Alexander ALX500

Alexander ALX500
New World First Bus's Dennis Trident 3 (10.6 meters) with Alexander ALX500 body.
Overview
Manufacturer	Alexander/TransBus
Production	1997–2002
Body and chassis
Doors	2 doors
Floor type	Low floor
Chassis	Dennis Trident 3 Volvo Super Olympian
Powertrain
Engine	Cummins M11/ISMe (Dennis Trident 3) Volvo D10A285 (Volvo Super Olympian)
Capacity	61 to 93 seats
Transmission	Voith/ZF
Dimensions
Length	10.6, 11.3 and 12 meters (35, 37, and 40 foot)
Width	2.5 meters (8.2 feet or 98.4 inches)
Height	4.4 meters
Chronology
Successor	Alexander Dennis Enviro500

The Alexander ALX500 is a 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was one of the ALX-series, which accounted for 5 different models (100/200/300/400/500), all of the models except the ALX100 featured the same designs on the front and rear panels that were originally designed for the new generation of mainly low-floor bus chassis produced since the late 1990s.

The ALX500 came in lengths of 10.6, 11.3 and 12 meters (35, 37, and 40 foot). It was fitted to various chassis, such as the Dennis Trident 3 and Volvo Super Olympian (they could be distinguished by the rear indicators outside the engine compartment: round indicators for Dennis and square indicators for Volvo). This longer version of the ALX500 was very popular with bus operators in Hong Kong, and many examples were exported there. Due to the climate, all of these ALX500s were fitted with air conditioning systems, and as a result lacked a rear window on the lower deck. The extra length of the buses meant the seating capacities were near the 100 mark for the 12.0 meters variant.

Alexander built three prototype ALX500 bodies for prototype Trident 3 chassis in 1997, with the first finished in February 1997. Production of the ALX500 body was started later in the same year, but there were some minor changes in appearance; for example, the exit door was moved rearward (for 12.0m variant only). In 1999, a modified version of the ALX500, which more resembled the ALX400 in appearance was introduced.

When Transbus International was formed in 2001, the ALX500 body replaced the standard height, right hand drive version of the Duple Metsec DM5000 body (built for the Dennis Trident 3) which was duplicated with the ALX500 design. In late 2002, the ALX500 body was replaced by the new Enviro500.