[binaiks]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Saw this in today's news paper about Patna and felt it was a great move to generate more mobility among women especially in this part of the country. BSRTC (Bihar State RTC) has introduced pink buses in specific routes and allows male passenger accompanying women to travel as well.

Our BMTC (Bangalore) had something similar - they had pink coloured buses running as "Women Special". Those buses used to run as "general" during the off-peak hours and on Sundays/Holidays. I think this concept was scrapped later due to poor occupancy.

A pic of such a BMTC bus attached. (The pic was taken in December 2008 - not sure if such buses exist even today)

[binaiks]

A unique vehicle of TNSTC-CBE. This vehicle has the same front as the old "Cheran" buses of Coimbatore - something that I grew up seeing.

The huge bar like thing below the front bumper is a magnet - the magnet picks up all metal particles on the road (nails, sharpnels, etc). This helps avoiding their buses from having a puncture (and also saves the tyres of other vehicles).

[dhandapanik]

While roaming around Hosur, happened to spot these new "Gadinadu Sarige" from KSRTC. Not sure when these Gadinadi sarige's were launched. Saw 4 of them and all 4 were KA42 registered and they are brand new. I think they were running to Anekal. Need to confirm.

KA 42 F 757. Gadinadu Sarige from KSRTC @ Hosur


KA 42 F 756. Waiting for a departure from Hosur.


Rear and Side profile of the same


KA 42 F 753. Gadinadu Sarige moving out of Hosur BS.

[AkMar]

I travelled in the Volvo 8400 CNG today. It is on trial with NMMT (Navi Mumbai Municipal transport) for a month. On the interior and exterior, not much has changed, except the addition of a few vents neat the engine, CNG tanks on the roof & an additional panel on the dashboard (CNG leak analyser).

Performance:
The main change is under the hood, i.e. the CNG Engine. The engine is quite silent. Kinglongs are far more noisier than this. My journey was a short one, a distance of about 5 kilometers. The bus impressed during this short run. It gains speed effortlessly. As the bus was new, the driver was being cautious. He always stayed below 1100-1200 rpm. But he did accelerate quickly a couple of times and the engine did not disappoint. Unlike the Kinglongs whose engines groan when the throttle is floored, the Volvo accelerated without any fuss. I expect the acceleration to be slightly lower than the diesel counterpart, but it is by no means unacceptable.

Verdict:
This offering retains all the strengths of the Diesel counterpart & offers the benefits of CNG. Add to it the brand image of Volvo & you have a winner. This product further cements Volvo's position as the number 1 bus maker in India in my books. Pictures follow.

Front view. The bus is registered in Thane.


Rear 3/4th view.


Euro 4 badging on the bus


Posing with a diesel Volvo


Rear view. Notice the extra vents besides the taillamps, and the two leftmost seats which are at a higher level than the other three.


"CNG" stickering on the last window.


Another look

[libranof1987]

^^ Are these buses CNG-ready by Volvo or retrofitted outside?

[AkMar]

They come with factory fitted CNG engine.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by arvi86

A new Government and a new paint scheme for Chennai's MTC buses.

arvi86, one very important thing to notice other than the colour scheme is that the numbering schemes which started from A(in 1960s) to I in 2007s did not go forward to the Js instead kept going on to I3000 plus when the previous govt was on (notice the TAI 3383, the first 2 letters denote the depot to which the bus belong, the 3rd letter is a series identified from 001 to 1000). I found it very very silly. Why should the J be an unwanted thing (because it is the starting letter of the name of your opp leader) in a normal bus number series(not route numbers). I think that is now corrected in the latest buses.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

I felt as such these buses were sleeping, as the time was around 0300
Attachment 826813

Attachment 826814

Sorry for the poor quality of Pics - Poor Mobile Cam

Yeah and they look very snug too. I love the colour schemes on our Volvos compared to some garish colours in other places. This is very simple and nice. I am a big fan of these buses.

[prashanthyr]

In one of the new Euro 4 Tata Buses that BMTC has recently acquired, I noticed this device on the rear wheels. Looks like a tire pressure monitoring system. I have seen this device in Argentina a couple of years back, but first time in India. Are these a mandated requirement from BMTC?

Sorry for the poor quality mobile cam pic

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

In one of the new Euro 4 Tata Buses that BMTC has recently acquired, I noticed this device on the rear wheels. Looks like a tire pressure monitoring system. I have seen this device in Argentina a couple of years back, but first time in India. Are these a mandated requirement from BMTC?

Sorry for the poor quality mobile cam pic

AFAIK, they are regular chassis only.
Bigger picture can throw some more light!

[prashanthyr]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

AFAIK, they are regular chassis only.
Bigger picture can throw some more light!

Is this better? you can see a tube connecting the hub to the nozzle.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

Is this better? you can see a tube connecting the hub to the nozzle.

There are chances that TPMS may be done on a trial basis to know the tyre pressure and temp. But this should be as a means to capture data's as there were indications of severe tyre heat and wear.
But this type is very old and recent ones uses RFID.
Pic attached for ref.

[dhandapanik]

Spotted this High deck bus of BMTC at Majestic BS. Who built this bus? How we should address this? Is it a High Deck bus or Double decker?

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Spotted this High deck bus of BMTC at Majestic BS. Who built this bus? How we should address this? Is it a High Deck bus or Double decker?

The question is that was this bus plying on regular routes? Did you get to see the route number? IMO these buses were built for Bangalore rounds, the day long sight seeing service, it must have been decomissioned or some thing and put into service as a spare bus. These may not be regular buses that ply Blr roads at any point of time.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by girishglg

The question is that was this bus plying on regular routes? Did you get to see the route number? IMO these buses were built for Bangalore rounds, the day long sight seeing service, it must have been decomissioned or some thing and put into service as a spare bus. These may not be regular buses that ply Blr roads at any point of time.

Yes it was running in regular route. Route is Majestic-Shivaji Nagar. Conductor was shouting at Shivaji Nagar.

[binaiks]

BMTC's new BS-IV buses:

These buses come in two colours - blue and red. The buses are built by KMS on TATA 1618 (BS-IV) Chassis. The finishing is top-class. I did not get a chance to try them till now - hope to have a run tomorrow in one of them. BMTC would be getting 400 of these buses (not sure if KMS would be building all of them)





Just less than 2 months since this new design was brought, KMS has modified the front already. In the new model, dual headlamps have been replaced with single headlamp, and the position of turn indicators have changed.

Spotted this new front bus being turned out of the depot for service: