My first experience in the SCANIA Metrolink HD 14.5M Coach!
Ever since the Scania was commercially launched, I badly wanted to make a ride. The opportunity came by chance last week. I had to go to Kottayam for a marriage, and while thinking of options for returning to Bangalore, I chanced upon this crazy idea of catching the KPN Scania from Madurai/Dindigul. I surveyed the route maps and understood that Dindigul would be easier and will also give be some buffer time.
I made it a point to leave Kottayam quite early - started off at 1250 in a KeSRTC Limited Stop Ordinary bus to Kumily (it was a 183-hp EDC Ashok Leyland bus). The journey to Kumily through the winding KK Road took about 3:30hrs, reaching Kumily around 16:20 or so. After a quick refreshment, I headed out to the Tamil Nadu side. While walking to the border, I saw a PRTC bus coming in, working Pondicherry-Kumily. It just entered the bus station on the Kerala side, turned around, and headed back to TN side. (For the uninitiated, the state border is right next to the bus station).
The stickers on the bus read that it would go to Dindigul (the route was mentioned as Kumily-Cumbum-Theni-Dindigul-Trichy-Cuddalore-Pondicherry) - so headed to the conductor as asked the departure time - he first asked me where was I headed to. When I told my destination, he said they leave at 1715, and ETA at Dindigul was 2100hrs. I got in and took a seat - we still had over 45 minutes to go. In the meantime, I booked a ticket for the Scania - was a bit worried since I cannot take a Printout, and had seen KPN guys making a scene over printouts earlier. The bus started off exactly at 1715 and he dropped me at Dindigul dot at 2100hrs. After wasting some time at the bus station and having my dinner, I headed off to the KPN pick-up point on
Palani bypass in an Auto. I was at the office at around 2230hrs, for a bus that departs at 2345hrs.
In the meantime, KPN sent me a reminder with the registration number of the bus. The message said that my bus leaves at 2300hrs. The office is basically a dusty shop on the bypass - they've put in some benches inside. There were no staff at the office - just a notice on the wall asking passengers to call their Dindigul office if one wanted something! There were 2-3 more passengers sitting there - I too joined them. Used the sole power plug at the office to re-charge my phone - it was almost dead by then. A couple of KPN buses came in the meantime - one Volvo multiaxle and one AC Sleeper (both headed to Bangalore). No other operator seemed to have a pick up anywhere nearby.
There was no sign of the bus even as the clock ticked past 2345hrs (the departure time according to my ticket). Sometime around 0000hrs, I saw this bus with low headlights coming - Yippee! That was my bus! KA-51-B-9992 - the red coloured Scania Metrolink HD 14.5M. The bus came and stopped - I was so excited that I was the first to get into the bus - did not even wait for the
checker to come. He called me and asked for my ticket - I showed him the message - he wrote down the "PIN" number from the message onto their "Boarding chart". I headed straight to my seat - R16 (a window seat on the right side in the 8th row of the bus). The bus has 12 rows of seats, and the last row has a berth for the second driver.
The bus started off at 0003hrs - 18 minutes late. As the bus started off, it made a very heavy disturbing noise - somewhat like a water pump starting. The noise was disturbing till the third gear. The gear shift was quicker and appeared to have lesser lag than the Volvo iShift. The Scania comes with an 8-speed Opticruise Automated Manual Transmission. The AC was chilling - the AC vents had very little range - it swivels around only to a very small angle - may be 3* from its stable line. Its too less. The console that houses the AC vents look classy though. I couldn't figure out how to shut the AC vent till much later.
The seats were amazing - it felt a bit better than the Volvo ones. Volvo uses a seat called "Harita VFX", which was designed by Volvo in collaboration with Harita. Those seats are exclusive to Volvo. In case of Scania, the seats were branded as "Harita HS-DX" - which are, reportedly, designed by Scania themselves. The seats had proper support and it was quite comfortable. The window sills/base is quite high - its above the hand rest (in case of the Volvo, its below the hand rest, while in the Mercedes its at the same height as the hand rest).
Coming to the ride - it was good. I did not feel it was any different from a Volvo/Mercedes. I cannot comment on it unless I get a taste of it on somewhat bad roads. The bus gets quieter as it picks speed - the engine noise isn't very intrusive beyond 4th gear. The bus picked pace quite easily (afterall, we are talking of a 410hp engine). The bus is speed locked at 85kmph. I slept quite well, and woke up only when the bus stopped at Salem (rather, woke up just as the bus was starting from Salem) - it was around 0229 then.
The interior lighting is great. The lights are installed on the overhead racks. The night lamps are installed on the roofhatches - they were a bit too bright though - but not intrusive as the ones in Volvos. I slept off again, and woke up only as we reached Electronic City. I got off at Bommanahalli, at 0559hrs.
Some points noted:
1. The bus was noisy at Gear 1-3, beyond that its silent.
2. Its DEAD SILENT inside when the bus is idle. Remember I was in the 5th row from the back.
3. Lighting is great - when only the night lamps are on, its fairly dark inside. The bus also has "dim" lighting - where blue LEDs glow below each tubelight. That is bright enough for one to walk through without tripping anywhere, but dark enough not to be too intrusive.
4. Ride - no comments until I try it once again. The first experience was good.
5. The driver was impressed with the machine - he was all praises for it. I stood in the cabin from Electronic City to Bommanahalli - the bus does not throw you around when decelerating or accelerating - you can stand quite comfortably. There are enough grab rails as well in the cabin.
6. The retarder - its really effective. I did not slide off my seat even once. It is a bit noisy (like the Mercedes), but really effective.
7. The closing mechanism of the air vents are a bit tricky - it will take some time before people discover how it works. You need to turn a ring on the base of the blower (unlike the Volvo where the ring is on the vent itself, or the Mercedes which shuts close). The ring is the textured portion around the air vent in the image above.
8. The door swings outwards - not in-swing like the Volvo/Mercedes. It actually increased the moving space for passengers inside the cabin - getting in/off the bus with bag is much easier now.
9. The gangway width seemed similar to the Volvo.
Overall - its surely a better package! I am waiting for one more ride on it (preferably a day ride) to get more idea of some stuff that I might have missed out in this ride.
(Some pics are from my archives)