[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

I feel pity for Chennites who still depends on Shared Autorikshaws and jealous about the Delhites who got 1000+ ULF buses on their roads already and 2500+ by the end of the year. In comparison to the MTCs, AL buses, the Marcopolo buses in Delhi looks much better. Considering the Engine is same in both AL and TM buses in Delhi, which technology is better, Chinese or Brazilian?

While there is no dispute about the fact that Chennaites depend a lot on share autos, I don't think we need to be too jealous about Delhi on the "Bus" part of the public transport. To the contrary we have enough and more SLF buses in Chennai. The complaint by the general public here is the so called "Back Door Price Rise" which the Government is accused of by replacing all old buses with SLF Deluxe buses. Come to Chennai one of these days, stand at any bus stand and find whats the ratio of SLF buses to the older generation buses, am sure you would be surprised if not shocked.

If there is something which one should feel jealous off is the Delhi Metro.

It is a sad siite such beauties being treated harshly it also endangers the driver just in case there is another hit from front.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

While there is no dispute about the fact that Chennaites depend a lot on share autos, I don't think we need to be too jealous about Delhi on the "Bus" part of the public transport. To the contrary we have enough and more SLF buses in Chennai. The complaint by the general public here is the so called "Back Door Price Rise" which the Government is accused of by replacing all old buses with SLF Deluxe buses. Come to Chennai one of these days, stand at any bus stand and find whats the ratio of SLF buses to the older generation buses, am sure you would be surprised if not shocked.

If there is something which one should feel jealous off is the Delhi Metro.

I wonder why MTC charges so heavily for new SLF buses (Deluxe) compared to the other services. Nowadays I see older SLF buses plying as ordinary or Express services.

The earlier lot of SLF buses used to be good - with the Prakash and Veera-built bodies. The pneumatic doors were also good. But, many of the newer JNnurm ones have their LED displays dysfunct, and in many buses the pneumatic doors are in a pathetic condition. It's high time AL did something about the quality of these bodies. All of them sport an AL-tag near the bonnet, with a serial number also.

A few weeks back, I saw an AL blue colored RE LE bus (on test) on LB road... Guess it's the same thing that's supplied to KeSRTC under JNnurm

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Just wondering, does any STU fill nitrogen in the tyres of their buses? BEST has started doing it, at least for some buses. Magathane depot (Borivali east) fills nitrogen in all their buses now. "N2" is painted in small letters just besides the tyre pressure value near wheels.

What improvement will be there if nitrogen is filled?

Originally Posted by binaiks

Kerala SRTC has been doing this since December 2007. Initially their AC buses were run on N2, now many depots have shifted over to N2 instead of air.

I hear N2 gives better ride - I did not feel any change in these buses though.

Nitrogen is used in tyres to prevent combustion. Absence of oxygen makes it impossible for a fire to break out due to overheating. Also, nitrogen tyres tend to run cooler, so less expansion and lesser chances of tyre bursts. Not sure whether it improves ride quality. Cant see how that would change if the air pressure is the same, no matter what gas is used.

And I hate the BEST Airconditioned buses. The NMMT Volvo's are much better in every way, and also cheaper. IMO, BEST is just going downhill now. The recent proposal to start helipads at their depots is just another sign of where the undertaking is headed. I think BEST needs to realize that they are supposed to ensure good bus transportation and efficent electricity generation and distribution in Bombay. Anything else is just deviating from their basic business.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Please refer to the attached photo. I have purposely kept it at high resolution so that the extent of damage can be seen. Cracks extend all the way in front of the driver and to the base of destination board.

Initially I thought that it is only BEST who is indulging in this practise. But now NMMT too has started doing this. Saw a similar "repair" done on glasses of two of their Volvos.

Looks like this picture was taken near Magathane Depot or Tata Steel Flyover. I am sure that this would have happened on that day itself and this was a temporary fix so that the AC doesn't blow away due to heat.

PS: I doubt if windshields of such heavy vehicles would be "running items" to buy them off the shelf and hence you would get to see such things.

[r_nairtvm]

Some Pictures of the Volvo Buses in Trivandrum City being operated by KSRTC.

(Pictures - Credit to Sudheesh Nair of Cityscapes
Trivandrum Projects VI - Page 105 - SkyscraperCity

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

PS. For comparison you can see one of the oldy Ashok Leyland of KSRTC City Fleet there as well.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by amtak

Looks like this picture was taken near Magathane Depot or Tata Steel Flyover. I am sure that this would have happened on that day itself and this was a temporary fix so that the AC doesn't blow away due to heat.

Yes, this is indeed taken at Magathane flyover.

But this is no temporary job. I have complained about this particular bus several times, but no avail. I had been waiting for my chance to take a pic of this bus for quite a long time. Finally one fine morning I spotted it on a schedule on which it would reach Magathane at a time when I would be free to click a pic.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by santoshnair

There is some news going around that BEST is procuring 50 ULE buses of AL on the same lines like DTC the AC version. These are currently based in Anik Depot and are being put on trial.
If so the its good news because the buses are really good and heard they are Red in COlor spotting the BEST color combo.

Can someone confirm this

Good to hear ALL ULE gaining momemtum.
But I believe it may take time for them to deliver as the DTC orders are still pending and are yet to be completed.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Considering the price quoted includes 12 years of maintenance, it may not be that high. AL also costs pretty much the same. I am not sure what exactly you mean by "But I believe DTC has the worst maintenance practice in whole of India(even though these buses are maintained by TML as per their contract)". I feel pity for Chennites who still depends on Shared Autorikshaws and jealous about the Delhites who got 1000+ ULF buses on their roads already and 2500+ by the end of the year. In comparison to the MTCs, AL buses, the Marcopolo buses in Delhi looks much better. Considering the Engine is same in both AL and TM buses in Delhi, which technology is better, Chinese or Brazilian?

The contract for maintenance is a seperate and does not include in the price of vehicle.
Chennai is not that bad when compared to DTC.I really wonder how they reach the destination without any break down (read it as breaking down to pieces)

Chennaiates enjoy the lowest bus cost in whole of India even for Volvo

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Chennai is not that bad when compared to DTC.I really wonder how they reach the destination without any break down (read it as breaking down to pieces)

Chennaiates enjoy the lowest bus cost in whole of India even for Volvo

to that. That is what a state-run public transport should be - cheap, efficient and catering to their main target customer the common man. I hope all have not forgotten that Madras had the best public transport system in India when other cities (except Bombay) did not have a rudimentary bus service. For those with a short memory, please be reminded that the World Bank used to show up Madras city bus systems as a model for the rest of the developing world. It may be a different thing today that corruption has done it in, else it used to be the only state-run bus transport systems which used to make the least losses year after year (other than Madras city, the rest of the TN STUs were profitable).

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

The contract for maintenance is a seperate and does not include in the price of vehicle.

But most newspaper reports states the price included 12 year maintenance also.

Chennaiates enjoy the lowest bus cost in whole of India even for Volvo

For how long, only time will tell.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I hope all have not forgotten that Madras had the best public transport system in India when other cities (except Bombay) did not have a rudimentary bus service.

You may be right about the past. As an outsider, i felt DTC is better than MTC right now. More over i was responding to Ashley2's comment "I really feel pitty for Delhians".

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Some Pictures of the Volvo Buses in Trivandrum City being operated by KSRTC.

(Pictures - Credit to Sudheesh Nair of Cityscapes
Trivandrum Projects VI - Page 105 - SkyscraperCity

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

PS. For comparison you can see one of the oldy Ashok Leyland of KSRTC City Fleet there as well.

That is not an oldy AL bus... Perhaps 3-4 years old, atmost 5years The older ones had their front shaped like a bullet... Definitely the Volvo and the AL side-by-side gives a feeling of a tribal warrior standing next to a hi-tech soldier from a sci-fi movie

[silversteed]

Forgot to add... I had a ride in a TM Marcopolo in Chennai. Route no D70. The engine seemed underpowered, and the ride quality was also not that great. But aesthetics were good.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by silversteed

That is not an oldy AL bus... Perhaps 3-4 years old, atmost 5years The older ones had their front shaped like a bullet... Definitely the Volvo and the AL side-by-side gives a feeling of a tribal warrior standing next to a hi-tech soldier from a sci-fi movie

The AL bus is of TS2xx series - Not less than 10 years old as of now. TS series ran from 1997 to 2000. Currently, KSRTC has started RN series. Each Series has 999 buses in it, with the 1000th bus numbered as such - i.e., 15000, 16000, 17000, etc.

The series used till date are:
T, R, A, N, S, P, TR, TA, TN, TS, TP, RT, RR, RA and RN. In addition, a TE series existed for a short time (these were buses built by Regional Workshop, Edappal). Their depot vehicles are numbered in "D" series, while the Oil Tankers are numbered in "TT" series.

Explaining more on the numbering might seem out of place here. I had written on this topic on my blog earlier. Read more on KeSRTC numbering on my blog: here.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by silversteed

That is not an oldy AL bus... Perhaps 3-4 years old, atmost 5years The older ones had their front shaped like a bullet... Definitely the Volvo and the AL side-by-side gives a feeling of a tribal warrior standing next to a hi-tech soldier from a sci-fi movie

SS,

Did you see Avatar recently if so you are excused for the Tribal Warrior analogy.

In KSRTC the City Bus definitely will not be less than 5 year old especially the Red & Yellow paint combo ones.

The KSRTC Buses normally starts the working career as either a Express/Super Fast/Fast Passenger - meaning they will be doing long distance between District Head Quaters etc.

Then they are downgraded to Moffusil services and then finally to Trivandrum City Service (at this stage the buses will only have anew coat of paint at best)

So this one could be a lot older than the 5 years you have estimated

The Registration No on that Al Bus is KL 15 - 3681 (I think from the original post in other forum) and hence, I place it to be around July 1999 (as per Kerala MVD site)

The new buses that are inducted directly to City Service usually have a different colour combo like light blue & dark blue (Anananthapuri Express etc)

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

[silversteed]

First of all, thanks binaiks and r_nairtvm, for correcting me

The bus is indeed of the TS series, and I got confused a bit. TS series buses were there in service as Super Deluxe and Super Express routes during my school days, till 2003 anyways. And then slowly KeSRTC started using them for Ordinary and city routes, as is their normal practice.

I did see Avatar recently. Too difficult to get tickets for the 3D version in Chennai.

Like you have these Ananthapuri express in Tvm, there are Malabar and Venad services in the northern districts and Travancore regions respectively. All of them sport the same type of body and coloring scheme.

Any idea about the RE LE buses that are supposed to be plying in Tvm and Ekm? Read about the minister making some statement last day.