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@ Akmar

KL definately has bad publicity due to several Fire incidents which took place.
Also the price of volvo which i stated in my earlier post was based on driver conductor conversation in a NMMT volvo! which might not be a very reliable source.

Interior space utilisation in KL's is better no doubt , but seats are not to my liking.

The seats in MSRTC Dadar - Panvel CNG Cheetah buses are better shaped than KL's wherein the head rest section is way to away for us to rest head easily, it should be slightly protruded.

Again i am not an ergonomics specialist, but this is what i feel when i wish to have a nap!

Also i love the way those buses ( MSRTC CNG Cheetah ) sound rather than the huge roar that KL create.

Longetivity is an issue in KL, i got to check out the consoles of Volvo and KL buses which had 1.25L plus kms on board and KL's were in bad shape.
I travel often on route 503 and try to stand near driver well before my stop comes to observe.

Bus easily touches 80-90 on medium load.

Suspension up front feels scary at speeds above 70kph since it pitches like a boat on braking or even on flat roads, scary section is one when you are approaching Belapur cirle after turning right from the small ghat section while coming from dadar.

Strangely BEST fares are higher than NMMT.

I am no KL hater, but BEST being really the BEST should have BETTER VOLVO's in the Fleet.
But one really bad mistake that BEST did was use those lethargic Starbus buses in its Fleet earlier!

Those were a nightmare for drivers and passengers alike.

It seems APSRTC has procured AL Stag 40 seaters...not sure what type of service it is used! (Pic source Mg-alma motors)

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BMTC to get 600 new buses by July
Looks like Tata got a Euro IV compliant bus, AL does not. I thought the otherway around. Not sure how true the report is. If i interpret correctly, of 600, 400 TM (200 Fully built, 200 Chasis) and 200 Coronas.

That's a bit of a surprise. I thought AL already had a BSIV compliant 160/180hp CRS engine ready.

Also, considering the price of the Tata "regular" buses, I think these will be having the 4cyl 4.5L ISBe 160hp engines, rather than the 240hp 5.9L ones.

By the way, what exactly are these "regular" buses. I think they are the FE SLF MarcoPolos.

This news seems to be a false one..
AL was the first to offer BS IV buses as early as Dec 2010.
MTC has already placed order for 150 buses and they are already delivered.

I dont think it is false. It's the largest paper of south India, the Hindu. They may have made a mistake as to the reason why Leyland did not take part, but I doubt they will write that Leyland did not take part even if they did.

Also we may be misinterpreting the statement "not in a position to supply BSIV compliant buses" as not having such a product in the portfolio at all. It may be that they may not have been in a position to supply the BSIV buses in the time frame required by BMTC. The article does mention about BMTC charging penalty for delays and other stuff. So may be ALL took a conscious decision not to take part.

They may be the largest paper but still the news is a news.
Its clear from their words that AL is not in a position to supply buses. It means that they are not ready.
I also insisted that only the reason was false and nothing they gave a false report even after AL taking part in tender.

THe order was received in Sep 2011 and not in Dec as quoted by me earlier.
Ashok Leyland - In the Media
AL has already supplied buses and they are running in Chennai since April 11.
MTC steps on green bus gear, Chennai cheers | Deccan Chronicle
But TM tying its first may seem to be little confident.
Already TM buses are facing severe problems with respect to black smoke in BMTC. Several trials were carried out including replacement of FIP's along with assistance from Bosch but still results were out of vain. The satisfactory level of smoke was not achieved and that led to the hefty fine of around 28 crores.
With so much of things happening with TM motors I was surprised to hear the complete order being given to them.
Without much knowledge of inside stories we should not be in a position to quote on things. Only a spokesperson from AL could give right picture that why they have not taken part in tender but atleast we could conclude that its not technical.

THis will be used as a feeder service along with their existing fleet.

Any idea what happened to BMTC's plan to induct Mercedes-Benz city buses for Bangalore?

I remember the pomp and show with which they were launched; but I've seen hardly any on the road.

They were distinctly over-priced than the Volvo's but I vaguely remember Ashoka (transport minister) mentioning some advantages of MB over Volvo, the reason why they were going for MB in the first place.

On a related note, MB seems to be trying to get in the inter-city bus market too; seen a lot of private and some KSRTC MB buses.

The Mercs would be delivered only in April 2012. The Merc bus plant is expected to go live only by then, and Merc had announced long back that the city buses would be built there.

New look of AL Viking - SLF(source -AL in Facebook).

Now thats a fantastic front face! But unfortunately looks copied from the new volvo and the headlights are similar to ones in Mercs(one projector + highbeam) But what is the quality of these materials? How long will they take the abuse? I still remember the SLF JNNURM of MTC had wipers removed or headlights back to old fashioned round ones and mainly overhanging rear view mirrors back to old fashioned small ones attached to the sides. Now that Germans(Merc) and sweds(Volvo) playing a big role in quality, how long can these AL's and Tata's run with low quality products? More over, why is the wipers so badly aligned? For eg. if one has to take the volvos as an example, both the wipers are exactly placed and they simply lie to the base of the windshield. Whereas here in AL's the left one is almost in the middle of the windshield!

A very good looking bus indeed. Should give good competition to the MarcoPolos. Though there is a bit of Volvo-copying that is going on in the headlights. Also they should move those two black handles on the front panel to the black portion, beside the logo. This would give a more clean look.

Though I have to ask, what's the point in the windows in 2-tiers. If you wanted the windows to open fully, why not just have one frame instead of two??

Also, why is the high-level window near the rear door fully closed, unlike the rest??

But the buses didn't really get positive reviews, right?

W.r.t Volvos, there is nothing better in them; and they are costlier.

The bus seems to have been built to some order. May be the two-tiered windows were part of the order. (Just Guessing). But, the 2-tiered windows provide lot more ventilation, and standing passengers can look forward for an airy ride. There are many passengers who grab a window seat, and then keep the window closed (for various reasons like "cold", not wanting to mess up their hair style, etc).

There are quite a lot of buses in Bangalore with such two-tiered windows.

That place is used for the side-LED display. According the bus code, buses are required to have three displays (destination indicators) - one each at the front, side and rear.

Very true. I am not sure of what the newspapers wrote, but I personally found nothing spectacular in the Mercs. The pickup was smoother, and passengers did not get thrown around - but in some of the new Volvo 8400s, the pickup is as smooth.

The interior finish was awful in the Merc, and the bus was rattling like a 10 year old local bus. But then, BMTC has its unique ways...

Was waiting for the 335E Volvo opposite ITPL to head to GR Tech Park a short while back. Was surprised to see (my first) a spanking new Corona plying the 335E route.

1. Interiors are pleasantly cheerful and spacious.
2. NVH levels - almost comparable to the Volvos
3. Bus is fast - almost comparable to the Volvos
4. Very pliant ride - almost comparable to the Volvos

I think BMTC has a credible peer to the Volvos now -assuming similar reliability from the Corona, with the other non-Volvo AC bus- the Marcopolo not even comparable.