[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Vikhyath

Attenders wouldn't be required because the conductor himself is quite jobless in between stops when the snacks or coffee is most likely to be needed, so he himself can cater to this part.

I think in one of the pictures i saw a person in a "purple" uniform and i assumed he was the attender. In KSRTC "conductor" is a white collared job and i dont think the union will agree for the conductor to double up as an attender. The idea is excellent, as it would save costs in salaries and one seat (attender would need a seat). Maybe they can do this - Driver doubles up as a conductor and they have just an attender.

Originally Posted by Outlaw

Wi-Fi also?? Well, the concept of Wi-Fi is superb, it's a little late as most of the 'all time on Internet' guys use 3G and 3G+

In General the Wi-Fi at airports, malls, buses et all are slow, but they do the trick for most.

Originally Posted by Vikhyath

Coming back to topic, this bus will be one of the targets of mob fury during protests and bundhs, so let's hope they good security in place.

. Would they recruit Drivers from Kung-Fu Schools? I dont think KSRTC can do anything against a MOB whether its Grammena Sarige or Airavat.

[audioholic]

Given the aggressiveness of KSRTC or BMTC, I wont be surprised if they add a hostess and on board meals to passengers. Though whether a business model works, or whether it is maintained well in the long run, or whether it is feasible or not, we can always expect KSRTC to be a couple of steps ahead in introducing new things which other transport corporations wouldnt have even dreamed of. The only issue that I forsee is long term maintenance. Most of the old volvo buses are battered and very poorly maintained by the workshops which are mostly used to old-school buses. The paint job looks as if the paint was just splashed all over the place. Glasses are not pasted properly. These are just a few of the many issues present in the buses. Now given a Toilet and a pantry, I can only hope that they get serious about maintenance.

Private operators keeping maintenance as avoidable as possible is one story. But a State transport corporation failing to maintain the buses in proper state is unacceptable. And another important thing I noted, which AFAIK has not been pointed out earlier is that, they seem to have placed the toilet in the location of the emergency exit. What happened to the emergency exit?

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by audioholic

And another important thing I noted, which AFAIK has not been pointed out earlier is that, they seem to have placed the toilet in the location of the emergency exit. What happened to the emergency exit?

"Emergency Exit" is marked on RHS window just above rear wheel and toilet is placed in the middle where that graphic is seen.

Edit: Picture added

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

"Emergency Exit" is marked on RHS window just above rear wheel and toilet is placed in the middle where that graphic is seen.

Edit: Picture added

The point raised by audioholic was the presence of a proper emergency door as aganist the emergency breakage window as pointed. Yes, the toilet is positioned in such a place that, emergency door is removed. But still its not completely out of scope. As in many case the emergency doors in existing Mark1,2,3 are made by KaSRTC workshops, these buses may also feature a emergency door in near future.

[audioholic]

Exactly what I wanted to say. The 9400 series was earlier sporting emergency 'doors' along with the other emergency exits provided in the glass and roof hatch. This door was later added to the older versions also by the workshops. Even some BMTC parisara-vahinis are getting such doors lately. So I was amazed to see them omitted from the newer buses.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

.......these buses may also feature a emergency door in near future.

Creating an emergency DOOR is not out of scope. I hope this space near emergency toilet may be converted to emergency exit.

[ssdubai]

Yet another milestone in Super Luxury Bus Transport Segment by KSRTC -Karnataka.

It's an RTC which has proven that a well oiled Government undertaking can match any Private /RTC Fleet Operator at National or Global platform and so the chances of success are high.

By all fairness they deserve the best appreciation along with the BMTC for innovation and experimentation aimed at bettering the Bus Ride in India.
The KSRTC-BMTC-Volvo is a Winning combination for sure.

It will be great if the other RTC's can start thinking in these lines to begin with.

[Mpower]

Are these accessories offered by Volvo themselves or is it fitted by a body builder?

That should give us an idea of how well they will work in the long run.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Are these accessories offered by Volvo themselves or is it fitted by a body builder?

That should give us an idea of how well they will work in the long run.

Volvo does not build bodies but has contracted it to Azad, hence I presume that it is Azad and its vendors who install these facilities as well.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

t
Volvo does not build bodies but has contracted it to Azad, hence I presume that it is Azad and its vendors who install these facilities as well.

That was initially. I think since couple or more years, they are building their own bodies

http://www.volvobuses.com/bus/india/...ssolution.aspx

[audioholic]

AFAIK Azad no longer builds bodies for volvo. The bus is fully built and delivered by Volvo itself. Think this system was implemented by the KSRTC in the place of the emergency door, which was an empty space except for a door on the floor and one on the wall.

[wildsdi5530]

I travelled in a KSRTC club class bus from Bangalore to Chennai yesterday and the journey time was 8 hrs(1120-1915). Now private buses do the same trip in 5 hrs. By car you can do it in 4 hrs. I was wondering why the driver was so slow. Is it that the Mercedes Benz is not as fast as the Volvo? Or does KSRTC fit a speed governer restricting to 96kmph like KPN does? I remember following a day Volvo at ~140kmph in the Madurai - Salem stretch.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I travelled in a KSRTC club class bus from Bangalore to Chennai yesterday and the journey time was 8 hrs(1120-1915). Now private buses do the same trip in 5 hrs. By car you can do it in 4 hrs. I was wondering why the driver was so slow. Is it that the Mercedes Benz is not as fast as the Volvo? Or does KSRTC fit a speed governer restricting to 96kmph like KPN does? I remember following a day Volvo at ~140kmph in the Madurai - Salem stretch.

That's the normal way of driving by any STU. This kind of driving gives a better kmpl and extended engine life for the STU's which is too good for them in long run. There are kmpl restrictions to drivers and so they tend to drive slow.

KPN(for that matter any private operator AFAIK) has only stickers and none of them are speed governed. But I have seen ARC's taking a longer than earlier some time ago -so cant conclude on them.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I travelled in a KSRTC club class bus from Bangalore to Chennai yesterday and the journey time was 8 hrs(1120-1915). Now private buses do the same trip in 5 hrs. By car you can do it in 4 hrs. I was wondering why the driver was so slow. Is it that the Mercedes Benz is not as fast as the Volvo? Or does KSRTC fit a speed governer restricting to 96kmph like KPN does? I remember following a day Volvo at ~140kmph in the Madurai - Salem stretch.

Maybe it was because you travelled in the day. My father does BLR-MAS and back frequently in club class. He leaves chennai at 11 in the night and will be home by 530 max. As per him chennai bus station to silk board is covered within five hours most of the times. Regarding speeding, as said by Ashley, there is a strict FE guideline to drivers of the KSRTC. Once I saw a chart in the Kempegowda bus terminal Depot, listing out target FE and minimum FE for each route. Hence, the drivers usually stick to within 100kmph.

I had seen a sticker on a new KSRTC 9400 mentioning max speed limited to 110kmph.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Creating an emergency DOOR is not out of scope. I hope this space near emergency toilet may be converted to emergency exit.

I Agree - That is the only place where we can have a door, but on another note i feel that the emergency window is more than sufficient during an emergency.