VöV-Standard-Bus

The VöV-Standard-Bus is a standard for transit buses in Germany based on requirements by the VöV Association of German Transport Companies. The first concept was named Standard-Linienbus (standard city bus) which resulted in multiple variants of VöV-Buses. The first generation was conceived in 1968 being in production to the mid 1980s when it was replaced by the second generation Standard-Linienbus II (sometimes abbreviated as SL-II) being in production up to 2000.

Post-war Germany had made good experiences with the definition of a standard body kit for tramways that were built onto old chassis in a coordinated refurbishment action. This allowed to quickly replace the demolished fleet with the first generation (Aufbauwagen) being produced from 1948 to 1950 and the second generation (Verbandwagen) being produced from 1951 to 1958. In that time the contracted DÜWAG had a de facto monopoly in tramway production and other manufacturers had to adhere to the blueprint to be able to sell tramway cars in Germany.

During the 1960s bus transport seemed to be more feasible than tram transport but the public transport companies were faced with a large variety of bus models notoriously limiting supply of spare parts and maintenance personal. It was the Hamburger Hochbahn operator to ask for a standardization through the VöV in 1959 in order to lower purchase and maintenance costs. It took to October 1966 that a working group was formed at the VöV with most work being done by Falkenried works company, a subsidiary of the Hamburg operator. From the product requirements a pilot series of buses were manufactured by Büssing, Magirus-Deutz and Daimler-Benz.

The prototype buses were tested from October 1967 to September 1968 by the Hamburger Hochbahn. The practical experiences from maintenance workers, bus drivers and passengers were assembled in a VöV recommendation named "Typenempfehlung für einen VÖV-Standard-Linienbus". The initial SL-recommendation defined a single-decker bus with a length of 11000 mm, a wheelbase of 5600 mm with overhangs of 2400 mm in the front and 3000 mm in the back. There were two two-part air-operated doors each 1250 mm wide. The floor was comparably low at 725 mm allowing for an access with two steps each being 220 mm high. The basic concept was meant for one-man operation with passenger flow from the entry at driver to the exit at the second door near the rear wheels.

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