[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by audioholic

The owner of National travels now plays safe by blaming a technical issue in volvo buses. He spoke to TV9 and put the blame on the manufacturer.
.... Yes it cannot be ruled out but I dont think Volvo are so careless about compromising safety and design. Afterall they are not some wayside coach fabricator to cut corners. ....

But these words from Volvo is disgusting:

Volvo claims largely to be safest wheel on earth. But they have not gone even an inch forward, than what is in regulations. Not even a basic safety features like right side emergency exit. It was KaSRTC after struggling with Volvo started to make their own emergency exits.

Coming to the emergency door in the period stated, neither was it a regulation nor was there a market demand to enable the feature, and we did not supply any.

There has not been a directive as stated which demanded bus manufacturers to do so. If there was a regulation directed, we would have met it. It is not our choice not to meet them

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

But these words from Volvo is disgusting:

Volvo claims largely to be safest wheel on earth. But they have not gone even an inch forward, than what is in regulations. Not even a basic safety features like right side emergency exit. It was KaSRTC after struggling with Volvo started to make their own emergency exits.

Those quotes don't seem right.

KaSRTC did not make the emergency exits on their Volvo's. It was Volvo bus body building unit that incorporated that feature for only the KaSRTC buses on their request.
During the same time, the private Volvo's that were being rolled out, did not have that feature since they did not ask for it.

I am not supporting Volvo or anyone else here,.
I was at their factory when the first batch of KaSRTC with the emergency exit were being build from the frame stage itself.

Regards

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

There is something wrong with Volvo and the way their busses are designed.

I am quite surprised by this. If it were so, then the 15 years of stellar performance would have been miles away from reality. Rather, there is something wrong in the way their buses are driven, treated and maintained.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Suffice to say, a similar incident with a Tata/Ashok Leyland would not have resulted in the bus catching fire.

If the front tyre went over a divider, any bus would have burst its tyre. If it was a front engined bus, the front tyres would be under greater load and I think they would have burst easier. Catching fire is something else though. In a non AC bus it will be naturally ventilated, and people can manage to get out of the bus in some way. But that is a secondary aspect which we can come to later.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

This unfortunately looks like the last nail in the coffin for Volvo, 15 years of stellar performance in India and now it all seems to be going the Tata Nano way, with vehicles catching fire

Unfortunately, this is like jumping the gun. If as per you it was a design defect, the buses would have caught fire earlier and as the Tata Nano way, the bus would have never gained the confidence of people. It is just the fact that day by day, the buses are driven in a much rash manner, carelessly and day by day the pressure on both bus and driver are increasing in order to cover greater distances and generate more revenue. No owner would admit that the fault was on their part. Hence they blame the bus. If they do it, the operators would themselves lose customers as this is not the single bus in the fleet. And there are hundreds of Volvos plying in our state itself, forget the country. Such statements get the operators into deep troubles. Instead they must correct themselves and pay attention to safety of the passengers as well as the bus. Afterall, they cant scrap crores of rupees worth of buses if people start keeping themselves away from their buses.

As long as these buses are not driven well and precautions not taken, any AC bus will be a danger at the time of an Accident.

@Ashley2, the emergency doors were made by volvo itself for the new buses under the 9400 tag, which was later discontinued to add two seats. Now, the buses which do not have those doors are getting a crude version fabricated by KSRTC workshops. In case they had outsourced the work to Volvo itself, the quality would have been by their standards. That is not being done for maintenance too. Hence, the old buses look run down and ill fitted.

[driverace]

Guys,

Anyone here shuttles Pune-Mumbai frequently?
Any other SAFE, reliable & timely option to Shivneri (MSRTC) would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Ace.

[TKMCE]

Stick to Shivneri.

Neeta is not a bad option if your boarding point ex Pune is Hinjewadi/Wakad- else be prepared for long waits as they try to fill up the bus. At Hinjewadi, just walk up to their agent and ask for tickets on the first bus which is leaving.

All said and done Shivneri is by far the best option.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by driverace

Guys,

Anyone here shuttles Pune-Mumbai frequently?
Any other SAFE, reliable & timely option to Shivneri (MSRTC) would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Ace.

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Stick to Shivneri.

Neeta is not a bad option if your boarding point ex Pune is Hinjewadi/Wakad- else be prepared for long waits as they try to fill up the bus. At Hinjewadi, just walk up to their agent and ask for tickets on the first bus which is leaving.

All said and done Shivneri is by far the best option.

Off late, the operator "Purple" (Prasanna) has been getting very good reviews. They operate Volvo B7Rs on the road, and seem to be quite punctual. The buses appear well maintained as well.

[driverace]

Originally Posted by TKMCE

Stick to Shivneri.

Neeta is not a bad option..
All said and done Shivneri is by far the best option.

Actually my better half shuttles a lot!

Swargate -- Borivali is the route ( EDIT - Magarpatta to Mira Road ).
Shivneri, no doubt is our top choice.
(travelling frequently since last year).

Neeta has left both - me & her stranded more than a couple of times.
They have some horribly maintained buses (on this route!)
Charging points almost never work.
So we've kinda put it in our blacklist.

Neeta was a good choice an year ago - when I use to travel Mumbai - Bangalore.

Originally Posted by binaiks

Off late, the operator "Purple" (Prasanna) has been getting very good reviews..

She has traveled in Purple once.
and that bus took almost 8 hours & that too, they left passengers abruptly at Kothrud! ( when 6 odd passengers had tickets to Station ).
Very rude staff too!

Shivneri's staff is not exactly passenger friendly either - but they are the safest option, considering backup is generally arranged much faster than rest of the folks.
Fortunately - Shivneri hasn't broken down in our journeys yet.

Thank you for your inputs, guys!

Ace.

[Car_Freak_911]

If you've not been to Mangalore let me tell you about the buses here in short words.
Mangalore bus drivers are faster than professional formula racers, they always try to beat their previous lap record and never let other racers overtake them (by that I mean other bus drivers). They don't care about their life or their passengers' while driving so fast because a tyre burst could lead to injury/death of many passengers.
But still I respect them because they do their record breaking without causing any injuries to anyone (atleast so far, I've not seen a bus accident here in my city and hope not to see one.)

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Car_Freak_911

If you've not been to Mangalore let me tell you about the buses here in short words. Mangalore bus drivers are faster than professional formula racers, they always try to beat their previous lap record and never let other racers overtake them (by that I mean other bus drivers). They don't care about their life or their passengers' while driving so fast because a tyre burst could lead to injury/death of many passengers. But still I respect them because they do their record breaking without causing any injuries to anyone (atleast so far, I've not seen a bus accident here in my city and hope not to see one.)

Which world are you in ? Open the newspaper and you will be surprised if you don't read about a bus accident in Mangalore.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_...sp?n_id=142751

My cousins only son and his mother lost his life because a bus driver decided to drive on the wrong lane.

Bus drivers in mangalore are a bunch of hooligans who don't even stop for the traffic police.

[Car_Freak_911]

I'm so sorry for the loss speedsatya. Felt very sad seeing the images.
May their soul rest in peace.

[dr. sen]

Hello.

in my humble opinion, the rear engine catches fire more easily during an accident, than the ones from the front engines are due to the following facts. The experts are requested to give their valued inputs and experiences.

1. The fuel tanks being in the middle, and the engines being in the last / rear, during an accident, when a bus is in forward motion, irrespective of latest auto switch off of fuel lines (as on ford fiesta, fiat linea etc. to name a few), the fuel will keep on moving towards the rear part of the bus, due to the momentum of the fuel spilled on the road. The engines being still running till the last fuel is drained off from the pump, keeps it super hot. approximate 200 to 300 C ( dont know exact).

The fuel will ignite, even it touches the exhaust pipes. (exhaust pipes temp can rise to above 500 to 600 C (this i know, being an architect, and expert in fire safety, that smoke can have a temeperature till 900C ! ).

You also have a AC gas pipe running very very closely. HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE GAS' . Hope you can relate why they explode. Not only fuel tanks, but condenser, expansion chamber, AC gas container. Highly flamable, pu undercoatings, felts, paints, sound deadening materials all are highly inflammable and combustible.

2. Another reason to support the above is ----

The tail pipe emmisions for all fuel / LPG / kerosene / highly inflammable liquid carrier are the location of the same, is at the front of the vehicle, and not anywhere near the fuel tanks. Sir aslhley, and others can correct me if wrong.

These two fires have given me sleepless nights, as i too have completely sealed glasses, with only front exit doors (Ashok Leyland 12m ).

Frankly speaking. One rear exit door is not enough.

Cosider the following facts:

a. How to know, whether the bus will be hit from side or rear or front.

Lets take each case scenario:

a. when hit from FRONT. THE BUS STANDING .(NOT TURNED SIDEWAYS)

Then both your front doors are gone / jammed. So you need rear exits. ON BOTH SIDES . TO CLEAR THE RUSH AND EXIT OUT FAST. RIGHT. (One exit will not do. Thats 100% sure)

b. When hit from SIDE. 1. BUS STANDING.

Chances are you will be getting only ONE OF THE FRONT EXITS. IN EITHER SIDE. The exit door on the accidental side will not be used or usable. (cant be predicted)

so To really clear the rush, you need to have Exits on both the sides at the Rear. As no one knows, from which side, the accident will take place. Right.

2. Now, suppose, the BUS TURNS SIDEWAYS.

THE EXITS ON EITHER side, WHICH IS UP; will not help. Right. Actually, you will be out quickly, only by the VENTILATORS. TRY CRAWLING THROUGH THEM, FULLY JOLTED, HALF BLIND BY SMOKE, GROGGY. CANT EVEN IMAGINE THE VISUALS.

3. Now the Third case scenario. HIT FROM REAR. BUS STANDING.

Now, actually, your buses are designed for this scenario. We have both front exits completely safe and working. But 90% passengers will opt for the passenger side exit, and not the driver side. You need to jump. 5' to six feet down. Try doing that in a middle of the road.

Remember the Bihar Train accident near gaya, 20 people cut down by train coming from opposite direction.

Actually its a nightmare for bus safety designers. specially for Indian conditions. where the drivers of the paasenger vehicles are basically of low IQ and poorly trained, unlike, railways, airlines, ships, tramways,where the drivers are trained; day in and day out, about their responsibility towards the passengers and fellow road / air / waterways users.

Frankly Speaking, I dont have an answer as an Architect designer.

My heart goes out to those families. may all Departed RIP.

[Ashley2]

Thanks for clarifications. But I would largely say emergency exits need not be compromised for additional seats. They can be done with the same seating layout. But why this was omitted was Volvo was not offering this as a standard fitment rather than optional and started to charge for it. same way omission of driver side door. They made it as a option to save some money. Though this largely rests with the operators, Volvo has a larger role to play in ensuring safety and cant be given as a option to people.
For a sticker price of 1cr Volvo should stardardise emergency exit door on RHS, rear, driver door. They cant leave it to operators to save money on this. If Volvo could do this, they will set an example for other manufacturers and claim to be the safest wheel on road.

[autotranny]

VOLVO India has announced that all its buses will be now Factory Speed Locked at 90 kmph starting from next week. This was announced by one of the operators from next week. I'm awaiting more details though ; is this only for new roll-outs or will the existing buses be also locked at Service Centers from next week.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by autotranny

VOLVO India has announced that all its buses will be now Factory Speed Locked at 90 kmph starting from next week. This was announced by one of the operators from next week. I'm awaiting more details though ; is this only for new roll-outs or will the existing buses be also locked at Service Centers from next week.

It seems their workshops have received orders to reprogram the ECUs to set the speed limit at 90kmph. Yesterday, I came came to know from a few agencies that a lot of Volvos had headed to Lathangi (Volvo workshop in Bangalore) for setting speed locks. It seems RTOs have began insisting on a "Lock" certificate from the dealer confirming the limit set.

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by binaiks

It seems their workshops have received orders to reprogram the ECUs to set the speed limit at 90kmph. Yesterday, I came came to know from a few agencies that a lot of Volvos had headed to Lathangi (Volvo workshop in Bangalore) for setting speed locks. It seems RTOs have began insisting on a "Lock" certificate from the dealer confirming the limit set.

Good. Now finally we can stop hearing the stories of road rippers, inflated speed figures and so on. My hope is that atleast now the operators will stop wasting time at pick-up points and en-route to ensure that the trip will be completed in respectable times.