09/01/2026
👀 Spotted the new kid on the block? We can’t hide it anymore; Let’s make it official!
Welcome to AHB International, a brand-new sub-page of A R A Heritage Buses, created to showcase a special part of our fleet that sits outside the traditional Auckland Regional Authority story. Here, we highlight buses from overseas origins and non-ARA histories that have found their way into New Zealand’s transport story.
And what better way to launch than with SBS998Y! This 1996 Volvo B10MA-60 bendy bus was a one-off demonstrator, built and assembled in Singapore with a Duple Metsec body, measuring a staggering 19 metres – making it at the time, Asia’s longest bus.
SBS998Y was part of Singapore Bus Service's (now SBS Transit) series of high capacity trials before the operator opted for double-deckers as a mainstay. After operating nearly a decade in Singapore, it arrived in Auckland in 2006, operating under fleet code #98 with Bayes, and later as #152 with Bentley Coachlines down south in Christchurch. With its unusual 19-metre length, a meter longer than typical articulated buses—it still remains one of New Zealand’s longest buses.
Now, almost 30 years after its Singapore debut, SBS998Y has rolled back into Auckland, proudly sporting its original Singaporean numeric fleet code, #998.
Join us as we work to gradually restore this bus to its original Singapore Bus Services (SBS) specification, sharing each step of the process and the stories we uncover along the way. It’s a big, long-term project, but seeing this icon back in its original form will be worth every moment!
Follow along for updates on #998 and the rest of the AHB International fleet!
🚍 Available for charter
📩 DM us or visit araheritagebus.org.nz
(Credits to SBS Transit / Danny C Y Chan for SBS998Y’s photo upon launch)
