[Ram]

Originally Posted by AviatoR

I sometimes travel by the shivneri that starts from borivali and goes via thane. These buses are the new King Long buses - not sure what model this is. I am also posting some pics here.

These buses do some really high speeds on the Ex-way but i could not confirm as i never got a front seat. But, today i got to sit right behind the driver while returning from pune and i actually saw the speedo needle above 130 kmph, almost touching 135 kmph (not kidding or exaggerating). It was an awesome experience but also a little terrifying.

Three months ago, I had posted about an identical bus
MH 06 S 7480 on 4th July 2008, here.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...tml#post891365

As seen in your pic MH 06 S 7499 is an identical JCBL Cerita JC 12 HD coach.

Shivneri drivers are about the most disciplined bus drivers you can find. Careful, timely and showing the restraint that comes from experience and long tradition. Never known one to drive above 120 km/h.

[TheARUN]

Guess its all about maintaining the bus. The KINGLONG has air suspension, and rear engine which supports the airconditioning, it has all the basics right, wonder how much these beauties cost. The VOLVO is too costly man

[Ram]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Guess its all about maintaining the bus. The KINGLONG has air suspension, and rear engine which supports the airconditioning, it has all the basics right, wonder how much these beauties cost. The VOLVO is too costly man

An Azad-built coach on a Volvo B7R chassis costs Rs. 75 lakh.
A JCBL built coach on a King-Long chassis costs Rs. 55 lakh.

[AMATMO]

Originally Posted by Ram

An Azad-built coach on a Volvo B7R chassis costs Rs. 75 lakh.
A JCBL built coach on a King-Long chassis costs Rs. 55 lakh.

now that azad has stopped building buses for them has the bus price incresed?

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Ram

An Azad-built coach on a Volvo B7R chassis costs Rs. 75 lakh.
A JCBL built coach on a King-Long chassis costs Rs. 55 lakh.

What about the new Mercedes-Sutlej coach. Any idea of prices?
Also, is the ticket prices adjusted to the cost of the bus?

[raul]

The ticket prices on MSRTC for Shivneri stay the same, whether its Volvo, Kinglong or the single white JCB built bus they also run which is a really bad bus that keeps on breaking down. The Mahabus is slightly cheaper.

I use MSRTC a lot and the ticket prices of Shiveri can be erratic year round, sometimes its 180, others times 200, now 225 or 240, they usually change it according to seasons.

The problem with the other buses except Volvo is that even if the Volvo leaves 30 min later it reaches Bbay faster so you might leave 30 min earlier in a Kinglong but you will reach later. This is my experience so I usually try to board a Volvo but that is not always practical. The Kinglongs also do not have the same ride quality as the Volvo's and the seating is more cramped. Maybe better seating and space will make the Kinglong more competitive.

[AviatoR]

Originally Posted by Ram

Shivneri drivers are about the most disciplined bus drivers you can find. Careful, timely and showing the restraint that comes from experience and long tradition. Never known one to drive above 120 km/h.

Completely agree with you on this as i am no stranger to bus journeys including shivneri, but the guy behind the wheel that day was one of a kind - trust me! He wasn't constantly at that speed but did manage to get there and occasionally upto 130. He was really aggressive, almost taking a few shaken cars and bikes off the road.

[samirsarkar]

Price, AC effectiveness, engine smoothness etc aside, one factor that would influence any buyer's decision would be Reliability. I am sure as with most or all Chinese products, reliability will always take a backseat for trying to keep the costs down or make the product more attractive.

I would like to see how the King Longs perform after a year or two of battering by our drivers, maintenance departmants and roads....everything is good the first year.

[Glifford]

Originally Posted by samirsarkar

Price, AC effectiveness, engine smoothness etc aside, one factor that would influence any buyer's decision would be Reliability. I am sure as with most or all Chinese products, reliability will always take a backseat for trying to keep the costs down or make the product more attractive.

True. But with any thing commercial (unlike personal passenger cars), it all depends on ROI and TCO! So if in the long run, a Volvo genuinely costs more to operate and maintain than a KingLong, would the operator be able to charge passengers more for it? I mean would a passenger be willing to pay more for a Volvo over a similar looking KL?

Here we get to see so many "Volvo-Like" buses that are built tall and with huge glass panes to look like a Volvo. But are actually normal front engine (truck chassis based) buses.

I guess KL and the others (Corona?) come into the premise of fooling the passengers it is a Volvo and pricing the ticket as if it is one. Most passengers (unlike you and me) will never know the difference!

[sathee46]

I frequently travel in the Kinglong owned by parveen travels Chennai-Bangalore-Chennai. I've traveled in this for the past 2 years now. This is the only bus which reaches the destination on time.I prefer this over the Volvo, start's at 11 reaches bangy at 4.30-5 which i feel is really good. This has been consistent and the travel experience remains the same as it was in the begining.

[Dose]

Does the KL 6113 have a speed limiter in addition to its rpm limiter?

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Ram

An Azad-built coach on a Volvo B7R chassis costs Rs. 75 lakh.
A JCBL built coach on a King-Long chassis costs Rs. 55 lakh.

The newly launched Mercedes bus is 80 lakhs. So 7% more expensive than Volvo might end up putting it in the same ticket price bracket as Volvo. So Ram, we are waiting for a Mercedes passenger review from you since both Neeta and Konduskar have it now.