The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engined 2-axle and 3-axle double decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo at its Irvine, Scotland factory. The first was built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian. History The design was based on its predecessor, the Leyland Olympian, but the chassis was modified such that only the chassis design and layout remained, with even the grade of steel for the chassis members being changed, Volvo's standard electrical system was used, as well as standard Volvo steering/"Z cam" braking systems. The early Volvo Olympians were offered with Cummins L10 or Volvo TD102KF engine, coupled to Voith DIWA or ZF Ecomat gearbox. From late 1996, only the 9.6-litre Volvo D10A-245 Euro II engine with electronic diesel control was offered. It was available with Alexander R-type, Northern Counties Palatine/Palatine 2 and East Lancs E Type/Pyoneer bodywork. The Volvo Olympian remained as popular as the Leyland Olympian in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A large number of Olympians were exported to Hong Kong and Singapore; most of them being air-conditioned. Orders United Kingdom The Volvo Olympian, like its Leyland predecessor, was very popular in the United Kingdom; most of the UK versions had two rather than three axles. London United, Metroline, Stagecoach London, London Central, London General, Capital Citybus, MTL London, Harris Bus and First CentreWest had received 687 Volvo Olympians between 1994 and 1999. Because of a low-floor rule that had to be complied with by 2006, these buses were not in service for long. In 2008, the Low Emission Zone finally ousted the remaining Volvo Olympians in London. Metroline quit Volvo Olympians service in June 2008, displaced by Alexander Dennis Enviro200Darts. Some of them went to Ensignbus for rail replacement work. In April 2000, Singapore Bus Services had sent two Volvo Olympians, one to Nottingham and one to Metroline. Metroline replaced the tropical windows and the doors with British standard products and reregistered it. It was the first to be sent to Ensignbus in September 2005. Many other operators outside London received Volvo Olympians, the main operator being FirstGroup. Lothian Regional Transport were among major operators in Scotland, ordering with Alexander R-type bodies, 68 of these being Alexander Royales, while Kelvin Central Buses and Strathclyde Buses also took on Olympians with Royale bodies. Ireland Dublin Bus had continued their Olympian orders with the RA batch on the Leyland chassis being ordered first