay, ON

• Timmins Transit - Timmins, ON

• Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) - Toronto, ON (1997-2006)

• Transit Windsor - Windsor, ON

• Vaughan Transit - Vaughan, ON

• Whitby Transit (WT) - Whitby, ON

• York Region Transit (YRT)- York Region, ON

 

United States

 

• Broome County Transit (B.C. Transit) - Binghamton, NY

• Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) - Albany, NY

• Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) - Los Angeles, CA

• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) - Boston, MA

• Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York City Transit Authority) - New York, NY

• Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (MAX) - Birmingham & Jefferson County, AL

• Pace - Suburban Chicago, IL

• Ride-On - Montgomery County, MD

• Torrance Transit - Torrance, CA

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) - Washington, DC

 

 

http://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Orion_Bus_Industries_%27Orion_VI%27