Team-BHP - KSRTC launches the 'Mercedes-Benz' Bangalore-Mysore bus.

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Originally Posted by breezydrive (Post 1363629)

Isn't that the trick every client does to get the best of commercial things?:D

I completely agree with you breezydrive but I wish MBIL had better buses than the current Volvos for India so that we as customers/passengers could have had the best of both worlds....wot say??
As far as KSRTC goes, I m sure that if MBIL does not improve the quality of their buses or give them a complete revamp, they will be phased out pretty soon. Remember the "Corona" buses, they are not being ordered or used anymore.:Cheering:

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Originally Posted by royalcruiser (Post 1363603)

Spot on - there were a few MP BMTC buses. NVH levels were definitely much higher and even the initial pick up of those buses was very sluggish. The air con inside was also rather loud. Lately I havent seen many of those buses - Volvo still rules :)

MarcoPolo buses have been returned to Tata following the unsuccessful trial by BMTC. BMTC reports that they were not impressed with the passenger feedback (How did they manage to get feedback? They operated these buses on two routes, both about 35 kms each way, thus resulting in a frequency of about one in 3 hours). I did travel in these buses, and was least impressed by them. The hyped air-curtains were only increasing noise inside the already noisy cabin. The Airconditioners were too loud, and the engine noise infiltrated into the cabin very well. The vibration levels were too high for a product labelled as an alternative to a Volvo bus.

I hope Merc does listen to passenger feedback - else Volvo would kick them out of competition too early.

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Originally Posted by binaiks (Post 1365112)

Unfortunately, Marcopolo is all set to come back to BMTC with a strength of 200....:Shockked:buses according to DNA news paper published today.
It said that under the JN-NURM Scheme, 1000 buses are to be purchased by BMTC and out of them 200 would be Marcopolo TATA buses, 200 B7Rs, and the rest, the usual TATAs and Ashok Leyland buses.
In fact, the daily quotes the transport minister as saying "We are not sure about the services of Marcopolo as the passengers did not give us good feedback about them earlier, yet we are trying to get them in this time".:Frustrati

Moreover, the routes would be completely different for Marcopolo and B7Rs which means that if a commuter doesnt want to use a Marcopolo and wait for a B7R, he/she cannot do it....This is reallly bad.....Grrrrrrr.....

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Originally Posted by n.devdath (Post 1368090)

These 100 buses (not 200) would form part of the new "Low-Cost AC Bus" initiative of BMTC. BMTC was initially planning to purchase non-AC low-Floor buses, but later changed it to Semi-Low Floor AC buses. These buses would charge lesser than Volvo, and would operate on routes where there isn't sufficient demand for Volvo buses, but demand for AC services exist.

However, I thought BMTC would try out Leyland's new product.

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Originally Posted by binaiks (Post 1368109)

Instead of implementing the already unpopular and out dated Marcopolo, wouldn't it have been better if BMTC had tried a different manufacturer or still better, launched smaller capacity AC buses which would have been easier on the narrow streets of Bangalore?:Frustrati Like the ones CISCO and NOKIA use....
Also, the introduction of Marcopolo means that the inventory costs of BMTC would also increase.

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Originally Posted by n.devdath (Post 1368166)

wouldn't it have been better if BMTC had tried a different manufacturer or still better, launched smaller capacity AC buses which would have been easier on the narrow streets of Bangalore?

Also, the introduction of Marcopolo means that the inventory costs of BMTC would also increase.

They did try this out with AC Swaraj Mazda buses, about 5 years back i guess, mainly along the KBS<->Marathalli route. Some of them can still be spotted, without the AC's being used, though. Assuming that having the AC on leaves these small buses, quite underpowered.

Why should introduction of Marcopolos have any bearing on the inventory costs, for BMTC? Most of the engine and transmission aggregates would be sourced from the Tata common parts bin. Moreover, a Vajra conductor had once said that it's transmission system costs about Rs.38 lacs. A Marcopolo spare would possibly not cost even half as much.

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Originally Posted by dkamath (Post 1368199)

Outdated Swaraj Mazdas are certainly not powerful enough to have ACs in them.
I was referring to modern buses made by Eicher or the newly introduced Force Motors Traveller which are capable enough of sporting ACs.There are innumerable such buses with tourist operators at Bangalore in case BMTC wants to sample them. Also, those Swaraj Mazdas were (and still are) in such a state that any bus would go kaput and cease to function effectively.

As far as the inventory costs are concerned, The engines for the Marcopolo are Cummins engines and are rear mounted. This automatically means that most parts of the transmission would be quite different from the regular 1512/1513 engines. Also, the suspension systems would need upkeep which would add to the inventory costs of BMTC along with training if any required for its employees and the tools to attend to these buses.
Yes, Volvo spares cost a bomb but last that much longer as they are built to very high technology and quality standards which is why even private bus operators find the Volvos cost effective and viable over a longer period of time compared to a TATA or Ashok Leyland bus as long as the roads permit their plying.:)