History
MAN 11.190 HOCL-NL MIDI - #1720
Ex- TransAdelaide / Torrens Transit / SouthLink #1720
In the mid 1990s, disability activist groups lobbied to the government that they wanted all new buses delivered to be wheelchair accessible. 1995 saw this wish granted with the first delivery of 50 new buses designed with accessibility in mind.
These new MAN Low Floor buses (known as MIDIs) marked the beginning of the end for all High Floor buses in Adelaide. ALL new deliveries have been Low Floor and Wheelchair Accessible.
1720 is one of many MIDIs that kept its original fleet number through its whole working life.
Entering service in 1996 with TransAdelaide, it served out of Port Adelaide for 4 years.
In 2000 Torrens Transit took over the East West contract and moved 1720 to Mile End where it operated for several years. During this time it operated the after midnight Wandering Star services to places as far flung as Mt Barker and Gawler, typically well outside Torrens Transit’s contract boundaries.
In 2007 it moved to Newton depot to coincide with the depot’s opening. Later it moved to St Agnes and was a familiar sight on North Eastern feeder services. It moved back to Mile End in 2011 for its final service years with Torrens Transit and was mothballed a few short years later.
In 2016 the Ticket Machine and Control Unit were removed from 1720 and placed in Scania K320UB #1943, and are still in it today.
On Wednesday 1st November 2017, 1720 saw one more day of Torrens Transit service.
For this one day 6 MIDIs were reactivated to assist on Outer Harbor and Grange rail substitutes while a Cruise Ship shuttle was being performed at the same time.
Later the same month, 1720 was transferred to Southlink Edinburgh depot for its final services.
It operated the 491/2/3/4 Gawler loops while the buses that usually operated such services assisted with Gawler Line rail substitutes.
While other MIDIs went on to serve country towns around SA, by the end of 2017, 1720 had finally retired from service for good. Today the fleet is entirely low floor and wheelchair accessible, and the MAN MIDIs are directly responsible for the drastic shift away from High Floor to Low Floor.
In 2021, the MIDI’s had all reached 25 years and were destined for scrap, but a last minute effort managed to save several. On 12/11/2021, 1720 was officially preserved, and as such was the last MIDI to leave the Graveyard under its own power.
