[binaiks]

Originally Posted by rajakumar

Saw these new volvo buses with BMTC plying in 365 route with reg no KA-01-F-9099

Looks like BMTC has received atleast two of them. I spotted F-9097 two weeks back with the new face. KeSRTC has received 4 of them, and all are set to join the current Fleet in Kochi (19 Volvos presently) in a few days.

Here is a pic of the BMTC Volvo:



Only the front has changed. There is no other change in the bus.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Looks like BMTC has received atleast two of them. I spotted F-9097 two weeks back with the new face. KeSRTC has received 4 of them, and all are set to join the current Fleet in Kochi (19 Volvos presently) in a few days.

Here is a pic of the BMTC Volvo:

Attachment 443782

Only the front has changed. There is no other change in the bus.

Somehow, the older buses look better than these

[coolclouds]

I saw 4-5 brand new BMTC Volvo buses moving together without registration numbers in Bangalore today. All of them were of old shape.
Is both models are available now?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I saw 4-5 brand new BMTC Volvo buses moving together without registration numbers in Bangalore today. All of them were of old shape.
Is both models are available now?

Looks like Volvo still has a few old panels remaining. The newest batch delivered to KeSRTC (about 6 of them) are with old-face. In the last batch (of ten vehicles), 4 had the new face.

[DWind]

I guess Volvo changed this panel only in India because the State Transport undertakings felt that it was not menacing enough for an eighty lakh vehicle with 250+ horses under it.

[fx45]

waiting to see how the BEST Mumbai Volvo's would look like, got news from a birdie that they are coming very soon

[arvi86]

IMO, the older Volvos, with their slim headlamp shrouds was way better looking and also more menacing than this facelift. Whats wrong with facelifts in India? We mostly end up getting vehicles which are less appealing than their predecessors.

[AkMar]

Hello,

Brand value of buses play a very very important role in deciding whether a route will be a success or failure. A classic example is AS-524 of BEST (Kinglongs run on it) & 123 of NMMT (Volvos run on it).

AS-524 route has immense potential in it. It runs between Borivali & Vashi via Powai - Ghatkopar - Mankhurd. The non ac version of the route, 524 ltd, runs full at any time of the day. AS-524 manages to go full only in peak hours.

123 of NMMT runs from Borivali to Belapur via Powai - Bhandup - Airoli - Mahape loop - Vashi - Belapur. It is full at any time of the day! Even after 9 at night, a bus starting from Borivali has 6-7 passengers.

One of the main reasons if the lack of brand value of Kinglongs and the very strong reputation of Volvo. Even my milkman was telling me one fine day "these NMMT buses are very nice and comfortable. Afterall they are Volvos. Volvos are bound to be good! These Kinglongs of BEST are not good at all"

In reality, the path taken by AS-524 is much shorter than 123. 123 is sort of Mumbai Darshan bus. It takes LBS road from Kanjurmarg instead of eastern express highway. Then it roams inside Mahape area. But inspite of doing all this, it takes less time than AS-524! Main reason being the horribly slow drivers of AS-524 & the kinglong buses. 123 gets crackers of drivers. They drive really fast, without being too rash.

Moreover let us assume a layman wants to go from Borivali to Vashi by an AC bus. He decides to try both the options, one in each direction. By chance he gets one of the first 15 Kinglongs (they run quite often on AS-524) which are pure unadulterated piles of junk. Then the impression of Kinglongs will fall in his mind forever! In the other direction he will be really impressed by the Volvo. There you are. BEST loses one passenger! The fact that Volvo fare for Borivali - Vashi is Rs 10 less than Kinglong fare is icing on cake.

I have already decided that I have had enough of AS-524. It will be 123 always from now on when I need to go to Navi Mumbai.

Another example:
This is an incident of yesterday evening, involving the Mercedes. The 8.30 pm Borivali - Dadar service had 7-8 passengers in it. This is non peak direction. The pervious service, a Kinglong, had got delayed and went just 5 minutes prior to the Merc, with just a couple of passengers! Remember, the mercedes is not at all a good bus, but the brand is what pulled passengers towards it.

What a big mistake BEST has done by going for the Kinglongs!

[TheARUN]

Managed to snap the new VOLVO used by BMTC.

The seats have changed too apart from the front design, and there seems to be no change at the rear other than the badging

[dkamath]

The new look BMTC's above seem to be the odd ones in the lot now. There are buses with newer registration numbers (F-911x series) with the old looks.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

The seats have changed too apart from the front design, and there seems to be no change at the rear other than the badging

What change has happened to the seats? I see no difference - can you please let us know what is the difference?

And, what does the Badging read? It used to read 8400 in the previous version - it looks the same in your snap as well.

[AkMar]

The Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) committee had come down heavily on the administration on the condition of King Long buses. The administration has been receiving complaints from commuters that the air-conditioned buses make a lot of noise while travelling and struggle while going uphill.According to commuters, the buses breakdown quite often especially while on the highways. They say it is difficult to maneuver to bus in the narrow city lanes. Even the electronic display boards of these buses don’t function.
The BEST administration has proposed the maintenance cost of King Long buses from Rs 550 lakh to Rs 650 lakh in their budget for 2011-12.
“The cost of maintenance of King Long buses has increased by over Rs 100 lakh,” said Sunil Ganacharya, BEST Committee member representing Shiv Sena. “ Certain parts need to be discarded as there is no scope for repairing them. The parts then have to be imported, which hikes the cost.”

Source

What an early realisation

[Transsenger]

I believe the new Volvo for BEST Mumbai would be the first CNG Volvo on indian roads. Its learned that CNG version of Volvo B7R8400 is undergoing testing in Chennai (some ABS test tracks in chennai)!

[AkMar]

Found out something new about the automatic transmission of Kinglongs (and perhaps Marcopolos too as both have transmission from same vendor). Please refer to the attached pic.

This is a 5 speed auto transmission. Earlier, I was under the impression that shifting into potisions 1, 2, 3, 4 will be like manual transmission, i.e. bus will stay in that gear as long as the driver does not change the position of the lever. But I was wrong. Those positions do not work that way. It can downshift, but will not upshift above the selected gear. For example, if you select "3", the bus will stay in gears 1, 2 & 3. It will not shift to 4th & 5th.

[AkMar]

Here is some new info I got about the BEST volvos:

1.The first two buses that have arrived in the city are diesels.
2. Unlike their counterparts in other cities, these buses have only 1 door.
3. The first few buses will be diesels.
4. Buses likely to be inaugurated on Monday.
5. The two buses have different colours - one is red and other is orange.

Accuracy of this information is 80-90%. Some of it may turn out to be wrong.