[AkMar]

Originally Posted by silverado

What happened to the Nilambari OPEN DECK bus which used to ferry tourists around Fort area?

The older buses have been scrapped and two of the newer ones have been converted to open deck. I don't know the status of the service though.

Originally Posted by silverado

I will surely check when Double decker buses used to ply ,but i do remember travelling on same crossing vashi bridge.

As per one of my friends who also is a follower of BEST, double deckers did run to Navi Mumbai upto 1985. Will get some more concrete info and update here.

The website for online tracking system has gone live. Earlier it lead us to a crude login page. Now its is a slightly better page, with an option to register too. Haven't tried it yet.

[lionell]

I've taken BEST buses as a kid in Mumbai and my gosh in the late 80's and early 90's they surely were the best kept buses in the country. Now I drive whenever am in Mumbai so can't really say what the situation is.

[apachelongbow]

Very sad situation for today's B.E.S.T Buses are old and creaky, drivers are uncouth monsters (contract employees), buses are rickety and maintenance is poor to non existent.

Leave aside all this, we can attribute the above due to the loss making streak of the corporation, I don't know why the buses are not washed at all!!! @Lionell you are not missing anything trust me.

[TaurusAl]

Took the route 327 last week as has rested myself from driving madness and found this.

2 seats missing. The rods that support the seat dangerously exposed to cut open the legs of the travellers. How can even the BEST let the hazardous buses these take off from the depot ?

Just to remind you, "SAFETY IS OUR MOTTO" is the quote that BEST uses in its campaign.

(Sorry for the poor quality picture, the bus was bouncing like hell)

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

2 seats missing. The rods that support the seat dangerously exposed to cut open the legs of the travellers. How can even the BEST let the hazardous buses these take off from the depot ?

Hardly surprising, considering that buses like these too are allowed to run on roads for weeks without rectifying the issue:







Windscreen shattered right in front of driver. Wonder what he will be able to see through this.


Front portion of the body loose. May fall off any time. It may seem like a joke, but it has actually happened with quite a few buses. My friend witnessed one such incident on JVLR where the front portion of a bus had fallen off.


And the most shocking part is that when confronted with these, the depot officer did NOT feel that they were doing something wrong.

[AkMar]

Here is a video of a bus having a horribly-out-of-tune engine. Travelled in it today. Its sound was totally different than normal. It was horrible. You will be able to notice the magnitude of difference if you know how a Tata CNG engine sounds when it is normal. The bus was from Magathane depot, undoubtedly the worst depot of BEST, and one of the few depots having poor maintenance. The bus was literally struggling to get to decent speeds on a road with an insignificantly mild slope.

BEST's poorly maintained, out of tune groaning engine - YouTube

[apachelongbow]

The government wants me to leave my car and ride a bus, to save time and fuel. Why on earth would I travel by a BEST bus, or an auto instead of my car? Am I mad? Or am I a sucker for sadistic punishment?
Do the ministers live in the real world? Or as like the french queen say let them eat cake if they do not have bread?

[silverado]

I found the below pics from my archives, these are year old pics from YATIN PIMPALE's exhibition of paper models which was held at Saraswati High school Hindmata Dadar east Mumbai.

I bought his Kit from the exhibition which has 5 paper models which is D-I-Y.

Creative paper models by Yatin Pimpale

[TaurusAl]

King Long buses that keep breaking down are not King Longs

The 285 buses on our roads are manufactured by Cerita Motors, a company in Mohali, Punjab.


King Long AC buses have for all these years been seen as a torture wreaked on the city by BEST. Today, Mumbai Mirror can reveal that the famously breakdown-prone buses are also a big lie inflicted on us.

Investigations carried out by this paper have revealed that King Long buses, sold to us as top-of-the-line Chinese import, are not King Long buses at all. The purple buses you see broken down every now and then have nothing, except a mechanical part here and there, to do with the Chinese bus maker Xiamen King Long United Automotive Co Ltd.

Full Story Here -

King Long buses that keep breaking down are not King Longs, News - Cover Story - Mumbai Mirror

[AkMar]

Here is what BEST does to its Volvos:



Photo not by me. It was shared on a FB group. Credits to the original photographer.

[faustus77]

Tauraus/AkMar
Hi
i also read that and was totally surprised.
Were the people blind that they could not see?
Obviously not.Right from top to bottom everybody was involved in the charade for whatever reason.
I think there was an issue of ac also.They had to fill the gas nearly every day.Not too sure about this point
I t is sad to see Volvos in such a condition.I have not travelled by volvo any time but these buses would be airconditioned.Am I right?
Regards

[Dieseltuned]

My 2 cents on this,

I am a daily traveller on the Borivali - Powai route and use the AS 461 & AS 524 services.
Though king longs are breaking down right, left and centre, luckily I have never faced a king long breakdown in the last 2 & 1/2 years.

I have also noticed that the BEST staff driving the kinglongs are so frustrated with these buses that if you sit right behind the driver, he will swear atleast 15 times from borivali to Powai, about the poor quality of these buses. The conductors are pretty much good and sometimes face a bad time dealing with the so called 'sophisticated' junta travelling on the AC buses.

Regards
Ritesh

[TaurusAl]

The last award won by BEST was in the year 2003. Its has won several awards from the year 1982 to 2003. And not a single award for nearly 10 years now. I don't know how these wards function, but there is food for thought here.



Awards won by BEST

The prize for the second best production achievement by an Urban Transport Body in the Country for the year 1982.

The second prize for production achievement in Urban Transport during the year 1984.

A moment for the Administrative Report and Statement of Accounts f the Undertaking for the year 1983-84 awarded by the selection committee nominated by the Institute f Chartered Accountants f India.

The first place and the Best production achievement award in the category f urban transport for the year 1986-87.

National Productivity Award for the year 1991-92.

Award for the best passenger-safety record for the year 1994.

The prestigious award for the Best Passenger-Safety performance in Urban Transport in the whole country instituted by the Association f State Road Transport Undertaking (ASRTU) for the year 1995-96.

International Road Safety Award for the Year 2003


What has happened to road safety and passenger safety leaves me wondering.

Source : http://www.bestundertaking.com/awards.asp

[amtak]

A lot of Cerita buses are under repairs and hence, many route modified or route timings changed. AS2 used to run at 7.00 AM, 7.20, 7.40, 7.55 and so on. Now its 7.10; 7.35; 8.10 and so on :(

[salilpawar1]

Hi Guys,

I have this German Bus Simulator called OMSI. Decided to repaint the MAN NL202 LHD bus in our very own BEST colours. Hope you like it.